Chapter 15 Famous Syrian Physicians

15.1 Abū Naṣr al-Fārābī²

[15.1.1]

Abū Naṣr Muḥammad ibn Ūzlūgh ibn Ṭarkhān was a native of the town of Fārāb in a Turkish district of Khorasan. His father was an army officer of Persian origin who lived in Baghdad for some time before moving to Damascus, where he remained until his death.

Abū Naṣr al-Fārābī – may God have mercy upon him – was a consummate philosopher and a man of learning who was not only well-versed in the philosophic sciences but also excelled in the several domains of mathematics. He was pure of soul and highly intelligent. Moreover, he avoided worldly ambition and was content with the barest subsistence, living like one of the philosophers of antiquity. He was interested in the art of medicine, and was familiar with its general principles, but was not a practising physician, and did not attempt to address specific issues.

[15.1.1.1]

Sayf al-Dīn Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Abī ʿAlī l-Āmidī³ – may God have mercy upon him – told me that al-Fārābī had once been a keeper of a garden in Damascus. Even then, however, he had always occupied himself with the philosophical sciences, reflecting on them, studying the views of the ancients and elucidating their meanings. He found himself in such straitened circumstances that, when staying up all night to read and write books, he had to use his watchman’s lamp for light. He held that post for some time, but by degrees his situation improved: his merits became manifest and his writings came to be widely read. He acquired many disciples, became a leading authority in the domain of philosophy and was highly regarded. The emir Sayf al-Dawlah Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥamdān al-Taghlibī⁴ became his patron, bestowing great honour upon him, with the result that he enjoyed preference and became a man of importance.

[15.1.1.2]

I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – have copied the following from one of my learned teachers: Abū Naṣr al-Fārābī travelled to Egypt in the year 338/949, returned to Damascus in the month of Rajab of the year 339/950, during the caliphate of al-Rāḍī [bi-Allāh], to stay with Sayf al-Dawlah ʿAlī ibn Ḥamdān. Sayf al-Dawlah recited prayers for him in the presence of fifteen of his closest associates. It is said that of all the presents that were bestowed upon him [by Sayf al-Dawlah], he only accepted four dirhams daily, which he spent on the simple necessities of life. He attached no value whatever to ostentation, luxury or income, and he is said to have subsisted on nothing but a light broth made from lamb’s heart and an aromatic wine.⁵

[15.1.1.3]

It is said that he was once a judge, but that when he became aware of scientific knowledge, he renounced that occupation and devoted himself exclusively to the study of science. He took no interest in worldly matters: he is said to have left his house at night and visited the watchmen in order to read by the light of their lamps. He was also a student of the art of music and a performing musician, and in that domain too he attained an unsurpassed proficiency. He is said to have made a curious instrument with which he produced extraordinary melodies that would stir his hearers’ emotions. As regards the origin of his interest in philosophy, it is said that a certain man once left the complete works of Aristotle in his keeping. He chanced to look into them, found them congenial, and began to read them, nor did he put them down again until he had mastered them completely and become an accomplished philosopher in his own right.

[15.1.2]

I have transcribed the following passage from Abū Naṣr al-Fārābī’s own definition of the word ‘philosophy’:

The word ‘philosophy’ is Greek and has been adopted in the Arabic language. The original Greek word is ‘philosophia’, and it means ‘admiration for wisdom’. The term is composed of the words ‘philo’ and ‘sophia’, ‘philo’ meaning admiration and ‘sophia’ wisdom. The word ‘philosopher’ is derived from ‘philosophy’. The Greek term is ‘philosophos’. There are many words that are derived in that way in their language. A ‘philosopher’ is thus an ‘admirer of wisdom’. An ‘admirer of wisdom’ to them is one who makes wisdom his ultimate goal and sole end in life.

Abū Naṣr al-Fārābī relates the following account of the origins of philosophy.⁶ In his own words:

The study of philosophy became widespread during the days of the Greek kings. After the death of Aristotle, it was cultivated in Alexandria until the end of the woman’s reign.⁷ Subsequent to Aristotle’s demise, the teaching of the subject there remained unchanged throughout the reign of the thirteen [Ptolemaic] kings, under whom there were twelve successive teachers of philosophy, including one who was known by the name Andronicus [of Rhodes].

The last of these rulers was ‘the woman’ [Cleopatra]. Augustus, the emperor of the Romans, defeated and killed her and took possession of her kingdom. Once he had consolidated his rule, he looked through the libraries and reorganized them. There he found manuscripts of the works of Aristotle that dated from the lifetime of the author itself and that of Theophrastus [of Eresos], and he also discovered that later teachers and philosophers had composed works on the subjects which Aristotle discussed in an earlier age. Augustus ordered Andronicus to have copies made of the former, namely, works that were from the times of Aristotle and his disciples, so that they could serve for the teaching of philosophy, while the latter were to be discarded. Augustus said that he would take some of these copies to Rome with him, while others were to be left behind at the School of Alexandria, and he ordered Andronicus to designate a successor in Alexandria and to accompany him to Rome. From then on, philosophy was taught in both cities, and this remained the case until the advent of Christianity.

This put an end to the teaching of philosophy in Rome, but it continued to be pursued in Alexandria until the Christian emperor decided to look into it. The bishops gathered in solemn conclave to consider which parts of the canon should be deemed acceptable and which should be suppressed. In the end, they decided that all the material from the books of logic to the last part of the Prior Analytics [lit.: ‘the perceptual forms’, ‘the assertoric figures’⁸] should continue to be taught, but nothing beyond that, for fear that it might bring harm to Christianity. However, they imposed no restraints on anything that might promote the Christian faith. The approved works could be openly taught, whereas the rest could be taught only clandestinely.

Long afterward, after the advent of Islam, the teaching of philosophy migrated from Alexandria to Antioch, where it remained for a very long period. In the end, only one teacher was left. This person taught two men, who left the city and took the books with them. One of these men was a native of Ḥarrān, while the other was a native of Merv. The man from Merv taught two other men, one of whom was Ibrāhīm al-Marwazī⁹ and the other Yūḥannā ibn Ḥaylān.¹⁰ The Ḥarrānian man also instructed two other men, one of whom was Isrāʾīl, the bishop¹¹ and the other [Ibrāhīm] Quwayrī.¹² Both these men settled in Baghdad. Isrāʾīl devoted himself to religion, while Quwayrī began a career in teaching. Yūḥannā ibn Ḥaylān, for his part, applied himself to religion as well. Ibrāhīm al-Marwazī also moved to Baghdad, where one of his students was Mattā ibn Yūnān.¹³ At that time, the study of philosophy included the works of Aristotle as far as the last part of the Prior Analytics.

Abū Naṣr al-Fārābī said that he himself read philosophy with Yūḥannā ibn Ḥaylān as far as the end of the Book of Demonstration [that is, the Posterior Analytics]. That part of logic that remained unknown until the study of it was permitted, was called ‘beyond the Perceptual Forms’. Later on, Muslim scholars taught the whole of the corpus, from the last part of the Prior Analytics to the limit of what the student was able to master. Abū Naṣr al-Fārābī said that he had read it all as far as the end of the Book of Demonstration.

[15.1.3]

My paternal uncle, Rashīd al-Dīn Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Khalīfah¹⁴ – may God have mercy upon him – told me that al-Fārābī died, while he stayed with Sayf al-Dawlah ibn Ḥamdān in the month of Rajab of the year 339/950,¹⁵ and that he had studied philosophy with Yūḥannā ibn Ḥaylān in Baghdad in the days of [the caliph] al-Muqtadir. Moreover, he said, Abū Bishr Mattā ibn Yūnān was a contemporary of his. He was older than Abū Naṣr, but Abū Naṣr had a sharper intellect and was more eloquent. Abū Bishr Mattā studied under Ibrāhīm al-Marwazī and died during the caliphate of [the caliph] al-Rāḍī [bi-Allāh], between the years 323/934 and 329/940. Yūḥannā ibn Ḥaylān and Ibrāhīm al-Marwazī had studied under a man from Merv.

[15.1.3.1]

The shaykh Abū Sulaymān Muḥammad ibn Ṭāhir ibn Bahrām al-Sijistānī¹⁶ states in his Annotations that Yaḥyā ibn ʿAdī¹⁷ informed him that Mattā had read the Isagoge with a certain Christian and The Categories and the Peri Hermeneias with a man named Rūbīl,¹⁸ and that he had read the Book of Syllogisms [that is, the Prior Analytics] with Abū Yaḥyā al-Marwazī.¹⁹

[15.1.3.2]

The qadi Ṣāʿid ibn Aḥmad ibn Ṣāʿid²⁰ says in his Book of information on the Classes of Nations that al-Fārābī began the study of logic under Yūḥannā ibn Ḥaylān, who died in the ‘City of Peace [Baghdād]’ in the days of [the caliph] al-Muqtadir. He surpassed all Islamic scholars in that art with the incomparable depth of his knowledge, explaining its obscurities, exploring its secrets and facilitating understanding of it. Al-Fārābī brought together the essential elements of the art of logic in a series of works that provide a sound interpretation of the facts and are written in an intellectually refined style. In those works, he draws attention to those matters that [Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq] al-Kindī²¹ and others failed to analyse and elucidate in their teaching. The five methods of logic are clearly set forth, and the author advises the reader on methods of applying and utilizing them, and on the use of analogy with regard to each of them. In a word, his works on that subject are highly rewarding and most erudite.

Al-Fārābī wrote an admirable work entitled Enumeration of the Sciences and a Determination of their Aims,²² which is highly original, breaking new ground. It is indispensable as a model and an introduction for students of all sciences. In addition, al-Fārābī composed a work on the aims of Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy, which attests his proficiency in philosophy and his knowledge in the various scientific disciplines. This work is essential as a guide to methods of enquiry and procedures of investigation. It affords insight into the secrets and achievements of the several sciences, one by one, and demonstrates how the student can advance gradually from one to another. Beginning with the philosophy of Plato, al-Fārābī identifies its aims and sums up the author’s works in that field. Next, he turns to an exploration of the philosophy of Aristotle, first inserting an important introduction in which he explains how, step by step, he came to appreciate Aristotle’s writings. He, then, describes the aims pursued by Aristotle in his works on logic and physics, book by book, until (according to the copy that has come down to us) he concludes with the beginning of metaphysics and the method of drawing conclusions regarding it through physics. I know of no work that is more advantageous to the student of philosophy, because it explains the concepts common to all sciences while also distinguishing those that are specific to each particular science. Only through this work is it possible for a student to understand the meaning of the categories and to learn about the premises that form the basis of all the sciences.

Besides these, al-Fārābī wrote two other peerless works, one on metaphysics, entitled The Government of a State,²³ and the other on politics, entitled The Virtuous State [or, in full, Opinions of the People of the Ideal State].²⁴ In these works, the author uses the method of Aristotle to explain important parts of metaphysics: the six spiritual elements, how they give rise to the bodily substances, how these elements are arranged, and how they are linked with wisdom. He also presents us with the various categories of men and human psychical faculties, and draws a distinction between revelation and philosophy. In addition, he describes the different types of States, both virtuous and non-virtuous, and shows that every State stands in need of both a temporal ruler and prophetic laws.

[15.1.3.3]

I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – say: the historians tell us that al-Fārābī would meet with Abū Bakr ibn al-Sarrāj²⁵ and learn grammar from him, while in return Ibn al-Sarrāj would study the science of logic under al-Fārābī. Al-Fārābī also composed poetry. When he was asked: ‘Who is the greater [scholar], you or Aristotle?’, he replied: ‘Had I lived in his day I would certainly have been his best disciple’. He is also reported to have said: ‘I have read Aristotle’s Physics forty times, but I still feel the need to read it over and over again’.²⁶

[15.1.4]

The following prayer (duʿāʾ)²⁷ was composed by Abū Naṣr al-Fārābī: O God, I ask Thee, the necessarily existent, the cause of all causes, the Sempiternal, who wilt never cease to exist, that Thou preservest me from errors, and makest me place my hope in actions that Thou wilt approve. O God, bestow on me the virtues that Thou hast assembled and bless me in all my affairs. Grant me success in all my goals and quests.

O Lord of the seven running and sinking (planets),²⁸ that

gushed forth from the universe as from an artery(?):²⁹

They are the agents of His will, the virtues of which

encompass all substance.

Now I hope for good things from Thee whereas I have doubts(?)

about Saturn, Mercury’s soul, and Jupiter.³⁰

O God, clothe me in the dress of splendour, [let me share] the miracles of the prophets,³¹ the happiness of the wealthy, the wisdom of the sages and the humility of the God-fearing. O God, deliver me from the world of suffering and perdition. Make me one of the brethren of purity,³² those who keep their word, and who dwell in heaven together with the righteous and the martyrs. Thou art God, save whom there is no other God, the cause of all things and the light of earth and heaven; confer upon me a superabundance of the active intellect. O Lord of splendour and generosity, cleanse my soul with the lights of wisdom and grant me gratitude for all the grace Thou hast bestowed upon me. Let me see truth as it really is, and inspire me to follow it; let me see falsehood as it really is, and restrain me from believing in it or heeding it. Cleanse my soul from the clay of primordial matter. Thou art the First Cause.

O Cause of all things, through whom

they came into being, gushing forth from His emanation;

Lord of the heaven’s layers, centre

in their midst, of earth and rivers,

I pray to Thee, seeking protection as a sinner,

so forgive the error of a sinner who has fallen short;

Cleanse, with an emanation from Thee, Lord of All,

the turbidity of nature, its elements being my element.³³

O God, Lord of exalted beings, celestial bodies and heavenly spirits, Thy servant has been overcome by human desire, love of carnal appetites and lowly matters; so make Thy protection my shield against confusion and insanity, and make Thy power a fortress for me against shortcoming. Thou hast comprehensive knowledge of everything. O God, save me from the bonds of the four natural dispositions. Take me to Thy most spacious abode at Thy most elevated rank. O God, make sufficiency the cause of the severance of reprehensible relations between me, earthly bodies and universal concerns, and make wisdom the means whereby my soul shall be united with the divine world and the heavenly spirits. O God, cleanse my soul with the holy spirit that is exalted, enrich³⁴ my intellect and my senses with profound wisdom, and make my companionship be with the angels instead of the natural world. O God, inspire me with Thy right guidance, strengthen my faith with devoutness, and make me averse from love for the [material] world. O God, give me strength to vanquish transitory desires, cause my soul to enter the dwellings of the eternal souls and make it one of the precious gems [that dwell] in lofty gardens. Mayest Thou be praised. O God, who has preceded the existing beings who speak with silent language and utter spoken words. Verily, Thou hast bestowed wisdom on all those who deserve it, and Thou hast created their existence in place of their [former] nonexistence by grace and mercy. Those endowed with the essences and accidentia are worthy of Thy blessings and praise Thee for the excellence of Thy beneficence: «And there is naught but it glorifies Him with praising, but you [people] do not understand their glorification of God».³⁵ O God be praised. Thou art the sublime. ‘Verily, God is the One, the Unique, the Eternal. He neither begot anyone, nor was he begotten. And no one has ever been comparable unto him’.³⁶ O Lord, Thou hast imprisoned my soul in a cell [made out of] the four elements, and Thou hast appointed a beast of prey to kill it because of its desires. O God, grant it protection and be favourably disposed to [my] soul with [Thy] mercy that is most becoming to Thee, and with Thine abundant generosity that befits Thee and is most natural to Thee. Weaken the desires of the soul with penitence, so that the soul can return to the heavenly world. Hasten the soul to return to its sacred place and, over its darkness, let rise a sun of the active intellect. Draw out from it the gloom of ignorance and misguidance, and bring its potential into reality. Bring it out of the darkness of ignorance to the light of wisdom and the bright light of the intellect. God, be near to those who believe and bring them out from the darkness into the light. O God, let my soul become acquainted in my sleep with the forms and shapes of what is virtuous and transcendental, and replace what is confused and muddled in my dreams with visions of good things and glad tidings. Purify my soul from the squalor that affected it through that which is perceptible by the senses and through delusions. Draw out from it the turbidity of nature and let it dwell in the world of the high-ranking souls. God is He who has shown me the right way, made up for my shortcomings and sheltered me.

Among the poetry composed by Abū Naṣr al-Fārābī is the following:³⁷

When I saw the Times were in relapse

and there was no use in company,³⁸

Every leader (raʾīs) being bored

and every head (raʾs) having a headache,

I stayed at home and preserved a reputation

in which I had sufficient glory,

Drinking from the wine (rāḥan) I had acquired,

which cast its rays on my hand (rāḥatī),

While its bottles (qawārīrihā) were my drinking companions

and its bubbling (qarāqīrihā) was my music,

And I gleaned reports about people

whose abodes had become deserted.

He also said:³⁹

My friend, leave the domain of falsehood

and be in the domain of truths.

Our abode is not an eternal abode,

and no man on earth can perform miracles.

What are we but lines that have fallen

on a sphere,⁴⁰ hurriedly?

This one competes with that one, on the basis of

less than a succinct word.

The circumference of the heavens would be more fitting for us,

so how long must this jostling in the centre last?⁴¹

[15.1.5]

Abū Naṣr al-Fārābī is the author of the following books:

1. Commentary on the Almagest of Ptolemy (S. kitāb al-Majisṭī li-Baṭlamyūs).⁴²

2. Commentary on the Book of Demonstration [Posterior Analytics] by Aristotle (S. kitāb al-burhān li-Arisṭūṭālīs).⁴³

3. Commentary on Aristotle’s Book of Rhetoric [Rhetorica] (S. kitāb al-khiṭābah li-Arisṭūṭālīs).⁴⁴

4. Commentary on the second and eighth chapter of Aristotle’s Book of Dialectics [Topica] (S. al-maqālah al-thāniyah wa-l-thāminah min kitāb al-jadal li-Arisṭūṭālīs).⁴⁵

5. Commentary on the Book of Sophistics [Sophistica] by Aristotle (S. kitāb al-mughālatah li-Arisṭūṭālīs).⁴⁶

6. Commentary on Aristotle’s Book of Syllogisms [Prior Analytics]. This is the large commentary (S. kitāb al-qiyās li-Arisṭūṭālīs wa-huwa al-sharḥ al-kabīr).⁴⁷

7. Annotated commentary on Aristotle’s Peri Hermeneias [i.e., On Interpretation] (S. kitāb Bārīmīnyās li-Arisṭūṭālīs ʿalā jihat al-taʿlīq).⁴⁸

8. An annotated commentary of Aristotle’s Book of Categories (S. kitāb al-maqūlāt li-Arisṭūṭālīs ʿalā jihat al-taʿlīq).⁴⁹

9. The greater compendium on logic (K. al-mukhtaṣar al-kabīr fī l-manṭiq).⁵⁰

10. The lesser compendium on logic, following the method of the scholastic theologians (K. al-mukhtaṣar al-ṣaghīr fī l-manṭiq ʿalā ṭarīqat al-mutakallimīn).⁵¹

11. The middle compendium on Syllogisms (K. al-mukhtaṣar al-awsaṭ fī l-qiyās).⁵²

12. Introduction to logic (K. al-tawṭiʾah fī l-manṭiq).⁵³

13. A commentary on Porphyry’s Isagoge, which explains the concepts and contents of that work (S. kitāb Īsāghūjī li-Furfūriyyūs).⁵⁴

14. The lesser book on syllogisms (K. al-qiyās al-ṣaghīr). A copy of this book in al-Fārābī’s own handwriting is extant. It is entitled Enumeration of the propositions and analogies, which are generally employed in all syllogistical sciences (Iḥṣāʾ al-qaḍāyā wa-l-qiyāsāt allatī tustaʿmalu ʿalā l-ʿumūm fī jamīʿ al-ṣanāʾiʿ al-qiyāsiyyah).⁵⁵

15. On the conditions of syllogisms (K. shurūṭ al-qiyās).⁵⁶

16. The book of demonstration (K. al-burhān).⁵⁷

17. The book of dialectics (K. al-jadal).⁵⁸

18. Selections from the eighth chapter of the Book of Dialectics (K. al-mawāḍiʿ al-muntazaʿah min al-maqālah al-thāminah fī l-jadal).⁵⁹

19. Selections from the deceiving science [Sophistica] (K. al-mawāḍiʿ al-mughallaṭah).⁶⁰

20. On the acquisition of premises, which is [also] entitled Topica. It [contains] an analysis (K. iktisāb al-muqaddimāt).⁶¹

21. On the premises that consist of the existential and the essential (Kalām fī l-muqaddimāt al-mukhtaliṭah min wujūdī wa-ḍarūrī).⁶²

22. On vacuum (Kalām fī l-khalāʾ).⁶³

23. Preface to the Book of Rhetoric (Ṣadr li-kitāb al-khiṭābah).⁶⁴

24. Annotated commentary on Aristotle’s Book of Physics [Auscultatio Physica] (S. kitāb al-samāʿ al-ṭabīʿī li-Arisṭūṭālīs ʿalā jihat al-taʿlīq).⁶⁵

25. Annotated commentary on Aristotle’s Book on the Heaven and the Earth [De Caelo et Mundi] (S. kitāb al-samāʾ wa-l-ʿālam li-Arisṭūṭālīs ʿalā jihat al-taʿlīq).⁶⁶

26. Annotated commentary on Aristotle’s Book of Meteorology (S. kitāb al-āthār al-ʿulwiyyah li-Arisṭūṭālīs ʿalā jihat al-taʿlīq).⁶⁷

27. Annotated commentary on The Discourse on the Soul by Alexander of Aphrodisias (S. maqālah al-Iskandar al-Afrūdīsī fī l-nafs ʿalā jihat al-taʿlīq).⁶⁸

28. A commentary on the preface of Aristotle’s Book of Ethics (S. ṣadr kitāb al-akhlāq li-Arisṭūṭālīs).⁶⁹

29. On laws (K. fī l-nawāmīs).⁷⁰

30. On the enumeration and ordering of sciences (K. iḥṣāʾ al-ʿulūm wa-tartībihā).⁷¹

31. On the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle (K. al-falsafatayn li-Aflāṭun wa-Arisṭūṭālīs).⁷² The second was left incomplete.

32. On the virtuous State, the ignorant State, the sinful State, the modified State and the misguided State (K. al-madīnah al-fāḍilah wa-l-madīnah al-jāhilah wa-l-madīnah al-fāsiqah wa-l-madīnah al-mubaddalah wa-l-madīnah al-ḍāllah).⁷³ Al-Fārābī began to compose this book in Baghdad, carried it with him to Syria at the end of the year 330/942, and completed and revised it in Damascus in the year 331/942–943. Subsequently, he again looked at the manuscript and inserted the chapter [headings]. Later, someone asked him to add subheadings to indicate the division of subjects, and this he did in Cairo in the year 337/948, dividing the book into six subsections.

33. On the opinions of the people of the virtuous State (K. mabādiʾ ārāʾ al-madīnah al-fāḍilah).⁷⁴

34. On words and letters (K. al-alfāẓ wa-l-ḥurūf).⁷⁵

35. The greater work on music,⁷⁶ dedicated to the vizier Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim al-Karkhī (K. al-mūsīqī al-kabīr).

36. On the classification of rhythm (K. fī iḥṣāʾ al-īqāʿ).⁷⁷

37. Discourse on the transposition [of music],⁷⁸ which is a supplement to On the classification of rhythm (Kalām lahu fī l-naqlah muḍāfan ilā l-īqāʿ).

38. Discourse on music, a compendium (Kalām fī l-mūsīqī, mukhtaṣar).⁷⁹

39. Philosophical aphorisms culled from the books of the philosophers (Fuṣūl falsafiyyah muntazaʿah min kutub al-falāsifah).⁸⁰

40. On human principles (K. al-mabādiʾ al-insāniyyah).⁸¹

41. Refutation of Galen’s explanation of [some of] the sayings of Aristotle that contradict their true meaning (K. al-radd ʿalā Jālīnūs fīmā taʾawwalahu min kalām Arisṭūṭālīs ʿalā ghayr maʿnāhu).⁸²

42. Refutation of Ibn al-Rāwandī with regard to the rules of argumentation (K. al-radd ʿalā Ibn al-Rāwandī fī adab al-jadal).⁸³

43. Refutation of Yaḥyā the Grammarian’s [John Philoponus’s] objections to Aristotle’s [writings] (K. al-radd ʿalā Yaḥyā al-Naḥwī fīmā radda bihi ʿalā Arisṭūṭālīs).⁸⁴

44. Refutation of al-Rāzī, on metaphysics (K. al-radd ʿalā al-Rāzī fī l-ʿilm al-ilāhī).⁸⁵

45. On the One and the Oneness (K. al-wāḥid wa-l-waḥdah).⁸⁶

46. Discourse on extent and measure (Kalām fī l-ḥayyiz wa-l-miqdār).⁸⁷

47. The lesser work on the intellect (K. fī l-ʿaql ṣaghīr).⁸⁸

48. The greater work on the intellect (K. fī l-ʿaql kabīr).⁸⁹

49. Discourse on the meaning of the word philosophy (Kalām fī maʿnā ism al-falsafah).⁹⁰

50. On the existing things that are subject to change, discussed in terms of physics (K. al-mawjūdāt al-mutaghayyirah al-mawsūm bi-l-kalām al-ṭabīʿī).⁹¹

51. On the conditions of syllogistic demonstration (K. sharāʾiṭ al-burhān).⁹²

52. Discourse on the explanation of the incomprehensible in the introduction to the first and fifth chapter of Euclid’s [book] (Kalām lahu fī sharḥ al-mustaghlaq min muṣādarāt al-maqālah al-ūlā wa-l-khāmisah min Iqlīdis).⁹³

53. Discourse on the compatibility between the opinions of Hippocrates and Plato (K. fī ittifāq ārāʾ Abuqrāṭ wa-Aflāṭun).⁹⁴

54. Epistle directing attention to the causes of happiness (R. fī l-tanbīh ʿalā asbāb al-saʿādah).⁹⁵

55. Discourse on the atom and that which is divisible (Kalām fī l-juzʾ wa-mā yatajazzaʾu).⁹⁶

56. Discourse on the word philosophy, the reason for the emergence of philosophy, the names of those who have been prominent in it and of those who taught philosophy (Kalām fī ism al-falsafah wa-sabab ẓuhūrihā wa-asmāʾ al-mubarrizīn fīhā wa-ʿalā man qarāʾa minhum).⁹⁷

57. Discourse on the jinn [i.e., demons] (Kalām fī l-jinn).⁹⁸

58. Discourse on substance (Kalām fī l-jawhar).⁹⁹

59. On political enquiry (K. fī l-faḥṣ al-madanī).¹⁰⁰

60. On the government of a State, also known as The Foundations of Existing Things (K. al-siyāsāt al-madaniyyah wa-yuʿrafu bi-mabādiʾ al-mawjūdāt).¹⁰¹

61. On religion and law, a political discourse (Kalām fī l-millah wa-l-fiqh madanī).¹⁰²

62. Discourse [containing] a collection of sayings of the Prophet [Muḥammad], may God bless him and grant him salvation, relating to the art of logic (Kalām jamaʿahu min aqāwīl al-nabīy yushīru fīhi ilā ṣināʾat al-manṭiq).¹⁰³

63. On rhetoric (large work in twenty volumes) (K. fī l-khiṭābah kabīr).¹⁰⁴

64. Epistle on military leaders[hip] (R. fī qawd al-juyūsh).¹⁰⁵

65. Discourse on livelihood and warfare (Kalām fī l-maʿāyish wa-l-ḥurūb).¹⁰⁶

66. On the influence of the heavenly spheres (K. fī taʾthīrāt al-ʿulwiyyah).¹⁰⁷

67. Treatise on the correct manner of discussing astrology (M. fī l-jihah allatī yaṣiḥḥu ʿalayhā al-qawl bi-aḥkām al-nujūm).¹⁰⁸

68. On aphorisms culled from compilations (K. fī l-fuṣūl al-muntazaʿah lil-ijtimāʿāt).¹⁰⁹

69. On contrivances and laws (K. fī l-ḥiyal wa-l-nawāmīs).¹¹⁰

70. Discourse on dreams (Kalām lahu fī l-ruʾyā).¹¹¹

71. On the art of penmanship (K. fī ṣināʿat al-kitābah).¹¹²

72. Annotated commentary on Aristotle’s Book of Demonstration,¹¹³ dictated by al-Fārābī to Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAdī,¹¹⁴ who was a disciple of his in Aleppo (S. kitāb al-burhān li-Arisṭūṭālīs ʿalā ṭarīqat al-taʿlīq).

73. Discourse on metaphysics (Kalām lahu fī l-ʿilm al-ilāhī).¹¹⁵

74. Commentary on obscure passages in Aristotle’s Book of Categories (S. al-mawāḍiʿ al-mustaghliqah min kitāb Qāṭīghūriyyās li-Arisṭūṭālīs).¹¹⁶ This [book] has become known as Marginal Explanatory Remarks (Taʿlīqāt al-ḥawāshī).

75. Discourse on the parts of animals (Kalām fī aʿḍāʾ al-ḥayawān).¹¹⁷

76. A Compendium of all works on logic (K. mukhtaṣar jamīʿ al-kutub al-manṭiqiyyah).¹¹⁸

77. Introduction to logic (K. al-mudkhal ilā l-manṭiq).¹¹⁹

78. On a middle way between Aristotle and Galen (K. al-tawassuṭ bayna Arisṭūṭālīs wa-Jālīnūs).¹²⁰

79. On the purpose of the categories (K. gharaḍ al-maqūlāt).¹²¹

80. Discourse on poetry and rhyme (Kalām lahu fī l-shiʿr wa-l-qawāfī).¹²²

81. Annotated commentary on Aristotle’s Peri Hermeneias (S. kitāb al-ʿibārah li-Arisṭūṭālīs ʿalā jihat al-taʿlīq).¹²³

82. Explanatory remarks on the book of syllogisms (Taʿālīq ʿalā kitāb al-qiyās).¹²⁴

83. On the finite and infinite force (K. fī quwwah al-mutanāhiyah wa-ghayr mutanāhiyah).¹²⁵

84. Explanatory remark on the stars (Taʿlīq lahu fī l-nujūm).¹²⁶

85. On what needs to be known prior to [the study of] philosophy (K. fī l-ashyāʾ allatī taḥtāju an tuʿlama qabla l-falsafah).¹²⁷

86. Aphorisms that he collected from the sayings of the ancients (Fuṣūl lahu mimmā jamaʿahu min kalām al-qudamāʾ).¹²⁸

87. On the aims [pursued by] Aristotle in each of his books (K. fī aghrāḍ Arisṭūṭālīs fī kull wāḥid min kutubihi).¹²⁹

88. Concise work on inferences (K. al-maqāyīs mukhtaṣaran).¹³⁰

89. On right guidance (K. al-hudā).¹³¹

90. On languages (K. fī l-lughāt).¹³²

91. On political assemblies (K. fī l-ijtimāʾāt al-madaniyyah).¹³³

92. Treatise in which it is explained that the movement of the spheres is perpetual (Kalām fī anna ḥarakat al-falak dāʾimah).¹³⁴

93. Treatise on whether it befits the teacher to criticise the pupil (Kalām fīmā yaṣluḥu an yadhumma al-muʾaddib).¹³⁵

94. Discourse on the vital parts, the interior parts and others (Kalām fī maʿālīq wa-l-jawwān wa-ghayr dhālika).¹³⁶

95. Discourse on the requirements of philosophy (Kalām fī lawāzim al-falsafah).¹³⁷

96. Epistle on the necessity of the art of alchemy and the refutation of those who seek to abolish it (M. fī wujūb ṣināʿat al-kīmiyāʾ wa-l-radd ʿalā mubṭilīhā).¹³⁸

97. Epistle on the aims [pursued by] Aristotle in every chapter of his book, which is marked with the letters of the [Greek] alphabet (M. fī aghrāḍ Arisṭūṭālīs fī kull maqālah min kitābihi al-mawsūm bi-l-ḥurūf).¹³⁹ This [epistle] examines the purpose of his Book on Metaphysics (K. mā baʿd al-ṭabīʿah).

98. On the claims ascribed to Aristotle with regard to philosophy, with the supporting evidence and proof omitted (K. fī l-daʿāwā al-mansūbah ilā Arisṭūṭālīs fī l-falsafah mujarradah ʿan bayānātihā wa-ḥujajihā).¹⁴⁰

99. Notes on wisdom (Taʿālīq fī l-ḥikmah).¹⁴¹

100. Discourse dictated to a person who posed a question about the meaning of [the terms] ‘self’, ‘substance’ and ‘nature’ (Kalām amlāhu ʿalā sāʾil saʾalahu ʿan maʿnā dhāt wa-maʿnā jawhar wa-maʿnā ṭabīʿah).¹⁴²

101. On the summa of politics (K. jawāmiʿ al-siyāsah).¹⁴³

102. Compendium of Aristotle’s Peri Hermeneias (Mukhtaṣar kitāb Bārīmīnyās li-Arisṭūṭālīs).¹⁴⁴

103. Introduction to what is supposed to be geometry. A compendium (K. al-mudkhal ilā l-handasah al-wahmiyyah mukhtaṣaran).¹⁴⁵

104. The book of essential questions, according to Aristotle (K. ʿuyūn al-masāʾil ʿalā raʾy Arisṭūṭālīs), comprising 160 questions.¹⁴⁶

105. Answers to questions that he had been asked (Jawābātuhu li-masāʾil suʾila ʿanhā), comprising 23 questions.¹⁴⁷

106. On the classes of simple things that are divided into categories in all the syllogistic arts (K. aṣnāf al-ashyāʾ al-basīṭah allatī tanqasimu ilayhā al-qaḍāyā fī jamīʿ al-ṣanāʾiʿ al-qiyāsiyyah).¹⁴⁸

107. Summary of Plato’s Book of Laws (Jawāmiʿ kitāb al-nawāmīs li-Aflāṭun).¹⁴⁹

108. Discourse that al-Fārābī dictated after he had been asked what Aristotle had said about hot substances (Kalām min imlāʾihi wa-qad suʾila ʿammā qāla Arisṭūṭālīs fī l-ḥārr).¹⁵⁰

109. Notes on Aristotle’s Prior Analytics (Taʿlīqāt anālūṭīqā al-ūlā li-Arisṭūṭālīs).¹⁵¹

110. On absolute preconditions (K. sharāʾiṭ al-yaqīn).¹⁵²

111. Treatise on the quiddity of the soul (R. fī māhiyyat al-nafs).¹⁵³

112. On physics (K. al-samāʿ al-ṭabīʿī).¹⁵⁴

15.2 ʿĪsā al-Raqqī¹⁵⁵

ʿĪsā al-Raqqī,¹⁵⁶ known as al-Tiflīsī, was a physician who enjoyed great renown during his lifetime. He was a master of the art of medicine and an expert practitioner whose treatments were spectacular. ʿĪsā al-Raqqī was in the service of Sayf al-Dawlah ibn Ḥamdān as one of his [court] physicians.¹⁵⁷ The following anecdote is quoted from ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Jibrīl.¹⁵⁸ ‘I have been informed by a reliable person’, he says, ‘that whenever Sayf al-Dawlah sat down to a meal, twenty-four physicians were present at his table. Some of them received two salaries because they were skilled in two domains, while others were paid triple because they were expert in three. Now, one of these physicians was ʿĪsā al-Raqqī, who was known as al-Tiflīsī. He had a pleasant way with him, and he was the author of a number of medical works and [books on] other subjects. He was also a translator working from Syriac into Arabic. ʿĪsā al-Raqqī was paid four salaries, one for his medical work, one for his translation activities, and the others for his expertise in two other domains’.

