IBN AL-NAFIS
(H/DR Adeeb Ahmed, Karachi)
IBN AL-NAFIS
(1213-1288 C.E.)
Ala-al-Din Abu al-Hasan Ali Ibn Abi al-Hazm al-Qarshi al- Damashqi al-Misri was
born in 607 A.H. of Damascus. He was educated at the Medical
College-cum-Hospital founded by Nur al- Din Zangi. In medicine his teacher was
Muhaththab al-Din Abd al- Rahim. Apart from medicine, Ibn al-Nafis learnt
jurisprudence, literature and theology. He thus became a renowned expert on
Shafi'i School of Jurisprudence as well as a reputed physician.
After acquiring his expertise in medicine and jurisprudence, he moved to Cairo
where he was appointed as the Principal at the famous Nasri Hospital. Here he
imparted training to a large number of medical specialists, including Ibn al-Quff
al-Masihi, the famous surgeon. He also served at the Mansuriya School at Cairo.
When he died in 678 A.H. he donated his house, library and clinic to the
Mansuriya Hospital.
His major contribution lies in medicine. His approach comprised writing detailed
commentaries on early works, critically evaluating them and adding his own
original contribution. His major original contribution of great significance was
his discovery of the blood's circulatory system, which was re-discovered by
modern science after a lapse of three centuries. He was the first to correctly
describe the constitution of the lungs and gave a description of the bronchi and
the interaction between the human body's vessels for air and blood. Also, he
elaborated the function of the coronary arteries as feeding the cardiac muscle.
The most voluminous of his books is Al-Shamil fi al-Tibb, which was designed to
be an encyclopaedia comprising 300 volumes, but it could not be completed due to
his death. The manuscript is available at Damascus. His book on ophthalmology is
largely an original contribution and is also extant. However, his book that
became most famous was Mujaz al-Qanun and a number of commentaries were written
on this. His own commentaries include one on Hippocrates' book. He wrote several
volumes on Ibn Sina'sQanun, that are still extant. Likewise he wrote a
commentary on Hunayn Ibn Ishaq's book. Another famous book embodying his
original contribution was on the effects of diet on health. entitled Kitab al-Mukhtar
fi al-Aghdhiya.
Ibn Al-Nafis' works integrated the then existing medical know- ledge and
enriched it, thus exerting great influence on the development of medical
science, both in the East and the West. However, only one of his books was
translated into Latin at early stages and, therefore, a part of his work
remained unknown to Europe for a long time.