Uyun al-Anba fi Tabaqat al-Atibba

Uyun al-Anba fi Tabaqat al-Atibba (Sources of Information on the Classes of Physicians) is a biographical dictionary of physicians written by the Syrian physician and historian Ibn Abi Usaybi'a (d. 668 AH / 1270 CE) al-Alam lil-Zirikli+1. It serves as one of the most comprehensive and detailed biographical records of practitioners of medicine from antiquity through the Islamic Middle Ages Tarikh al-Adab al-Arabi l….

Composition and Purpose

Ibn Abi Usaybi'a composed the work in Damascus in 643 AH (1245/1246 CE), dedicating it to Amin al-Dawla ibn Ghazal ibn Abi Sa'id, the vizier of the Ayyubid ruler al-Malik al-Salih al-Alam lil-Zirikli+1. The author articulated his aim as compiling notable accounts and insights regarding distinguished physicians from ancient and recent eras, categorizing them across their successive generations, and recording excerpts of their sayings, anecdotes, and titles of their books Kashf al-Zunun an Asami a…+1. He also incorporated biographies of philosophers and sages who engaged with the art of medicine, intending to reserve broader coverage of other theoretical scholars for his general history, Ma'alim al-Umam Kashf al-Zunun an Asami a…+1.

Structure and Content

The book is organized into fifteen chapters arranged chronologically and geographically, containing biographies of more than four hundred figures Majallat al-Muqtabas+1:

1. The origin and emergence of the art of medicine Majallat al-Muqtabas.
2. The early physicians who initiated branches of medicine Majallat al-Muqtabas.
3. Greek physicians descended from Asclepius Kashf al-Zunun an Asami a…+1.
4. Greek physicians among whom Hippocrates disseminated medical knowledge Majallat al-Muqtabas.
5. Physicians from the era of Galen and his contemporaries Kashf al-Zunun an Asami a…+1.
6. Alexandrian physicians and Christian medical practitioners of their times Majallat al-Muqtabas.
7. Arab and other physicians during the advent of Islam Majallat al-Muqtabas.
8. Syriac physicians during the early Abbasid Caliphate Majallat al-Muqtabas.
9. Translators who rendered medical and scientific works from Greek into Arabic, along with their patrons Majallat al-Muqtabas.
10. Physicians of Iraq, al-Jazira, and Diyar Bakr Majallat al-Muqtabas.
11. Physicians who appeared in Persia Majallat al-Muqtabas.
12. Physicians of India Majallat al-Muqtabas.
13. Physicians who arose or resided in the Maghrib and al-Andalus Majallat al-Muqtabas.
14. Prominent physicians of Egypt Majallat al-Muqtabas.
15. Prominent physicians of Syria, ordered by their death dates Majallat al-Muqtabas.

Within individual entries, Ibn Abi Usaybi'a documents biographical lineages, training, teachers, clinical anecdotes, ethical treatises, medical oaths, and detailed bibliographies of the subjects' written works Kashf al-Zunun an Asami a…+1.

Reception and Editions

Unlike the contemporary biographical dictionary Ikhbar al-Ulama bi-Akhbar al-Hukama by Ibn al-Qifti (d. 646 AH), which arranged scholars strictly in alphabetical order and favoured conciseness, Ibn Abi Usaybi'a arranged his material geographically and chronologically, providing substantial biographical depth Majallat al-Muqtabas. The text was abridged in later periods, including an extant summary titled Mukhtasar Uyun al-Anba fi Tabaqat al-Atibba preserved in a manuscript dated 820 AH Mujam Tarikh al-Turath al….

The book was first printed in two volumes in Cairo (1299 AH and 1329 AH) and in Germany in 1299 AH (1882–1884 CE) Mujam Tarikh al-Turath al…. It was subsequently re-edited and published in three volumes in Beirut in 1955, 1956, and 1965 Mujam Tarikh al-Turath al….