15.3 al-Yabrūdī¹⁵⁹

[15.3.1]

Al-Yabrūdī – that is, Abū l-Faraj Jūrjis ibn Yūḥannā ibn Sahl ibn Ibrāhīm – was a Jacobite Christian. He excelled in the art of medicine, being thoroughly acquainted both with its theoretical basis and with its practical application, and was considered one of the most respected and outstanding representatives of that art. He was always busy working, was very fond of studying and held virtue in high esteem.

Sharaf al-Dīn ibn ʿUnayn¹⁶⁰ – may God have mercy upon him – told me that al-Yabrūdī was always busy studying and was never weary of it. ‘At all times’, he said, ‘he could be found reading a book’.

A Christian of Damascus, the physician al-Sanī al-Baʿlabakkī told me that al-Yabrūdī was born and spent the first years of his life in Yabrūd, a large village near Ṣaydnāyā, where many Christians live. In that village, al-Yabrūdī, like the other Christian inhabitants, engaged in agricultural work and in crop production. He also collected wormwood in an outlying district of Damascus that was near to his home, loaded it on the back of a pack animal, and brought it to the city, where he sold it to be used as fuel for heating baking ovens and other such purposes. One day, as he was coming in through the Tūmā Gate with a load of wormwood, he saw a person whose nose was bleeding profusely being bled by an elderly doctor on the other side of his body, the side opposite the place from which the blood was escaping. He stopped and watched the doctor and then asked him: ‘Why are you bleeding this person, when the quantity of blood escaping from his nose is more than sufficient?’ The doctor replied that he was doing so in order to staunch the flow of blood from the nose by drawing the blood to the side of [the man’s] body opposite the place from which the blood was escaping. ‘Ah?’ said al-Yabrūdī: ‘Where I come from, when we wish to divert a stream, it is our practice to dig an outlet in a new direction, but one that is not directly opposite to that of the old bed. The water then ceases to flow in the old bed and passes into the new one. Why not adopt a similar procedure and bleed from the other side?’ The elderly doctor did so, and the man’s nosebleed stopped. Seeing from al-Yabrūdī’s question that he was keen of understanding, the doctor said, ‘if you devote yourself to the art of medicine, you will become a good physician’.

Al-Yabrūdī took his words to heart and became thirsty for knowledge. He returned to the old physician regularly, and the physician taught him a number of treatments. Subsequently, he left Yabrūd and his former life there and moved to Damascus to study the art of medicine. It was not long before he had acquired a first-hand knowledge of that art, mastered scientific principles, treated the sick as best as he could, and observed various diseases, together with their causes and symptoms and the several ways of treating patients. Upon enquiring who was the most outstanding contemporary authority in the matter of knowledge of the art of medicine, he was told that in Baghdad there was a man by the name of Abū l-Faraj ibn al-Ṭayyib,¹⁶¹ the secretary of the Catholicos, who was a versatile philosopher and an experienced and erudite man in the art of medicine and other branches of science. At once he made preparations for a journey, took a bracelet that had belonged to his mother to pay for his expenses and went to Baghdad. Using the bracelet to provide for his daily needs, he studied under Ibn al-Ṭayyib, until he became proficient in the art of medicine, investigated it at length, and acquired an extensive knowledge of it. He also occupied himself with logic and other philosophical disciplines. Eventually, however, he returned to Damascus, never to leave it again.

[15.3.1.1]

A story similar to the preceding one, although not quite the same, is attributed to my wise teacher, Muhadhdhab al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn ʿAlī:¹⁶²

I have heard from Muwaffaq al-Dīn Asʿad ibn Ilyās ibn al-Muṭrān,¹⁶³ who cites his father, who was informed by Abū l-Faraj ibn al-Ḥadīd, who cites Abū l-Karam, the physician, who was informed by his father Abū l-Rajāʾ, who heard from his grandfather that there lived in Damascus a bloodletter named Abū l-Khayr, who was not accounted one of the most skilful practitioners of his trade. It [once] happened that when bleeding a young man, he cut the artery. He became confused and panicky; he attempted to staunch the blood, but was unable to do so. As a crowd gathered, a young boy appeared at his side and said: ‘Uncle, bleed him at the other arm’. Grateful for any advice, the operator bled his patient’s other arm. The boy then said, ‘Bind up the first incision’, and the operator did so, using a bandage that he had about him. When he tightened it, the flow of blood stopped. He then closed the other incision, whereupon the flow of blood was checked and finally ceased altogether.

Some time later, the bloodletter saw the same youth driving a pack animal with a load of wormwood. The bloodletter stopped him and said, ‘How did you know what to advise me [to do]?’ ‘I have sometimes seen my father irrigating his vineyard,’ said the youth, ‘when [suddenly] a breach opens in an irrigation channel and the water goes gushing out. My father is not able to stop it only if he makes another opening that will reduce the volume of water pouring out through the breach. Only then can he close the breach’. At this, the surgeon told him to give up selling wormwood, took him under his wing and taught him the art of medicine. Thanks to this incident, al-Yabrūdī became one of the most celebrated and erudite physicians [of his time].

[15.3.1.2]

I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – say: al-Yabrūdī corresponded regularly with Ibn Riḍwān¹⁶⁴ of Cairo and other Egyptian physicians, asking them various questions on medical matters and engaging them in discussions on particular subjects. He copied a very large number of medical books personally, including in particular the books of Galen, commentaries on them and compilations of them. Moreover, I have heard from al-Sanī al-Baʿlabakkī that one day al-Yabrūdī was crossing Jayrūn market in Damascus when he saw a person undertake to eat several raṭls of boiled horse meat, of the quality that is sold in the markets, for a bet. As al-Yabrūdī watched, this person ate far too much, overloading his stomach, and then drank a lot of beer and ice-water, causing his condition to become [severely] perturbed. Al-Yabrūdī then realized that the man would soon lose consciousness, and if left in that condition, he would be in danger of death. He therefore followed the man to his house to see how his condition would develop. A very short time later, his family began to weep and wail, for they thought that he had died. Al-Yabrūdī went to them and said, ‘I shall cure him. There is nothing wrong with him’. Then he brought him to a nearby bathhouse, gently pried his jaws open, and poured some boiled water containing a mild emetic down his throat. This brought on moderate vomiting. Al-Yabrūdī then proceeded to give him supportive treatment, until he regained consciousness and proved to be restored to health. The family were astonished at what he, al-Yabrūdī, had done and [praised] the wonderful way in which he came to the man’s rescue. This affair became well-known and did much to establish his fame. I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – say: this story indicates that al-Yabrūdī, by studying the man’s condition and observing what happened to him, had read his symptoms accurately and realized that he could save him if he could treat him in time.

[15.3.1.3]

A similar story is related by Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī l-Ashʿath¹⁶⁵ – may God have mercy upon him – in his book On Food and Nutrition. In his own words:

One day I saw a man making a bet with someone that he could eat a certain quantity of carrots.¹⁶⁶ I stayed and watched to see what would happen to him, not because it was my wish to have social intercourse with people of that kind, nor because it was something that I was accustomed to do. God no! But I wanted to see what would happen if a lot of food was forced into his stomach. He ate his carrots while sitting on a wall so that he could see everyone standing around him and was able to jest with them. When he had eaten the greater part of them, I observed that the masticated carrots were coming back into his throat in the form of a stringy, pulpy mass impregnated with saliva. His eyeballs protruded, his breathing stopped, his face turned red, his jugular veins and the veins of his head became engorged with blood, and then his face darkened and turned ashen. He retched more than he vomited, but finally threw up much of what he had eaten. I understood from this that his breathing had stopped because the stomach was pressing the diaphragm towards the mouth and preventing it from returning to its state of expansion for [the purpose of] respiration. As to the fact that his colour reddened and his jugular and [other] veins became engorged with blood, I presumed that this was caused by the natural flow [of the blood] towards the head, as happens to someone whose arm is bandaged for bleeding. In the latter case, the natural flow [of the blood] goes in the direction in which it is stimulated to go. As to the fact that his face subsequently darkened and turned ashen, I must presume that the cause of it was the poor temperament of his heart. If he had not vomited as much as he did, if the stomach had [continued to] press on the diaphragm so that he was prevented from breathing altogether, he would have died of strangulation [asphyxia], as we have seen in many who have died as a result of vomiting. As to the fact that he retched more than he vomited, I understood that the retching was caused by the severity of the disturbance of the stomach.

It thus appears (Ibn Abī l-Ashʿath continues) that when food enters the stomach in large quantities, it causes [the stomach] to stretch and all its folds to expand, as I once saw when dissecting a beast of prey¹⁶⁷ live in the presence of the emir al-Ghaḍanfar.¹⁶⁸ One of those who were present [on that occasion] pronounced the animal’s stomach to be small. But then I began to pour water into its mouth. We kept on [pouring] one jugful after another down its throat, until we had poured in some forty raṭl. Upon examination, I observed that the inner layer [of the stomach] had stretched until its surface had become as smooth as the surface of the outer layer. I then perforated [the stomach], and once the water had come out, the stomach contracted and the folds of the interior returned to their original state, as did the pylorus. As God is my witness, after all this, the animal was still alive.

[15.3.1.4]

I heard the following account from shaykh Muhadhdhab al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn ʿAlī who heard it from Muwaffaq al-Dīn Asʿad ibn Ilyās ibn al-Muṭrān, who had it from his father, who had it from his maternal uncle Abū l-Faraj ibn Ḥayyān, who had heard it from Abū l-Karam, the physician, who reported it on the authority of his father and grandfather. The last said:

One day, as I was walking by the side of Abū l-Faraj al-Yabrūdī, a man blocked his way and said, ‘Master, I have been at the baths as is my regular practice, and had my head shaved, and now I find my face all swollen and burning intensely’. We examined his face and found that it was bloated, swelling and turning redder and redder, but [all at once] not progressively or gradually. The physician ordered the man to uncover his head and to throw water on it from a pipe that he carried with him. It was the middle of winter and the cold was intense, but the physician stood there until the man had done as he had ordered. He then told him to go home, adding that he would be well advised to follow a mild diet, apply a cooling acidic compress, and cut down on greasy food. In this way, al-Yabrūdī saved him the man from a variety of unpleasant consequences.

[15.3.1.5]

In his book The Lamp of Kings¹⁶⁹ al-Ṭurṭūshī relates an account told to him by a Syrian about a baker who was making bread in his oven in the city of Damascus, when a man came by, selling apricots. The baker bought some and began to eat them with hot bread. No sooner had he finished than he fell unconscious and appeared to be dead. People flocked around him, brought in physicians and searched for signs and indications of life, but found none, and concluded that he must be dead. He was washed and wrapped in a shroud, prayers were recited, and then the man was carried to the cemetery. As the procession was passing the city gate, it met a physician, a man by the name of al-Yabrūdī who was a skilfull, intelligent and a wise physician. He heard the people discussing the matter and asked them about it. When he had heard what had happened, he said, ‘Put him down so that I can take a look at him’. They put him down, and the physician turned him over, looking for signs of life. He then opened the man’s mouth and made him swallow something (or, according to another account, administered him an enema), whereupon the food he had eaten was [immediately] expelled, so that he was rid of it. The man opened his eyes and spoke, and then returned to his shop. Al-Yabrūdī died in Damascus in the year … [blank] and was buried in the Jacobite church there near the Tūmā Gate.

[15.3.1.6]

The learned Muhadhdhab al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn ʿAlī told me the following story, which he said he had heard from Muwaffaq al-Dīn Asʿad ibn Ilyās ibn al-Muṭrān, who had heard it from his maternal uncle, who had had it from his father, who heard it from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rajāʾ ibn Yaʿqūb, who heard it from Ibn al-Kattānī, who was at that time prefect in Damascus. According to Ibn al-Kattānī’s account, when Abū l-Faraj Jūrjis ibn Yūḥannā al-Yabrūdī died, his estate was found to consist of three hundred Byzantine coins made into a single chalice,¹⁷⁰ and five hundred pieces of silver, of which the finest specimen [was valued] at three hundred dirhams. Muwaffaq al-Dīn ibn al-Muṭrān commented, ‘This is not much, because a person who is serious about his work, who is frank, sincere and truth-loving, who acts justly and works hard to learn the skills of his trade, has a right before God to his earnings. A person who is the opposite of this will live like a pauper and will die as a lost and desperate person’.

[15.3.2]

Al-Yabrūdī is the author of the following works:

1. On the fact that the hen is cooler by nature than that of the hatchling (M. fī anna al-farkh abrad min al-farrūj).¹⁷¹

2. Refutation of Ibn al-Muwaffaqī’s opinion with respect to problems of the pulse, which had been the subject of frequent discussion between them (Naqḍ kalām Ibn al-Muwaffaqī fī masāʾil taraddadat fīmā baynahum fī l-nabḍ).¹⁷²

15.4 Jābir ibn Manṣūr al-Sukkarī¹⁷³

Jābīr ibn Manṣūr al-Sukkarī was a native of Mosul. A devout Muslim, he was a most learned and outstanding scholar in the art of medicine. He was a contemporary of Aḥmad ibn Abī l-Ashʿath and studied under him. Subsequently, around the year 360/970, he came to associate with Muḥammad ibn Thawāb,¹⁷⁴ a disciple of Ibn Abī l-Ashʿath, and studied under him as well. Al-Sukkarī became well-known as a practitioner of the art of medicine. He lived in Mosul for the greater part of his long life. His son Ẓāfir, in contrast, went to Syria and settled there.

15.5 Ẓāfir ibn Jābir al-Sukkarī¹⁷⁵

Abū Hakīm Ẓāfir ibn Jābir ibn Manṣūr al-Sukkarī was a Muslim, who was distinguished in the art of medicine and well-versed in the philosophical sciences. He was a man of many accomplishments and was well-acquainted with literature. Moreover, he was thoroughly familiar with the sciences and devoted himself to them assiduously. In Baghdad he made the acquaintance of Abū l-Faraj ibn al-Ṭayyib, associated with him and studied under him. Ẓāfir ibn Jābir, like his father before him, had a very long life. He was still living in the year 482/1089. He was a native of Mosul, but left that city and moved to Aleppo, where he remained for the rest of his life. A number of his offspring followed in his footsteps as physicians in Aleppo. The following is a sample of his poetry:¹⁷⁶

I have always known, first and foremost,

until I knew that I have no knowledge.

It is a marvel that I should be ignorant

because of my being not ignorant.

Ẓāfir ibn Jābir al-Sukkarī is the author of a treatise on the fact that living beings die, even though the food [they eat] replaces losses of previously taken sustenance (M. fī anna al-ḥayawān yamūtu maʿa anna al-ghidhāʾ yukhlifu ʿiwaḍ mā yataḥallalu minhu).¹⁷⁷

15.6 Mawhūb ibn Ẓāfir¹⁷⁸

Abū l-Faḍl Mawhūb ibn Ẓāfir ibn Jābir ibn Manṣūr al-Sukkarī was also a distinguished, celebrated physician who was well-versed in the art of medicine. He lived in the city of Aleppo. He is the author of a summary of Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq’s Questions (Ikhtiṣār kitāb al-masāʾil li-Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq).

15.7 Jābir ibn Mawhūb¹⁷⁹

Jābir ibn Mawhūb ibn Ẓāfir ibn Jābir was another renowned expert in the art of medicine. He resided in Aleppo.

15.8 Abū l-Ḥakam¹⁸⁰

[15.8.1]

The wise and cultured shaykh Abū l-Ḥakam ʿUbayd Allāh ibn al-Muẓaffar ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Bāhilī al-Andalusī al-Mursī¹⁸¹ was a distinguished scholar in the philosophical sciences, and well-versed in the art of medicine, besides being noted for his literary erudition and renowned for his poetry. He was good at telling funny stories, made jokes, enjoyed entertainment and loved to be amused. Many of his poems are dirges for people who were still alive in his time, but his intention [in writing them] was [merely] jest and buffoonery. He was excessively fond of drinking wine. He loved play-acting,¹⁸² and when excited, would mime and sing to accompany his performance:¹⁸³

Bee-hunter, here’s a job for you:

Come on, go out early, get some honey!

In addition, Abū l-Ḥakam knew about music¹⁸⁴ and played the lute. He had a shop in Jayrūn for his medical practice, but he lived in the Dār al-Ḥijārah quarter in the Feltmakers’ Market (al-Labbādīn). He composed many eulogies on the Banū l-Ṣūfī, who were the rulers of Damascus in the days of Mujīr al-Dīn Abaq ibn Muḥammad ibn Būrī ibn Atābeg Ṭughtakīn.¹⁸⁵ Abū l-Ḥakam travelled to Baghdad and Baṣra and then returned to Damascus, where he lived until his death. He died – may God have mercy upon him – in Damascus, when the last two hours of the night of Wednesday the sixth of Dhū l-Qaʿdah of the year 549/12 January 1155 had elapsed. Abū l-Faḍl ibn al-Milḥī composed the following verse to Abū l-Ḥakam in a letter thanking him for a successful treatment:¹⁸⁶

If God ever rewards a man for his deeds,

may He reward that kind, wise (ḥakīm) friend, Abū l-Ḥakam:

He is the unique, excellent philosopher, to whose

wisdom Arabs and non-Arabs attest.

He treats his patient as did the Messiah;

if Hippocrates saw him his foot would slip.

He truly snatched me from the grip of Fate, after

it had visited me with various ills and pains,

5And he led me, with his judgement, to the best stronghold

and cured me of my ills and freed me of sickness.

Still he guides me on every path with the opinions

of an excellent man, which nobleness has instituted for him.

The brilliance of his thoughts are like

suns, whose radiance dispels the gloom of darkness.

He looked after me when my family had withdrawn,

and took the place of my father on my behalf, or that of a mother.

He took up the burden that weighed heavily on my back

and kept an eye on me, not sleeping when I slept,

10And he joined (wa-ḍamma) healing to my body, without obligation;

but for him I would have become ‘meat on a block (waḍam)’.¹⁸⁷

Now Fate, after its wars, is at peace with me.

Greetings (salām) on him, as long as acacia trees (salam) put forth leaves!

[15.8.2]

Abū l-Ḥakam would compose defamatory poems against a group of contemporary poets, who, in turn, had ridiculed him in satiric verse. One of them, Abū l-Nadā Ḥassān ibn Numayr al-Kalbī, known as al-ʿArqalah, lampooned Abū l-Ḥakam in the following satirical verses:¹⁸⁸

We have a doctor, a poet, with an inverted eyelid,¹⁸⁹

May God relieve us of him!

Whenever he visits a patient in the morning

he composes an elegy for him the same day.

Al-ʿArqalah also composed the following lines about Abū l-Ḥakam:¹⁹⁰

O my eye, pour forth flowing tears and blood

for the sage (ḥakīm) who was called Abū l-Ḥakam!

He was – may the Merciful not have mercy on his grey hair

and not send clouds continuously raining on his grave!–

‘An old man who deemed the five ritual prayers supererogatory

and found it permissible to shed the blood of pilgrims in the Holy Precinct.’¹⁹¹

[15.8.3]

I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – say: al-ʿArqalah described Abū l-Ḥakam in this satirical poem as one having inverted eyelids for the following reason: one night, Abū l-Ḥakam left the house of Zayn al-Mulk Abū Ṭālib ibn al-Khayyāṭ in a state of intoxication, with the result that he fell down and cut his face. Next morning, visitors kept asking him how he had happened to fall. He thereupon dashed off the following verses, placed them near his head, and whenever someone asked him about his condition, he gave them to that person to read:¹⁹²

I fell on my face and my turban flew up,

I lost my shoes¹⁹³ and fell flat on the earth.

I stood up while streams of blood were on my beard

and face. Well, ‘some misfortunes are less serious than others.’¹⁹⁴

God decreed that I should become, on the spot, a disgrace,

and one can do nothing about what He decrees.

But there is no good in revelry or delight

if there is no drunkenness, which led to a thing like this.

He then took a mirror and looked at the wound in his face, which had left a gash under his eyelid after his fall, and recited [the following lines]:¹⁹⁵

Wine has left on my cheek

a wound like a ewe’s cunt.

I fell flat on my face,

my turban flying off,

And have remained disgraced. But for

the night my privates would have shown.

I know all this

came from perfect pleasure.

Who can give me another like it,

even for the price of my beard being shaven off?

[15.8.4]

Here follows some poetry by Abū l-Ḥakam, from his collected verse (dīwān), which I transmitted from Shams al-Dīn Abū l-Faḍl al-Miṭwāʿ al-Kaḥḥāl (‘the oculist’), on the authority of al-Ḥakīm Amīn al-Dīn Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā al-Bayyāsī,¹⁹⁶ on the authority of Abū l-Majd,¹⁹⁷ on the authority of his father, the aforementioned Abū l-Ḥakam. He composed the following eulogy¹⁹⁸ on al-Raʾīs Muʾayyid al-Dīn Abū l-Fawāris ibn al-Ṣūfī:¹⁹⁹

She pitied me when she saw my sufferings

and she complained; but her emotion fell short of mine.

It would not do any harm, O you with the forbidden red lips, if

you cured the heat of passion with the coolness of your saliva,

For one who is madly in love with you, pretending to be content

with a visit from a nightly apparition, or the return of an answer.

If you help me by being near me, you will merely

revive a soul that is on the verge of departing!

5Do not find it odd that my patience has left, when you left,

and that I am distraught because of the magnitude of my affliction,

For patience is always, in all situations,

deemed proper, except when loved ones have left.

It is impossible that love for someone in thrall should be serene:

there must be honey as well as bitter aloes.²⁰⁰

Why must I endure those languid eyes that make me melt?

Do you think they are charged with tormenting me to my death?

And likewise those wide eyes that of old have been

in the habit of slaying hearts.

10Why should my fortune never slack in moving further away?

I call but I always remain unanswered.

Were it not that I expect Abū l-Fawāris to help I would not cease

to be between misfortunes’ claw and tooth.

Let me inform you about some of the eminence

he has obtained, though this defeats prolix speakers.

Praising Muʾayyid al-Dīn,²⁰¹ the hero, has become

a religious duty for erudite people.

Descended from Qays ʿAylān, belonging to Hawāzin and

Sulaym, nomads among Bedouin Arabs,²⁰²

15His family are descendants of Ṣaʿṣaʿah; its edifice²⁰³

rose high among Jaʿfar ibn Kilāb.

To them belong Labīd, al-Ṭufayl, and ʿĀmir,

and Abū Barāʾ, who routed the confederates.²⁰⁴

The Banū Rabīʿah and Khālid belong to them if your trace

their genealogy, and ʿAwf, in the highest lineages.²⁰⁵

The Banū l-Ṣūfī inherited lofty qualities from them, when

they paired splendid, generous deeds with noble descent;

And al-Musayyab encompasses all that they boast, just as

they acquired (them),²⁰⁶ and this is the collection of every account,

20On the summit of exalted eminence, raised

by an ancient glory from a genuine core,

Placed in the gatherings of noble traits, where it grew

and rose above peers and equals.

No brimful, huge river with its billows overabundant,

fed by the downpour from the rainclouds,

More fully engulfs then he does with the gifts of his hands,

nor any foaming sea with overflowing floods.

A lion has his force against his enemies –

no, it is less than his when the lion of the thicket attacks.

25For his followers and his enemies he has two days:

a day of generosity and a day of battle.

O state that is redolent in all its regions

with generosity and munificence from noble men!

With its Hero, its Beauty, with its Glory

and its Adornment it will last through the ages.²⁰⁷

Their lineages are sufficient for me, though their names

are not in need of honorifics.

How noble they are, among Arabs: when mankind boasts

they bring the best stock and origin.

30They erected lofty deeds with generosity and proud glory

and sweet water-holes for those who seek a boon.

They are people in whose presence one can see hypocrites

with the submissiveness of slaves to the authority of their masters.

O master, whose favour is spent

on any visitor who arrives,

I truly know that your kindness to me has been

among the surest causes of my happiness,

And my soul is certain here that I seek

the best place for your favour.

35May you forever rise in noble deeds,

as long as lightning flashes through the clouds!

[15.8.5]

He also said, in a panegyric on Jamāl al-Dawlah Abū l-Ghanāʾim, the brother of the preceding:²⁰⁸

It is all the same to us whether she abandons us or comes to us,

when, one day, she breaks her promise and the bonds are frayed.

Laylā is always generous with her promises,

but we are denied what she freely offers and gives.

A rendez-vous with her makes us hope to be near her,

but there is no reunion except when her nightly apparition visits.

Can’t you give anything but an excuse or a pretext?

(We had so many of her excuses and pretexts).

5There is a sickness in my body, originating from your eyelids,²⁰⁹

and a strength of passion, perfected by the imperfection of my body.

If you would help a lover with your nearness the reward will be yours,

you whose absence has made my body thin.

Whenever my soul thinks of you it falls apart²¹⁰

and after having found the way is lost again.

I never cease to be visited by deep sighs; whenever

I wish I were cured of them their healing tarries,

And of tears that never slack:

whenever love calls their downpour answers.

10She bars slumber from my eyes and tears fall

on my cheeks, copiously flowing down.

How would sleep be fitting or slumber visit

eyelids when the eyes have tears as their kohl?

Whenever I say ‘I will forget her’, in spite of the distance of her abode

her likeness is formed in my eyes and my heart.

Many a desert that destroys riding-animals, a wasteland

where the sand-grouse are baffled, deceived by the shimmering mirage,²¹¹

Have I crossed with a strong camel mare with well-knitted forelegs,²¹²

reliable, her powers showing no signs of fatigue,

15Who heads with us to the abode of the one saluted here(?),²¹³ where

her effort will not be thwarted and she will be happy.

But for Jamāl al-Mulk²¹⁴ I would not have come there and

the deserts and their sands would not have driven us

To a family whose standing is not unknown to the people

and whose deeds are lauded among all beings.

When a disaster is difficult their opinion is the right one,

when a misfortune is alarming what they say is right.

Or when the fire of warfare blazes for the brave warriors,

who endure its heat and flames for a long time,

20You will see their strength, surpassing that of

the lions of al-Sharā,²¹⁵ their leader and their attack.(?)²¹⁶

Their hands carry Yazanite spears from Khaṭṭ,²¹⁷

whose thirst is quenched by the cups of the Fates,

And gleaming swords that cut the armour-clad, severing,

sharpened, cleared of rust by burnishing.

And they feed their guest from the top of the camel’s hump

when the north wind alternates with a cross-wind.²¹⁸

There is no one among people who resembles the Banū l-Ṣūfī,

men of strength and hands whose punch is feared.

25Ancient glory made them rise and an elevation

strong of bonds, no fear that they will become untied

The Banū Jaʿfar²¹⁹ are the best tribe among Arabs,

their boastfulness and pride rose among Nizār.²²⁰

In them a strand from Sulaym is matched²²¹

as a right hand matches a left hand.

Ibn ʿAlī, you have obtained the most elevated rank:

whoever aspires to it will not reach it.

Through you the splendid state can boast to mankind,

they are entitled to do so, since you are their ‘Beauty’.²²²

30If it, with its brilliance and elevation, were to turn

into a sky over us, you would be its crescent moon.

If rancorous people turned to you their hopes would be thwarted

and their harm would turn against themselves.

I shall live the most comfortable life in my lifetime

through your favour, when its shade spreads over me,

For you do not delay towards those in need,

because you are close kin²²³ to generous deeds.

So take this ode, like pearls that are not borrowed

so that their weakness and imperfection could be condemned,

35But the offspring of thought, its beauty virgin

that will please, whereas plagiarism disfigures rhymes.

There is no blessing but what you bestow;

there is no eulogy but to you is its destination.

[15.8.6]

He said, in a panegyric for ʿIzz al-Dawlah, the brother of Muʾayyid al-Dīn:²²⁴

Love has called you, so respond!

Cut short your reproach of those who reproach!

For what is life if the water of youth has dwindled

and no desire has been gratified, sooner or later?²²⁵

Quickly take a well-matured wine, beautified

by the passing of nights and ages;

On its cup there seem to be pearls,

when the bubbles circle on it.

5It is passed round by someone with Babel’s glances,²²⁶

with a mouth delicious to kiss, sweet of teeth.

He who is delighted by the wine’s beauty would say,

‘Has this wine been procured from his cheeks?

Or if not, where does this redness come from,

and that limpidity of the grape’s daughter?’²²⁷

The daughters of the vines (kurūm) are the life of noble people (kirām),

and the death of concerns is the countenance of rapture.²²⁸

Say to him whose concern it is to see

a noble man who will dispel from him his troubles:

10Can bounty be expected from any man?

Take it easy! Not all people are he who is the Arabs’ glory!

A generous man: if you come to him

you are safe through him from untoward accidents.

His fame is spread wide among mankind,

apart from what is contained in books:

Praise with which the land is redolent

and fame; but for him, no one would go to foreign parts.²²⁹

Decency, forbearance, with lordly qualities,

and boasting highborn, true forefathers,

15And excellence, cheerfulness, and a generosity that he sees

as a religious duty incumbent on himself.

If one compared him with the men of his time

one would compare pearls with worthless beads.

He who says that another man

encompasses some of what he has is a liar.

Someone who boasts glory that is inherited is not

like someone who boasts glory that is newly acquired.

When the proud chiefs of ʿĀmir are mentioned²³⁰

and their exploits are counted and traced to them,

20Qays can boast of him to Khindif²³¹

give him the most exalted rank among them,

Especially since he has become among them

a mediator, with the noblest mother and father,

One of the Jaʿfarīs,²³² in a lofty line

of glory, higher than shooting stars.

Your servant²³³ desires a robe of honour,

 – for being honoured by someone like you is reckoned highly –

So that his status will rise thereby,

even though he is close to what he has sought.²³⁴

25And he hones his thoughts whenever he expectantly

cranes his neck to praise you and applies himself.

For whenever my hand obtained al-Muẓaffar’s²³⁵ generosity

I have the fullest extent of my desire.

In a State (dawlah) of which you are the Glory (ʿizz)

wishes are fulfilled for the least of occasions,

Because you belong to a family who will not thwart the hopes

of those who come to drink at their cisterns.

Their reputations are always well-protected,

though their wealth is always plundered!

30Congratulations to you on the Feast!²³⁶ Enjoy it,

and last forever as long as planets rise and vanish!

But what feast? When you are present

it is indifferent to us whether it be faraway or near.

If clouds hide from us the crescent moon

we do not care, as long as you are not hidden.

So take this ode, as a noble bride who is unveiled,

while its maker addresses you from nearby.

It is brought to you, straight after having been polished,

by a sage (ḥakīm) who has sifted and selected it;

35There is no good in wisdom that is not seen to be

embroidered with all kind of erudition.

[15.8.7]

Among his poems in an unaffected²³⁷ style is the poem in rajaz metre²³⁸ that he entitled The Domestic Scandal.²³⁹ In it he describes the damage and costs that may befall someone when he invites his drinking companions:

Any domestic scandal tends

To happen through one’s own best friends.

Now listen to a well-tried man:

He’ll tell you how it all began:

All that may come from invitations

And all their diverse tribulations.

Provide the food, provide the fun;

Then suffer all the damage done.

5Disliked by all, the Awful Bore

Comes first. Then: spongers at the door!

Whatever food may be provided,

The host will be severely chided.

Creep up his mother’s **** he may,

From censure he can’t hide away.

‘Not enough spices!’ says one guest,

‘It’s rather burnt!’ declare the rest.

Another says, ‘Too little salt!

 – I’m merely helpful, finding fault.’²⁴⁰

10He grabs the food from far and near,

Then drinks some water, fresh and clear,

Since ‘wholesome water has no peer.’

The next thing he demands is beer,

With ice in summer. When it’s cold:

‘A fire, if I may be so bold!’

Who needs a tooth-pick? Take a straw:

The mats lie ready on the floor.

And after this there comes the wine,

Delicious, choice; it tastes divine.

15One person says, ‘It’s vinegár!’

Another says, ‘Defective jar!’²⁴¹

And someone else is now complaining:

He wants a filter, for the straining.

Some large carafes are brought in there,

In which the wine is mixed with care.

Someone cries out, ‘But that’s still pure!’

And pours more water, to be sure.

‘He’s got an ulcer,’ mocks another,

‘O, don’t add water! Please, don’t bother!’

20Fruits, nuts, with any fragrant smell,

Go down, it seems, extremely well.

Some fussy person’s fancy’s tickled

Only by basil and things pickled,

While yet another man supposes

Wine goes with apples and with roses.

The singers’ fee²⁴² may cause some tension,

Their agent may cause apprehension;²⁴³

A fix you should be quick to handle:

Spread round²⁴⁴ your cash, for fear of scandal.

25Sometimes they get into a swoon:

Fear not! They’ll have their breakfast soon.

If you invite them in December,

Make sure of stove and burning ember!

From it there flies up many a spark

That on your carpet leaves its mark:

Your once-new carpet now is peppered

With dots like any spotted leopard.

And don’t forget the meat: kebab

Or sliced, for ev’ryone to grab.

30And when the cold is over, pep

Them up with fans and cool julep.²⁴⁵

Your drinking-friends come in all sorts:

The wine reveals their favourite sports.

There’s one whose forte and whose strength

Is telling stories at great length,

While he is busy²⁴⁶ masticating.

 – Nobody heeds what he’s relating.

Forgets himself, speaks out of turn:

They slink away in unconcern.

35Another weighs his words with care

And gives himself a haughty air.

Another acts the fool. He’s after

A cheap but all-embracing laughter.

Someone becomes morose when stewed;

Instead of leaving he gets rude.

Someone as sober as a judge

Arrives, and bears all drunks a grudge.

There’s one light-fingered Jim-’ll-fix-it,²⁴⁷

Sees something rather nice: he nicks it.

40A knife, a flask, a handkerchief,

A dicing-bowl fit for a thief.

Now someone pulls (abracadabra!)

A chain right off the candelabra,²⁴⁸

‘Extinguishing’ (he says) ‘a wick.’

It is, of course, a little trick.

Don’t mind their winks whenever any

Should leave their place ‘to spend a penny’:

It’s slaves and slave-girls they will seek,

To pinch a tit or bite a cheek.

45One’s hospitality’s abused

Yet worse: one’s wife is being seduced,

One’s sister, daughter, or one’s son

(Especially a pretty one).

In this one ought to be forgiving,

For, after all, your friends are living;²⁴⁹

A man is flesh and blood and bone;

He is no statue or a stone.

And if among them is a glutton(?)²⁵⁰

Your banquet isn’t worth a button.

50Eating is all that he is doing;

Heedless of all, he’s good at chewing.

Drinking with friends he must decline:

He says he doesn’t care for wine.

He buggers sleeping drunks at night,²⁵¹

Consumes their sweets in broad daylight.

Your friends will start an ugly brawl,

But you will suffer, that is all.

They break the cups and bottles each

And ev’ry vessel within reach.

55The row spreads to your neighbours, too,

Who falsely will belabour you;

Straight to the bailiff they appeal:

Surely, complete is your ordeal.

Thus may a man gain loss of face;

And if the party did take place

On Friday’s eve, there’s worse disgrace.

