Manuscript/Mixed Material Kitāb zubdat al-ṭibb / / كتاب زبدة الطب /
About this Item
Title
- Kitāb zubdat al-ṭibb
Other Title
- /
- كتاب زبدة الطب /
Summary
- Text is an Arabic medical treatise in fomat of a symoptic chart in two parts: the first is devoted to theoretical medicine and discusses diagnosis by means of the pulse and urine; the second discusses anatomy and the treatment of disease. The second part is divided into 20 chapters and deals systematically with the anatomy and physiology of the human body and the treatment of disease.
- The author of this treatise, Isma'īl ibn Muhammad al-Husayn al-Jurjānī (circa 1042-1136), also known as al-Sayyid Isma'īl, was one of the most-famous physicians and prolific writers on medicine of his time. He was a student of the noted Persian physician Ibn Abī Sādiq Al-Nīšapūrī, who followed the teachings of Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) and was nicknamed Buqrāt al-tāni (The second Hippocrates). Thanks to his proficiency in medicine, al-Jurjānī was employed by the shahs of Khvarazm, Qutb al-Dīn Muhammad (1097-1127) and 'Azīz b. Muhammad (1127-56). The former commissioned him to compose a monumental medical encyclopedia in Persian, which became Zakhīrah-i Khvārazm'Shāhī (The treasure of Khvarazm'Shah). The tenth part of that work, on medicines both simple and compound, sometimes circulated as a separate treatise: Kitāb-i Qarabadhin, or Dakīra (The formulary), used by the shahs on their travels. The Kitāb Zubdat al-Tibb (The quintessence of medicine) is another al-Jurjānī medical manual, of which not many copies survive. This one is a very elegant and richly rubricated 17th-century manuscript. The first part of Zubdat al-Tibb is a treatise on theoretical medicine arranged in the form of tables, aimed at schematizing the diagnoses that can be made from analyses of the pulse and urine. In what follows, al-Jurjānī deals with human anatomy and the treatment of fevers. This large manuscript--a true compendium of the medical knowledge available to a 12th-century physician--includes other treatises by Al-Jurjānī devoted to the explanation of simple and composite drugs and to discussions of tumors, sexual intercourse and sexually transmittable illnesses, and poisons. World Digital Library.
Names
- Jurjānī, Ismāʻīl ibn Ḥasan, 1042 or 1043-1136 or 1137
- Ibn ʻUthmān, ʻUmar, former owner
- Yamanī, Maḥmūd ibn Ḥasan, former owner
Created / Published
- 25 Shaʻbān 1088 H [22 October 1677].
Contents
- The first part of the manuscript contains nine essays in 51 leaves, followed by Tash ́rīh aʻḍāʼ badan (anatomy of the human body; fol. 51a-98a); and Kitāb al- ḥummayāt (fevers; 98b-123a). The second part includes al-Muʻālajāt (medications), 20 essays on fol.123b-229a: al-Awrām (tumors), 6 essays (fol. 229b-240a); al-Zīnah (fol. 240a-246b) and al-Sumūm (toxins), 6 essays (fol. 247a-257b)
Headings
- - Manuscripts, Arabic--Washington (D.C.)
- - Medicine, Arab
Notes
- - Binding: old red leather decorated with blind tooling; repaired.
- - Fol. 1a-258a.
- - Library of Congress. Arabic manuscripts, SM-5.
- - Ms.
- - Names of former owners ʻUmar ibn ʻUthmān and Maḥmūd ibn Ḥasan al-Yamanī (?) on title page. Other partially erased ownership signatures on title page.
- - Naskhi script, with headings in thuluth; 18-33 lines in written area, 21 x 12 cm.
- - Paper: yellowed cream, of varying thickness, some with watermarks, damaged by termites; pages repaired. Red and black ink on title page and in text; few diacritical marks. The text is framed by a single red line; many tables written veritically or horizontally. Catchwords at bottom of rectos.
- - Fihris al-makhṭūṭāt al-ʻArabīyah fi Maktabat al-Kūnghris, 10.
- - Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress website.
- - Arabic.
- - Incipit: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم أما بعد حمد الله تعالى والثناء عليه والصلوة على رسوله المصطفى ونبيه المجتبى وعلى أله وأصحابه، فاعلم أن مبنى الطبيب مدار أمره وعلى معرفة حالتي بدن الإنسان من الصحة والمرض، ولا يتم معرفتها والاستدلال على كل واحد منهما إلا بمعرفة النبض والتنفس ومعرفة أحوال الأبوال والأتفال والعرق والنفث ...
Medium
- 257 leaves (18-33 lines), bound : paper ; 29 X 20 cm.
Call Number/Physical Location
- R128.3 .J87 1677
Digital Id
Library of Congress Control Number
- 2008401032
Online Format
- image