al-Qanun fi al-Tibb
- Author died
- 428 AH
- Editions
- Muḥammad Amīn al-Ḍannāwī
al-Qanun fi al-Tibb (The Canon of Medicine) is a comprehensive medical encyclopedia written by the philosopher and physician Ibn Sina (370–428 AH / 980–1037 CE), synthesizing both theoretical and practical medical knowledge .
Composition and Scope
Ibn Sina began composing parts of the work in Gurgan (Jurjan) and completed it in Hamadhan—with another report stating he completed it in Rayy—intending to write a commentary and records of clinical experience for it . In his introduction, Ibn Sina noted that he undertook the work at the request of a close associate to provide a concise yet thorough presentation of general and particular medical rules . The compendium gathered the medical knowledge inherited from antiquity, integrating Galenic medicine while incorporating Ibn Sina's own observations, clinical findings, and systemic organization .
Structure and Contents
The work is systematically organized into five major books (kutub):
- Book One (al-Umur al-Kulliyyah): Covers general principles and universal foundations of medicine, encompassing theoretical and practical frameworks, anatomy, physiology, hygiene, and general rules of pathology and treatment .
- Book Two (al-Adwiyah al-Mufradah): Treats simple drugs and materia medica, discussing their properties, classifications, and therapeutic actions .
- Book Three (al-Amrad al-Juz'iyyah): Details localized diseases affecting specific organs from head to toe, addressing their diagnosis, symptoms, and specific remedies .
- Book Four (al-Amrad Allati La Takhtassu bi-'Udw): Focuses on systemic illnesses not restricted to a single organ—such as fevers, swellings, wounds, and poisons—as well as cosmetic care and hygiene of the skin and hair (al-zinah) .
- Book Five (Tarkib al-Adwiyah / al-Aqrabadhin): Serves as a pharmacopoeia detailing the compounding, preparation, and administration of complex medicinal recipes .
Commentaries and Abridgments
The text generated numerous commentaries, glosses, and abridgments in the Islamic world:
- Fakhr al-Din al-Razi authored a dedicated commentary entitled Sharh al-Qanun .
- Ibn al-Nafis wrote an extensive commentary on the general principles (Kulliyyat) and composed a well-known abridgment entitled Mujaz al-Qanun (or al-Mujaz) . Ibn al-Nafis's abridgment subsequently received several commentaries of its own, including Hall al-Mujaz by Jamal al-Din al-Aqsarayi, al-Mughni by Sadid al-Din al-Kazaruni, and a commentary by al-Nafis al-Kirmani .
- Other scholars who commented on or abridged the Kulliyyat and other sections include Qutb al-Din al-Misri, Zayn al-Arab al-Misri, Ibn al-Lubbudy, and Fakhr al-Din al-Khujandi in his Tanqih al-Maknun .
Reception and Influence
Al-Qanun was praised by later authors, such as al-Qalqashandi, as the most comprehensive, eloquently expressed, and well-arranged work in medicine .
In the twelfth century, the work was translated into Latin in Toledo by Gerard of Cremona . Under the Latin title Canon Medicinae, it became a standard medical reference in European universities, including the University of Bologna, the University of Montpellier, and the University of Louvain, maintaining its instructional authority for roughly six centuries into the seventeenth century .
The Arabic text was printed in Rome in 1593 CE (alongside Ibn Sina's Kitab al-Najat) and later published in Bulaq, Egypt, in 1294 AH (1877 CE) . Parts of the work have also been translated into Persian, Turkish, French, German, and English .
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