If in the fighting blood is shed,

The host may just as well be dead.

If someone tumbles and gets killed,

One merely pays some light wergild;

60For drinking in an upstairs room

Brings people closer to their Doom.

Think of the harm that’s coming from it!

The mats are soiled with bits of vomit.

And then one seeks something to eat,

One’s drinking-bout not yet complete.

When you wake up – you’ve hardly slept –

And now the floor has to be swept,

You will be henpecked by your wife,

In bed and up, always at strife,

65Who, when the sun’s up, will remind you

Of last night’s trials, now behind you.

 – That is, if they have gone. If not

(They stayed, toped on, slept on the spot),

Then all your hope is now forlorn,

When the sun rises on the morn.

Offer your friends your choicest wine,

And cakes, and heads of sheep and kine;

Pawn chairs and stools, pull out all stops,

Pledge them at the off-license shops.

70But if some guest misses one sandal,

You’ll be involved in one more scandal;

So tell your boy to guard them well,

Lest your kind comrades give you hell.

Don’t mind your losses in this fix.

Provide your lamps with num’rous wicks.

Someone at last wants to strike camp:

He leaves and robs you of your lamp;

With in his hand a full wineskin²⁵²

To please his friends and next-of-kin.

75If oil runs out, give it no thought:

Amidst this ruin it is naught.

All costs must by the Host be paid

When in the Balance he is weighed.²⁵³

Latter-Day Prophets who go dry

Deserve a good punch in the eye.²⁵⁴

The debts he owns – a pretty sum –

Prove him to be a stupid bum.²⁵⁵

He would be spared all this forever

If he were wise, astute and clever.

80A scandal, quite without a match:

He whom it strikes, strikes a bad patch!

At other people’s places drinking

Is better, in my way of thinking.

Well, then. Repentance of one’s vices

Is always best when there’s a crisis.

[15.8.8]

He composed the following in Basra in 521/1127:²⁵⁶

I say, looking down from the Maʿqil canal²⁵⁷

at resplendent Basra: ‘Be greeted, great town!’

O how lovely are its open spaces, its ancient monuments,

and its fine hills – may they never be devoid of rain!

For so many a day and a night have I amused myself in you

with a girl with trembling buttocks and lovely smell!

When, in the dark of night, she takes off her veil

I see her face, a proxy of the full moon.

He also said:²⁵⁸

Ah, drinking wine is one of the most emphatic commands,²⁵⁹

with roses, fragrant herbs, and fresh daffodils.

Every man who gives lowliness²⁶⁰ its due

will have a life of delight and ease.

I may always been joking,

but I am clean of clothes, soul, and honour.

And, though I may have misgivings about things,

when a friend’s foot slips I turn a blind eye.

He also said:²⁶¹

What is good of a life that a man hopes to live

that will lead to his death?

Livelihood is guaranteed. If something precious

eludes you, do not fret about its loss.

He also said:²⁶²

You left and by being far you disturbed

what had been serene by your nearness and proximity.

Our hearts nearly broke

when you had gone, but for the hope for your return.

[15.8.9] He also said:²⁶³

O who will help a lover, infatuated,

tormented, who cannot recover from his passion?

For how could a grief-stricken sorrowing man recover

whose body is damaged by long sickness?

He also said:²⁶⁴

Alas for lovers! Would that they had not been created!

They never cease to be tormented since they have fallen in love.

Whenever they hope for rest or joy

their paths are blocked.

He also said:²⁶⁵

You see pearls surrounded by carnelian

when she shows her sweet teeth.

Henna does not embellish her fingers,

but her hand embellishes the henna.

He also said:²⁶⁶

I said to her, when she upbraided me for my wasting away,

with a bent back and trembling:

Do not mock me if my bones have weakened;

love for you is inside, in my marrow.

[15.8.10]

He composed a riddle on the name ʿAbd al-Karīm:²⁶⁷

With my life, my friend, I would ransom him

whose languid eyes have enthralled me.

I have become one third of his name, obediently,

but he is the opposite of two thirds of it in being together with me.²⁶⁸

His cheek, when on it there appear

the stars of his moles,

Is a perfect crescent moon,²⁶⁹ while the Pleiades

are to him a palindrome of what resembles his side-locks.²⁷⁰

He also composed a riddle on the name ‘Shaftar’, which is the nickname of Abū l-Maʿālī al-Sulamī, the poet:²⁷¹

A gazelle of the Byzantines²⁷² has made me a captive

with his black-and-white eyes.

God has made him superior

with his pretty flirtation and his appearance.

I swear by the Even and the Uneven

and what Abundance has joined with us(?):²⁷³

This is a name that God has decreed

to be made a riddle or to be hidden.

[15.8.11]

He said, lampooning the Jewish doctor al-Mufashkil,²⁷⁴ in the manner of an elegy:²⁷⁵

O stop with ‘the remembrance of a loved one and an abode’,²⁷⁶

but halt at the grave of Doctor al-Mufashkil!

O mercy of God, despise his grave,

and stay away from that base old man!

O Munkar,²⁷⁷ liberally bestow on his neck (bless you!)

convincing blows, and burnish him like a looking-glass!²⁷⁸

And turn him upside down into the bottom of Hell, crashing

like ‘a rock boulder hurtled from above by a torrent’.²⁷⁹

And may a dripping cloud, pushed on by a lasting rain, never cease

to drench it with a downpour of ordure.

That tomb has received the vilest cadaver

and the lowliest dead one between earth and rock.

I shall let the ‘tears’ of my belly descend on it

and convey to it the worst drink of its water.

Perhaps Abū ʿImrān longed for his person

and said to him, ‘Come to me quickly, hurry!’

The earth’s belly has never been made to contain filthier men than those two,

or baser men from the band of that deluded al-Samawʾal.²⁸⁰

He composed the following, lampooning Naṣīr al-Ḥalabī,²⁸¹ a man of letters, also in the manner of an elegy. Naṣīr worked as a secretary and dabbled in poetry, medicine, and astrology.²⁸²

Come, woman, wail!

For Nuṣayr al-Ḥalabī is dead.

God have mercy on him!

He had a long tail.²⁸³

The dead are making an uproar because

of the smell of his bad breath in the earth;

They wished they had been given,

instead of him, a mangy dog.

5People are either screaming

or busy fleeing.

Munkar²⁸⁴ says, ‘That is

the lowliest dead one I have come across!’

The earth’s belly has never been made to contain,

from East to West,

Anyone of more vicious mould

among Arabs and non-Arabs.

O people, how filthy, him!

(oblique case in exclamation of surprise).²⁸⁵

10His characteristics in his ill fate

are recorded down in writings,

As are his words to Munkar:

‘You’re overdoing it, torturer!

Don’t you know that I am

an authority among people of erudition,

Grammar, philosophy,

logic, and medicine!’

[15.8.12]

Lampooning Malik al-Nuḥāh (‘King of Grammarians’),²⁸⁶ he said:²⁸⁷

From the chimney²⁸⁸ of the hips there blew

a breeze on the cheeks of that King,

And a torrent advanced right after it

and got messed up on his face,

‘Just as water is moved by degrees by the passing of the east wind

and the sky’s horizon is adorned by the paths of the stars.’²⁸⁹

Lampooning the poet Abū l-Waḥsh²⁹⁰ he said:²⁹¹

When I want to lampoon Abū l-Waḥsh I am prevented

by base traits that never budge from him:

He has transcended the measure of blame, to the extent that he would still seem

to be praised by the worst that a man can be lampooned with.

Another lampoon by him, on the same:²⁹²

If Wuḥaysh perseveres in his error

and does not give up his lying and wronging,

I shall split his ears with a goat

whose flesh they ate in the Hijaz(?).²⁹³

He also said:²⁹⁴

We have a friend who was unfriendly and who turned his back on us;

my hand hurt me from reproving him.

If someone said to me one day, ‘Describe him!’ I would say: ‘One can count all the

pebbles (tuḥṣā l-ḥaṣā) on earth before one can count the defects of that man.’

Lampooning ʿUlayyān. who was known as al-ʿUkkāz al-Ḥalabī,²⁹⁵ he said:²⁹⁶

Al-ʿUkāz²⁹⁷ complained to us about his disease

but he found no medicine with us,

For the disease of lechery²⁹⁸ defeats

any man who seeks a cure.

[15.8.13]

He also said:²⁹⁹

If I am concerned about someone who has a fever I compose for him

a verse; then, if he gets somewhat worse, he promptly turns hemiplegic!³⁰⁰

So tell the people who think my medical skill will give them relief

that it will benefit them if it is mixed with poetry.

It relieves (yufarriju) worry from the bowels of someone suffering from burning pains,

wasting away; and it will promptly make him eat a pullet (farrūjā).

On the theme of courage he said:³⁰¹

I see that war gives me courage

when its memory pervades my heart.

If I behold it in my sleep

its traces are visible on the bedclothes.

On the theme of keeping one’s secret he said:³⁰²

I shall shun Laylā, though my love of her is in my heart,

for fear I might provoke a chaperone or grudging enemy.

I shall hide a secret we had between her and me;

for if I said I fucked her I would have disclosed it.

In his poem that he entitled ‘The Virtues’ he said:³⁰³

Many people who made me a paragon,

thinking me unique in the efforts I sustained,

I let them live lifetimes, when they relied

on me in medical matters, like the lifetimes of kids.³⁰⁴

[15.8.14]

He also said:³⁰⁵

If a girl is past fifty years,

try not to see her.

Fucking an old woman is not incumbent on you,

so leave her and seek another bride.

He also said:³⁰⁶

In bettering myself I shall pretend to be a dunce,

so that those who think me ignorant will forgive me;

And I shall jest whenever I compose poetry; so if it appears

to be feeble, I can blame it on the jesting.

He also said:³⁰⁷

Of many a nightly visitor who came to me after people had fallen asleep

have I stretched the flanks³⁰⁸ with a thick and knotty stick of mimosa-wood.

(If your ears had heard his squealing under me

you would have said, ‘A jackal crying in the gloom of darkness!’)

And I said to him, ‘If you had not been miserable you would not have gone out

at night and you would not have alighted at the abode of Abū l-Ḥakam!’

[15.8.15]

On his death-bed, in the month Dhū l-Qaʿdah of the year 549 [Jan.–Feb. 1155], he said:³⁰⁹

Alas, my soul, when I am wrapped in my shroud

and they have made me disappear from kin and home,

And people say, ‘May he not be far’,³¹⁰ he who used to recite to us:

‘I am he who sees the blind one but he hasn’t seen me!’³¹¹

Then, on the Tuesday before his death he recited the following and commanded his son Abū l-Majd to transmit it for him after his death:³¹²

I am sorry that I died. It was not my intention.

I wish I knew who will now make elegies for you!

I really should prefer to come back, if I could

be brought back. But it is impossible to be brought back.

If I had known I would not return

I would not have hurried so fast towards the grave.

O, is there no escaping from Death, the Disperser?

Can past times not be brought back?

5My family and friends have gone and said farewell

and I am left in a dark and dreary place, alone.

Among you, some people are distinguished above others,

but with us a master is not known from a slave.

If I have made you happy with my demise

if my death has pleased you and losing me has suited you,

Then Decius,³¹³ my pupil, will be my replacement for you;

I am happy with him, after my death, in jest and earnest.

I hereby appoint him, so that you know it!

(But soon I shall make him dwell with me.)

10Do not despair of God’s mercy after this,

for we must have God’s mercy.

Abū l-Ḥakam is the author of the following work: His collected poetry, which was entitled The path of lowliness (Nahj al-waḍāʿah).³¹⁴

15.9 Abū l-Majd ibn Abī l-Ḥakam³¹⁵

Afḍal al-Dawlah Abū l-Majd Muḥammad ibn Abī l-Ḥakam ʿUbayd Allāh ibn al-Muẓaffar ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Bāhilī was a famous scientist, a celebrated scholar, an outstanding physician and an exemplary geometrician and astronomer. He knew about music.³¹⁶ He played the lute, the flute, percussion instruments and other instruments and was an excellent singer.³¹⁷ He built an organ and taught himself to play it perfectly. Abū l-Majd ibn Abī l-Ḥakam studied the art of medicine under his father and other masters distinguishing himself in both the theory and practice of medicine and became one of the great physicians of his time.

Abū l-Majd lived during the reign of the Sultan al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn Zangī – may God have mercy upon him – who had great regard for him, held him in high esteem and recognized his extensive knowledge and virtue. When al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Nūr al-Dīn founded the great hospital, he put Abū l-Majd in charge of the medical college, granting him with a salary and allowances. He would visit [the hospital] frequently and treat the patients in it. Shams al-Dīn Abū l-Faḍl ibn Abī l-Faraj, the oculist, who was known as al-Miṭwāʿ (‘The Obedient’) – may God have mercy upon him – told me that he had seen Abū l-Majd ibn Abī l-Ḥakam at the hospital, making his rounds, seeing the patients, examining their conditions and determining the importance of their cases. He would be accompanied by the overseers [of the wards] and the superintendents, who would immediately, without hesitation, execute his orders concerning the treatment of each patient and the management of the cases. After finishing with all this, Abū l-Majd would go to the castle and visit any state dignitaries who might happen to be indisposed. Finally, he would go and sit in the great hall of the hospital, which was abundantly furnished and carpeted, and engage in study; for Nūr al-Dīn – may God have mercy upon him – had donated a large number of medical works to the hospital, and these were kept in cupboards in the wall at the rear of that hall. Physicians and students [of medicine] would come there to Abū l-Majd and sit before him to discuss medical matters. He [also] taught his students [there] and would engage in discussion and study with them. After three hours with his books, he would make his way home. Abū l-Majd ibn Abī l-Ḥakam died in Damascus in the year 5[..]/11[..].

15.10 Ibn al-Budhūkh³¹⁸

Abū Jaʿfar ʿUmar ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Budhūkh al-Qalaʿī al-Maghribī was an outstanding [physician], who possessed expert knowledge of simple and compound drugs. He had a keen eye for diagnosis and [knew] how to treat diseases.

Ibn al-Budhūkh resided in Damascus for many years. He had an apothecary shop in The Feltmakers’ Market (al-Labbādīn), where he treated both without notice and by appointment. He prepared many compound drugs, which he made of various kinds of electuaries, pastilles, powders, and the like. These he sold, much to the benefit of the population.

Ibn al-Budhūkh was interested in books on medicine, reading them carefully to find out what the ancients had said about the characteristics and the treatment of diseases. He wrote a commentary on a number of words and passages in The Canon by Ibn Sīnā. In addition, he took an interest in the science of Hadith. He also composed poetry: he is the author of many verses in the rajaz metre, but most of his poetry is weak and limp.

Ibn al-Budhūkh lived a long life, but in old age his ability to walk weakened to such an extent that he could no longer go to his shop unless he was carried there on a litter. Toward the end of his life he became blind from cataracts. This was caused by [the fact] that he had nourished himself with large amounts of milk in order to regulate his bodily humours. He died in Damascus in the year 575 or 576 [1179 or 1180].

Among the poetry of Ibn al-Budhūkh are the following lines from a long poem on death and the hereafter:³¹⁹

O Lord, make good deeds easy for me so that I can do them

for mankind, with my being and my capability!

For the grave is a door to the Abode of Permanence, and he who

plants the fruits of desires for the Good will be a reaper.³²⁰

A man’s best companion is piety that accompanies him,

and good deeds done to every human being.

O Lord of Glory and Magnanimity, O my hope,

seal [my life] with good deeds, declaring God’s unity, and faith!

5If, my Lord, an erring man, or rather one who obeys Thee,

does not implore Thee, who will help a sinner, an evildoer?

Being in the decade of the eighties, my Lord, has robbed me

of the lights of my eyes, my hearing, and then my teeth;

I cannot stand without being supported

on two sides. My complaint is to a Merciful One!

Of the delights that can be enjoyed no delight

is left to me but listening to the Qur’an being recited

Or explained, or to commentaries on the Hadith, and what

pertains to medicine, or banter with friends;

10For an old man’s longevity leads to senility

that degrades him, or blindness, or chronic illness.

Thus his death is a protection, since he cannot avoid

dying; how long should he spared for (yet more) diminishing?

We seek refuge in God from an evil life and from

an evil death, from the evil of men and jinn.³²¹

Old men are like trees that turn to firewood:

no leaves or twigs can be expected from them.

There remains no usefulness in an old man, except experience

and sound opinion, purified by the length of times.

15O Creator of creatures, who has no partner, I have come

as a guest so that Thou mayest regale me with a meal of forgiveness.

My Lord, my only good work is professing Thine Unity,

so seal (my life) with it graciously, O best giver of grace!

He composed the following verses in praise of the works of Galen:³²²

How noble, books by Galen! that comprise

what Hippocrates and those in the past said, in antiquity,

Such as Dioscurides, whose knowledge of medication

was acknowledged by physicians in all nations.

Medicine thus spread from these two, together with Hippocrates,

after them, as light spreads in the dark.

Thoughts are nourished by³²³ their medical knowledge, shining:

one sees the light of healing in the darkness of disease.

One does not desire anyone else in curing an illness,

for the existence of such others in medicine is like non-existence,

For they perfected what they founded, so

for them completion by others is not needed,

Except for medication: its benefits cannot be counted

and its number³²⁴ is, in quantity, among Arabs and non-Arabs,

As the number of the grasses,³²⁵ all the plants of the earth;

who can count all the (grains of) sand and hills?

Every day one sees on earth a miracle

of experiences, (God’s) signs, and wisdom.

Ibn al-Budhūkh is the author of the following books:

1. A commentary on the Book of Aphorisms by Hippocrates: a poem in rajaz metre (S. kitāb al-fuṣūl li-Abuqrāṭ).³²⁶

2. A commentary on the Book of Prognosis [Prognosticon] by Hippocrates: a poem in the metre rajaz (S. kitāb taqdimat al-maʿrifah li-Abuqrāṭ).

3. The treasure of the wise with regard to coitus, (K. dhakhīrat al-alibbāʾ fī l-bāʾ),³²⁷ a work that is unique of its kind.

4. Marginal notes on certain words and passages in The Canon by Ibn Sīnā (Ḥawāshī ʿalā kitāb al-qānūn li-Ibn Sīnā).

15.11 Ḥakīm al-Zamān ʿAbd al-Munʿim al-Jilyānī³²⁸

[15.11.1]

Ḥakīm al-Zamān Abū l-Faḍl ʿAbd al-Munʿim ibn ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥassān al-Ghassānī al-Andalusī al-Jilyānī was [one of] the outstanding personalities of his time [in his capacity] as a practitioner of both the art of medicine and ophthalmology. He was skilled in literature and the art of poetry and composed figurative poems. He was a native of Andalusia, but migrated to Damascus, in Syria, where he lived for the remainder of his very long life. Ḥakīm al-Zamān kept a shop in The Feltmakers’ Market (al-Labbādīn) where he practised medicine. Al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb [i.e. Saladin] had a good opinion of him and showed him great respect. In return Ḥakīm al-Zamān composed many figurative poems for him, He also wrote books for [his ruler], receiving in consequence many benefits and tokens of appreciation. Moreover, Ḥakīm al-Zamān ʿAbd al-Munʿim was interested in alchemy.

[15.11.2]

When he died in Damascus in the year 600/1203–1204, Ḥakīm al-Zamān ʿAbd al-Munʿim left a son named ʿAbd al-Muʾmin ibn ʿAbd al-Munʿim. The son was an oculist as well. The latter also wrote poetry and composed figurative poems He was oculist to al-Malik al-Ashraf Abū l-Fatḥ Mūsā ibn al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Abū Bakr ibn Ayyūb, and died in Edessa in the 620s/1220s or shortly thereafter.

The following is an example of the poetry of Ḥakīm al-Zamān ʿAbd al-Munʿim al-Jilyānī, which I have copied from a manuscript in his own handwriting. I also heard it from my father who said: ‘the physician ʿAbd al-Muʾmin, who had had it from his celebrated father ʿAbd al-Munʿim, recited [this verse] to me’. It was composed to extol [the virtues of] Al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Abū l-Muẓaffar Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb [i.e. Saladin]. It was sent to him from the city of Damascus to his camp, al-Manṣūr, on the outskirts of Acre, when he was besieging the Franks who were themselves besieging the city. The qaṣīdah entitled The Jewelled Precious Gift, was offered to him in the month of Ṣafar of the year 587 [March 1191].³²⁹

[15.11.2.1]

A vigorous, astute man’s comfort lies in embarking boldly upon grave matters,

seeking glory or fighting injustice.

Augustness is not attained by those who fear a blow

and slacken the rein, away from the striking of clashing³³⁰ swords.

Which clarity did not occur after a difficulty?

Which expansion did not appear after a constricting crisis?

It is the proudest ambition that observes a goal

and aims at it with the bows of firm resolve.

5No troop departed that did not connect with loftiness,

no energetic man rested who had not connected with swords.

He who walks in contemptible ways is not alive,

he who perishes in noble acts is not dead.

All people must depart, but among them

are men whose traces stay like landmarks,

Through the glory of power, the insight of vision,

the liveliness of spirit, and the broadness of compassion:

Shares of perfection that show marvels

in the mirror of a person who has not disappeared among living beings.

10A man is not able to confer distinction upon himself;

rather, the distinction is an allotment from a Merciful One.

The greatest of eminent people is he who rules with his faculties

and leads with his outstripping nature the strongest of the mighty.

Do you think that the celestial spheres ever contained a king like Yūsuf³³¹

among the hosts that lived and passed in ancient times?

There is nothing like a realm that he ruled in recent times,

there is nothing like a war such as he waged in epic battles.

O builder of the abode of justice in the narrow pass(?)³³² of war

in a river in which the blood of the oppressors is spilled,³³³

15I give my life in ransom for you, who raise and build your Religion,

my life for you, who are a destroyer and demolisher of your opponent.

For you are the one who awoke the party of Muḥammad

in a jihad when they were heedless as if asleep,

And you fought for the Faith, not because of personal grudges,

and you posted armies for the sake of God’s pleasure, not for gain.

In truth, you will not cease to pitch your pavilions

where the shock of sharp-pointed spears is entangled,³³⁴

While on all sides in the raised dust there is a stream of cries for help³³⁵

like the waves of a deep sea that dashes at the hills,

20And many a ship setting sail, its ropes and sail (being)

bridle and a fluttering banner on the lance of a sudden attacker.

So how could your tents anchor there, when ships

of tall warriors moved on the seas?

No one remained who did not meet the spearheads;

no one remained except those protecting themselves with the ships’ bows.³³⁶

There was no tent rope but an intrepid fighter would rush there,

there was no tent peg but a stubborn fighter would stand firm there.³³⁷

Your home, while heroes are aroused before it,

is an abode (maqarr) of joy in a place from which misdeeds flee (mafarr),

25Because while they slip, you are seated on

a throne of stability with secure legs,

And when they attack, you, amidst them, are snatching

the heads³³⁸ of the leader of troops of horse, shaking their bits.³³⁹

You are the Sovereign, who Supports³⁴⁰ Truth assiduously,

and who thinks the onslaught of war’s thorns the bed of soft women.³⁴¹

Is fighting in love with you or are you in love

with it, united perpetually like two lovers?

In winter and summer we never cease seeing you,

evening and morning, as constant as the muezzin’s call.

30You were active during the midday heat – people say: He never has a siesta!

And up all night – people say: He never sleeps!

You made Rome shudder when you violated the land of the Franks:

they became the scum on the torrents of defeats.

You chased them³⁴² to the top of the mounds³⁴³ as if they were

lizards (ḍibāb) on rocks, scared away by the … (aḍbāb)³⁴⁴ of a crusher.

You enabled them, after the betrayal of their kings,

so you were, as it were, hiding their ignominy.

You were loyal to them, so that they loved you as an aggressor

to them. Loyalty to a covenant is the shackle of an adversary.

35Then they betrayed, they failed, they convened, they blamed one another,

and said, We suffered a setback because crimes were committed.

Saladin was singled out with God’s victorious support since he came

with a sound heart, merciful to the peaceful.

They put down inside the temples³⁴⁵ an image

of you, believing in it as they believe in the Trinity.

A priest professes belief in it, utters incantations describing it

and writes it down as a cure on amulets.

A man will soon be requited for his deed:

blessed be he who is steadfast, blighted be the sinner!

40A noble, generous man may be corrupted by his companion

and the power of a resolute man may weaken through delusion.

When reproach from a fool to a man on the right path persists

he fancies the right path to be in the reproacher’s foolishness.

I am amazed that a human being is conceited, when

he lives in defective conditions, a partner of grazing beasts.

He sees that the essence of the soul is pure and is proud,

heedless of the accidents that adhere to the body.

The debts of necessity are requisitioned every moment

and lives are cut off in the midst of losses.

45And everyone is deluded by his love of life

and the hiddenness of the ends tempts him to what is nearest.³⁴⁶

He who amasses wealth will not profit from it,

just as the cupping glass sucks from the incised skin.³⁴⁷

It overflows and it preserves what it has put into it³⁴⁸

to be sipped by a parched one or …³⁴⁹

He who knows the world knows for certain that it is

the riding animal of the vigilant and the objective of a dreamer.

How good, that someone strives on the paths of obedience to God,

to secure (īlāf) justice and annihilate (itlāf) the unjust!

50O conquerer (fātiḥ) of Jerusalem! Your sword is a key that opens (miftaḥ)

the lock of Guidance and locks the gate of sins.

You imposed your rule on the two opposites, unopposed;

you dealt expertly with the fighters in the war on opposite sides:

You made Turks (turkan) go up on the backs of swift horses

and made Unbelief (shirkan) go down into the bellies of vultures,

On the morning when you made the white swords strike fire on

the Byzantines,³⁵⁰ and no forearm of theirs was left on wrists;³⁵¹

And when they advanced, like sand impossible to count,

to the mound of Acre, like locusts in heaps,

55And like bees, their hive tightly packed, that swooped

from the mound, feared like …³⁵²

It was as if on the mound of Acre there was a hunting ground

where herds of grazing beasts were rounded up:

One herd was broken and had perished in trenches,

another herd was worn out, overwhelmed, in places of peril.

So many kings of theirs had come to it in a multitude,

but it increased them in decrease, with an increase of non-being.

They crossed from Spain³⁵³ the middle of a brimful sea,

and from great Rome, through rugged mountain passes,

60But they were terrified by the two forces, sailing and trotting,

and they dissolved through the two edges of a crushing sword of yours.

You washed their embroidery with green stripes

with a flood of poured-out blood, dripping red.

If the field would bring forth souls they would grow ripe

from what flowed into it from entrails and throats:

A well of kidneys, its water drawn by the ropes of a lance,

a waterhole of necks, flowing through the pipe of a sword,

While ribs of horsemen served as horse-shoes for hooves

and head of leaders as covers for finger-joints.

65Thus let the jewel of speech be made an adornment, a gift

to a sagacious king such as Yūsuf,³⁵⁴

A man whose mind casts forth thoughts like shooting stars

that rend the gloomy darkness of obscure problems.

His fine nature respects fine poetry,³⁵⁵

just as thick-necked lions respect his might.

Someone who describes him will adopt the splendour of his character,

just as his gifts have adopted the character of heavy rainclouds.

I never cease to unveil brides decorated with his jewels,³⁵⁶

with whom people of understanding are feasting,

70With a well-ordered detailed exposition, cheerful,

like the gap teeth of luminous smiling mouths:³⁵⁷

Motifs dazzling like the magic in the spell of a diviner (ʿaqd nāẓir),

and expressions like gold beads on the necklace of a stringer (ʿiqd nāẓim).

It rises above the lowest poetry to the summit of wisdom

and with bright thought are exalted above the path of an aimless wanderer.³⁵⁸

With the memory of it the utterances of those in the past will be forgotten

and it will bring forth blossom spreading in all regions,

Just as this matter spread among mankind, making a mockery

of the Tubbaʿ of the Arabs and the Kisrā of the non-Arabs.³⁵⁹

75So I consider my eulogy on him as a religious duty, while avoiding

eulogy on others just as one avoids incest with one’s kin.

It is not a plea for favours, rather a salutation from a thankful one,

an eternal tribute (taʾbīd) to his works and a support (taʾyīd) of a man of resolve.

O you, who are the best custodian of the best religious community,

one who defends it from every opposing band:

Hold fast unto the rope of God and cling to it,³⁶⁰

for there is none but He who gives victory to a protector;

Hold fast unto Him who has given you what you hoped for

and who will give you what you hope for as a happy conclusion.

80I³⁶¹ send this, while my yearning precedes the riders who convey it,

to a gathering in which the desires of every comer are found.

(You who are) far-reaching, a paradise of boons, a fire to aggressors,

beneficial to the Right Guidance,³⁶² who avenges every slain one:³⁶³

A greeting on that place where

the pillar of noble and grave matters is erected!³⁶⁴

[15.11.2.2]

He also said:³⁶⁵

A confidential talk with him allowed him some recovery

and he revealed the agonies that he had concealed.

When the eye of a sick person sees his physician

he cannot help indicating to him his ailment.

So many a man in love who clothes himself with the cloak of his passion

and wraps himself in the robe of his illness

Was made a captive by a loved one in whose abundant beauty he lost himself,

and who nearly blinded eyes enamoured of his splendour!

He has no other in whom refuge can be taken. He who is encompassed

by his love (ḥawāhu hawāhū) will never leave its enclosure (ḥiwāʾihī).

He also said:³⁶⁶

It is to the market of my yearning (sūqi shawqī) that caravans carry their wares,

it is from the flood of my tears that the clouds rain copiously.

The lightning only pulsates from my longing,

the thunder only laments because of my moaning.

You have gone far away but no endurance is present in my heart,

nor is remembrance absent from my heart.

Every moment I am looking out for you,

everywhere there is someone reproaching me on account of you.

Would that I knew who you will befriend after I have gone –

for now that you have gone my only friend is my passion.

He also said:³⁶⁷

I devoted much time to medicine, so that

I would not have to meet princes with begging.

The right course for me was

to preserve my soul³⁶⁸ by degrading myself.

The body must have a livelihood.

so take it from the side of moderation;

Approach glory in self-abasement,

flee from humiliation in noble deeds.

[15.11.2.3]

He also said:³⁶⁹

You who dislikes the embrocation³⁷⁰ when he sees

it is better³⁷¹ than what he purchased:

Be patient for forty days and it will be

softer to the body than anything else.

He who wants something will not be right

until his powers are able to do what he desires.

He also said:³⁷²

A leading person arrived. They said,

‘Seek refuge in someone like him!’

I replied to those present around me,

‘Is it possible for this man to die?’

‘Yes’, they said. ‘He is dew’, I said,

‘which makes thirsty those that think it is a drizzle.’

He who seeks refuge with transitory things is humbled.

strong is he who seeks refuge with the Pre-existing One.

He also said:³⁷³

If someone does not ask about you, don’t ask

about him, even though he has a powerful rank (nafar);

Be a man who, whenever a need calls him

to being humbled, shies away (nafar).

He also said:³⁷⁴

Do not consent to sign a marriage contract

and spare yourself hurrying it through (tarwīj) by deferring the matter.

And when you mention a day for a betrothal,

let it be a betrothal without a marriage (tazwīj).

He also said:³⁷⁵

They said, ‘We see people who have risen high with kings

though they have no high ambition or piety.

You have a high ambition in excellence,

so why are you thirsty while they have sipped from glory?’

I replied, ‘They sold their souls and bought for a price,

while I preserved my soul and did not debase myself as they did.

A monkey is sometimes honoured, when one is delighted by its baseness,

and a lion is sometimes despised for its excessive pride.’

[15.11.3]

Ḥakīm al-Zamān ʿAbd al-Munʿim al-Jilyānī is the author of works in both verse and prose [lit. in a free form] comprising ten collections:³⁷⁶

1. An anthology of maxims and an arena of [philosophical] sayings (Dīwān al-ḥikam wa-maydān al-kalim), which includes the explanation of everything that is difficult to comprehend, all the truths that are acquired by total devotion to the practice and perseverance of a virtuous life and all the things that become evident from entering on the path of virtue. Written in verse.³⁷⁷

2. An anthology on what arouses the desire for the heavenly host (Dīwān al-mushawwiqāt ilā l-malaʾ al-aʿlā). Written in verse.

3. An anthology on proper conduct (Dīwān adab al-sulūk), written in prose, containing a critical reflection on philosophical sayings.

4. On the marvel of divine inspiration (K. nawādir al-waḥy), which includes [some] philosophical sayings, in prose, about the meaning of obscure passages from the blessed Qur’an and the Hadith of the Prophet, may God’s most excellent grace be upon him and may he be granted salvation.

5. On accurate speculation (K. taḥrīr al-naẓar); it contains individual expressions of wisdom on simple and complex matters, on powers and movements.

6. On the secret of rhetoric and the skill of rhetorical excellence in the analysis of speech (K. sirr al-balāghah wa-ṣanāʾiʿ al-badīʿ fī faṣl al-khitāb).³⁷⁸

7. An anthology of good tidings and [other] matters related to the holy city (Dīwān al-mubashshirāt wa-l-qudsiyyāt); [partly] in verse, [partly] ornamented [tadbīj]³⁷⁹ and [partly] in prose, which comprises a description of the wars and current conquests of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Abī l-Muẓaffar Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb, the conqueror of the city of Jerusalem in the year 583/1187.³⁸⁰

8. An anthology of different kinds of poetry: ghazal, tashbīb, muwashshaḥ, dūbayt, and related forms (Dīwān al-ghazal wa-l-tashbīb wa-l-muwashshaḥāt wa-l-dūbaytī wa-mā yattaṣilu bihi manẓūman).

9. Dīwān in verse of parables, riddles, allegories, enigmas, ecphrastic epigrams, auguries and all kinds of genres (Dīwān tashbīhāt wa-alghāz wa-rumūz wa-aḥājī wa-awṣāf wa-zajriyyāt wa-aghrāḍ shattā manẓūman).

10. Dīwān on the art of letter writing, speeches on many different subjects, many kinds of sermons, preambles (of books and epistles) and invocations (Dīwān tarassul wa-mukhāṭabāt fī maʿānī kathīrah wa-aṣnāf min al-khuṭab wa-l-ṣudūr wa-l-adʿiyah).

Ḥakīm al-Zamān ʿAbd al-Munʿim al-Jilyānī also composed the following works:

15.12 Abū l-Faḍl ibn Abī l-Waqqār³⁸¹

The most honourable and learned shaykh Abū l-Faḍl Ismāʿīl ibn Abī l-Waqqār was a native of al-Maʿarrah, but settled in Damascus. He travelled to Baghdad, where he studied under the most distinguished physicians and also met with a group of scholars from whom he acquired [further] knowledge. Subsequently, he returned to Damascus, where he became outstanding in both medical theory and practice. He was a good and benevolent person with fine manners who enjoyed a good reputation and was highly intelligent.

Abū l-Faḍl was in the service of the Sultan al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn Zangī,³⁸² who depended on him as a physician, and kept him by his side wherever he went. The Sultan bestowed many gifts upon him, with the result that he became very wealthy He died while staying in Aleppo with the Sultan Nūr al-Dīn in the first decade of the month Rabīʿ I of the year 554 [last week of March 1159].

15.13 Muhadhdhab al-Dīn ibn al-Naqqāsh³⁸³

The learned shaykh Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Abī ʿAbd Allāh ʿĪsā ibn Hibat Allāh al-Naqqāsh, Baghdad born and bred, was a leading authority on Arabic language and literature and [also] spoke Persian. He devoted himself to the art of medicine, and for some time was constantly in the company of Amīn al-Dawlah Hibat Allāh ibn Ṣāʿid ibn al-Tilmīdh.³⁸⁴ He was also interested in the science of Hadith, which he studied in Baghdad as a pupil of Abū l-Qāsim ʿUmar ibn al-Ḥuṣayn, whom he quoted as an authority. The judge ʿUmar ibn al-Qurashī, in turn, studied Hadith under Ibn al-Naqqāsh, and quoted one of his hadiths in his collection.

Ibn al-Naqqāsh’s father, Abū ʿAbd Allāh ʿĪsā ibn Hibat Allāh ibn al-Naqqāsh, was a cloth merchant and a man of letters as well. ʿImād al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Ḥāmid al-Iṣbahānī³⁸⁵ says in his Book of the Unbored Pearl: ‘Muhadhdhab al-Dīn Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Naqqāsh [once] recited to me a poem by his father’:³⁸⁶

When an old man finds there is

some energy in him, it means that death is hiding:

Don’t you see that the light of a lamp

flickers before it dies down?³⁸⁷

He continues [quoting al-Kātib al-Iṣbahānī]: ‘After returning from my journey to Isfahan I met Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Naqqāsh in Baghdad, where he died – may God have mercy upon him – on the twentieth day of the month Jumādā II of the year 544 [25 October 1149]’. He further adds: ‘I read the following poem in the handwriting of al-Samʿānī.³⁸⁸ Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Naqqāsh recited to me these lines composed by himself’:³⁸⁹

God granted me prosperity, so I was true to³⁹⁰ those

as far as I was able, when they had not been granted it.

Afterwards I became poor and I apologised to them

as an impoverished friend apologises.

If they thanked me for it in the past,

they will excuse me in what remains.

The author adds, ‘He also recited to me this epigram by himself’:³⁹¹

And thus is the Chief, for he is

to me as is my spirit.

I reproached, with harsh words,³⁹²

his impudence, after decency.³⁹³

I was just towards him, but he said to me,

‘That’s enough! You are provoking.’

How can I be consoled now that he has taken

possession of my soul, while I have not commanded him?

He is a moon that we see, even when it is new,³⁹⁴

as when it is fourteen days old.

He gazes with two wide-open eyes, making one sick

with their sickness,³⁹⁵ and curing too.

When he smiles in the darkness

at night you would attest that the dawn is breaking;

And with the roses of his cheeks and the beauty

of his cheek-down (ʿidhār) my excuse (ʿudhr) holds.

I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – say: When Muhadhdhab al-Dīn ibn al-Naqqāsh arrived in Damascus, he settled there and practised medicine. He was singularly esteemed in his time in the art of medicine, and held a salon where physicians gathered. Once he travelled to Egypt and stayed for some time in Cairo, but afterwards he returned to Damascus and remained there until his death. He served as physician to al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn Zangī, who respected him greatly. In addition, possessing as he did a good epistolary style, he handled much of Nūr al-Dīn’s correspondence with regional officials.

For many years, Ibn al-Naqqāsh worked in the great hospital in Damascus, which had been founded by Nūr al-Dīn. The emir Muʾayyid al-Dawlah Abū l-Muẓaffar Usāmah ibn Munqidh³⁹⁶ wrote Ibn al-Naqqāsh to ask him for some balm-tree oil:³⁹⁷

My knees are at the service of al-Muhadhdhab in

matters of science, philosophy, and eloquence.

But they complain of the effect of a long life

and a length of time, in their weakness.

So they are in need of something to give them the strength

to walk, such as balm.

All this will be a comfort. Someone who is past

eighty has no power to stand up.

A wish to live after a long life –

but death is a man’s final destination.

Muhadhdhab al-Dīn ibn al-Naqqāsh sent the oil as requested. He remained in the service of Nūr al-Dīn, until [the latter] died – may God have mercy upon him – in Damascus [in the month of] Shawwāl of the year 569 [May 1174]. Muhadhdhab al-Dīn ibn al-Naqqāsh subsequently entered the service of al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb [i.e. Saladin], when the latter took control of Damascus. As Saladin’s physician, he enjoyed [the ruler’s] favour. Muhadhdhab al-Dīn ibn al-Naqqāsh was a very kind man who performed many good deeds. He was a private person, and did not marry or leave offspring. He passed away – may God have mercy upon him – in Damascus on Saturday the twelfth of [the month] Muḥarram of the year 574 [30 June 1178], and was buried there on Mount Qāsiyūn.

15.14 Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā al-Bayyāsī³⁹⁸

Amīn al-Dawlah Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā ibn Ismāʿīl al-Andalusī al-Bayyāsī was a celebrated and distinguished person and an important scholar, who was proficient in the art of medicine and outstanding in the mathematical sciences. Upon arriving in Egypt from the West, he stayed in Cairo for some time and then went to Damascus where he settled. He studied under Muhadhdhab al-Dīn Abī l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn ʿAlī ibn Hibat Allāh, who was known as Ibn al-Naqqāsh al-Baghdādī,³⁹⁹ and [for a while] he remained constantly in his company. He copied, read and studied the ‘Sixteen Books’ by Galen, as well as many other works on medicine and other topics.

Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā al-Bayyāsī was a master carpenter and made many measuring instruments for Ibn al-Naqqāsh. He was an accomplished lute-player and also attempted to play the organ.⁴⁰⁰ He had a number of pupils who studied the science of music with him.

Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā al-Bayyāsī served al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb (i.e. Saladin) as his physician and accompanied him for a time on campaign.⁴⁰¹ Later, however, he asked to be allowed to leave from Saladin’s service and to remain in Damascus. Al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn granted him an allowance, and he settled in Damascus, drawing the allowance until his death, may God have mercy upon him.

15.15 Sukkarah al-Ḥalabī⁴⁰²

Sukkarah was a Jewish elder from the city of Aleppo, a small man, but a skilled medical practitioner, with a long experience in the care of patients. I have heard the following account from the shaykh Ṣafī al-Dīn Khalīl ibn Abī l-Faḍl ibn Manṣūr al-Tanūkhī, the scribe of Latakiyah, ‘[When] Al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn Zangī was in Aleppo, he kept with him in the citadel a concubine of whom he was particularly fond. This girl once became seriously ill. Al-Malik al-ʿĀdil had to go to Damascus, but his heart remained with her, and he sent constantly to enquire about her. Her illness persisted, although she received medical treatment from some of the most distinguished physicians. Finally, however, the wise doctor Sukkarah was brought to her. He found that she had very little appetite, had a humoral imbalance, and was not able to move and rise from her bed. He returned to her several times with the other physicians and eventually asked permission to visit her alone.

Once closeted with his patient, Sukkarah said to her, “My lady, I can give you a treatment which, God willing, will cause you to recover as quickly as possible, so that you will have no need of anything else”. She replied: “Please do so!” At this, he said: “I want you to answer whatever questions I pose to you, and to tell me [everything] without hiding [any] facts from me”. She promised to do so, and in return, at his request, assured him that no harm would befall him. Then he asked: “Where are you from?” “I am one of the Alans,” she replied.⁴⁰³ “The Alans in their homeland are Christians,” said the physician. “Tell me, what did you usually eat at home?”. “Cow’s meat,” she replied. “And what kind of wine did you drink there, my lady?” he asked. “Such and such,” she replied. “Excellent! For then you will be all right!,” said the physician, and took his leave.

Sukkarah went back to his house, bought a calf, slaughtered it and cooked a part of it. He [then] returned to the citadel, carrying with him a bowl containing a piece of boiled meat marinated in milk and garlic and topped with a thin slice of bread. This he placed in front of the girl, saying, “Eat”. She leaned over to it and began to dip [the bread] in the milk and garlic and ate until she was full. The physician then took a small vessel from his sleeve and said, “My lady, this is a drink that will do you good. Take it!” No sooner had she drunk it than she became sleepy. He covered her with a mantle made of squirrel fur, which caused her to perspire heavily, but when she awoke the next morning, she felt well. Subsequently, al-Ḥalabī gave her [the same] food and drink on the following two days, until her health was fully restored.

The girl treated the physician most generously, giving him a tray filled with pieces of jewellery. He thanked her, but added, “Nevertheless I would like you to write a letter for me to the sultan, informing him about the nature of your illness and explaining that you were cured by me”. She promised to do so, and was as good as her word: she wrote to the Sultan, telling him how grateful she was to the physician, stating that she had been on the verge of death and had been treated by so-and-so, who was the only person who proved able to cure her, while all the other physicians who came to see her had been baffled by her illness, and asking [the sultan] to reward him.

When [the sultan] read the letter, he sent for Sukkarah, showed him great honour and said to him, “We are grateful to you for your treatment”. “My Lord,” replied the physician, “she was near perishing, but God mighty and glorious granted her health through me for as much time as may remain to her”. The sultan nodded in approval and said: “Ask whatever you want, and I shall give it to you”. “My Lord,” replied the physician, “grant me ten faddāns of land, five in the village of Ṣamʿ and five in the village of ʿIndān”.⁴⁰⁴ “It is yours,” replied the sultan “and we shall draw up a contract of purchase and sale, so that it will remain yours in perpetuity.” The sultan wrote out the contract then and bestowed a robe of honour upon him’.

Sukkarah went back to Aleppo, where he accumulated great wealth. He and his children after him lived there comfortably all their lives.

15.16 ʿAfīf ibn Sukkarah⁴⁰⁵

ʿAfīf ibn ʿAbd al-Qāhir Sukkarah was a Jewish resident of Aleppo who was thoroughly familiar with the art of medicine. He was a celebrated practitioner who was also keenly interested in the theory of medicine. He had a number of sons and other relatives, most of whom were devoted to the art of medicine and lived in the city of Aleppo.

ʿAfīf ibn Sukkarah is the author of a treatise on colic (M. fī l-qawlanj), which he composed for al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb in the year 584/1188.

15.17 Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ⁴⁰⁶

The learned shaykh Najm al-Dīn Abū l-Futūḥ Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Sarī was also known as Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ. He was an outstanding [scholar] in the learned disciplines,⁴⁰⁷ being thoroughly acquainted with their finer points and obscure aspects. Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ was eloquent, expressing himself clearly and writing in an elegant style. He was also a distinguished physician.

Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ was Persian by origin, being originally from Hamadhān, but he had settled in Baghdad. From there, he was invited to the court of Ḥusām al-Dīn Timurtāsh ibn Il-Ghāzī ibn Artuq,⁴⁰⁸ who showed him great honour. After having enjoyed [the ruler’s] friendship for a time, he travelled to Damascus where he remained until his death. He died – may God have mercy upon him – in Damascus on a Sunday night in the year 540/1145 or a little later,⁴⁰⁹ and was interred in the cemetery of the Sufis near the river Bānyās on the outskirts of Damascus.⁴¹⁰

I have copied the following account from [a manuscript in] the handwriting of the learned shaykh Amīn al-Dīn Abī Zakariyyā Yaḥyā ibn Ismāʿīl al-Bayyāsī,⁴¹¹ may God have mercy upon him:

‘The learned shaykh and philosopher Abū l-Futūḥ ibn al-Ṣalāḥ travelled from Baghdad to Damascus, where he stayed with the learned shaykh Abū l-Faḍl Ismāʿīl ibn Abī l-Waqqār,⁴¹² the physician. Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ wanted to have a pair of shoes made, of a Baghdādī type called shamshak.⁴¹³ When he asked for a good shoemaker who could produce them, he was directed to a man by the name of Saʿdān the Shoemaker, with whom he placed an order for a pair of shamshak shoes. When, after some time, the shoes were finished, Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ found that the toes were too narrow and that the shoes were too long and shoddily made. As a result, he complained incessantly, saying how bad the shoes were and blaming the maker. When shaykh Abū l-Ḥakam al-Maghribī,⁴¹⁴ the physician, heard about the matter, he composed the following poem as a jest, putting it into the mouth of the philosopher. In it he mentions numerous technical terms from the fields of logic, natural sciences, and geometry’.⁴¹⁵

My plight is bewildering and indescribable,

my case is strange to explain, O Abū l-Faḍl!

I’ll let you in to my misery and passionate feelings

and the humiliation I suffered⁴¹⁶ in Damascus.

I arrived there unaware of its affairs,

no matter how much I have been wary of ignorance.

I was wearing an old pair of shamshak shoes on my feet

to which treacherous Time had done its unpraiseworthy deed.

5I said, ‘Perhaps fate will leave me a worthy replacement!’

 – But how wrong I was, thinking to find it anywhere!⁴¹⁷

I met a scoundrel who happened to be near, to my misery.

Ah, how I suffered from that scoundrel!

I said, ‘Saʿd,⁴¹⁸ be so good and do something for me

by which you will earn the gratitude of a scholar such as myself!

I beseech you, would you perhaps select a piece

of leather, tanned with gall and vinegar, today?’

‘At your service’, he replied; ‘To do what is due to you

is a duty for any reasonable man.’

10I paid him twenty dirhams on the nail,

but he let me wait for two months with his delay.

When the God the Merciful decreed that he should be ready,

and I said to myself, ‘Perhaps Saʿd has finished the job!’

He brought me a pair of shamshak shoes with toes too tight, malformed,

with heels that would kill both heel and foot,

Their back(?) being a back(?)⁴¹⁹ of almost equal evil,

joined to a worthless sole that resembles it,

With a shape that ordinary minds cannot solve

and that would defeat even astute men, people of power;⁴²⁰

15With heels that incline towards the nadir,

and fronts parts that rise towards the zenith.⁴²¹

Their proportions did not do me any good:

rather, the badness spread to branch and root.

The parallelism of the lines of their two sides was deviant:

part turned upward and part downward.

So many defects there were, and disgusting loose stitches,

and cuts in the strings⁴²² and the soles!⁴²³

With a necessary joining, while it had been contingent

 – upon your life! – that the shamshak came unjoined.

20They contain a fault in a compound syllogism:⁴²⁴

neither the conditional nor the categorical produce a conclusion.⁴²⁵

Their transversal⁴²⁶ is not fitting that I should

protect my feet with it. Their shape ought not to exist!

Their genus, according to the Isagoge (jinsu īsāghūjihī), is not clear,

nor can a species be defined for them, if one comes up with a distinction.

Some corruption befell their figure when they came into being;

now say: What can give solace for their ugly qualities?

They had the potential to be what we desired,

but we missed their coming forth in actuality.

25Had they been somewhat deviant from perfection I would have tolerated it,

but they are bereft of beauty⁴²⁷ in particular and in general.

O, for making positive what truthfully is negative,

and for the equity of propositions⁴²⁸ that came iniquitously!

But I was not in need of a defect in their category:⁴²⁹

their substance, their quality, their quantity are all confused.

Are there any propositions in which the untruth is not evident?

Is there any syllogism that is not deficient?

The logical proof lacks several conditions:⁴³⁰

the positive, the necessary, and the general proof.

30If this shoe were put in the sun, the conic form of its instep,⁴³¹

like someone who turns around, would be seen to swerve to the shade.

They make flopping noises on my foot, when summer has not yet ended;

how would it be if I got into mud and mire?

They baffled me, to the point that I became totally oblivious

and Saʿdān left me bereft of reason, my friend!

Yet, in all this it was clear that the man’s brains were cracked;

how despicable, a person lacking wits, of disordered mind!

And how quick to be ruined, a house from which comes what you can see among people,

and how worthy of humiliation and distress!

35If Euclid were alive he would be unable to solve

the problem, because the figure is unsolvable.

Then I swore an oath by God, my Creator,

and by Hūd, the brother of ʿĀd, by Seth, by Dhū l-Kifl,⁴³²

And by the Suras Yā-Sīn, Ṭā-Hā, Maryam,

Ṣād, Ḥā-Mīm, Luqmān, and The Ants:⁴³³

If I do not find a slipperiness on a sloping slide

that befits my leg, I shall not declare him⁴³⁴ outlawed,

And I shall not make poetry on Damascus⁴³⁵ and not be seen

to reproach any shoemaker, in earnest or in jest.

40I was afflicted by him, this friend who spoiled my good life:

may the Merciful not bless this friend of mine!

How much did the shoemaker grieve my heart with his delay!

I suffered as much as Moses suffered on account of the calf.⁴³⁶

Aristotle was afflicted by some people

who wanted him to agree with jesting;⁴³⁷

Hippocrates encountered many things

but he did not encounter among his people anyone like me.

Galen, whenever his foot was bitten by a shamshak,

would treat the wound with nakhlī salve.⁴³⁸

45Qusṭā ibn Lūqā would rather go barefoot therefore,

and would not listen to reproaches on account of his bare feet.

Whenever Abū Naṣr (al-Fārābī) visited people

and he lost his shoes, he would return without shoes.

The leading scholars in this field have never ceased

to suffer what they should not, from ignorant people.

Therefore I, since I came to stay in Damascus,⁴³⁹

regret it and am resolved to return to my family.

If I were in Baghdad, some generous and noble people

would be there to help me,

50And I would never be without a supporting friend,

someone eager for knowledge, who would write down what I dictate.

O, would that I could hastily fly to it!

Who could help me with this, though impossible, who could?

For in Syria I have suffered a thousand calamities;

I wish I had never dismounted there!

In Damascus I am among people

to live with who are not of my kind.

I swear: neither the rain-stars of the Pleiades,⁴⁴⁰ when they send rain

and generously pour on the earth suffering from lasting⁴⁴¹ drought,

55Nor al-Khansāʾ, who wept for her brother Ṣakhr⁴⁴²

while her tears were steadily pouring down her cheeks,

Shed more than the tears I shed when I saw these shoes

when they came to be on my feet, with the wrong shape.

What I encountered from them made me ill.

I wish I had no feet!

All this, and I have not even listed some of their other qualities,

so how could I guard myself against their harm, tell me!

Because I suffered so badly from the narrow instep⁴⁴³

I fear my whole body will be sick and waste away.

60O, what a shamshak! As soon as I looked at its shape

I knew for certain that that it had to cause my death

And would give me an illness from which, I imagine,

neither herbs nor any decoction will save me.⁴⁴⁴

Those to whom my death in Damascus will be announced will recite:

‘We suffer for you in the sands what you suffer in the sands’.⁴⁴⁵

So don’t be amazed about my affliction,⁴⁴⁶ for I

have experienced from it what no one before experienced.

Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ is the author of the following books:

1. Treatise on the fourth figure of the [categorical]⁴⁴⁷ syllogisms. This figure is attributed to Galen (M. fī shakl al-rābiʿ min ashkāl al-qiyās al-ḥamlī).⁴⁴⁸

2. On the minor book of triumph, on wisdom (K. fī l-fawz al-aṣghar fi l-ḥikmaḥ).⁴⁴⁹

15.18 Shihāb al-Dīn al-Suhrawardī⁴⁵⁰

[15.18.1]

The distinguished and learned authority Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn […]⁴⁵¹ was unparalleled in his mastery of the sciences, with his extensive knowledge of the branches of philosophy and grasp of the principles of astronomy. He was extremely intelligent and quick-witted, and possessed an excellent way of expressing himself: he would get the better of any opponent, regardless of the subject under discussion. His knowledge, however, was greater than his common sense. The shaykh Sadīd al-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn ʿUmar⁴⁵² told me that Shihāb al-Dīn al-Suhrawardī used to visit our shaykh Fakhr al-Dīn al-Māridīnī⁴⁵³ from time to time, and that they cherished feelings of friendship for each other. The shaykh Fakhr al-Dīn used to tell us: ‘How intelligent and how eloquent this youth is! I have never found anyone like him in my generation, but I fear that his great carelessness, his recklessness and his lack of restraint will be the cause of his downfall’.

Sadīd al-Dīn continued: ‘When Shihāb al-Dīn left us, going from the east to Syria, he arrived in Aleppo where he entered into debate with the [local] experts of jurisprudence. None of them was able to stand against him, and consequently they bitterly loathed him. The Sultan al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Ghāzī ibn al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb⁴⁵⁴ summoned him, along with a number of distinguished scholars, jurists and theologians, so that he could listen to them debating and discussing [all different kinds of subjects]. They held a long debate, in which he [Shihāb al-Dīn] displayed effortless superiority over the others, and dazzled everyone with his great knowledge. He made a good impression on al-Malik al-Ẓāhir, thereby acquiring rank and prestige.

However, the respect and favour shown al-Suhrawardī by al-Malik al-Ẓāhir merely inflamed the hatred of his rivals, who [then] prepared attested statements alleging that he was an infidel and sent them to the Sultan al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn in Damascus. “If this [man] stays”, they wrote, “he will corrupt the faith of al-Malik al-Ẓāhir; if he is set free and sent away, he will corrupt any region of the country in which he settles,” together with many remarks of the same kind. Upon receiving this letter, Saladin had his scribe, al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil,⁴⁵⁵ draft a letter concerning the matter and send it to his son, al-Malik al-Ẓāhir, in Aleppo. In the letter, Saladin wrote that this Shihāb al-Suhrawardī surely had to be killed, for he could neither be sent elsewhere nor, under any circumstances, allowed to stay where he was. When Shihāb al-Dīn al-Suhrawardī heard of this, he realized that he must die and that there was no way for him to escape [his fate]. Accordingly, he chose to be left in an isolated place and be denied food and drink until he should meet God, exalted be He. This happened at the end of the year 586/1190 in the citadel of Aleppo, when he was about thirty-six years old’. The shaykh Sadīd al-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn ʿUmar commented on this by saying: ‘When the news about his death reached our shaykh Fakhr al-Dīn al-Māridīnī, he said to us: “Did I not tell you so before, did I not fear for him?” ’

[15.18.1.1]

I – Ibn Abī ʿUṣaybiʿah – say:

It is said that Shihāb al-Dīn al-Suhrawardī knew much about the art of natural magic (sīmiyāʾ)⁴⁵⁶ and that many people witnessed him performing marvels of this specific kind. The physician Ibrāhīm ibn Abī l-Faḍl ibn Ṣadaqah⁴⁵⁷ told me about this and asserted that he met him once in person outside the Gate of Deliverance (Bāb al-Faraj).⁴⁵⁸ They were walking in the direction of a great open field together with a group of students and others,⁴⁵⁹ and were engaged in conversation about that art, its marvels, and the shaykh’s knowledge of it. He listened as he walked along and then exclaimed: ‘How beautiful Damascus is and how beautiful this place!’.⁴⁶⁰ We looked and saw in the direction of the east lofty whitewashed palaces built closely together, constructed and ornamented in a most beautiful manner. The enclosure contained large windows, in which the most beautiful women imaginable [could be seen]. Singing voices and musical instruments were heard. There were intertwining trees and broad rivers were flowing [there]. We had not known this place before and were greatly astonished at it. The crowd was delighted at the view, but [at the same time] perplexed by what they saw. The physician Ibrāhīm goes on: ‘We continued to see it for an hour, but then it vanished and we again viewed what we had long been accustomed to see [there]’. He said to me: ‘But when I first gazed at this wondrous manifestation, it felt as if I had quietly dozed off [without anyone noticing it]. My perception [of things] did not seem to be in touch with reality’.

[15.18.1.2]

A Persian legal scholar told me [the following story]:

We had left Damascus and were in al-Qābūn,⁴⁶¹ in the company of the shaykh Shihāb al-Dīn, when we encountered a flock of sheep with a Turkmen shepherd. We said to the shaykh: ‘O master, we would like to eat one of those sheep’. ‘I have ten dirhams,’ replied Shihāb al-Dīn, ‘take them and buy yourself a sheep.’ So with the money we bought a sheep from the Turkmen. We walked on, but were overtaken by the shepherd’s companion, who said: ‘Give back that sheep and take a smaller one, because that man did not know what he was selling you. That animal of the size of a Bactrian camel that you (now) have is worth far more than the price he got from you’.⁴⁶² We [then] bargained with him [about the price]. At this, the shaykh said to us: ‘Take the sheep and go! I shall stay here and seek to come to terms with him’. We moved on, while the shaykh stayed, talking with the man and trying to hold him up by negotiating the matter.⁴⁶³ After we had walked a little further, he left the shepherd’s companion and followed us. The Turkmen came after him shouting, but he paid no attention and did not speak to him. When the Turkmen caught up with him, he grabbed his left arm in a fury and cried: ‘Where are you going and why did you walk away from me?’ Suddenly the shaykh’s arm [lit. hand] came off his shoulder. The Turkmen found himself holding it in his hand, with blood pouring out from it. The Turkmen turned pale, stood in bewilderment, and threw away the arm, filled with fear. The shaykh returned, picked up the arm with his right hand and rejoined us. The Turkmen kept on looking around at us until he was out of sight. When the shaykh reached us, we saw nothing but a handkerchief in his right hand.⁴⁶⁴

[15.18.1.3]

Ṣafī al-Dīn Khalīl ibn Abī l-Faḍl, the scribe,⁴⁶⁵ told me a story that he had heard from the shaykh Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn ibn Ṣaqr⁴⁶⁶ – may God have mercy upon him: In the year 579/1183 the shaykh Shihāb al-Dīn ʿUmar al-Suhrawardī came to Aleppo and stayed at the Ḥallāwiyyah law college (madrasah).⁴⁶⁷ The director (mudarris) of the college in those days was the distinguished head of the Hanafite school of law Iftikhār al-Dīn⁴⁶⁸ – may God have mercy upon him. When Shihāb al-Dīn attended a lesson and entered into discussion with the jurists, he wore an old, worn-out robe (dilq)⁴⁶⁹ and [carried] nothing more than a ewer and a [shepherd’s] staff. Nobody knew him, but when his skill in argumentation became apparent, Iftikhār al-Dīn realized that he was an excellent [debater]. He then took out a gown of red cotton [or: silk] (thawb ʿattābī),⁴⁷⁰ a cloak (ghilālah),⁴⁷¹ a robe (libās)⁴⁷² and a garment made of camel’s hair (baqyār)⁴⁷³ and said to his son: ‘Go up to that beggar and tell him: “My father sends you his regards, says that you are a wise man and invites you to attend the lessons together with the jurists. He has sent you something that you can wear when you come.” ’

When the son [of Iftikhār al-Dīn] had approached the shaykh Shihāb al-Dīn and told him what his father had instructed him to say, Shihāb al-Dīn fell silent for a while, and then said: ‘O my son, put down these clothes (qumāsh), and please do something for me.’ He brought out a balas ruby (faṣṣ balakhsh)⁴⁷⁴ as big as a chicken’s egg, of the colour of a pomegranate, the like of which, for size and colour, nobody had ever possessed before and said: ‘Go to the market and hawk this stone as though you wished to sell it, but whatever they offer you for it, do not sell it without first letting me know.’ Iftikhār al-Dīn’s son went to the market, sat down at the intendant’s stall, and began to call that the stone was for sale. The offers he received eventually reached the amount of twenty-five thousand dirhams.

The market intendant took the stone and carried it up [that is, to the citadel of Aleppo] to al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Ghāzī ibn Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn, who was the ruler of Aleppo at that time, and said: ‘Such-and-such a price was offered for this stone.’ Al-Malik al-Ẓāhir was astonished at the size, the colour and the beauty of the stone and offered thirty thousand dirhams for it. The intendant said: ‘Let me first inform Iftikhār al-Dīn’s son of that offer.’ He took the stone, went back to the market, returned it to Iftikhār al-Dīn’s son and said: ‘Go and consult your father about the price that has been offered,’ since the intendant was under the impression that the stone belonged to Iftikhār al-Dīn. When Iftikhār al-Dīn’s son came to Shihāb al-Dīn al-Suhrawardī and informed him of the price that had been offered for the stone, he was shocked. He took the jewel, placed it on a large stone, and then smashed it with another large stone until it was broken into tiny fragments, saying to Iftikhār al-Dīn’s son: ‘O my son, take these clothes, go back to your father, kiss his hand for me, and say to him: “If I had wanted the clothes, the price would have been fair.” ’⁴⁷⁵ Iftikhār al-Dīn’s son went back to his father and described to him what had happened, leaving Iftikhār al-Dīn perplexed.

Al-Malik al-Ẓāhir now summoned the market intendant, and said: ‘I want that stone’. ‘O master,’ replied the intendant ‘the person entrusted with it, the son of the eminent Iftikhār al-Dīn, the director of the Ḥallāwiyyah law college, has taken it back.’ The Sultan rode down [from the citadel] to the college, sat in the great hall, called for Iftikhār al-Dīn, and said to him, ‘I want that stone’. The director [of the college] informed him that it belonged to a poor man, who was staying with him. The Sultan thought this over and said: ‘O Iftikhār al-Dīn, if my conjecture is right, that man is Shihāb al-Dīn al-Suhrawardī.’ The Sultan then rose to his feet, met Shihāb al-Dīn, took him to the citadel, where he enjoyed great favour. He would engage in discussions with jurists from all schools (madhāhib) and best them [all].

After a time, however, he began to display arrogant behaviour toward the people of Aleppo and talk to them in an offensive manner, so that they closed ranks against him, and issued a legal opinion declaring that he might lawfully be put to death. It is said that al-Malik al-Ẓāhir sent out someone to strangle him. Later, however, the Sultan took vengeance on those who had issued the fatal legal opinion that had brought about al-Suhrawardī’s death. He seized a number of them, put them under arrest, humiliated them and confiscated a large part of their possessions.

[15.18.1.4]

I have heard the following account from Sadīd al-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn ʿUmar, who was also known as Ibn Raqīqah: The shaykh Shihāb al-Dīn al-Suhrawardī paid little attention to his appearance and was unconcerned about worldly affairs. We were [once] strolling together in the mosque of Mayyāfāriqīn.⁴⁷⁶ Shihab al-Dīn was dressed in a short, open, outer garment with wide sleeves (jubbah qaṣīrah)⁴⁷⁷ and a dark-coloured lining. He wore a tightly twisted kerchief around his head (fūṭah maftūlah)⁴⁷⁸ and high-heeled leather boots (zarbūl) on his feet. When a friend of mine saw me there, he came over to me and said, ‘How can you walk around here with this muleteer like that?’ I said to him: ‘Hush, this is one of the great men of our generation, Shihāb al-Dīn al-Suhrawardī.’ My words made a great impression on my friend, who walked away in great astonishment.

A citizen of Aleppo once told me that when Shihāb al-Dīn had died – may God have mercy upon him – and was buried on the outskirts of the city of Aleppo, an ancient poem was found written on his tomb:⁴⁷⁹

This grave’s occupant was a hidden pearl,⁴⁸⁰

created by God from nobility.⁴⁸¹

Time did not realise its⁴⁸² worth

and thus, out of jealousy, He returned it to the shell.

[15.18.2]

Among his sayings is the following prayer (duʿā): O God, provider of existence, unending source of generosity and good, abode of blessings, utmost goal of desires, light of light, ruler of all things and giver of life in both this world and the world to come. Provide us with Thy light, let us succeed in pleasing Thee and be inspired by Thy right guidance. Purify us from the filth of darkness and iniquity, save us from the obscurity and gloom of nature and let us see Thy lights and view Thy brightness. Let us be near to those who are close to Thee and meet the inhabitants of Thy kingdom. Let us be gathered with those who enjoy Thy favour, the angels, the just, the prophets and the messengers.

Among the poetry composed by Shihāb al-Dīn al-Suhrawardī is the following:⁴⁸³

Always the spirits yearn for you⁴⁸⁴

and being united with you is their sweet basil and wine.⁴⁸⁵

The hearts of the people who love you yearn for you

and are glad with the delight of meeting you.

O, pity the lovers! They carry the burden

of hiding their love; for passion is a great exposer

Of secrets: if they divulge (bāḥū) it their blood may be shed with impunity

(tubāḥu); the blood of divulgers (al-bāʾiḥīn) is a free-for-all (tubāḥū).

5And if they conceal it, their eyes that pour out

tell tales about them to the slanderers.

Evidence of sickness becomes visible on them,

that explain their difficult state.

A lowering of the wing over you!⁴⁸⁶ There is no sin (junāḥ) for them

in lowering the wing (janāḥ) over a lover.

His soul is yearning to meet you

and his eye is eager to see your pleasure.

Bring back the light of reunion from the twilight of estrangement,

for forsaking is night, reunion is morn.

10And enjoy yourselves, for the time is pleasant for you,

the wine is limpid, the cups have gone round.

[Swaying; he is a run-away gazelle

and in his cheeks are reddish wine and apples;

And in his mouth is tasty honey, while camomile appeared

in the most beautiful ruby.]⁴⁸⁷

He also said:⁴⁸⁸

Enjoy your blessings,⁴⁸⁹ for your life will come to an end,

and take advantage of this world, for you will not live forever.

If you succeed in securing something delightful, apply yourself to it

and let no reproacher keep you from what you desire.

And connect morning drink with evening drink, for

this world of yours is merely one day that repeats itself.

They promised you that you would drink wine in Paradise,

but you’ll be truly sorry when you’re denied it at the appointed place.⁴⁹⁰

How many nations have perished, how many houses have been destroyed,

mosques been ruined, and places of old restored!⁴⁹¹

You have a prophet who brought a Sharia,

a long time ago. How often have they blessed and revered it!

He also said:⁴⁹²

I say to my female neighbour, while my tears are streaming down

and I am resolved to depart from my dwelling:

‘Let me go and do not lament,⁴⁹³

for the noblest bright stars are the wandering planets.⁴⁹⁴

I have seen a light in the darkness,

as if the night was adorned with the light of day.

How much longer must I make snakes my companions?

How much longer must I make the dragon my neighbour?

How much longer must I be content to stay in a desert,

when I have seen my dwelling above the Pole Star,⁴⁹⁵

And a flash of lightning comes to me from Sanaa,⁴⁹⁶

that reminds me of the closeness of a visit?’

At his death, giving up the ghost, when he was killed, he said:⁴⁹⁷

Say to companions who thought they saw me dead

and wept for me out of grief when they saw me:

Do not think that I am dead;

that dead one, by God, is not I.

I am a bird and that is my cage:

I flew from it and it was left vacant, as a security.

And today I converse with a Host⁴⁹⁸

and I see God with my own eyes, in bliss.

5Therefore strip your souls from their bodies;

you will surely see⁴⁹⁹ the Truth as manifest truth.

Let death’s agony not frighten you, for it is nothing

but a transition from here.

The origin of spirits in us is one;

likewise our bodies are one body common to us all.

I see myself as nothing but you;

it is my firm belief that you yourselves are I.

Thus what is good is for us

and what is evil is in us.

10So have mercy upon me and you yourselves will be shown mercy,

and know that you will follow after me.

Whoever sees me, let his soul strengthen itself:

this world is on the cusp of annihilation.

To you here is a sentence of my speech;

a salutation of God,⁵⁰⁰ a laudation, a eulogy.

[15.18.3]

Shihāb al-Dīn al-Suhrawardī is the author of the following books:

1. Intimations of the table and the throne (K. al-talwīḥāt al-lawḥiyyah wa-l-ʿarshiyyah).

2. The ʿImādian Tablets, composed for ʿImād al-Dīn Abū Bakr ibn Qarā Arslān ibn Dāwūd ibn Artuq,⁵⁰¹ the ruler of Kharpūt⁵⁰² (K. al-alwāḥ al-ʿImādiyyah).

3. The glimmer (K. al-lamḥah).

4. Oppositions (K. al-muqāwamāt), which is a supplement to the Intimations.

5. The temples of light (K. hayākil al-nūr).

6. The ascending steps (K. al-maʿārij).

7. Havens (K. al-muṭāraḥāt).⁵⁰³

8. The philosophy of illumination (K. ḥikmat al-ishrāq).

15.19 Shams al-Dīn al-Khuwayyī⁵⁰⁴

The honourable dignitary, perfect scholar and chief judge Shams al-Dīn Abū l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn al-Khalīl ibn Saʿādah ibn Jaʿfar ibn ʿĪsā, from the town of Khuwayy, was [one of the] leading authorities within the community of Islam, a master of scholars and rulers.⁵⁰⁵

He was the outstanding man of his time in the philosophical sciences and one of the most deeply learned men of his day and age in juridical matters, besides being acquainted with the principles of medicine and other branches of science. He was an intelligent, very shy, good-looking, amiable, kind and benevolent person. He was – may God have mercy upon him – zealous in prayer, fasting and reading the Qur’an.

When Shams al-Dīn arrived in Syria during the reign of the Sultan al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam ʿĪsā ibn al-Malik al-ʿĀdil,⁵⁰⁶ the ruler sent for him. Upon hearing him speak, he pronounced him to be the best of his generation in all the sciences. Al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam was himself acquainted with juridical matters and religious law. He gave Shams al-Dīn a good position, bestowed many honours upon him and provided him with a salary and other means of income. They maintained a solid friendship.

The Sultan also installed Shams al-Dīn in Damascus and placed a house at his disposal. There a group of devoted students studied under him and benefited from his teachings. I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – would frequent his house and study Ibn Sahlān’s Reflections [tabṣirah] with him.⁵⁰⁷ He was a master of eloquence and was highly skilled in using correct and intelligible language. He was a generous and noble-minded person.

Shams al-Dīn’s master was the Imam Fakhr al-Dīn,⁵⁰⁸ the son of the preacher of al-Rayy,⁵⁰⁹ with whom he studied until al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam appointed him first as a judge and then a chief judge in Damascus. He remained very humble, was soft-spoken, went to the mosque on foot and punctually attended all the prayers. His literary works are outstanding and unequalled. He used to dwell at the al-ʿĀdiliyyah law college where he held classes for the legal scholars until he died – may God have mercy upon him – at a relatively young age from hectic fever (ḥummā al-diqq).⁵¹⁰ He died in Damascus on the seventh of the month Shaʿbān in the year 637 [3 March 1240].

Shams al-Dīn al-Khuwayyī is the author of the following works:

1. Supplement to the Son of the Preacher of al-Rayy’s [Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s] Commentary on the Qur’an (Tatimmat tafsīr al-Qurʾān li-Ibn Khaṭīb al-Rayy).

2. On syntax (K. fī l-naḥw).

3. On legal theory and methodology (K. fī ʿilm al-uṣūl).⁵¹¹

4. On philosophical symbolism and the honorific names of the Sultan al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam, composed for al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam ʿĪsā ibn Abī Bakr ibn Ayyūb (K. yashtamilu ʿalā rumūz ḥikmiyyah wa-alqāb al-sulṭān al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam ʿĪsā ibn Abī Bakr ibn Ayyūb).⁵¹²

15.20 Rafīʿ al-Dīn al-Jīlī⁵¹³

The venerable judge and learned authority Rafīʿ al-Dīn Abū Ḥamid ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī al-Jīlī came originally from Fīlmān,⁵¹⁴ but became well-known in al-Jīlān.⁵¹⁵ He was one of the most outstanding [scholars] in the domains of the philosophical sciences, dogmatic theology, legal theory and methodology, the natural sciences and medicine. Having settled in Damascus, he taught as an expert of religious law at the al-ʿAdhrāwiyyah law college, inside the Gate of Victory (Bāb al-Naṣr), where he held sessions for his students in the various branches of sciences and medicine. I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – studied philosophy with him for a time. He was eloquent and highly intelligent, and read and studied constantly.

Rafīʿ al-Dīn served as a judge for a short while in the city of Baalbek, where he was a close friend of the vizier Amīn al-Dawlah.⁵¹⁶ After the Sultan al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ ʿImād al-Dīn Ismāʿīl⁵¹⁷ had become the ruler of Damascus, when the chief judge Shams al-Dīn al-Khuwayyī died, may God have mercy upon him, Amīn al-Dawlah suggested that Rafīʿ al-Dīn al-Jīlī should take his place. Accordingly, the Sultan appointed him to the post of chief judge in Damascus thereby enabling him to enjoy great prestige and wealth.

As time went on, however, many people complained about him and had serious misgivings about his conduct. To make a long story short, in the end he was arrested and put to death – may God have mercy upon him – during the reign of al-Malik Ṣāliḥ Ismāʿīl. Following an argument between the Rafīʿ al-Dīn and the vizier Amīn al-Dawlah, the judge was placed under guard and brought, under an escort of the vizier’s men, to a place near Baalbek, where there was an immense reputedly bottomless pit, known as the Cave of Afqah.⁵¹⁸ These men were ordered to tie his hands and then push him into the pit. One of the men who was among those present on that occasion told me that when Rafīʿ al-Dīn was pushed into this pit, he was crushed by the fall, but that his clothing appeared to have caught on the side of the cave near the bottom. ‘We stayed there for approximately three days,’ he told me ‘listening to his moaning and groaning. After some time, it became weaker and weaker and then it stopped, so that we were sure that he was dead. Then we went away’.

I – Ibn Abi Uṣaybiʿah – say: It is curious to note that the judge Rafīʿ al-Dīn went over a copy of this book in my presence, in which I had not included him.⁵¹⁹ He looked through it, but stopped when he had finished [reading] the account of Shihāb al-Dīn al-Suhrawardī. He was much impressed by it and spoke: ‘You have included him, but you have omitted others who were greater than he’, referring to himself. Then he added, ‘Shihāb al-Dīn’s situation was most unfortunate indeed, but at least he died in the end. And God mighty and glorious decreed that Rafīʿ al-Dīn should be put to death like him. Praise the Lord, who determines [the fate of] His creatures according to His will’. The judge Rafīʿ al-Dīn died in the month of Dhū l-Ḥijjah of the year 641 [May 1244]. When Rafīʿ al-Dīn became judge in Damascus and was appointed as chief judge in 638/1240, I composed the following poem to congratulate him on that occasion:⁵²⁰

Lasting glory and good fortune and high standing

for all time, and elevation and brilliance,

Through the lasting life of our master Rafīʿ al-Dīn, man of

all-encompassing generosity and of benevolence!

Chief Judge, most exalted master, through whose lofty qualities

scholarship and scholars rise high,

Unique in noble traits, though all of mankind

share some of them.

5If any man of eloquent speech wished

to count his noble traits, the eloquent would fall short.

How many enemies attest to his excellence

– and excellence is not (normally) attested by enemies!

He has composed works that clearly express

everything that the ancients did garble.⁵²¹

Through him Jīl⁵²² has things to boast of among countries;

likewise this generation (jīl) is raised through him.

O master who surpasses all people in truth

with his fine attributes that are not hidden:

10I was pained by your departure far away,

but seeing you brought the cure.

Gladness came in my heart, the sun

of joy shone, and torment ceased.

Glad tidings, of congratulation with a position, appeared,

over which there spread a splendour of God’s light:

The confirmation (iḥkām) of the verdicts (aḥkām) of widespread justice,

with which, and with your excellence (faḍl), the earth is filled.

Gifts (fawāḍil) from you were scattered among the people,

while affections from them came together in you.

15You possess lordship, happiness, lofty qualities,

excellence (faḍl), favours (afḍāl), and blessings.

A Jupiter for (or: ‘buyer of’) praise you are,⁵²³

but if you pronounce the decisive judgement⁵²⁴ you are Orion.⁵²⁵

I may have singled you out with congratulation, but

congratulation on your appointment encompasses all people.

Ah, so many favours have you bestowed on me

in the course of time; they cannot be counted!

Be well, live long, in a lasting life of ease,

as long as a dove sings in its grove!

Rafīʿ al-Dīn al-Jīlī is the author of the following works:

1. A commentary on The Book of Remarks and Admonitions [by Ibn Sīnā], composed for al-Muẓaffar Taqī al-Dīn ʿUmar ibn al-Malik al-Amjad Bahrām Shāh ibn Farrukh Shāh ibn Shāhanshāh ibn Ayyūb’ (S. al-ishārāt wa-l-tanbīhāt).

2. A summary of the Generalities in the Qānūn of Ibn Sīnā (Ikhtiṣār al-kulliyyāt min kitāb al-qānūn li-Ibn Sīnā).

3. A compilation of what has been transmitted authoritatively of the tradition [i.e. Hadith] of the Prophet, may God bless him and keep him (K. jamaʿa mā fī asānīd min ḥadīth al-nabīy).

15.21 Shams al-Dīn al-Khusrawshāhī⁵²⁶

The honourable and learned scholar Shams al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn ʿĪsā al-Khusrawshāhī, who was a native of Khusrawshāh, a small village very near Tabrīz,⁵²⁷ was a leading scholar, an outstanding philosopher, a model to mankind and an honour to Islam. He distinguished himself in the philosophical sciences, was devoted to the principles of medicine and was well-versed in religious law. Tireless in the pursuit of learning, and a man of great merit and virtue, he was one of the most brilliant disciples of the shaykh Fakhr al-Dīn, the ‘Son of the Preacher of al-Rayy’ [that is, Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī].

Shams al-Dīn al-Khusrawshāhī left his native place and went to Syria, where he served the Sultan al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Dāwūd ibn al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam,⁵²⁸ staying with him in al-Karak.⁵²⁹ He was held in high esteem [by the Sultan], who showed him great favour and bestowed many gifts upon him. Shams al-Dīn went to Damascus where he resided until he died – may God have mercy upon him – in the month of Shawwāl of the year 652 [October-November 1254]. He was buried on Mount Qāsiyūn.

When Shams al-Dīn arrived in Damascus, and I met him, I found him to be an elderly gentleman with pleasant manners and an attractive way of speaking. He was intelligent and very learned. One day when I was at his home a Persian jurist brought him a book written in a very tiny handwriting, one-eighth the size of Baghdadi script, and in a rather irregular format.⁵³⁰ After looking at it and [thoroughly] examining it, he kissed it and laid it down forthwith. Upon my asking him the reason for this, he said, ‘This is the handwriting of our master, the Imam Fakhr al-Dīn, the preacher – may God have mercy upon him’. I felt great esteem for him because of the respect that he had shown toward his master. When Shams al-Dīn al-Khusrawshāhī died – may God have mercy upon him – the shaykh ʿIzz al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan al-Ghanawī al-Ḍarīr al-Irbilī celebrated him in an elegy:⁵³¹

With your death, Shams al-Dīn, virtues died

and gatherings are deserted by the mention of sciences.

Perdition struck the sun (shams) of lofty deeds when it had risen,

and the moon of excellence perished when it was full:

A man who knew the Truth and who acted in accordance with what is Good

– not all people with knowledge act accordingly.

A man who surpassed all speakers with his silence;

think how he would be if you found him speaking!

5We used to count on him for the solution of difficulties

whenever problems defeated skilled people among us.

The abode of intelligence, now that he has gone, is empty today;

the neck of lofty qualities is bare of the jewels of excellence.

Do the Fates know whom they struck with their arrows

and which man perished and was seized by disasters?

They struck a man unique in this world, the sea of its sciences,

of whom the ancients fell short in excellence.

If a man could repel perdition with his excellence,

slabs of stone would not have hidden ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd.

10But no subterfuge can repel death

and nobody with hope can expect a man to live forever.

Now that you, Shams al-Dīn, are gone, any scholar is destitute

while the ignorant put forward their claims in gatherings.

Al-Ṣāḥib Najm al-Dīn al-Lubūdī⁵³² composed this elegy on him:⁵³³

O you who announce the death of ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd, forbear

with me! For knowledge is wrapped in a shroud.

He passed away, singular in his excellence and knowledge,

while I have become solitary in grief, passion, and sorrow.

So eyes, pour out tears for the loss of him,

for today after his demise my decent fortitude is no longer fitting.

May the several kinds of angels receive him, in splendour,

in a radiant arrival in that custom,

5Saying to him, ‘Welcome! Welcome

to the best man who has come to this home,

To a host whose existence has turned into their essences,⁵³⁴

no longer having a companion or a dwelling to impede them.’

It is enough for you to have an essence that is identity⁵³⁵ by right;

there is no falsehood in it nor rancour.

You will stay there, seeing and observing the Essence of essences,⁵³⁶

who is exalted above beings, coming into being, and time.

God preserve you, Shams al-Dīn! So many signposts of truth

have you erected, splendid, with eloquent tongue!

10Being struck with your loss is a consolation for us,⁵³⁷

and someone like me is being put to the test with someone like you.

Shams al-Dīn al-Khusrawshāhī is the author of the following works:

1. Summary of The Guide to Jurisprudence, according to the school of Imam al-Shāfiʿī, by [the author] Abū Isḥāq al-Shīrāzī (Mukhtaṣar kitāb al-muhadhdhab fī l-fiqh ʿalā madhhab al-Imām al-Shāfiʿī li-Abī Isḥāq al-Shīrāzī).

2. Summary of the master Ibn Sīnā’s book The Healing (Mukhtaṣar kitāb al-shifāʾ lil-raʾīs Ibn Sīnā).

3. Supplement to The Book of Clear Signs by The Son of the Preacher of al-Rayy [Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī], which [completes] the second section. This [version of] the Clear Signs is not the well-known, abridged, edition in ten chapters (Tatimmat kitāb al-āyāt al-bayyināt li-Ibn Khaṭīb al-Rayy).

15.22 Sayf al-Dīn al-Āmidī⁵³⁸

The esteemed leading authority and learned scholar Sayf al-Dīn Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Abī ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Sālim al-Taghlibī al-Āmidī was one of the most distinguished, erudite and intelligent men of his time, having been supreme in his knowledge of the philosophical sciences, the several schools of theology and the principles of medicine. He was a spirited person and was impressive in appearance. He was also an eloquent speaker and an excellent writer as well.

Sayf al-Dīn served al-Malik al-Manṣūr Nāṣir al-Dīn Abū l-Maʿālī Muḥammad ibn al-Malik al-Muẓaffar Taqī al-Dīn ʿUmar ibn Shāhanshāh ibn Ayyūb, Lord of Hama,⁵³⁹ with whom he remained for two years, receiving a more than generous salary and enjoying many favours. He was one of [the ruler’s] special favourites and served al-Malik al-Manṣūr until the latter died in the year 617/1220.

Sayf al-Dīn then went to Damascus. Upon his arrival there, al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam Sharaf al-Dīn ʿĪsā ibn al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Abī Bakr ibn Ayyūb⁵⁴⁰ showered acts of kindness upon him, honoured him greatly and appointed him professor at a [law] college. When he came to the college and began to give lectures and hold classes there for the jurists, everyone was astonished at his excellent qualities in debate and research. There was no one who was equal to him in any of the sciences, but he rarely taught any of the philosophical sciences.

I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – used to meet with him and study the ‘Book of the Indication of Treasures’ under him, which he had composed himself. This was because of the firm friendship between him and my father. The first time I met him, I had come to his house with my father. He lived in a paved courtyard near the al-Ādiliyyah law college in Damascus. After we had greeted him, he observed the formalities by welcoming us with amiable words. Then we sat down. He looked at us and spoke these [exact] words: ‘I have never seen a father and a son resemble each other more than you do’.

Al-Ṣāḥib Fakhr al-Quḍāt ibn Buṣāqah⁵⁴¹ recited to me [the following] poem about himself, which he wrote after al-ʿImād al-Salmāsī⁵⁴² had put in a good word for him with Sayf al-Dīn al-Āmidī in order that [the latter] might accept him as a student:⁵⁴³

O Master, with whom God may embellish Time

and its people, of all non-Arabs and Arabs!

Your servant reminds his lord of his promises

made earlier to ʿImād al-Dīn, from nearby.⁵⁴⁴

The gifts of someone like my lord come

without any promise, his bounty comes without a request:

So be honest and give(?)⁵⁴⁵ from the overflowing watering place of your sea,

and enrich him with the treasures of knowledge, not of gold.

Provide him with a genealogy that connects him to you,

for the affiliation of knowledge surpasses that of kinship,

And do not let him rely on books to instruct him,

for ‘the sword (al-sayf) gives more truthful information than books’.⁵⁴⁶

I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – say: This poem contains a splendid insertion of a hemistich (taḍmīn) by Abū Tammām in order to incorporate the word sayf (sword). Sayf al-Dīn remained in Damascus until his death – may God have mercy upon him – on the fourth of the month Ṣafar of the year 631 [9 November 1233]. Among the poems of Sayf al-Dīn al-Āmidī is one, which his son Jamāl al-Dīn Muḥammad recited to me. He heard it from his father [Sayf al-Dīn] who had composed it himself:⁵⁴⁷

There is no virtue that is not one of his virtues,

there is no marvel of which he is not the origin.

He has attained glory by virtue of his knowledge and through him

realms have risen when he took charge of them.

He is the means in this world for those who seek it

and he is the road to approach the next world.

Sayf al-Dīn al-Āmidī is the author of the following works:

1. The finer points of truth (K. daqāʾiq al-ḥaqāʾiq).

2. The indications of treasures (K. rumūz al-kunūz).

3. The pith of intellects (K. lubāb al-albāb).

4. Virgin thoughts on dogmatic theology (K. abkār al-afkār fī l-uṣūl).

5. The utmost of what may be desired in speculative theology (K. ghāyat al-marām fī ʿilm al-kalām).

6. The demonstration of the distortion of facts in the Commentary on the Admonitions, which was composed for al-Malik al-Manṣūr ibn Taqī al-Dīn, ruler of Hama (K. kashf al-tamwīhāt fī sharḥ al-tanbīhāt).

7. The object of hope in dialectics (K. ghāyat al-amal fī ʿilm al-jadal).

8. A commentary on the book On dialectics by Shihāb al-Dīn, who is [also] known as al-Sharīf al-Marāghī (S. kitāb Shihāb al-Dīn al-maʿrūf bil-Sharīf al-Marāghī fī l-jadal).

9. Those who follow the [different] paths and have reached the highest levels of these paths (K. muntahā al-masālik fī rutab al-masālik).

10. Explanation of the meanings of the utterances of the philosophers and the [speculative] theologians (K. al-mubayyin fī maʿānī alfāẓ al-ḥukamāʾ wa-l-mutakallimīn).

11. Guide to complete agreement applicable in all matters in which there is disagreement (Dalīl muttaḥid al-iʾtilāf wa-jār fī jamīʿ masāʾil al-khilāf).

12. Preponderant arguments in [the science of] controversy [i.e., controversial questions in jurisprudence] (K. al-tarjīḥāt fī l-khilāf).

13. Blameworthy arguments in [the science] of controversy (K. al-muʾākhadhāt fī l-khilāf).

14. Lesser work on annotations (K. al-taʿlīqah al-ṣaghīrah).

15. Greater work on annotations (K. al-taʿlīqah al-kabīrah).

16. Profession of faith under the name ‘pure gold’ (ʿAqīdah tusammā khulāṣat al-ibrīz).

17. A memorandum to al-Malik al-ʿAzīz ibn Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn (Tadhkirat al-Malik al-ʿAzīz ibn Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn).

18. Answers to questions about dogmatic theology (K. muntahā al-masʾūl fī ʿilm al-uṣūl).

19. The gifts of intellects (K. manāʾiḥ al-qarāʾiḥ).⁵⁴⁸

15.23 Muwaffaq al-Dīn ibn al-Muṭrān⁵⁴⁹

[15.23.1]

The learned and virtuous physician and leading authority Muwaffaq al-Dīn Abū Naṣr Asʿad ibn Abī l-Fatḥ Ilyās ibn Jurjis al-Muṭrān was a leading philosopher and a most erudite scholar. He was amply blessed and richly favoured (by God) and was the leading expert of his time in the theory and practise of medicine, having been peerless in the knowledge and application of its principles, and a gentle and outstanding practitioner. He was an expert in the philosophical sciences. In addition, he was devoted to the writerly culture. He studied grammar, lexicography and literature under the teacher and well-known authority Tāj al-Dīn Abī l-Yumn Zayd ibn al-Ḥasan al-Kindī⁵⁵⁰ and excelled in those domains.

Muwaffaq al-Dīn ibn al-Muṭrān was Damascus born and bred. His father was also a prominent physician, who travelled to foreign lands in search of enlightenment. He had travelled to Byzantium in order to acquaint himself thoroughly with the principles of Christianity (being himself a Christian) and the several schools of Christian thought.⁵⁵¹ Later he moved to Iraq and met with Amīn al-Dawlah ibn al-Tilmīdh,⁵⁵² under whom he studied medicine for a time, reading many medical works under his guidance [until] he became distinguished in the art of medicine himself. He then returned to Damascus where he practised medicine until the day he died.

Muwaffaq al-Dīn ibn al-Muṭrān had a sharp intellect, spoke eloquently and studied constantly. His works furnish evidence of his erudition and excellence in the art of medicine, which he had studied under Muhadhdhab al-Dīn ibn al-Naqqāsh,⁵⁵³ and other sciences.

Ibn al-Muṭrān was a handsome man, who was particularly fond of luxurious, costly clothes. He served as a physician to al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb (Saladin) who showed him great favour, with the result that he enjoyed high status and great prestige. The ruler made him his chamberlain and appointed him in charge of the household, a post for which he paid him extremely well. Saladin – may God have mercy upon him – was a noble and excellent man, who was very generous to those who served him and to everyone who asked his for assistance, so much so that when he died, his treasury was found to be empty. He had complete confidence in Ibn al-Muṭrān, never leaving him behind whenever he was travelling or [whenever he] decided to stay in some town or village. For that reason, he [constantly] showered the physician with favours and gifts and provided him with opulent means. Ibn al-Muṭrān [then] became proud and arrogant, thinking himself even above kings. Saladin was aware of this trait in him, but did not cease to show him respect and esteem, because he admired him for his [great] knowledge.⁵⁵⁴ Ibn al-Muṭrān converted to Islam during the reign of Saladin.⁵⁵⁵

[15.23.1.1]

Someone who knew Ibn al-Muṭrān’s conceited nature and arrogance well told me that he once accompanied the Sultan on one of his military expeditions. In time of war, during campaigns, it was Saladin’s habit to occupy a red pavilion, complete with a red outer tent and vestibule. One day, when Saladin was out riding, he saw a red tent with a red vestibule and privy. He contemplated it for a while and then asked whose it was. Upon being informed that it belonged to the physician Ibn al-Muṭrān, he said, ‘By God, I knew it was some stupid freak of Ibn al-Muṭrān’s!’ He laughed, but then said, ‘What would happen if a messenger were to ride by and think that it belonged to a king? If he must have his tent, he shall [at least] change the privy,’ and he ordered it to be destroyed. When this was done, Ibn al-Muṭrān took it very hard, keeping to himself for two days and not providing his usual services, but the Sultan mollified him with a gift of a purse.

[15.23.1.2]

The same source also informed me that there was in the service of Saladin a Christian physician by the name of Abū l-Faraj⁵⁵⁶ who served the Sultan for a time and frequently visited his palace. One day he told the Sultan that he needed dowries for his daughters and asked him for his assistance in this matter. Saladin replied, ‘Write down on paper everything that you require for their dowries and bring it to me’. Abū l-Faraj left and listed on a piece of paper jewellery, fabrics, utensils and other things to the value of thirty thousand dirhams. When Saladin read the list, he ordered his treasurer [khazandār] to buy everything that was included in it for Abū l-Faraj, leaving nothing out. No sooner had Ibn al-Muṭrān heard about this than his attendances on his master became surly and sporadic. Saladin noticed that his physician’s face had changed and he understood the reason for it. Then and there he ordered his treasurer to make a note of everything that he had bought for Abū l-Faraj, the physician, and to calculate the total price of it. When the treasurer had calculated the total amount, Saladin ordered him to pay Ibn al-Muṭrān a similar sum, and that was duly done.

[15.23.1.3]

Abū l-Ẓāhir Ismāʿīl, who knew Ibn al-Muṭrān and was on intimate terms with him, told me that the vanity and the arrogance that became characteristic of him [later on in life], were entirely absent during his days as a young man in search of knowledge. He said that he used to see Ibn al-Muṭrān when the latter was studying grammar at the mosque. He would come there after he had finished his work at the Sultan’s palace. He would arrive with an escort of horsemen, accompanied by numerous Turkish slaves and others. When he approached the mosque, he would [dismount and] continue on foot, holding his books in his hand or under his arm. He would let none of the servants accompany him, but would walk, with the books, to the study-circle of the shaykh under whom he was studying. He would then greet him [the shaykh] and sit among the group, alert and receptive, until the lesson was over and he returned to his attendants.

[15.23.2]

According to the venerable and respected judge, Jamāl al-Dīn Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Yūsuf ibn Ibrāhīm al-Qifṭī,⁵⁵⁷ the physician Muwaffaq al-Dīn Asʿad ibn al-Muṭrān, a Christian, became a good Muslim after his conversion to Islam. Al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn – may God sanctify his soul – presented him with one of his favourite ladies at the palace, named Jawzah, as a wife. Jawzah was a servant of Khwand Khātūn, the daughter of Muʿīn al-Dīn and the wife of Saladin. It was Jawzah who managed the household and was her mistress’ favourite handmaid. Khwand Khātūn gave her many pieces of jewellery and other precious articles, making her a rich [woman], and made her the recipient of many acts of favour. Jawzah put Ibn al-Muṭrān’s affairs into proper order, taught him how to behave, improved his manner of dressing and embellished both his outer appearance and his character. He earned a reputation that quickly spread throughout the country, and acquired great wealth by treating state dignitaries when they fell ill: they vied with each other in offering him gifts and presents. His position with the Sultan was so important that he almost had the status of a vizier. He used to take men who specialized in medicine and philosophy under his protection, in order to advance their interests, and acted as an intermediary in helping them to earn a living.

[15.23.2.1]

The same source informed me that the jurist Ismāʿīl ibn al-Ṣāliḥ ibn al-Bannāʾ⁵⁵⁸ al-Qifṭī, the preacher of ʿAydhāb,⁵⁵⁹ related the following [story] to him. ‘When the Sultan had conquered the coastal region,’ he said, ‘I set out from ʿAydhāb to visit Jerusalem. Upon reaching Syria, I saw tree-clad mountains in contrast to dry and desolate ʿAydhāb. I desired to settle there, but did not know how to find a livelihood. So, I went to al-Fāḍil ʿAbd al-Raḥīm⁵⁶⁰ and asked him for a letter to the Sultan, recommending me for [the post of] preacher in the fortress of al-Karak. Al-Fāḍil ʿAbd al-Raḥīm wrote a letter for me full of kindness, which is listed among his correspondence.⁵⁶¹ I brought it with me to Damascus, where the Sultan was staying, but I was advised to show it to Ibn al-Muṭrān. I went to his house, entered with his permission, and found him a pleasant and good-natured man and a good listener and talker. His house struck me as extremely beautiful with respect to its construction and furnishings. I saw water spouting from pipes in his pond that were made of pure gold and were of the most excellent craftsmanship. I [also] saw a young and exceptionally handsome lad, who waited on him hand and foot, called ʿUmar.⁵⁶² There were also luxurious carpets, and I smelled fragrances of which the sweet scent filled me with a sense of awe. When I told him the reason for my visit, he graciously informed me that he would see to the matter’.

The venerable Jamāl al-Dīn concluded by saying, ‘I saw his wife and the son of ʿUmar, his chamberlain. They had come to Aleppo after the year 600/1203, in straitened circumstances, but were shown hospitality under the protection of al-Malik al-Ẓāhir – may God prosper his reign – and lived on charitable allowances that had been allocated to them. After a time, she died, and I have not heard anything further about the son of ʿUmar since’.⁵⁶³

[15.23.2.2]

The shaykh Muwaffaq al-Dīn ibn al-Būrī, the Christian scribe, told me that when al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb conquered al-Karak, the Christian physician Muwaffaq al-Dīn Yaʿqūb ibn Siqlāb,⁵⁶⁴ then a young man, came to Damascus. He wore a headdress⁵⁶⁵ and a small [i.e., light] turban,⁵⁶⁶ and was dressed in a tight-fitting blue coat,⁵⁶⁷ the usual dress of Frankish physicians. He went to the physician Muwaffaq al-Dīn ibn al-Muṭrān to seek to curry favour with him, and [also] began to visit him frequently, hoping to benefit thereby. Ibn al-Muṭrān told him, ‘These clothes you are wearing will not help you to practise medicine among the Muslims in this country. It would serve your interest to change your attire. You would do better to dress like the local physicians’. He brought an outer garment with wide sleeves of red cotton⁵⁶⁸ and an ornamented gown made of camel’s hair⁵⁶⁹ and ordered him to put them on. Then he said, ‘There is a great prince here, called Maymūn al-Qaṣrī,⁵⁷⁰ who is ill. I have been visiting him regularly to treat him. You should come with me and treat him yourself’. When they arrived at the prince’s abode, Ibn al-Muṭrān said to the prince, ‘This is a distinguished physician and I have complete confidence in his knowledge of the art of medicine. I trust him, so let him keep you company and attend to your condition at all times. Let him stay with you until you recover, God willing’. The prince agreed to this suggestion, and the physician Yaʿqūb stayed with him day and night until he regained health, for which he was rewarded with five hundred dinars. Upon receiving this sum of money, Yaʿqūb went to Ibn al-Muṭrān and said to him, ‘O master, the prince has given this to me, and I am bringing you the money he gave me’. Ibn al-Muṭrān replied, ‘Keep it, for I only intended to benefit you’. Yaʿqūb kept it, invoking God’s blessing upon Ibn al-Muṭrān.

[15.23.3]

The physician ʿIzz al-Dīn Abū Isḥaq Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Suwaydī⁵⁷¹ told me the following story:

Ibn al-Muṭrān was once sitting at the door of his house, when a young man from a well-to-do family, dressed as a soldier, came up to him and handed him a piece of paper⁵⁷² on which were twelve lines of poetry praising him. When he had read them, Ibn al-Muṭrān said: ‘Are you a poet?’ The young man replied: ‘No, but I come from a respectable family, and misfortune has afflicted me. You have been recommended to me as a protector and I wish to entrust you with my education, so that you may direct me in the way your lofty intellect sees fit’. Ibn al-Muṭrān then entered his house and summoned the youth to come in as well. He placed some food before him, which he ate, and then said to him, ‘ʿIzz al-Dīn Farrukh-Shāh, Lord of Ṣarkhad,⁵⁷³ has fallen ill with a malady that tends to recur. How would it be if I were to send you to attend him? He will reimburse you generously’. ‘But master’, said the young man, ‘how shall I obtain the necessary medical knowledge and skill?’ ‘Do not worry about that,’ replied Ibn al-Muṭrān, ‘for I shall write out for you a letter of instruction, which you must closely follow and from which you must not deviate’. ‘I hear and obey!’ the youth said. On his way out, he was approached by one of Ibn al-Muṭrān’s servants, who gave him a bundle containing a few items of clothing, together with a horse, a saddle and a bridle. ‘Take these clothes and put them on,’ said the servant, ‘mount the horse and prepare to go to Ṣarkhad’. ‘But I have nowhere to leave the horse for the night,’ protested the young man. ‘Leave the horse with us,’ the servant replied, ‘saddle it early tomorrow morning and go with God, the exalted’. When the youth came to the house of Ibn al-Muṭrān at an early hour the next day, he was given a letter [of recommendation] from the physician to ʿIzz al-Dīn Farrukh-Shāh, ruler of Ṣarkhad, a notebook⁵⁷⁴ that he was instructed to use as the basis for his treatment, and two hundred dirhams for travelling expenses.

The youth then rode to Ṣarkhad and treated ʿIzz al-Dīn Farrukh-Shāh in accordance with the instructions he had received from Ibn al-Muṭrān. ʿIzz al-Dīn soon recovered and went happily to the bathhouse. Subsequently, he bestowed upon the youth the most beautiful robe of honour he could find, gave him a mule with a saddle and bridle of gold and a thousand Egyptian dinars, and invited him to remain in his service. ‘I cannot do that, O master,’ replied the youth, ‘until I have first consulted my shaykh, the physician Muwaffaq al-Dīn ibn al-Muṭrān’. ‘Who is this physician Muwaffaq al-Dīn anyway?’ retorted ʿIzz al-Dīn ‘He is nothing but my brother’s servant! There is no need for you to leave Ṣarkhad’. They had an exchange of words, and upon being further pressed, the youth finally said, ‘I simply must go to my house first, and then I will return’. He went home, fetched the robe of honour, the gold and the rest, and brought it all back to ʿIzz al-Dīn. ‘This is what you have given me,’ he said. ‘Take it back, for by God, I know nothing at all about the art of medicine. I only spoke for a while with the physician Ibn al-Muṭrān. That’s all!’ And he told ʿIzz al-Dīn exactly what had happened. ‘Do not worry about it,’ said ʿIzz al-Dīn, ‘and stop talking about it, you do not have to be a physician. Do you know how to play backgammon and chess?’ The youth exclaimed, ‘But of course!’, for he was cultured and refined. ‘Well,’ said ʿIzz al-Dīn, ‘I will make you my chamberlain and grant you lands that will provide you with twenty-two thousand dirhams yearly’. ‘I am at your service, O master,’ the youth replied, ‘but should like to ask permission to go to Damascus and see the physician Ibn al-Muṭrān, so that I may kiss his hand and thank him for all the good that he has done to me,’ and ʿIzz al-Dīn gave him permission to go.

Upon reaching Damascus, the young man went to see the physician Ibn al-Muṭrān, kissed his hand and expressed many thanks to him. Taking the gifts he had received [from ʿIzz al-Dīn], he placed them before Ibn al-Muṭrān and said, ‘All this was given to me. Take it!’ Ibn al-Muṭrān, however, refused [to take] it. ‘I only wanted to benefit you,’ he replied, ‘You may keep it all and may God’s blessings go with it’. Then the youth told Muwaffaq al-Dīn about his dealings with ʿIzz al-Dīn and the position that he had been offered. The youth returned to Ṣarkhad and entered the service of ʿIzz al-Dīn. All the good things that had happened to him were due to the generosity of Muwaffaq al-Dīn ibn al-Muṭrān.

[15.23.4]

I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – say: Muwaffaq al-Dīn ibn al-Muṭrān was a zealous collector of books. When he died, approximately ten thousand medical and other works were found in his library, apart from those he had copied. He took a keen interest in copying and revising books, and there were three copyists in his service who were constantly transcribing books for him, and who received payment and allowances from him. One of them was Jamāl al-Dīn (also known as Ibn al-Jammālah),⁵⁷⁵ whose handwriting was well-proportioned and symmetrical. Ibn al-Muṭrān copied many books in his own handwriting; I have seen several examples of these, and they were unsurpassable as to script and grammatical correctness. He read many books and, in fact, spent most of his time reading. A majority of the books found in his library contain corrections and very precise revisions in his handwriting. Ibn al-Muṭrān had the utmost regard for books with a watchful eye for any errors therein. Most of the small books and miscellaneous items in the domain of medicine, which were found [in his library], had been combined into single volumes. He had them all copied on small-format paper, one-sixteenth the size of Baghdādī paper,⁵⁷⁶ and bound. A number of them were written in his own hand. His library contained a great many of these in small-format volumes. He would never leave his house without a book in his sleeve, which he would read at the gate of the Sultan’s palace or wherever else he might go. After his death, all his books were sold, because he did not leave behind offspring.

[15.23.4.1]

The physician ʿImrān al-Isrāʾīlī⁵⁷⁷ told me that he had attended the sale of Ibn al-Muṭrān’s books and had observed that there were many thousands of these small-format items, most of them in the handwriting of Ibn al-Jammālah. Al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil⁵⁷⁸ asked to have them sent to his house so that he could inspect them, and thus a small box [of these items] was delivered to him. He looked them over, then sent them back, and they fetched three thousand dirhams at auction. The physician ʿImrān bought most of them. He informed me that he had reached an agreement with the heirs concerning the sale, to the effect that they would sell each item for one dirham, and [some of] the [other] physicians [also] purchased these small-format books at that price.

I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – comment: Ibn al-Muṭrān possessed the complete ideal of manhood and was a noble soul. He was kind toward his disciples and gave them books as presents. When one of them began to [practise medicine and] heal the sick, Ibn al-Muṭrān would give him a robe of honour and devote his complete and constant attention to him. His best student was the learned Muhadhdhab al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn ʿAlī⁵⁷⁹ – may God have mercy upon him. He frequented Ibn al-Muṭrān and accompanied him several times during the [military] campaigns, in which Saladin conquered the coastal region.

One of the things that the learned shaykh Muhadhdhab al-Dīn told me about Ibn al-Muṭrān’s great devotion to the treatment of his patients is the following account. ‘Asad al-Dīn Shīrkūh,⁵⁸⁰ ruler of Homs (Ḥimṣ),’ he said, ‘once sent for Ibn al-Muṭrān. He went to [see] him, and I accompanied him. While we were on our way, a man afflicted with elephantiasis⁵⁸¹ approached him. The man’s illness was so far advanced that his face was badly disfigured and his body deformed. He asked Ibn al-Muṭrān what [drugs] he should take to cure his disease. But the physician, distressed at the sight of the man said, “Eat viper’s flesh”. The man repeated his question, but Ibn al Muṭran said again, “Eat viper’s flesh, and you shall recover”. We went on to Homs, where Ibn al-Muṭrān treated the patient for whose sake he had come, until he recovered and felt well again. We then returned to Damascus. When we were on our way, a handsome young man who looked perfectly healthy, approached and greeted us. He kissed Ibn al-Muṭrān’s hand, but the physician did not recognize him, and asked, “Who are you?” The youth introduced himself as the one who had asked him about a treatment for leprosy. He had followed Ibn al-Muṭrān’s advice and had recovered without any need of any other remedy. He then bade us farewell and went his way, leaving us marvelling at the completeness of his recovery.’

[15.23.4.2]

The same person⁵⁸² also told me that he once accompanied Ibn al-Muṭran to the ‘Great Hospital’,⁵⁸³ founded by Nūr al-Dīn ibn Zangī,⁵⁸⁴ where he treated the patients who were there. Among them was a man who was suffering from such a severe case of dropsy of the belly⁵⁸⁵ that was nearly bursting. At that time, the surgeon (al-jarāʾiḥī) Ibn Ḥamdān,⁵⁸⁶ who was quite skilful in the treatment of patients, was also at the hospital. He and Ibn al-Muṭrān decided to puncture⁵⁸⁷ [and insert a tube in order to drain] the hydropic swelling.

He said:

We were present at the operation. Ibn Ḥamdān lanced the swelling in the correct place, and yellow fluid came out, while Ibn al-Muṭrān watched the patient’s pulse. When he realized that the patient was not strong enough to withstand the removal of more fluid, he had the site dressed and the patient laid [on his bed], ordering that the dressing should not be disturbed. The patient then felt greatly relieved and was able to relax. The patient’s wife was with him [at the hospital], and Ibn al-Muṭrān urged her not to allow her husband to remove the dressing or to change it in any way until he could examine the patient the next day. We then left the hospital. When night came the man said to his wife: ‘I am well now, there is nothing wrong with me; those physicians only intent to prolong my illness. So, undo the dressing so that the rest of the fluid comes out and I can return to work’. She reproached him and said it would be a mistake, but he repeated his request over and over again, not realizing that [the doctors] wanted to extract the fluid at a later stage, as a protective measure, in order to preserve his strength, because they were concerned about his condition. Finally, she undid the dressing, all the fluid ran out, his strength gave out and he perished.

Another story from the same source is the following:

In the hospital, he Muhadhdhab al-Dīn and Ibn al-Muṭrān saw a man whose arm was paralysed on one side of the body, as was his leg on the opposite side. Ibn al-Muṭrān quickly cured him by applying topical medications⁵⁸⁸ until the patient had recovered completely.

I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – say: Muwaffaq al-Dīn Asʿad ibn Ilyās ibn al-Muṭrān had two brothers, who were also physicians. One of them was Hibat Allāh ibn Ilyās, the other’s name was […] Ibn Ilyās.

Muwaffaq al-Dīn died in Damascus in the month of Rabīʿ I of the year 587 [April 1191]. I have copied a eulogy in honour of Muwaffaq al-Dīn ibn al-Muṭrān, composed after his conversion to Islam on the third of the month Ramadan of the year 585 [24–25 October 1189], in the handwriting of the poet al-Badīʿ ʿAbd al-Razzāq ibn Aḥmad al-ʿĀmirī.⁵⁸⁹

To you arrives – it will not abandon you–

a heart that compels me to taste the bitter fruit of love,⁵⁹⁰

With a yearning that overpowers (adalla) the heart but does not impart

to someone mad with love (mudallah) anything but passion of him who overpowers him (mudillihī).⁵⁹¹

You come near and he becomes in you an ally in merriness;⁵⁹²

how often did you go far away, so that he spent the night as a friend of merriness!⁵⁹³

He loves what you love and his heart is enamoured

of what you desire, but it is turned away from what it desires.

5You offend (tajnī) and he knows what offence you committed,

so he reaps(?) (fa-yajtanī) an excuse that he sends with a stupid face(?).

I marvel at someone who disregards (mughḍī) the fire of euphorbia wood (ghaḍā)

and who still relies on patience that is weakening.

An astute man, whose last remnant of life was struck by passion,

to his peril; only the astute sagacious (dahī) man will be struck (yud′hā)!

His intelligence (nuhāhu) kept him (nahāhu) from you; he never ceases

to go more astray in loving you when he is kept away.

If only God-given success (tawfīq) helped him, he would seek refuge

in no one but al-Muwaffaq,⁵⁹⁴ the one with the most distinguished position,

10Who does not believe in beneficence in words if one does not

follow them up with the deeds of someone who does not dilute them.

Overflowing with intelligence; his hands are ponds of generosity

for those who come to see him; no man is held back from them.

The sight of him puts an end to illnesses; so often someone

at the point of death (mushfī) he cured (shafāhu) with that radiant face!

A fortunate man (jadd) who contains seriousness (jidd) and generosity (jūd),

obtaining praise that embroiders the mantle of coveted glory.

He resembles Mary’s son in wisdom and felicity;

the mightiest submit to him like people madly in love.

15The security to those seeking refuge; if he is not this

to someone seeking protection, no one is!⁵⁹⁵

Those asking for favours have been aided (naṣara) against Time by the munificence

of Abū Naṣr,⁵⁹⁶ man of prominent rank, so seek refuge with him!⁵⁹⁷

Possessor of an ancient office, uncontested,

and of speech in an assembly, one who has never been upbraided;

Brilliant, liberal, hoped-for,

quick-witted, philosopher, foremost man;

Scholar, learned man,⁵⁹⁸ who acquired wealth and embraced

lofty qualities as a young child, becoming intelligent but not conceited.

20Created beings may resemble one another

in the two noblest things,⁵⁹⁹ but no one resembles him.

When minds are perplexed

he surpasses all men with a mind that is not perplexed.

People have become too drowsy for praise, but he attained it

with the hands of man generous with gifts, alert.

A celestial sphere of beneficence: when you come to him

he, at his highest apogee (awjihī), enriches in several ways (awjuhi).

The soil of his abode (maghnāhu), which is riches (ghinā) to me, has become

from where I return and to where I turn.

25It is the ‘expectoration of the one with a chest disease’,⁶⁰⁰ the drinking of which

sends back the envious, retreating or laughing loudly.⁶⁰¹

How near are hopes to one with exhausted ambition,

and how far are they from one living in comfort!

But for the expectation of a recovery I would not have postponed it,

after it had outstripped the noble, swift horses.

But it was pleased (surrat) by the beginning of his recovery

and travelled (sarat) to him while his body had not fully convalesced,

And it arrived congratulating him with the month of his fasting,⁶⁰²

with eloquent speech, not inarticulate.

30O Asʿad, listen to the eulogies of an eloquent speaker

who, through your lofty qualities, surpasses every eloquent orator;

One who hopes, spurred on by his loyalty and who has travelled

on the reddish-white camels of hope in every bare wasteland,

I see you⁶⁰³ as someone who satisfies a tormenting complaint

with the shining of a light of a mind that does not stray.⁶⁰⁴

I have long complained to people, but among those to whom

I complained I have seen only insolent fools.

So often have I been suffered misfortune, being confident – but I am not the first

confident, watchful man to suffer misfortune.

35Ah, my life! If the times I have encountered had not been

so bad, I would not have exclaimed Ah! so often.

Among those with jobs⁶⁰⁵ I am the one with least

luck and with the most respectable panegyrical poetry.

So why⁶⁰⁶ did the ruler see fit to degrade me, after I had

increased my praise of him and my godliness?

A man’s greed is a disease; his best food

is what suffices him when he is not greedy.

The food of avidity goes off, while sufficiency

in one’s soul never goes off or turns stale.

40 Fate only confronts those who desire;

whoever is content is not confronted.

How often have I extolled in my time among its people

those who, in the end, did not extol me!

For the people of my time are no longer moved to generosity

by the poetry of al-Walīd⁶⁰⁷ or the singing of al-Bandahī.⁶⁰⁸

It is distressful: a censurer who will not desist

from his error, and a tormentor who will not be stopped.

[15.23.5]

Muwaffaq al-Dīn ibn al-Muṭrān is the author of the following books:

1. The gardens of physicians and meadows of the intelligent (K. bustān al-aṭibbāʾ wa-rawḍat al-alibbāʾ). [Its author] attempted [in this book] to collect all the witty sayings, anecdotes and appropriate information that he had read or heard from his teachers, or that he copied from [other] medical books. He did not finish this book. All I found of it were two parts, written in the hand of our teacher, the physician Muhadhdhab al-Dīn. The first of these had been [proof]read by Ibn al-Muṭrān and contained his handwriting. In the second part, however, Muhadhdhab al-Dīn makes mention of the fact that Ibn al-Muṭrān died before he was able to [proof]read it.⁶⁰⁹

2. The Nāṣiriyyah treatise on the preservation of health matters (Al-M. al-Nāsiriyyah fī ḥifẓ al-umūr al-ṣiḥḥiyyah). [The author] intended in this book to be concise and serious. It is well-arranged and was composed at the instance of the Sultan al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb. I have found the original of this book, which is transmitted in the handwriting of Jamāl al-Dīn, also known as Ibn Jammālah, the scribe of Ibn al-Muṭrān.⁶¹⁰

3. The Najmiyyah treatise on the management of health (Al-M. al-Najmiyyah fī l-tadābīr al-ṣiḥḥiyyah). It seems to have been composed for Najm al-Dīn Ayyūb, the father of Saladin. When he died, and thus was unable to receive it, it was named after his son.

4. Summary of The Book of Cycles (Ikhtiṣār kitāb al-adwār lil-Kasdāniyyīn), attributed to the Nabataeans (kasdāniyyūn), discovered by Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Waḥshiyyah. Ibn al-Muṭrān summarized this work and finished it in [the month of] Rajab of the year 581 [October 1185].

5. A philosophical riddle (Lughz fī l-ḥikmah).

6. A book after the manner of The Physicians’ Banquet (K. ʿalā madhhab daʿwat al-aṭibbāʾ).⁶¹¹

7. On simple drugs (K. al-adwiyah al-mufradah). This book was left unfinished. It was the intention of its author that it would discuss all drugs, in so far as that would have been possible.

8. On rules with regard to medicine for kings (K. ādāb ṭibb al-mulūk).

I was told by a relative of Ibn al-Muṭrān that, when he died, he left behind several drafts of medical works and other books, as well as scattered explanatory notes. His sisters took those drafts and they have never been seen since. This relative also told me that in the home of one of those sisters he had seen a chest that the lady had lined by gluing some of Ibn al-Muṭrān’s manuscripts to the inside of it.

15.24 Muhadhdhab al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥājib⁶¹²

This celebrated physician was learned in the art of medicine, proficient in the mathematical sciences and devoted to writerly culture, and he also took a special interest in grammar. Damascus born and bred, he studied for some time under Muhadhdhab al-Dīn ibn al-Naqqāsh.⁶¹³ When Sharaf al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī,⁶¹⁴ who was the leading scholar of his age in philosophy, the mathematical sciences and other branches of science, was residing in the city of Mosul, Ibn al-Ḥājib and the physician Muwaffaq al-Dīn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz⁶¹⁵ travelled to [that city] in order to meet him and to study under his guidance. Upon arrival, however, they found that he had gone to the city of Ṭūs,⁶¹⁶ so both men went there and stayed with him for a while.

Ibn al-Ḥājib subsequently travelled to Erbil,⁶¹⁷ where the astronomer Fakhr al-Dīn ibn al-Dahhān⁶¹⁸ was then staying. He met Ibn al-Dahhān there and stayed with him for some time. After having read, studied and analysed the astronomical tables (zīj) that he had prepared, Ibn al-Ḥājib copied them in his own handwriting and then returned to Damascus.

Ibn al-Dahhān was an astronomer from Baghdad, who was also known by the name Abū Shujāʿ and nicknamed ‘the little fox’ (al-Thuʿaylib). He lived in Mosul for twenty years and then went to Damascus, where he was honourably received by Saladin, [al-Qāḍī] al-Fāḍil⁶¹⁹ and a group of notables, and granted thirty dinars every month. Ibn al-Dahhān was a devoutly religious man, godfearing and pious, who would fast [as] often [as he could]. He used to live in seclusion for four months and more at a time at the mosque in Damascus. The chamber in that [specific] mosque [near the miḥrāb] in al-Kallāsah was made for him.⁶²⁰ He is the author of numerous works, including his famous ‘Astronomical Tables’, which is an excellent and sound [piece of work]; ‘The Pulpit of Fixed Shares of an Estate’,⁶²¹ which is another well-known work; ‘The Book on Lexical Difficulties in the Hadith’, in ten volumes; and a book on the differences in rubrics, tables and columns, [written] in the form of an almanac of health. He studied incessantly and composed much poetry. Ibn al-Dahhān went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, but when he returned to Baghdad, after an absence of more than forty years, he died. He was interred in the tomb of his father and mother.

Muhadhdhab al-Dīn ibn al-Ḥājib studied assiduously, was very fond of the sciences and was an authority on geometry. Before he became well-known as a physician, he worked on the clocks at the mosque in Damascus. He went on to distinguished himself in the art of medicine and became one of the most prominent men in that profession, serving as a physician at the ‘Great Hospital’, founded by al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Nūr al-Dīn ibn Zangī. Subsequently, Ibn al-Ḥājib entered the service of Taqī al-Dīn ʿUmar, ruler of Hama,⁶²² but the death of his employer sent him back to Damascus. From there he travelled to Egypt (al-diyār al-miṣriyyah), where he entered the service of al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb as a physician, holding that post until the Sultan’s death. Finally, Ibn al-Ḥājib went to the court of Hama, where he entered the service of al-Malik al-Manṣūr, the son of Taqī al-Dīn,⁶²³ but died there of dropsy some two years later.

15.25 al-Sharīf al-Kaḥḥāl⁶²⁴

The sayyid Burhān al-Dīn Abū l-Faḍl Sulaymān was a native of Egypt, but spent much of his life in Syria. He was of noble descent, had high moral standards, a pleasant character, and possessed many other excellent qualities. In addition, he was an expert oculist, very knowledgeable and erudite, well-versed in the literary arts, a distinguished [scholar] in the domain of Arabic studies and an outstanding writer and leading poet. Al-Sharīf al-Kaḥḥāl served al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb as an oculist, receiving in return splendid rewards, great prestige and many favours and graces. He held this important position [in the Sultan’s service] until he died – may God have mercy upon him.

Al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil poked [a little] fun at him. The venerable shaykh Najīb al-Dīn Abū l-Fatḥ Naṣr Allāh ibn ʿUqayl al-Shaybānī recited the following verse to me and told me that he had heard al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn ʿAlī reciting them about al-Sharīf al-Kaḥḥāl:⁶²⁵

A man who treated me and anointed my eyes:

I was afflicted in my eye (ʿaynī) and my cash (ʿaynī).

He also said:⁶²⁶

He was so hostile to the Abbasids that

he robbed people of the black of the eye with his anointing.⁶²⁷

Al-Sharīf Abū l-Faḍl al-Kaḥḥāl sent Sharaf al-Dīn ibn ʿUnayn⁶²⁸ a lamb (kharūf) as a present, when the latter was visiting Egypt. When it arrived, Sharaf al-Dīn found it to be weak and lean, whereupon he composed [the following verse] to al-Sharīf by way of jest:⁶²⁹

Abū l-Faḍl and Ibn al-Faḍl you are, and worthy of it;⁶³⁰

so it is not strange that you have graciousness (faḍl).

Your favours came to me, which I cannot count because they are so many,

not because I am ungrateful of a boon, or ignorant!

But I shall tell you a nice story about it,

one that will please you, something the like of which has never been.

A lamb came to me: I did not doubt that it was

allied with passion, emaciated by being jilted and blamed.

When it stood in the midday sun I imagined it was

a phantom⁶³¹ without a shadow that had crept into a dark patch.

I implored it to tell me what it desired. ‘Fodder!’ it said.

I beseeched it to say what had emaciated it. ‘Eating!’ it said.

I brought it some green weeds⁶³² of the soil,

flawless, its leaves not especially marked by being twisted.⁶³³

It kept observing them with a languid eye and recited to it,

while the tears were streaming from its eyes:

‘They came while the cisterns of death lay between us

and granted union when union was no longer of any avail.’⁶³⁴

15.26 Abū Manṣūr al-Naṣrānī (the Christian)⁶³⁵

The Christian Abū Manṣūr was famous as a learned physician and a good practitioner and therapist. He served al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb for two years as a physician.

15.27 Abū l-Najm al-Naṣrānī (the Christian)⁶³⁶

The Christian Abū l-Najm ibn Abī Ghālib ibn Fahd ibn Manṣūr ibn Wahb ibn Qays ibn Mālik was a famous physician in his day who possessed not only an excellent knowledge of the art of medicine, but also a pleasant manner with patients, and an admirable way of treating them.⁶³⁷

The Christian Abū l-Fatḥ ibn Muhannā⁶³⁸ told me that Abū l-Najm’s father was a farmer in the village of Shaqqā⁶³⁹ in the Ḥawrān,⁶⁴⁰ who was known by the name of ‘the vagabond (al-ʿayyār)’.⁶⁴¹ When his son Abū l-Najm was [still] a boy, a physician from Damascus took him away and, when he grew up, taught him the art of medicine and how to practise it. Abū l-Najm served al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb as a physician.⁶⁴² He remained in Saladin’s service for some time, making recurrent visits to his palace, where he and the other physicians treated patients.

Abū l-Najm al-Naṣrānī died in Damascus in the year 599/1202–1203.⁶⁴³

Abū l-Najm al-Naṣrānī is the author of An Epitome of Medicine, which comprises both theory and practice.⁶⁴⁴

15.28 Abū l-Faraj al-Naṣrānī (the Christian)⁶⁴⁵

This distinguished physician was an expert in the art of medicine, of which he possessed an excellent knowledge. A good practitioner, he was one of the prominent [physicians] of his time. He served as a physician to al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb, who honoured him greatly and had a high opinion of him. Abū l-Faraj was also in the service of al-Malik al-Afḍal Nūr al-Dīn ʿAlī ibn Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn⁶⁴⁶ and stayed with him in Sumaysāṭ.⁶⁴⁷

The sons of Abū l-Faraj were also devoted to the art of medicine. They, too, lived in Sumaysāṭ and were in the service of al-Malik al-Afḍal’s sons.

15.29 Fakhr al-Dīn [Riḍwān] ibn al-Sāʿātī⁶⁴⁸

[Fakhr al-Dīn] Riḍwān ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Rustam al-Khurāsānī al-Sāʿātī (the Clockmaker), was born and raised in Damascus. His father Muḥammad was originally from Khorasan, but moved to Syria and settled in Damascus, where he resided until he died. He⁶⁴⁹ was unequalled in his time for his knowledge of clocks and the science of astronomy. It was he who operated the clock at the gate of the [Umayyad] Mosque in Damascus.⁶⁵⁰ He had constructed that clock in the time of al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn Zangī,⁶⁵¹ who treated him very generously and paid him an allowance and a salary for operating the clocks. He held that office until he died – may God have mercy upon him.

He left two sons. One of these was Bahāʾ al-Dīn Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Sāʿātī, who was one of the most outstanding poets of his generation.⁶⁵² He was incomparable. His dīwān is widely known and generally recognized as [excellent]. Bahāʾ al-Dīn died in Cairo.

The other [son] was Fakhr al-Dīn Riḍwān ibn al-Sāʿātī, who was an eminent physician and a distinguished man of letters. Fakhr al-Dīn Riḍwān studied the art of medicine under shaykh Raḍī al-Dīn al-Raḥbī,⁶⁵³ with whom he associated for some time. He was bright and intelligent, was extremely well-versed in all matters in which he took an interest, and eagerly devoted himself to every scrap of knowledge he embraced. He also studied medicine under the guidance of shaykh Fakhr al-Dīn al-Māridīnī when he arrived in Damascus.⁶⁵⁴

Fakhr al-Dīn [Riḍwān] ibn al-Sāʿātī proved to be an expert in the art of penmanship and a first-rate calligrapher. He also composed poetry, and had a good knowledge of logic and the philosophical sciences. He also studied the literary sciences under shaykh Tāj al-Dīn al-Kindī⁶⁵⁵ in Damascus. Fakhr al-Dīn [Riḍwān] ibn al-Sāʿātī served al-Malik al-Fāʾiz [Ibrāhīm] ibn al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Abū Bakr ibn Ayyūb⁶⁵⁶ as vizier, and al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam ʿĪsā ibn al-Malik al-ʿĀdil⁶⁵⁷ as physician and vizier. He was a boon companion of his employer and used to play the lute [for him]. Fakhr al-Dīn Riḍwān had the utmost regard for the medical teachings of the venerable shaykh Ibn Sīnā. He died in Damascus – may God have mercy upon him – of jaundice (yaraqān).⁶⁵⁸

He composed the following lines:⁶⁵⁹

My colleagues envy me on account of my craft,

because among them I am a champion.

I stayed awake at night while they thought fit to slumber:

he who studies and he who sleeps will never be alike.

Fakhr al-Dīn Riḍwān ibn al-Sāʿātī is the author of the following works:⁶⁶⁰

1. Supplement to On Colic by the venerable shaykh Ibn Sīnā (Takmīl kitāb al-qawlanj lil-raʾīs Ibn Sīnā).

2. Marginal notes to Ibn Sīnā’s Canon of Medicine (Al-ḥawāshī ʿalā kitāb al-qānūn li-Ibn Sīnā).

3. Anthology of poems (K. al-mukhtārāt fī l-ashʿār wa-ghayrihā).

and other works.

15.30 Shams al-Dīn ibn al-Lubūdī⁶⁶¹

The physician Shams al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdān ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Lubūdī⁶⁶² was a distinguished and learned authority who was one of the great scholars of his age and one of the most outstanding [men] of his generation in the philosophical sciences and the art of medicine. From Syria he travelled to Persia, where he studied philosophy under Najīb al-Dīn Asʿad al-Hamadānī,⁶⁶³ while he studied medicine under the guidance of one of the most prominent and respected Persian scholars, a man who had learned the profession from a disciple of Ibn Sahlān⁶⁶⁴ who, in turn, had studied under the learned shaykh al-Īlāqī Muḥammad.⁶⁶⁵

Shams al-Dīn was a highly ambitious man. He was good-natured, exceedingly intelligent and extremely eager [to learn]. He distinguished himself in the sciences and was well-versed in philosophy and the art of medicine. Moreover, he was a strong debater and a formidable opponent in dispute. In addition, he was accounted a leading authority and an important shaykh whose example was followed and on whom [people] relied. He held sessions at which he taught medicine and other [subjects].

Shams al-Dīn served al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Ghiyāth al-Dīn Ghāzī ibn al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb,⁶⁶⁶ the ruler of Aleppo, who relied on his skill as a physician. He held that post until al-Malik al-Ẓāhir died – may God have mercy upon him – in the month Jumādā II of the year 613 [September–October 1216].⁶⁶⁷ After the ruler’s death, he removed to Damascus, where he taught medicine and practised at the Great Hospital of Nūr al-Dīn until the day he died – may God have mercy upon him – on the fourth of Dhū l-Qaʿdah of the year 621 [17 November 1224] at the age of fifty-one.

One of Shams al-Dīn ibn Lubūdī’s sayings was: ‘Nothing is so hopeless that it cannot be improved with effort’.

Shams al-Dīn ibn al-Lubūdī is the author of the following works:

1. A considered opinion on the knowledge of judgement and fate (K. al-raʾy al-muʿtabar fī maʿrifat al-qaḍāʾ wa-l-qadar).

2. Commentary on Ibn al-Khaṭīb’s Summary (S. kitāb al-mulakhkhaṣ li-Ibn al-Khaṭīb).⁶⁶⁸

3. On pain of the joints [arthritis] (R. fī wajaʿ al-mafāṣil).

4. Commentary on the Hippocratic Aphorisms (S. kitāb al-fuṣūl li-Abuqrāṭ).

5. Commentary on Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq’s Book of Questions (S. kitāb al-masāʾil li-Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq).

15.31 al-Ṣāḥib Najm al-Dīn ibn al-Lubūdī⁶⁶⁹

[15.31.1]

The learned physician al-Ṣāḥib Najm al-Dīn Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā, the son of the physician and leading authority Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdān ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid.⁶⁷⁰ Najm al-Dīn was without peer his time in the medical art and a model [for others] in the philosophical sciences, for he was exceedingly intelligent, well-spoken, very eager to study the sciences and an expert in the literary disciplines, surpassing the ancients in philosophy, and Saḥbān Wāʾil⁶⁷¹ in rhetoric. He composed such beautiful poems that even Labīd⁶⁷² could not measure up to him, and wrote such eloquent epistles (tarassul) that ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd⁶⁷³ himself was not his equal.

And when I saw that all people ranked below him

I was certain that Time assays people.⁶⁷⁴

Najm al-Dīn was born in Aleppo in the year 607/1210, but when his father moved to Damascus, he took his son, then only a child, along with him. Najm al-Dīn’s excellence and lofty ambitions had already become apparent when he was no more than a small boy. He studied the art of medicine under our shaykh, the physician Muhadhdhab al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn ʿAlī,⁶⁷⁵ pursuing his studies with distinction until he became one of the most outstanding scholars of his time. Having entered the service of al-Malik al-Manṣūr Ibrāhīm ibn al-Malik al-Mujāhid ibn Asad al-Dīn Shīrkūh ibn Shādhī, Lord of Ḥimṣ,⁶⁷⁶ he made that city his home as long as his employer remained alive. Al-Malik al-Manṣūr relied on him as his physician, and regarded him so highly that in the end he appointed him vizier and entrusted him with state affairs. By then, the [ruler] was so entirely dependent on Najm al-Dīn that he never left al-Malik al-Manṣūr’s side, accompanying him wherever he went. Al-Malik al-Manṣūr died – may God have mercy upon him – in the year 643/1245, after having defeated the Khwārazmians.⁶⁷⁷

The physician Najm al-Dīn then entered the service of al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Najm al-Dīn Ayyūb ibn al-Malik al-Kāmil⁶⁷⁸ in Egypt. That ruler bestowed many honours upon him, lavished gifts on him and appointed him as head of the treasury in Alexandria. He now held a very high rank with a stipend of three thousand dirhams monthly. After having held that position for some time, he returned to Syria, where he became the head of the [Ayyubid] administration for the entire province.

On one of the epistles that he wrote is the following short note:

The ‘servant’ [meaning himself] has received the ruler’s ‘noble letter’,⁶⁷⁹ may God prolong and increase his blessings and may He necessitate and exceed His munificence toward all his noble-minded predecessors. In his letter, he [the ruler] has made clear the servant’s duty of unquestioning obedience (istirqāq) and the necessity of the State – may God make the State eternal – because of its many merits and virtues. Whatever the master commands, [the servant] must provide, for he knows that opportunity passes like the clouds and that the tasks that are to be done within a limited time, need to be performed correctly. Thus, when there are time constraints, delay is no longer permissible. The master knows the benefit of the order of importance in which things have to be done for all parts of the organisation, and the servant merely acts as an arrow that the master aims, or a sword that he unsheathes. We should – for God’s sake – hurry and hasten, for then the signs of good fortune and victory will become manifest [to us]. But we should beware and be on our guard against delay and neglect, for – may God forbid! – the time in which we can ask God to fulfil our hope and expectations may already have elapsed by then. It is to be hoped that God, through his munificence, supports the slave (al-mamlūk) [meaning himself] in serving our master the Sultan in a way that will fulfil him with joy and hope, be it by the hand of the master, by word, or by deed, if God, the exalted, wills.

[15.31.2]

One of his [Najm al-Dīn’s] poems is about al-Khalīl (Abraham/Ibrāhīm)⁶⁸⁰ – may peace and blessings be upon him – which he recited to me himself when about to begin his service on his return from Egypt. He recited it while standing at the door of the summer sitting-room beneath his house (bāb al-sirdāb)⁶⁸¹ in the month of Dhū l-Qaʿdah in the year 661 [September 1261].⁶⁸²

This is what inspires awe and frightening sublimity,

dazzlingly! So what can one say?

If Quss were present, appearing here

today to you, you would think he was Bāqil.⁶⁸³

Can eloquent people ever strike fire⁶⁸⁴

when their clear expression defends the Sublime One?

All those⁶⁸⁵ prophets followed your lead

and with you there came evidence and proofs.

5You, Ibrāhīm, showed the ways that lead to right guidance

and good works and beneficence: you have done them.

You erected the cornerstones of the Sharia, openly revealing

and establishing that God is the Maker.

Your house⁶⁸⁶ has always been where the Revelation descended, which

makes, with its sublimity, your desolate abode populous.⁶⁸⁷

You have dazzled in everything with a miracle

that no one gifted with reason will ever oppose.

One a day of vaunting it is enough for you that Muḥammad,

when people trace their lineage, is descended from you.⁶⁸⁸

10 You have always carried the hidden meaning of prophethood

until it came to Muḥammad who acquired it.

Thus may the blessings of the Lord be upon you both,

from whom there has always come to you praise and favours.

I seek refuge with you, humbly,

pleading, being a poor petitioner.

I hope you will ask on my behalf the Lord of Exaltedness

to forgive the practices I persisted in.

I think that, once my sin is forgiven by Him

and I have attained my aim – I dare not hope!–

15And I have returned, wholly devoted to His gates,

not encountering anyone to ask save Him,

And I have asked One who is perfect in His generosity,

who gives not condescendingly,⁶⁸⁹ nor is He miserly:

Then in truth I have attained my desire,

especially since you are the carrier of my request.

[15.31.3]

He also composed another poem about al-Khalīl – may peace and blessings be upon him – on his return from Egypt in the month Jumādā II of the year 664 [February-March 1264], which he [also] recited at the door of the summer sitting-room⁶⁹⁰ beneath his house:⁶⁹¹

O friend of God!⁶⁹² I have come to seek

your gate, sought from all places,

To perform incumbent duties⁶⁹³ on account of your graciousness

that you granted of old to all those who understand.

Thus you led people with your guidance, who followed you

and therefore, with that guidance, arrived on the best path.

You showed the roadmarks of the Sharia, openly revealing it,

so that it became visible and audible to mankind.

5You entrusted to it the secrets of every hidden thing

and became, with what you entrusted, the best entruster.

You showed a proof that, through you, became decisive,

with which you cut short those who had not yet been cut short.⁶⁹⁴

Here I am, having come to your gate, asking,

standing as a poor man, with the humbleness of submission,

So that you may ask God, the Generous – for He is truly the most gracious one

who may be asked and the most generous to whom one may pray–

To protect me⁶⁹⁵ against the evil of every affliction;

to avert the turns of mishaps from meeting with me;

10Not to afflict me afterwards with a misfortune;

that I will not meet a friend with the moaning of one in pain;

And to relieve me of the worry I have been afflicted with,

for I spent the night worried, with a broken heart.

Whenever a calamity befalls me

I make your abode my goal and my refuge,

So that you may intercede for me with God and I may turn back

to attain my hopes and obtain my ambition:

That I will have done with my works in this world and turn

to my world to come, with a wide-open heart;

15That you will ask Him to forgive⁶⁹⁶ me in His kindness

and that I may gain the enjoyment of His lights.

If intercession is made for someone and you are his intercessor,

he will without fail gain a pasture in Paradise.

He saw al-Khalīl – may peace and blessings be upon him – as he lay between sleep and waking, just after something untoward had happened to him, and composed the following verses:⁶⁹⁷

Do not grieve for horses or wealth

and do not spend the night worrying about your situation!

As long as your soul and high spirit are sound,

disregard all other things!

Wealth is nothing but accidental things newly made,

exposed to loss and substitution.

The pleasure of wealth consists in that the soul spends it

on newly-made worry and preoccupation.

The best thing on which your hands have spent what they have amassed

is the protection of your honour from any gossip.

So much wealth have you been able to amass,

but soon the hand of Fate⁶⁹⁸ scattered it!

You have never been seen⁶⁹⁹ to be in need of anyone

while you have never ceased to have needs and hopes.

The Lord of the Throne⁷⁰⁰ will reward you as is His wont

with advantages of encompassing beneficence,

And you will encounter all the good things that you were hoping for,

as what happened earlier in your past times.

[15.31.4]

He composed the following poem in Jerusalem, on his return from Egypt, in the middle of Jumādā I of the year 666 [January–February 1266]:⁷⁰¹

O Friend of God,⁷⁰² in me there is an ardent love

and yearning to meet you, by which my distress is increased.

You are the one who instituted (sananta⁷⁰³) a teaching for people

and thereby you were a guide to the broad Path (sanan).

You made clear on the roads of prophethood a course

that in its radiance came to surpass meteors,

With the proofs you demonstrated, that were strong

and cannot be refuted by slanderous lies or defamation.

5I had wished to meet you as a pilgrim,

to rub my cheek in the dust at your abode,

And to perform incumbent duties⁷⁰⁴ on account of your graciousness, that

came to be recorded, with their merit, in the most excellent of books,⁷⁰⁵

And to convey the passion and grief I suffer

and the worries that at night and in the morning are in my heart.

Time has struck me with its vagaries

so as to lower my state and to blunt my edge.

You are the one I implore in any hardship,

that you may lift from me any destested and difficult matter,

10And intercede for me with God, so that I may turn back,

the Merciful having relieved me of the misfortunes I endure;

Especially since your servant belongs to the party⁷⁰⁶ of him

by whom all non-Arabs and Arabs are honoured:

– This is the best of mankind; I mean Muḥammad,

who on his nocturnal journey⁷⁰⁷ was in the extreme proximity–

[Your servant] to whom you both have been a storehouse and a means,

a mighty treasure for peace and for war.

Thus it is no wonder that he is kept safe

from harm and adversity, from reproach and deprivation;

15And it is not strange that he should be seen unafraid,

feeling happy at night and secure in his heart and mind.

O you two men of the ways of prophethood and right guidance:

cancel my false steps, interceding with my Lord!

You two suffice for me as intercessors.⁷⁰⁸ For I know

that God will then be sufficient for me.

O Almighty One (qādir), decree (qaddir) for me relief of my distress

and hasten, O God, with medicine for my illness!

He also said:⁷⁰⁹

Whenever I fear, hope recedes in the distance;

but it is enough for me to trust in God.

So leave off both fear and hope

and be steadfast, being content, for that is contentedness.

There is no avoiding whatever God has decreed,

so leave off worrying, which is distress to me,

And be certain that God is kind:

if grief comes, joy will follow.

He also said:⁷¹⁰

Whenever you are in dire straits, be steadfast: it will pass.

So often the heat of a fire is followed by wellbeing.

Do not ask Time to ward off a misfortune;

you will see that nothing is bound to last forever.

[15.31.5]

He wrote a poem to al-Malik al-Nāṣir Yūsuf ibn Muḥammad:⁷¹¹

Congratulations on Nawrūz,⁷¹² which comes to you bringing glad tidings

of attaining, one day, what you desire and seek.

That the sovereignty should remain with those not deserving it

would be a strange thing; and my situation with you even stranger.

I would willingly lead the sovereignty back to you so that you could receive it;⁷¹³

but you want to demand it from someone other than me.

And you persist in obtaining the sovereignty that I

am capable of, which has become difficult.

I swear that if you assist me for a while,

that which you think is remote will come near.⁷¹⁴

He also said:⁷¹⁵

I shall leave you, not because I dislike your graciousness

to me: who could make me spend my life with it?⁷¹⁶

But my livelihood is scant, those who envy me

are many, and Time’s vicissitudes have afflicted me.

I have exchanged an exalted status for a lowly one,

a comfortable livelihood for anxiety and poverty.

The utmost of what I can desire in your protection has become

to be the equal to those unequipped to know.

5If high standing were to come with intelligence

I would be placed higher than meteors, together with the full moon.

However, I have long handled all kinds of people,

with liberality, and with prohibiting and commanding.⁷¹⁷

So be steadfast towards the iniquity of Time and its decree,

for it will never stay in the same state.

It is strange that I should put my hopes on someone other than you

and leave you, seeking kindness for kindness,

And that I should enquire far and wide about any benefactor

and traverse deserts hard to pass through, roving,

10While you, Saladin, are the most generous of mankind,

one whose munificence mocks the gushing sea;

You are the ruler of the whole earth; any other king

in the word is not deemed to be of stature.

I myself am a serf, no one but me who claims

my rights, that decisively give support.(?)⁷¹⁸

He also said:⁷¹⁹

Though my body is going, separating from you,

my heart dwells in the shelter of your abode.

My heart fears your moving,

but it is safe from being moved.⁷²⁰

He also said:⁷²¹

O moon of mine, you have made me feel lonely and you left me

allied to sleeplessness, constantly worrying and thinking.

I wish you were present with me

though I were bereft of reason, hearing, and sight.

He also said (a dūbayt):⁷²²

O possessor of my soul and its destroyer!

How often does my soul humour you, and how often do you humour it?⁷²³

If I am, in love, the Jacob/Yaʿqūb of passion,

You are, among handsome men, its Joseph/Yūsuf.⁷²⁴

[15.31.6]

Al-Ṣāḥib Najm al-Dīn ibn al-Lubūdī is the author of the following works:

1. Summary of the general principles in Ibn Sīnā’s Canon of Medicine (Mukhtaṣar al-kulliyyāt min kitāb al-qānūn li-Ibn Sīnā).

2. Summary of Ḥunayn ibn Isḥaq’s Book of Questions (Mukhtaṣar kitāb al-masāʾil li-Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq).

3. Summary of Ibn Sīnā’s Pointers and Admonitions (Mukhtaṣar kitāb al-ishārāt wa-l-tanbīhāt li-Ibn Sīnā).

4. Summary of Ibn Sīnā’s Sources of Philosophy (Mukhtaṣar kitāb ʿuyūn al-ḥikmah li-Ibn Sīnā).

5. Summary of the Abridgement by the ‘Son of the Preacher of al-Rayy’ [i.e. Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī] (Mukhtaṣar kitāb al-mulakhkhaṣ li-Ibn Khaṭīb al-Rayy).

6. Summary of Those who deal with the two principles (Mukhtaṣar al-muʿāmilīn fī l-uṣūlayn).⁷²⁵

7. Summary of Euclid’s book (Mukhtaṣar kitāb Iqlīdis).

8. Summary of Euclid’s Premises (Mukhtaṣar muṣādarāt Iqlīdis).

9. The glimmerings: on philosophy (K. al-lamaʿāt fī l-ḥikmah).

10. The bright horizons in philosophy (K. āfāq al-ishrāq fī l-ḥikmah).

11. The Sacred Paths: on the philosophical sciences (K. al-manāhij al-qudsiyyah fī ʿulūm al-ḥikmiyyah).⁷²⁶

12. The Sufficient [Treatise] for Accountants; on arithmetic (Kāfiyat al-ḥussāb fī ʿilm al-ḥisāb).⁷²⁷

13. The absolute essentials in the required parts of Euclid and the intermediate treatises (Ghāyat al-ghāyāt fī l-muḥtāj ilayhi min Iqlīdis wa-l-mutawassiṭāt).⁷²⁸

14. A detailed study of medical themes and identification of the questions concerning which there is a difference of opinion, in the way jurists deal with these differences of opinion (Tadqīq al-mabāḥith al-ṭibbiyyah fī taḥqīq al-masāʾil al-khilāfiyyah ʿalā ṭarīq masāʾil khilāf al-fuqahāʾ).

15. On barshaʿthā (M. fī barshaʿthā).⁷²⁹

16. Illustration of the foolish misconceptions in the utterances of Muwaffaq ʿAbd al-Laṭīf [al-Baghdādī]. Najm al-Dīn wrote this book when he was just thirteen years old (K. īḍāḥ al-raʾy al-sakhīf min kalām al-Muwaffaq ʿAbd al-Laṭīf).⁷³⁰

17. The utmost precision in the art of (legal) judgments (Ghāyat al-iḥkām fī ṣināʿat al-aḥkām).

18. The splendid epistle: a commentary on al-Muqaddimah al-Muṭarriziyyah (al-risālah al-saniyyah fī sharḥ al-Muqaddimah al-Muṭarriziyyah).⁷³¹

19. The brilliant lights in the Commentary on [The Book of] Clear Signs [by Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī] (al-anwār al-sāṭiʿāt fī sharḥ al-āyāt al-bayyināt).

20. The mind’s pleasure: On the Current Proverb (K. nuzhat al-nāẓir fī l-mathal al-sāʾir [fī adab al-kātib wa-l shāʿir]).⁷³²

21. The perfect treatise on algebra (al-risālah al-kāmilah fī ʿilm al-jabr wa-l-muqābalah).⁷³³

22. The treatise for al-Malik al-Manṣūr on numbers with a common divisor (al-risālah al-Manṣūriyyah fī l-aʿdād al-wafqiyyah).⁷³⁴

23. The brilliant book: On the summary of the Zīj al-shāh (al-zāhī fī ikhtiṣār al-zij al-shāhī).

24. Approximative astronomical tables, based on observations established by experience (al-zīj al-muqarrab al-mabnī ʿalā l-raṣad al-mujarrab).

15.32 Zayn al-Dīn al-Ḥāfiẓī⁷³⁵

The eminent learned authority, the emir Zayn al-Dīn Sulaymān ibn al-Muʾayyad ʿAlī, son of the preacher of ʿAqrabāʾ,⁷³⁶ studied the art of medicine under our shaykh, the physician Muhadhdhab al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn ʿAlī⁷³⁷ – may God have mercy upon him – and acquired knowledge of its theory and practice. Moreover, he was thoroughly acquainted with the universals and particulars of medicine. Zayn al-Dīn served as personal physician to al-Malik al-Ḥāfiẓ Nūr al-Dīn Arslān Shāh ibn Abī Bakr ibn Ayyūb, who was then the governor of the fortress of Jaʿbar,⁷³⁸ and was greatly honoured by that ruler, who presented him with many gifts, gave him a high position in his household and included him in all his affairs.

Zayn al-Dīn devoted much effort to the literary disciplines, including poetry and the art of beautiful handwriting [i.e. calligraphy], but also took an interest in military affairs. He used to associate with the sons of al-Malik al-Ḥāfiẓ, who respected him and allowed him [considerable] influence in their commands. When al-Malik al-Ḥāfiẓ died, the fortress of Jaʿbar was handed over to al-Malik al-Nāṣir Yūsuf ibn Muḥammad ibn Ghāzī,⁷³⁹ the governor of Aleppo. The transfer was arranged through an exchange of correspondence to which Zayn al-Dīn al-Ḥāfiẓī contributed. Zayn al-Dīn then moved to Aleppo and became an aide to al-Malik al-Nāṣir, in whose estimation he stood high. He married the daughter of the governor of Aleppo, and thus acquired great wealth. When al-Malik al-Nāṣir Yūsuf ibn Muḥammad became the ruler of Damascus, Zayn al-Dīn accompanied him to that city and settled there. He subsequently became one of the most eminent figures of the age, devoting himself to the medical art as well as to military affairs and governmental matters. Accordingly, I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – composed the following lines about him:⁷⁴⁰

In every post Zayn al-Dīn always has

the highest of ranks in the heaven of glory:

A commander who holds every merit in knowledge

and surpasses mankind in his judgment and experiences.

If he is dealing with medicine he takes pride of place,

and if he is involved in war he is the heart of the battalions.

Thus in peace he revives many a friend with his medicine

and in war he destroys many an enemy with cutting swords.

Eventually, however, Tatar [i.e. Mongol] emissaries from the East came to al-Malik al-Nāṣir demanding the occupation of his lands [i.e. his kingdom] and proposing severe conditions entailing the payment of tribute. Zayn al-Dīn al-Ḥāfiẓī was sent as a messenger to the ruler Hūlākū,⁷⁴¹ [the Ilkhān] of the Mongols, and to other Mongol rulers. They treated him generously and made him a wealthy man, so that he joined them and in effect became one of them. He went back and forth as a messenger many times, encouraging the Mongols to attack the State and terrifying al-Malik al-Nāṣir with accounts of their power and their [vast] empire. He described their great armies and ridiculed the situation of al-Malik al-Nāṣir and his armies. Al-Malik al-Nāṣir became faint-hearted and unwilling to go to battle against them. In due course, Hūlākū’s Mongols appeared before Aleppo and laid siege to it. After approximately a month, they stormed the city, killed all the people [i.e. the men] in it, took the women and children into captivity, plundered the city’s wealth and destroyed the citadel and other [buildings].

Al-Malik al-Nāṣir Yūsuf fled from Damascus and took possession of Zayzāʾ⁷⁴² and its surroundings. Al-Ḥāfiẓī stayed with him until al-Malik al-Nāṣir dispatched him to Hūlākū.⁷⁴³ He stayed with Hūlākū until the latter dismissed him, according to the general belief. When he came back to Damascus in the year 648/1250 he found that al-Malik al-Nāṣir was intending to conquer Egypt, but the Egyptian armies, which were then led by al-Malik al-Muʿizz, who was also known as Aybak al-Turkumānī,⁷⁴⁴ fought and defeated al-Malik al-Nāṣir, whose armies were scattered and whose attempt to conquer Egypt ended in ruin. He then returned to Syria, where he ruled until the year 658/1258–1259, when the enemy invaded the country, as it is generally understood.

The Mongols then took possession of Damascus by treaty and installed a representative of their own. Zayn al-Dīn remained there as well. They made him an emir, and assigned a military guard to accompany him at all times, so that he became known as ‘King Zayn al-Dīn’. But when al-Malik al-Muẓaffar Quṭuz, the ruler of Egypt, arrived with the armies of Islam and gave the Mongols a merciless trashing at the famous [battle of] Wādī Kanʿān,⁷⁴⁵ killing countless numbers of them, their governor and his retinue fled, and Zayn al-Dīn al-Ḥāfizī went with them, for fear of losing his life at the hands of the Muslims. Syria returned to its former lustre – God be praised – and after al-Malik al-Muẓaffar Quṭuz – may God have mercy upon him – it was ruled by the Sultan al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Dīn Baybars,⁷⁴⁶ who became the ruler of both Egypt and Syria – may God make his rule eternal.

15.33 Abū l-Faḍl ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Muhandis⁷⁴⁷

Muʾayyad al-Dīn Abū l-Faḍl Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ḥārithī was born and brought up in Damascus. He was known as ‘the geometrician’ (al-muhandis) because of his excellent knowledge of geometry, for which he was famous, before he had acquired any knowledge of the art of medicine. His first career was as a carpenter. He also dressed stone, but he earned [his living] by carpentry, a craft at which he was very skilled. His work was greatly sought after, and most of the doors of the ‘Great Hospital’ that was established by al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Nūr al-Dīn Zangī – may God have mercy upon him – are products of his skills and handiwork. Sadīd al-Dīn ibn Raqīqah⁷⁴⁸ informed me that he had heard this from [Abū l-Faḍl al-Muhandis] himself.

Shams al-Dīn ibn al-Miṭwāʿ,⁷⁴⁹ the oculist, who was a friend of Abū l-Faḍl al-Muhandis, told me that Abū l-Faḍl’s first acquaintance with science came about because he had in mind to study [the works of] Euclid in order to [further] improve his excellence in the craft of carpentry, gain insight into its particulars, and have freedom of action in the execution of his work. Ibn al-Miṭwāʿ also said that in those days Abū l-Faḍl al-Muhandis used to work at the Khātūn Mosque, which was located below al-Munaybiʿ just west of Damascus. Every morning before arriving at the mosque he had already memorized a part of Euclid’s work. He also managed to solve [some problems] from it on the way to work and after he finished work, until he had unravelled it in its entirety, understood it thoroughly and fully mastered its contents. He then proceeded to read and study the Almagest and solve [all the problems] contained therein. In the end, he devoted himself completely to the art of geometry and became an authority in it.

I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – say: Abū l-Faḍl al-Muhandis also concerned himself with the art of astronomy and drew up astronomical tables (al-zījāt). It was about that time that al-Sharaf al-Ṭūsī⁷⁵⁰ arrived in Damascus. Al-Sharaf al-Ṭūsī was an outstanding [scholar] in [the field of] geometry and the mathematical sciences, having no peer among his contemporaries. Abū l-Faḍl became acquainted with him, studied under him and learnt a great deal from him. He also studied the art of medicine under Abū l-Majd Muḥammad ibn Abī l-Ḥakam,⁷⁵¹ with whom he was associated for a very long time, copying many works on the philosophical sciences and the art of medicine. I have seen a copy, in his handwriting, of Galen’s ‘Sixteen Books’, which he had studied under Abū l-Majd Muḥammad ibn Abī l-Ḥakam.

Ibn Abī l-Ḥakam’s signature was appended to it [as proof that he had read it]. It was Abū l-Faḍl who repaired, maintained and inspected the clocks of the [Umayyad] Mosque in Damascus, a task for which he received a regular stipend. He was also paid a salary for his work as a physician at the great hospital, a post that he held until he died many years later. He was an outstanding physician and a good practitioner, with a pleasant way of dealing [with his patients].

Abū l-Faḍl had travelled to Egypt in 572–573/1176–1177. In Alexandria, he had acquired some knowledge of the Prophetic tradition [Hadith] from Rashīd al-Dīn Abū l-Thanāʾ Ḥammād ibn Hibat Allāh ibn Ḥammād ibn al-Fuḍayl al-Ḥarrānī and Abū Ṭāhir Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Silafī al-Iṣfahānī.⁷⁵²

Abū l-Faḍl also studied the literary sciences and grammar and composed poetry, making some good epigrams. He died of diarrhoea in Damascus – may God have mercy upon him – in the year 599/1201, at the age of approximately seventy.

The following is an example of the poetry of Abū l-Faḍl ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Muhandis. I have copied it from his manuscript of the Treatise on the sighting of the new moon, which he wrote in praise of the judge Muḥyī l-Dīn, the son of the judge Zakī al-Dīn:⁷⁵³

You are distinguished by your father;⁷⁵⁴ when you see them

they⁷⁵⁵ call some individual people with your epithet.

You will see they have the opposite of the epithets if you put them to the test:

sometimes a man without vision is called ‘seeing’.⁷⁵⁶

An epithet that is not corroborated with deeds

is a mere name for an imagine that is pictured.

But what is worthy of it is a word to which the sense corresponds,

like the scion of judges, proud men from Muḍar.⁷⁵⁷

Religion, realm, Islam: altogether

safe, through his judgment, from the hand of time’s vagaries.

So many good usages has he introduced during his time of office,

standing up for God in these, not apologising,

Hoping thereby for a blessing without end:

the vicinity of an Almighty, Omnipotent, Exalted King,

Thus God may preserve him from every mishap,

as long as grey doves chant, cooing in trees.

Abū l-Faḍl ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Muhandis wrote the following works:

1. On knowledge of the regulation of the almanac (R. fī maʿrifat ramz al-taqwīm).⁷⁵⁸

2. On the sighting of the new moon (M. fī ruʾyat al-hilāl).

3. Summary of The Great Book of Songs by Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣbahānī.⁷⁵⁹ He compiled this work in his own handwriting in ten volumes, which he donated to the mosque in Damascus as an addition to the previously donated works to the Maqṣūrah of Ibn ʿUrwah⁷⁶⁰ (Ikhtiṣār kitāb al-aghānī al-kabīr li-Abī l-Faraj al-Iṣbahānī).

4. On wars and political administration (K. fī l-ḥurūb wa-l-siyāsah).

5. On simple drugs, arranged according to the letters of the alphabet [ḥurūf abjad] (K. fī l-adwiyah al-mufradah).

15.34 Muwaffaq al-Dīn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz [al-Sulamī]⁷⁶¹

The shaykh and learned authority Muwaffaq al-Dīn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār ibn Abī Muḥammad al-Sulamī was a very experienced man with a [genuine] thirst for knowledge, who held beauty in high esteem and possessed a keen sense of honour. In addition, he had a perfect command of the Arabic language. He was known for his compassion for the sick, especially those who were debilitated, whom he not only visited and treated, but saw to it that they were given money for their expenses, medicines and [daily] nourishment. He was a very devout man with a cheerful countenance and was loved by all.

Muwaffaq al-Dīn began his career as an expert in fiqh [i.e. jurisprudence] who taught at the al-Amīniyyah law college in Damascus,⁷⁶² near the [Umayyad] Mosque. Subsequently, however, he studied the art of medicine under Ilyās ibn al-Muṭrān,⁷⁶³ and in due course became very well-versed in both its theory and practice. Ultimately, he was acknowledged as one of the most distinguished masters of the art [of medicine] and a shaykh who set an example for all, and he held public sessions for his pupils.

Muwaffaq al-Dīn served for a time as a physician at the ‘Great Hospital’ founded by al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn Zangī, but later he entered the service of al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Abū Bakr ibn Ayyūb, with whom he remained for many years. That ruler treated him generously, presenting him with many gifts, holding him in high regard and paying him a lavish salary.⁷⁶⁴ Muwaffaq al-Dīn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz continued to hold that post until he died of colic – may God have mercy upon him – in Damascus on Friday the twentieth of the month of Dhū l-Qaʿdah in the year 604 [6 June 1208] and was buried on Mount Qāsiyūn.⁷⁶⁵ He was nearly sixty years old at the time of his death, his date of birth having been in the vicinity of the year [5]55/[11]60.

15.35 Saʿd al-Dīn ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz⁷⁶⁶

The brilliant physician and learned authority Saʿd al-Dīn Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār ibn Abī Muḥammad al-Sulamī resembled his father in appearance, character, knowledge and intelligence. He was a deeply religious person, a very distinguished [scholar], who was outstanding in the juridical sciences and pious and godfearing in religious affairs. When living in Damascus, he would spend the month of Ramadan in seclusion at the mosque, not speaking to anyone.

In the days of al-Malik al-Ashraf Mūsā ibn al-Malik al-ʿĀdil,⁷⁶⁷ Saʿd al-Dīn was [placed] in charge of the construction of the al-Ḥanbaliyyah Law College in the wheat market in Damascus. It was the Caliph of Baghdad, al-Mustanṣir bi-Allāh, who had ordered it [the college] built.

The physician Saʿd al-Dīn was peerless in his day and age as [one of] the most erudite men of his time in the domain of medicine, having been an expert in its general principles and thoroughly familiar with its several specialized branches. Even so, he continued to study it under any and all circumstances.

Saʿd al-Dīn was born in Damascus at the beginning of the month Muḥarram in the year 583 [mid-March 1187]. He served for a time as a physician at the ‘Great Hospital’, founded by al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Nūr al-Dīn ibn Zangī, but subsequently entered the service of al-Malik al-Ashraf Abū l-Fatḥ Mūsā ibn Abī Bakr ibn Ayyūb,⁷⁶⁸ living at his court in the East. That ruler treated him generously, presented him with many gifts, paid him a lavish salary and maintained a close and uninterrupted relationship with him. Saʿd al-Dīn enjoyed [the ruler’s] favour and held an important position in his administration. In the month of Shaʿbān of the year 626 [June 1229], however, al-Malik al-Ashraf went to Damascus as [the city] had been handed over to him by the son of his brother, al-Malik al-Nāṣir Dāwūd ibn al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam.⁷⁶⁹ Saʿd al-Dīn accompanied his employer to his new capital, where he was appointed chief physician. He retained that post until al-Malik al-Ashraf died – may God have mercy upon him – in the castle of Damascus in the early morning of Thursday the fourth of Muḥarram of the year 635 [27 August 1237]. Later that year, during the first ten days of Jumādā I [late December 1237], when Damascus was conquered by al-Malik al-Kāmil Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr ibn Ayyūb,⁷⁷⁰ the new ruler ordered Saʿd al-Dīn to remain in his service, stipulating that he should continue to enjoy all the benefits that had been granted him by his brother al-Malik al-Ashraf. His service was short-lived, however, for al-Malik al-Kāmil died – may God have mercy upon him – in the early evening of Thursday the 22nd of Rajab of the year 635 [10 March 1238].

The physician Saʿd al-Dīn remained in Damascus, holding public sessions for those who were studying the art of medicine under him, for the rest of his life. He died – may God have mercy upon him – in the month of Jumādā II of the year 644 [October–November 1246].

The following line is taken from a poem in honour of the physician Saʿd al-Dīn by al-Sharīf al-Bakrī:⁷⁷¹

A nice doctor, with such nice characteristics that

a healthy man would wish to be sick so as to visit him.⁷⁷²

15.36 Raḍī al-Dīn al-Raḥbī⁷⁷³

[15.36.1]

The eminent physician and learned authority Raḍī al-Dīn Abū l-Ḥajjāj Yūsuf ibn Ḥaydarah ibn al-Ḥasan al-Raḥbī was one of the most prominent practitioners of the art of medicine. He was an outstanding [physician] in the eyes of his peers, enjoyed great respect and was well spoken of by elite and common people alike. Rulers and subjects honoured him greatly. He was much esteemed, high-minded, with lofty ambitions, and was very precise and determined [in his actions]. Furthermore, his conduct was unimpeachable, and he loved the good in people. He exerted himself tirelessly in the treatment of the sick and was kind and merciful to all. He never used indelicate words, nor was he ever known to wrong others or to speak ill of anyone during his entire life.

Raḍī al-Dīn’s father was a native of the town of al-Raḥbah.⁷⁷⁴ He too, had a good understanding of the art of medicine, but was known primarily as an oculist. The shaykh Raḍī al-Dīn was born and bred in Jazīrat ibn ʿUmar,⁷⁷⁵ but also lived in Naṣībīn [e.g. Nisibis]⁷⁷⁶ and al-Raḥbah for some years. He travelled to Baghdad and other places, where he studied the art of medicine and became an expert in it. He also met the shaykh al-Muwaffaq who was known as Ibn Jumayʿ the Egyptian,⁷⁷⁷ and studied with him.

Raḍī al-Dīn and his father settled in Damascus in the year 555/1160, during the reign of the Sultan al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn Zangī. After they had lived there for some years, Raḍī al-Dīn’s father died and was buried on Mount Qāsiyūn. Raḍī al-Dīn decided to remain in Damascus, where he kept a practice for the treatment of the sick; he wrote many books there. After some time, Raḍī al-Dīn decided to study further under Muhadhdhab al-Dīn ibn al-Naqqāsh,⁷⁷⁸ the physician, associating with him constantly. Muhadhdhab al-Dīn spoke highly of him and preferred him to all [his] other [students], with the result that he was able to enter the service of al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb. This ruler enhanced his position, allotted him a monthly salary of thirty dinars and attached him to the citadel and the hospital. He held that post throughout the reign of Saladin, but refused to accede to Saladin’s request to accompany him when he travelled.⁷⁷⁹

Saladin died – may God have mercy upon him – in Damascus early in the night of Wednesday, the 27th of Ṣafar of the year 589 [4 March 1193], and the succession passed from his sons to his brother al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Abū Bakr ibn Ayyūb who [then] took possession of the country. The new ruler ordered [Raḍī al-Dīn] to serve him as his personal physician, but [Raḍī al-Dīn] declined and asked to be allowed to remain in Damascus. At this, al-Malik al-ʿĀdil validated all the emoluments that Raḍī al-Dīn had enjoyed during the reign of Saladin and confirmed that they would remain exactly as they had been. This situation continued until the death of al-Malik al-ʿĀdil.

Al-Malik al-ʿĀdil’s successor was his son, al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam ʿĪsā ibn al-Malik al-ʿĀdil, who granted Raḍī al-Dīn a regular stipend of fifteen dinars. He [then] became a visiting physician at the hospital and kept that position until his death – may God have mercy upon him.

Many persons studied the art of medicine under Raḍī al-Dīn. A number of them became outstanding [physicians], and these in turn taught others, who also became prominent men in the field of medicine. Scrutiny of the physicians of Syria reveals that they either studied under al-Raḥbī himself or under one of those who had studied under him. Among those who studied under him at the beginning [of his career] was the shaykh Muhadhdhab al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn ʿAlī,⁷⁸⁰ who afterward became a close associate of Ibn al-Muṭrān.⁷⁸¹

[15.36.1.1]

The shaykh Raḍī al-Dīn said to me: ‘All those who studied under me and associated with me [later] helped and benefited the people,’ and he named many prominent men who had won renown in the medical profession, including some who were already dead and some who were still alive. He had deemed it appropriate, he said, never to teach medical principles to non-Muslims (al-dhimmah) or to persons who were not worthy of them, for he considered that he was thereby enhancing the profession and upholding its prestige. He told me that in all his life he had taught only two non-Muslims: the physician ʿImrān al-Isrāʾīlī⁷⁸² and Ibrāhīm ibn Khalaf, the Samaritan (al-Sāmirī),⁷⁸³ and he had taught them only because they had pestered him and pleaded with him incessantly, until finally he felt he could not turn them away. Both men were exceptionally gifted and became outstanding physicians.

There is no doubt that some teachers bring good fortune to those who study under them, just as one finds that certain scientific works are more instructive than others. I myself studied medical works by Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyā al-Rāzī and others with Raḍī al-Dīn al-Raḥbī in the year 622–623/1225–1226, especially their practical parts, and I benefitted greatly from them.

The shaykh Raḍī al-Dīn was fond of trading and devoted much of his time to commercial activity. In addition, he kept a keen eye on his physical constitution and was concerned about the preservation of his health. Al-Ṣāḥib Jamāl al-Dīn Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Yūsuf ibn Ibrāhīm al-Qifṭī has told me that the physician al-Raḥbī closely followed the basic principles that are necessary for the preservation of health.

Moreover, I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – have heard that Raḍī al-Dīn al-Raḥbī employed the very best cooks and instructed them to apply the rules that he himself followed. This was most beneficial to him during daytime, keeping his humours in balance during the [whole] day. When the food was ready, the cooks would inform al-Raḥbī, and he would invite one or more of his friends to join him at dinner. When they arrived, the cooks would ask permission to serve, but he would tell them that they must wait, as [the guests] as yet had no appetite. The cooks would wait until they were called. When al-Raḥbī called to them to bring the food in at once, the cooks would serve the meal. Only then would he eat.

One day, one of his friends asked him the reason for this [habit]. ‘Eating with appetite is essential for the preservation of health,’ he replied, ‘for when the members of the body require compensation for what they have used up, they demand it of the stomach, and the stomach in turn summons it from the outside [i.e. the urge to eat again]’. ‘What do you gain by it?’ asked the friend. ‘It is thus that man will attain his natural life span,’ answered al-Raḥbī. ‘But,’ objected the friend ‘you have reached an age which is little short of man’s natural life span, so what is the need for this rigmarole?’ ‘So that during this short period I may stay above the ground,’ said al-Raḥbī, ‘inhaling air and swallowing water, and not under the ground because of a faulty diet.’ He continued to follow this practice until his time came.

[15.36.1.2]

Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah continues: I have had a similar experience myself, showing that it is not desirable to eat a meal except with a genuine appetite. Once, I was with Raḍī al-Dīn, studying some of al-Rāzī’s remarks on the order of eating food. Al-Rāzī states that a person should eat twice a day and then once on the following day. ‘Pay no attention to that advice,’ Raḍī al-Dīn said to me. ‘On the contrary, remember to eat whenever you have a real appetite, at all times, no matter whether it is once or twice during the day, day or night; for it is eating with a real appetite that benefits the body, whereas the opposite is harmful’, and he was right.

Raḍī al-Dīn always followed his own precept in the matter, regardless of whatever else he might be doing. On Saturdays, he would always go to the garden to rest and refrain from work. Thursday was the only day on which he went to the bath. He made it a rule to do these things in a regular order. On Fridays, he used to go to see all the prominent people and the notables. He steadfastly refused to climb a ladder – when he needed to visit a patient, the patient had to be in a place where it was not necessary to climb a ladder – or even to go near one, describing the ladder as “the saw [which cuts off] life”. He once made a particularly astonishing remark to my father. ‘Since the time I bought this place, in which I have lived for more than twenty-five years,’ he said, ‘I do not remember ever having gone up to the room at the top [of the house], except for the one time when I inspected the house [before] buying it. I have never been up there again from that day to this’.

Al-Ṣāḥib Ṣafī al-Dīn Ibrāhīm ibn Marzūq, the vizier of al-Malik al-Ashraf ibn al-Malik al-ʿĀdil,⁷⁸⁴ has told me an anecdote about his excellent demeanour with regard to the art of medicine. He also described to me all the virtues of shaykh Raḍī al-Dīn.

[15.36.1.3]

Among the things that he told me is the following anecdote: Al-Ṣāḥib Ṣafī al-Dīn ibn Shukr,⁷⁸⁵ the vizier of al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Abū Bakr ibn Ayyūb⁷⁸⁶ always ate poultry, but hardly ever ate mutton. He complained to Raḍī al-Dīn al-Raḥbī about his pale complexion, for which physicians had [previously] prescribed many different syrups and other [medicaments]. Raḍī al-Dīn went out, returning shortly with a piece of chicken breast and a piece of red mutton, ‘You are accustomed to eat the meat of fowl,’ he said to the vizier, ‘but the blood produced by fowls does not have such a reddish hue as the blood of sheep, and you can see that the colour of sheep meat is very different from the colour of this piece of chicken meat. You should give up eating fowl and stick to eating mutton instead. That will make you better and there will be no need for [further] treatment’. The vizier accepted Raḍī al-Dīn’s advice, and ate what the physician had recommended. It was not long before his colour returned and the balance of his humours [i.e. his equilibrium] was restored.

Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah continues: This is a very convincing account, and I would recommend it to everyone who wishes to be cured and seriously wants to ensure the preservation of his health. The vizier was a robust, well-proportioned man who possessed a strong physique and had a good digestion, but the members of his body were afflicted by the weak blood that he [obtained from eating] fowl’s meat. He needed coarser and stronger blood. When he went over to eating mutton, he began to produce stronger blood that supplied the needs of his bodily members, so that his humours became balanced and his colour returned to normal.

[15.36.1.4]

Shaykh Raḍī al-Dīn al-Raḥbī was born in the month of Jumādā I in the year 534 [December 1139–January 1140] in Jazīrat ibn ʿUmar.

His last illness manifested itself on the day of the Feast of Immolation (ʿīd al-aḍḥā) in the year 630 [17 September 1233]. He died – may God have mercy upon him – on the morning of Sunday, the tenth of Muḥarram of the year 631 [16 October 1233], and was buried on Mount Qāsiyūn. He lived nearly a hundred years⁷⁸⁷ without any weakening of his hearing or sight; only during his last years he [suffered from] forgetfulness with respect to matters that had happened recently, but he remembered past events, which he had known for a long time, perfectly clearly. He left two sons, the eldest named Sharaf al-Dīn Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī and the younger, Jamāl al-Dīn ʿUthmān. One of his relatives, who had been at his bedside during his final illness, told me that at the time of his death Raḍī al-Dīn felt the pulse of his right hand with his left hand, with a pensive and reflective air as he did so. He then clapped his hands, for he knew that his strength had failed. He straightened the cowl [zawraqiyyah] on his head with his hands, disposed himself for death, and died.

[15.36.2]

Raḍī al-Dīn al-Raḥbī is the author of the following works:

1. Revision of Ibn al-Ṭayyib’s Commentary on the Hippocratic Aphorisms (Tahdhīb sharḥ Ibn al-Ṭayyib li-kitāb al-fuṣūl li-Abuqrāṭ).

2. Summary of Ḥunayn [ibn Isḥāq’s] Book of Questions that he had started [to write], but never finished (Ikhtiṣār kitāb al-masāʾil li-Ḥunayn).

15.37 Sharaf al-Dīn ibn al-Raḥbī⁷⁸⁸

[15.37.1]

Sharaf al-Dīn ibn al-Raḥbī, the physician and learned authority, was one of the most erudite and peerless scholars of his day and age.

Sharaf al-Dīn Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Yūsuf ibn Ḥaydarah ibn al-Ḥasan al-Raḥbī was born in Damascus in the year 583/1187. He followed in his father’s footsteps, just as he resembled him in appearance, character, manners and intelligence. From an early age he gave his full attention to collecting and studying books, while his soul was constantly devoted to a search for virtue. Sharaf al-Dīn pursued the medical art very assiduously, carefully studying its details and general principles. He also composed works of his own on medicine and wrote annotations on others.

Sharaf al-Dīn studied the art of medicine under his father, and also with shaykh Muwaffaq al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Laṭīf ibn Yūsuf al-Baghdādī,⁷⁸⁹ under whose guidance he devoted himself to a number of sciences, including in particular those that were treated in shaykh Muwaffaq al-Dīn al-Baghdādī’s own works.⁷⁹⁰ He also studied literature under shaykh ʿAlam al-Dīn al-Sakhāwī⁷⁹¹ and other scholars, until he had achieved an unparalleled mastery of that domain. In addition, he possessed a natural disposition for poetry.

Sharaf al-Dīn was a solitary individual who was constantly reading and studying in order to gain insight into the literary work of ancient authors and to benefit from the books of the sages. He was a righteous and high-aspiring man who did not like to frequent rulers and state officials. He worked for some time at the ‘Great Hospital’ founded by al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Nūr al-Dīn ibn Zangī. When our shaykh Muhadhdhab al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn ʿAlī⁷⁹² – may God have mercy upon him – made a charitable donation of his house in Damascus, dedicating it as a place where the medical arts were studied, so that the Muslims could learn there, he appointed Sharaf al-Dīn ibn al-Raḥbī as a teacher,⁷⁹³ because Sharaf al-Dīn had proven to be an erudite and intelligent person. He held that post for a time and then died – may God have mercy upon him – in Damascus. He was buried on Mount Qāsiyūn. He died – may God have mercy upon him – of pleurisy on the night preceding Friday the eleventh of Muḥarram in the year 667 [20 September 1268].

The physician Badr al-Dīn, the son of the judge of Baalbek, and Shams al-Dīn al-Kutubī, known as al-Khawātīmī, have informed me that months before he fell ill and died, Sharaf al-Dīn had told visitors and students that he would die soon at the conjunction of the two planets.⁷⁹⁴ He had also told them, ‘Tell this to the people, so that they may realize the measure of my knowledge of life and death.’ What he had predicted on the basis of [the conjunction of] the planets, did indeed happen.

[15.37.2]

Sharaf al-Dīn ibn al-Raḥbī personally recited the following [specimens of his] poetry to me. Among them is the following poem, which is part of an elegy:⁷⁹⁵

The arrows of the Fates among mankind cannot be prevented:

one day, everyone even if (now) alive will be felled.

Everyone, though it may be a long time, will end up

entrusted to the bottom of a grave in the earth.

So say to him who outlives his companion:

Before long you will be driven to the same.

Every son of a woman will arrive at perdition,

raised, after couches, on a bier.

5One day, even if he lives for a while, a decree will reach him

to which the decrepit and the sucking child are alike.

So let no sensible man ever be deluded by⁷⁹⁶ his longevity,

for the life of a man is nothing to aspire to,

For life only resembles a flash of lightning

and death is merely as when the eye slumbers.

People are merely like plants: some dried out, chaff,

others tender, sprouting after what has perished.

Perish this world! It never ceases to regale us

with the bitter skimmings⁷⁹⁷ of a cup that does not slake thirst.

10The clouds of worldly desires are empty of rain; their lightning,

when taken as a sign of rain, disappoints, not giving a downpour.

The world deludes her children with desires, then leads them

to the bottom of an abyss in which a man is laid.

She has destroyed so many people enthralled with love of her,

who never attained their desires to be enjoyed!

She rouses his hopes to attain his desires

and he, in his erring, never gives up his love of her.

He wastes a lifetime that will not come back,

before he ever attains the thing he expects of her.

15So he became her slave, that he could gather her debris,

without ever enjoying what he had gathered.

If he were sensible the barest subsistence in this world

would suffice him and he would not be greedy,

Until Fate will come to him, while he is safe

by being content and will not be frightened.

Its misfortunes are general: neither a brave man

nor a base one will escape. They cannot be averted.

Nor can anything that swims on the bottom of the sea, or a bird

that circles in the wide space and is then taken away;⁷⁹⁸

20Nor anyone unassailable in lofty towers

that rise high into the vertices of the sky.

They⁷⁹⁹ bring him, after his life, to a pit

where, in the end, he will have a resting-place in the earth.

There, those who dwelled on its surface and have died

recently and Tubbaʿ⁸⁰⁰ are equals.

They are the same there: a poor man, the rich,

the faltering in speech and the eloquent;

He who when calamities strike, is not afraid of dying

and a coward who hurries, fearing death;

25A greedy one who pounces with tooth and claw

and any humble little bird that cannot defend itself;

He who has conquered distant lands with might and force

and he who is content with the bare necessities.

If someone, taking warning, opened their graves,

to see the workings of decay’s effects,

He would observe eyeballs liquefying, faces dust-covered

in the earth, disfigured, terrifying.

They are under layers of earth, gloomy,

glowering, whereas once they gleamed with glee.

30He cannot know the master from the slave among them,

nor the obscure from the eminent and haughty.

How could he know, having seen of them

what makes the eyes shed tears?

He sees of them what pains the sight,

yet how often has he seen what gladdens and delights the eyes!

He sees bones that can no longer hold together

and have come apart, cut off from their joints,

Stripped of their flesh: they are a warning

for the thoughtful, about what they can expect.

35The passing of time has wasted them; they became

‘pipes in the hollow of which the wind’ makes music⁸⁰¹

To blackened faces and skulls

bowed down from humiliation, not to be raised again:

They have been severed from their necks, turned upside down

on the earth, whereas once they were laid on pillows.

Darkness has come over them, bound for decay; yet how often

did their light shine in the obscure night!

It is as if on their hair-partings there never rested

precious crowns set with pearls!

40All those who loved them have gone away from them, desolate,

their own people and all people now loathe them.

Those who, in their lifetime, had a bond of passion with them

have severed the ties with them, no longer having a desire.

Their enemies lament them for their sorry state;

who once was their adversary pities them and is sad.

Say then to him who is deluded by his longevity

and by the vain, treacherous baubles he has collected:

Wake up! Look at this world with the eye of insight,

and you will find that all it contains are deposits to be returned.

45Where are the proud kings of yore, and he who possessed

the place on earth where the sun rises?

A tomb contains him, in the wide space of the earth’s surface,

too short for his corpse, when it is measured.

How many a king was humbled in it,

having been followed, when alive, because of the awe he inspired!

He used to lead knights on thoroughbred horses,

congesting and completely filling wide steppes.

But after a life of comfort he ended up in the earth,

his bones covered by desolate wasteland,

50His returning far away, despite being near for a visit:

he will not come back until the Resurrection;

A stranger, away from his loved ones and family, resting

in the farthest desert that cannot be crossed.

Dust-raising winds persist over a barren dwelling

where once the earth was fertile.

A hostage, never able to return

and not capable of speech so as to be heard.

In it he takes the earth as a pillow, after he had been

raised for a while on silken cushions.

55Such is the rule of time’s vagaries: you will never see

a living being whose bonds will not be broken.

[15.37.3]

Similarly this poem, which is also by him:⁸⁰²

People are driven to their death forcibly

and those who remain are not aware of the state of those who went.

They are like cattle, in that some are ignorant

of the bloodshed perpetrated on others.

And similarly the following poem, which again is by him:⁸⁰³

There is no point in remembering⁸⁰⁴ a man after his death,

so reject what foolish people say.

Only a living being perceives pain and pleasure,

not a dumb rock.

He recited this poem to me when al-Malik al-Kāmil Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr ibn Ayyūb died in Damascus in the year 635/1237:⁸⁰⁵

So many have said, ignorantly, ‘If I die,

order will cease to exist, the world⁸⁰⁶ will be ruined!’

The one who brings death came to him, and no living being

was perturbed, not two people cared about it.

He became a piece of garbage thrown down beneath the earth

and ‘no two goats butted each other’ about his death.⁸⁰⁷

If someone thinks he is indispensable and that

he cannot be missed in the whole universe,

His delusional thoughts have surely

led him to a claim without clear proof.

Why? Whatever is on the earth’s surface will decay,

except when a substitute, as a second, will succeed it.⁸⁰⁸

The next poem he recited to me after the death of his brother, the physician Jamāl al-Dīn ʿUthmān, in the year 658/1258:⁸⁰⁹

I changed, after I found tranquillity and strength

that banished the evil of the obstinate and envious,

After my age had come close to eighty years

and every supporter among my family had died,

In particular my full brother, though he had been

my cornerstone and my forearm when misfortune descended:

Then Time betrayed me in what I had hoped for

and has not yet ceased to bring the opposite of my goals.

So be patient with the malice of Time; perhaps

it will return to being fair after keeping away.

Sharaf al-Dīn used to dye his beard with henna. I once remarked to him, ‘It would be more becoming if you left your beard white.’ He then recited the following verse extempore:⁸¹⁰

I hid my grey hair by dyeing it, because

I know for certain that grey hair is a harbinger of death,

So I concealed it, so that my eye would not see

the morning after that would disturb my life.

The invisibility to the eye of something loathsome makes

that one can be oblivious of what is feared and guarded against,

Even though I know that it does not clothe me

with youth and that one cannot avert Fate.

[15.37.4]

He sent me the following lines from Damascus when I was in Ṣarkhad, staying with the emir ʿIzz al-Dīn Aybak al-Muʿaẓẓamī:⁸¹¹

Muwaffaq al-Dīn!⁸¹² What’s this mindlessness of yours,

despite the rank you have earned in knowledge and erudition?

Have you sold your soul for something trifling and paltry?

You sold it cheap, after being serious and assiduous for so long!

You have been staying in a town that mocks its inhabitants;

no sensible person of standing would be content with it.

It is remote from all that is good; barren; nothing is there

except rocks and blazing heat.

5You are wasting a life that cannot be replaced:

when a time has passed it will not return.

Do you think the passing of life can be reversed?

There’s no chance past periods can return.

Or do you think that once the delights of the good life have gone they can be

acquired, after one’s lifetime has gone (dhahāb), with gold (dhahab)?

When the youth of one’s life has gone and turned to trouble,

there is nothing left to aim for in the remains of one’s life.

If where you are now were a place to acquire riches,

it would not compensate for spending your life in hardship.

10So how is it what with the little regular pay and its meanness,

and being so far from all virtuous and erudite people?

Come back, then, to the Paradise on Earth:⁸¹³ she has come forward

for her beauty to be revealed, in her new clothes,

And do not stay anywhere else if you have earned riches,

for life in any other place is not worth considering.

Spend your time pleasantly amidst its beauties

and come back to entertainment, delights, and elation.

Hurry, before it eludes you, to make the most of a lifetime

as long as you are alive; for death is in pursuit.

15Take what you can see with your own eyes when opportunities let you

and do not sell present good for what is expected,

For life will pass, time takes its chance,

Fate has its vagaries, so enjoy and you’ll do the right thing!

Do as I say and do not turn to any of those

who contradict …,⁸¹⁴

Who think that happiness lies in acquiring debris, even if

he collects it with toil from a bad occasion for gain.

So make up for what was ordained to elude you in your lifetime,

for it is not near at hand when you are remote from your abode.

20Do not live a life that falls short; always be someone

with an ambition that rises above the shooting stars,

And make the most of⁸¹⁵ the life of a father who is still grieving

since you left him, sad because he is far from you.

For when you see him you will not be lacking an income

that will enough to save you from nakedness and starvation!

What I have said is right, so act upon it, quickly,

and do not listen to dull-witted, unloving people.

A man’s heedlessness, when he has knowledge and perception,

of what is obvious and clear is one of the greatest marvels.

I wrote a reply to him, in which I said:⁸¹⁶

My lord, O Sharaf al-Dīn, the least of whose endeavours

reaches the highest rank of erudition,

And whose ambition rises in the heaven of glory

reaching the most elevated rank of loftiness!

He has surpassed Hippocrates in knowledge and wisdom

and he has surpassed Saḥbān⁸¹⁷ in poetry and speeches.

He has written works on all sciences; nothing

among other writings resembles them.

5Their value has gone up among people; they have risen

above all similar items like the seven luminaries.⁸¹⁸

They contain thoughts like pearls, strung

on the thread of the script, and the best expressions, selected.⁸¹⁹

It is not strange for pearls to come out of a sea

of knowledge, of a master tirelessly devoted to lofty matters.

He has attained the relief of having acquired knowledge,

but no relief is acquired except through labour.

Some people aspired to equal his endeavour, without arriving

at part of it, though everyone strenuously pursued it.

10All knowledge and generosity comes from him to those

who beg his favours, like rain always descending.⁸²⁰

Ah, so many benefits have come from him

to me in days and times past!

I do my best to be thankful for them, as long as I live;

gratefulness for his blessing, for evermore, befits me.

I have yearning feelings to you, being separated,

as people yearn for clouds in times of drought.

My tears stream down, whenever I think of you,

on a heart aflame with the fire of yearning.

15It is as if Mutammim has lodged in my eyes after being away from you,

and Abū Lahab have come into my heart.⁸²¹

Every lifetime that passes for me when you are far from me

is a lifetime not worth considering.

Even if the whole world were brought into being for me while

being far away, I would not choose to be separated from my father.

He is the one who has always been affectionate

to me and devoted, from afar and near.

After separation and distance came between us

my life has not been carefree and pleasant.

20How can life be enjoyed by someone whom Time has allotted

to people who are firewood!⁸²²

In their ignorance they do not know the worth of a scholar,

which is not surprising in the case of ignorant people.

I came to someone in whose courtyard my merit was wasted. Would the

stupidity of the non-Arabs be aware of the intelligence of the Arabs?⁸²³

If my staying among such people was a mistake on my part

and part of my life went by in hardship,

Well, my namesake, in the past, stayed among people

in the land of Naḥlah, complaining of time’s vicissitudes.⁸²⁴

25These things come pre-ordained;

nothing in this world happens without a cause.

One of the wonderful things you say in your verse is a line

containing the wisdom of an affectionate man’s judgment:

‘When the youth of one’s life has gone and turned to trouble,

there is nothing left to aim for in the remains of one’s life.’

How lovely were those pleasant days we had in the past,

those pleasant moments – if only they could return!⁸²⁵

And how lovely, the Paradise on Earth, when she ‘comes forward

for her beauty to be revealed, in her new clothes’!

30I see that what you commanded and recommended

is right, without any doubt.

Only a dull-witted person will deny the sincere advice

and the opinions you expressed.

I have an ambition that rises above al-Simāk;⁸²⁶ virtues

and loftiness are all I pursue.

I shall make for the land where I grew up

and seek the proximity of every excellent and erudite man;

I shall make my resolve to acquire knowledge,

for knowledge, in every situation, is the best gain.

[15.37.5]

He also recited this poem of his to me:⁸²⁷

My spirit delights with you in pleasures,

Since I was appraising them as essential.⁸²⁸

Whenever the thought of my separation from you came to my mind

I was surprised that my Self remained.

And also the following:⁸²⁹

I have become weary of restraining someone whose affection is distant;

The reproach of a reproacher, despite his gentleness, will not turn his mind.

If he was not like the full moon in beauty

He would not have alighted in the bottom of my heart.

And another one:⁸³⁰

My infatuation with you has left nought but writhing agony;

Because of all this crying my eyes pour out blood.

If my God is the arbiter in my being killed

For loving you, I shall not suffer any pain in dying.

[15.37.6]

Sharaf al-Dīn ibn al-Raḥbī is the author of the following works:

1. On the nature of man and the shape of the parts of the body and their uses, an unprecedented work (K. fī khalq al-insān wa-hayʾat aʿḍāʾihi wa-manfaʿatihā).

2. Marginal notes to Ibn Sīnā’s Canon of Medicine (Ḥawāshī ʿalā kitāb al-qānūn li-Ibn Sīnā).

3. Marginal notes to Ibn Abī Ṣādiq’s Commentary on Ḥunayn’s [Book of] Questions (Ḥawāshī ʿalā sharḥ Ibn Abī Ṣādiq li-masāʾil Ḥunayn).

15.38 Jamāl al-Dīn ibn al-Raḥbī⁸³¹

Jamāl al-Dīn ʿUthmān ibn Yūsuf ibn Ḥaydarah al-Raḥbī, the outstanding physician and learned scholar, was born and raised in Damascus. He was an eminent and prominent sage, the most noteworthy man of his time, without peer in his day and age. He studied the art of medicine under the guidance of his father and others, and mastered it completely, becoming an excellent therapist and competent in prescribing medicaments. For some years, he served at the Great Hospital founded by al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Nūr al-Dīn ibn Zangī – may God have mercy upon him – for the treatment of the sick.

Jamāl al-Dīn was fond of doing business and devoted himself to it, travelling to Egypt from time to time in order to bring back goods from that country. When the Mongols arrived in Syria in the year 657/1258, he moved to Egypt and settled there. He fell ill and died in Cairo on the twentieth of the month Rabīʿ II of the year 658 [4 April 1260].

Sharaf al-Dīn ʿAlī al-Raḥbī was older than his brother Jamāl al-Dīn ʿUthmān, to whom he was much attached and for whom he had great affection. But Jamāl al-Dīn, unkindly and with a lack of loyalty, refused to give him a safe place. Then Sharaf al-Dīn composed the following lines:⁸³²

How is it always with my brother and me? I

tried to attain from him a safe place but I did not get it.

I have affection for him but he does not give me anything

but unkindness; I am at my wits’ end.

Nevertheless I do not spare any effort

to make continual benefit to accrue to him.

Ah! As a clever poet once said

 – and his words are like a proverb to those with intelligence –:⁸³³

‘And you, son of shit, care for him,

but he does not care.’

15.39 Kamāl al-Dīn al-Ḥimṣī⁸³⁴

Kamāl al-Dīn al-Ḥimṣī – that is, Abū Manṣūr al-Muẓaffar ibn ʿAlī ibn Nāṣir al-Qurashī – was one of the most remarkable, outstanding scholars [of his time], and was also a good man with a great sense of honour and a noble soul who liked to win [people] over with his friendliness. No sooner had he arrived in Damascus than he began to read the Canon of Medicine under the tutelage of the physician and judge Bahāʾ al-Dīn Abū l-Thanāʾ Maḥmūd ibn Abī l-Faḍl Manṣūr ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Ismāʿīl al-Ṭabarī al-Makhzūmī.⁸³⁵ Kamāl al-Dīn studied the Canon with him as far as the section on the draining of the brain, but then the shaykh Bahāʾ al-Dīn left and went on a journey to Byzantium in the year 608/1211.

Kamāl al-Dīn al-Ḥimṣī also devoted himself to the literary sciences, which he studied under shaykh Tāj al-Dīn al-Kindī.⁸³⁶ He was very fond of trading and spent most of his life doing business. He owned and ran a basket and mat shop in Damascus, for he disliked earning a living through the art of medicine. Once the great extent of his knowledge had become widely known and his erudition had come to light, rulers and notables begged for his services and sought his medical advice. The prince al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Abū Bakr ibn Ayyūb and others asked him to serve them and associate with them, but he refused. For many years he visited the ‘Great Hospital’ founded by al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Nūr al-Dīn ibn Zangī, treating the patients in there in anticipation of a reward in the hereafter [i.e. as a pious deed]. Eventually, however, it was decided that he should receive some form of payment for his services, and he did so until he died – may God have mercy upon him – on Tuesday the ninth of the month Shaʿbān in the year 612 [3 December 1215].

Kamāl al-Dīn al-Ḥimṣī is the author of the following works:

1. On coitus, which is one of the most thorough studies of its kind (M. fī l-bāh).

2. A commentary on a part of the Book of Causes and Symptoms by Galen (S. kitāb al-ʿilal wa-l-aʿrāḍ li-Jālīnūs).⁸³⁷

3. The perfect epistle on purgative drugs (al-Risālah al-kāmilah fī l-adwiyah al-mus′hilah).

4. A summary of al-Rāzī’s Comprehensive Book [on Medicine], which he did not complete (Ikhtiṣār kitāb al-ḥāwī lil-Rāzī).

5. On dropsy (M. fī l-istisqāʾ).

6. Notes on the ‘Generalities’ of the Canon [of Medicine] (Taʿālīq ʿalā l-kulliyyāt min kitāb al-qānūn).

7. Notes on medicine [in general] (Taʿālīq fī l-ṭibb).

8. Notes on urine, which he composed on the first of Rajab of the year 603 [February 1207] (Taʿālīq fī l-bawl).

9. A summary of the Book of Questions by Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq, which is excellently done (Ikhtiṣār kitāb al-masāʾil li-Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq).

15.40 Muwaffaq al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī⁸³⁸

[15.40.1]

Muwaffaq al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī is the shaykh and distinguished authority Muwaffaq al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Laṭīf ibn Yūsuf ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Saʿd, who is also known as Ibn al-Labbād [i.e. the son of the feltmaker]. His family hailed originally from Mosul, but he was born in Baghdad. He was renowned for his knowledge of the [various] sciences and his personal virtues. A prolific writer, he was a master of literary style as well as Arabic grammar and lexicography.⁸³⁹ in addition, he had mastered theology (ʿilm al-kalām) and medicine. He had lived in Damascus for a time, and while there had devoted much attention to the art of medicine and acquired a great reputation for his knowledge of it. Students and physicians used to frequent his lectures and study under him. During al-Baghdādī’s youth his father had him study Hadith under a number of teachers, including Abū l-Fatḥ Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Bāqī, known as Ibn al-Baṭṭī,⁸⁴⁰ Abū Zurʿah Ṭāhir ibn Muḥammad al-Qudsī,⁸⁴¹ Abū l-Qāsim Yaḥyā ibn Thābit al-Wakīl,⁸⁴² and others.

Yūsuf, the father of shaykh Muwaffaq al-Dīn,⁸⁴³ was a devoted student of the science of tradition and an outstanding scholar in the Qur’anic sciences and its modes of recitation. He was well-versed in the doctrines of his school (madhhab), as well as in the differences among the [four] schools and in the fundamental principles [of theology and jurisprudence], but possessed only a slight understanding of the rational disciplines. shaykh Muwaffaq al-Dīn’s paternal uncle, Sulaymān,⁸⁴⁴ was an outstanding jurist.

The shaykh Muwaffaq al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Laṭīf himself was a highly industrious person. He never let a moment pass without devoting himself to the study and composition of books and the art of writing. The works that I have seen in his own handwriting are very many, since he used to make numerous copies of his own works and copied several books of earlier authors as well. He was a friend of my grandfather’s; a strong friendship had grown up between them while they were both residing in Egypt. My father and my grandfather used to study the literary arts under him. My uncle also studied the works of Aristotle with him, for the shaykh Muwaffaq al-Dīn was very interested in them and wished to understand their meaning. From Egypt he went to Damascus and stayed there for some time, and many people benefited from his teaching [there]. I saw him when he was living in Damascus on his final visit to that city. He was an old man of fragile physique, of medium height, a good speaker, expressing himself very well; still, his written word was more impressive than his speech. At times – may God have mercy upon him – he would go too far in his talk: he had a high opinion of himself and would find many shortcomings in the intellectuals of his time and in many of former times also. He frequently disparaged the learned men of Persia and their works, especially the distinguished Master Ibn Sīnā and people like him.

[15.40.2]

I have taken the following account from an autobiography⁸⁴⁵ written in ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī’s own hand:

I was born in the year 557/1162 in a house belonging to my grandfather,⁸⁴⁶ in a street called ‘Sweetmeats Alley’ (darb al-fālūdhaj), and I was brought up under the care of the shaykh Abū l-Najīb,⁸⁴⁷ without knowing anything of pleasure or leisure. Most of my time was devoted to listening to [lessons in] the Hadith. I also procured certificates of audition (ijāzāt) for myself from the shaykhs of Baghdad, Khorasan, Syria and Egypt.⁸⁴⁸ One day my father said to me, ‘I have made you listen to all the luminaries of Baghdad, and I even had you included in the chains of transmission of the old (masānn) masters’.⁸⁴⁹ During this period I had [also] learned calligraphy, and I had memorized the Qur’an, the Faṣīḥ,⁸⁵⁰ the Maqāmāt,⁸⁵¹ the collected poems of al-Mutanabbī,⁸⁵² an epitome on jurisprudence, and another on grammar. Later when I grew up, my father brought me to Kamāl al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Anbārī,⁸⁵³ who was, in those days, the leading teacher in Baghdad. Between him and my father there was a long-lasting friendship, going back to the time of their study at the Niẓāmiyyah law college.⁸⁵⁴ I studied the preface to the Faṣīḥ under his direction, but found that he talked a lot of nonsense, and uttered many foolish words. I could not understand one bit of his continuous and considerable jabbering, even though his students apparently admired him for it. In the end, he said: ‘I loathe teaching young boys and instead pass them on to my disciple al-Wajīh al-Wāsiṭī to study under his guidance.⁸⁵⁵ When the boy is more advanced, I will allow him to study with me’.

Al-Wajīh, a blind man from a wealthy and virtuous family, was the teacher of some of the children of the grand vizier.⁸⁵⁶ He welcomed me with open arms and began to teach me from early morning to the end of the day, showing me kindness in many ways. I attended his study circle at the Ẓafariyyah mosque,⁸⁵⁷ where he would place a series of commentaries in front of me and discuss them with me. Finally, I would read my lesson and al-Wajīh would favour me with his own comments. Then we would leave the mosque, and on the way home he would help me to memorize what I had learnt. When we reached his house, he would take out the books that he was studying himself. I would memorize them with his help and help him memorize them as well. Thereafter he would go to see shaykh Kamāl al-Dīn, to whom he would recite his lesson and who would then comment on the lesson, while I listened. I became so highly trained that I began to outstrip him in powers of memory and understanding. I used to spend most of the night in memorizing and repeating [the lessons]. We continued thus for a while, with me as a disciple of both my master and my master’s master. My memory increased and improved continually, my insight became deeper and more acute and my mind became sharper and more reliable.

The first work that I had memorized was the Lumaʿ, [which I completed] in eight months’ time.⁸⁵⁸ Every day, I listened to a commentary on the greater part of it as it was recited by others. On returning home, I studied the commentaries [on it] by al-Thamānīnī,⁸⁵⁹ Sharīf ʿUmar ibn Ḥamzah,⁸⁶⁰ and Ibn Barhān,⁸⁶¹ and any other commentaries [on it] that I was able to find. I commented on it myself for a group of competent and dedicated students, until I reached the point where I began to use up a whole quire for every chapter, but even that was not enough for what I had to say.

I then thoroughly memorised the Adab al-kātib by Ibn Qutaybah, the first half in a few months and the [other half], the Taqwīm al-lisān, in fourteen days, for it comprised fourteen quires. Afterwards I learnt by heart the Mushkil al-Qurʾān and the Gharīb al-Qurʾān by the same author, both in a very short time.⁸⁶² I then devoted myself to the treatise al-Īḍāḥ by Abū ʿAlī al-Fārisī and learnt it by heart over many months.⁸⁶³ I applied myself constantly to the study of commentaries on it and worked through it with the utmost care until I had studied it in depth and was able to summarize what the commentators said [about it]. As to the Takmilah,⁸⁶⁴ I memorized it in a few days, a quire every day. I used to read both extensive works and compendia, and I applied myself with perseverance to the al-Muqtaḍab of al-Mubarrad and the Kitāb of Ibn Durustawayh.⁸⁶⁵ In the meantime, I did not neglect lectures on the Hadith nor the study of jurisprudence with our shaykh Ibn Faḍlān in the Dār al-Dhahab,⁸⁶⁶ which is a “second-storey” [muʿallaqah] law college [madrasah] founded by Fakhr al-Dawlah ibn al-Muṭṭalib’.⁸⁶⁷

ʿAbd al-Laṭīf continues:

The shaykh Kamāl al-Dīn had composed one hundred and thirty works, most of them on grammar (naḥw) but some on law (fiqh), the principles of theology and Islamic law (uṣūl al-dīn and uṣūl al-fiqh), on mysticism (taṣawwuf) and on ascetism (zuhd). I managed to learn most of his works by listening, reading and memorizing them. He had begun to write two large works, one on lexicology and the other on law, but he was not fortunate enough to be able to complete them. Under his guidance, I memorized a part of the Kitāb Sībawayh (The Book of Sībawayh)⁸⁶⁸ and devoted myself to the al-Muqtaḍab [of al-Mubarrad], which I came to master thoroughly. After the death of the shaykh, I devoted myself exclusively to the Kitāb Sībawayh (The Book of Sībawayh) and the commentary on it by al-Sīrāfī.⁸⁶⁹

I, then, studied a great number of works under the guidance of Ibn ʿUbaydah al-Karkhī,⁸⁷⁰ one of them being the Kitāb al-Uṣūl by Ibn al-Sarrāj,⁸⁷¹ using the copy in the endowment (waqf) of Ibn al-Khashshāb in the Ribāṭ al-Maʾmūniyyah.⁸⁷² I also studied with him the law of inheritance (farāʾiḍ) and prosody (ʿarūḍ) by al-Khaṭīb al-Tibrīzī,⁸⁷³ who was one of the most distinguished disciples of Ibn al-Shajarī.⁸⁷⁴ As for Ibn al-Khashshāb, I listened to his reading of the Maʿānī [al-Qurʾān] by al-Zajjāj,⁸⁷⁵ which he again had studied from the writings of Shuhdah bint al-Ibarī.⁸⁷⁶ I heard him recite the following tradition [related by an uninterrupted chain of transmitters]: ‘Those who show mercy are shown mercy by the Merciful. Be merciful to those who are on earth, and He who is in heaven will be merciful unto you’.⁸⁷⁷

[15.40.3]

Muwaffaq al-Dīn al-Baghdādī further reports that among the teachers from whom he derived great benefit, as he claims, was the son of Amīn al-Dawlah ibn al-Tilmīdh.⁸⁷⁸ He speaks of him at great length and praises him highly, but this is due only to his extreme partiality for Iraqis, for in fact the son of Amīn al-Dawlah was not of such high merit, nor even close to it.

Muwaffaq al-Dīn continues:

There arrived in Baghdad a man from the West [maghrib], tall, dressed in the garb of a Ṣūfī; he displayed proud and haughty manners, spoke eloquently and had a pleasing appearance. He had the air of a religious man and looked like a traveller; those who saw him before getting to know him were struck by his appearance. He was known as Ibn Tātalī and claimed to be among the descendants of ‘the children of the veiled’ (awlād al-mutalaththimah, i.e. the Almoravids).⁸⁷⁹ He had left the West when ʿAbd al-Muʾmin⁸⁸⁰ took possession of the region. When he settled in Baghdad, a number of great scholars and notables gathered around him. Among those who visited him were al-Raḍī al-Qazwīnī⁸⁸¹ and the grand shaykh Ibn Sukaynah.⁸⁸² I, too, was one of those who paid him a visit. He had me read the Muqaddimat ḥisāb⁸⁸³ and the Muqaddimat Ibn Bābashādh fī l-naḥw.⁸⁸⁴

Ibn Tātalī had a peculiar way of teaching. Those who came to see him considered him immensely learned, but in fact he merely possessed strange and radical views. He had carefully studied works on alchemy and talismans and similar subjects, and had also studied all the works of Jābir and Ibn Waḥshiyyah.⁸⁸⁵ He won the hearts of many with his appearance, his eloquence and his ability to influence others, and he filled my heart with a desire to know all the sciences (shawqan ilā l-ʿulūm kullihā). When he met the Caliph al-Nāṣir li-Dīn Allāh, the Commander of the Faithful was delighted. Then Ibn Tātalī set off again on his travels.

I, for my part, engaged in study, buckling down quite seriously to the task and with great endeavour, giving up sleep and pleasures. I dedicated myself completely to the works of al-Ghazālī, that is, to the treatises al-Maqāṣid, al-Miʿyār, al-Mīzān and Miḥakk al-naẓar.⁸⁸⁶ Afterwards, I turned to the books of Ibn Sīnā, both the small and large works, memorized the Kitāb al-Najāt and transcribed the Shifāʾ and examined it. I then studied the Kitāb al-Taḥṣīl by Bahmanyār, a disciple of Ibn Sīnā.⁸⁸⁷ I transcribed and studied many books by Jābir ibn Ḥayyān al-Ṣūfī and Ibn Waḥshiyyah, and I began to practise the false art and to make the frivolous and idle experiments of error. The most potent of the influences that led me astray was that of Ibn Sīnā, by his book on the art (i.e., alchemy), which he supposed completed his philosophy. However, it adds nothing to philosophy, but rather derogates from it.

Muwaffaq al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī continues:

In 585/1189, since there was none left in Baghdad who was able to win my heart, satisfy me completely and help me to resolve the difficulties which I felt, I went to Mosul, but I did not find what I desired there. However, I encountered al-Kamāl Ibn Yūnus,⁸⁸⁸ who was an expert in mathematics and law, but only partially learned in the remaining branches of knowledge. His love of alchemy and its practice had so drowned his intellect and his time that he attached no importance to anything else but that art. Large numbers of students gathered around me, and various positions were offered to me; I chose the second-storey law college of Ibn Muhājir and the Dār al-Ḥadīth [i.e. the school of tradition] on the ground floor below. I stayed in Mosul for one year, always working incessantly, day and night. The people of Mosul declared that they had never before seen anyone with such an expansive and rapid memory, quickness of wit and seriousness.

I heard people say exciting things about the philosopher al-Shihāb al-Suhrawardī.⁸⁸⁹ They were convinced that he surpassed all ancient and contemporary authors and that his works were superior to those of the ancients. I had in mind to go and look for him, but good fortune intervened. I asked Ibn Yūnus for some of his [i.e., Suhrawardī’s] works, for he also had a strong belief in the man’s qualities. I read the Talwīḥāt (The Intimations), al-Lamḥah (The Glimmer) and al-Maʿārij (The Ascending Steps), and in them I found a clear proof of the ignorance of my contemporaries, and I realized that many of my explanatory remarks, with which I was not yet satisfied, were better than the arguments of this idiot. In the midst of his discourse, he would insert detached letters, by which he made people like himself believe that they were to be considered divine mysteries.

Al-Baghdādī continues:

When I entered Damascus, I found there a great number of notables from Baghdad and elsewhere, who had been brought together through Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn’s generous patronage. Among these were Jamāl al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Laṭīf, the son of shaykh Abū l-Najīb, a group from the Grand Vizier’s family, Ibn Ṭalḥah, the secretary, members of the households of Ibn Jahīr, Ibn al-ʿAṭṭār, the vizier who was later executed,⁸⁹⁰ and the vizier Ibn Hubayrah.⁸⁹¹ I met with the grammarian al-Kindī al-Baghdādī,⁸⁹² with whom I had many debates. He was a brilliant, intelligent and wealthy shaykh, who enjoyed the favour of the Sultan, but who was quite taken with himself and offensive to his company. We had many debates and God – exalted be He – permitted me to surpass him in many of the issues that we discussed. Later I neglected to attend him, and my neglect offended him, even more than people were offended by him.

I produced a number of works there in Damascus, including the Gharīb al-Ḥadīth al-kabīr. In it I united the [works of the same name by] Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām, Ibn Qutaybah and al-Khaṭṭābī. I had already begun to compose it in Mosul, and now I made a summary of it, which I called al-Mujarrad (i.e., The Abstract).⁸⁹³ I also wrote the Kitāb al-Wāḍiḥah fī iʿrāb al-Fātiḥah, filling about twenty quires, the Kitāb al-Alif wa-l-Lām, the Kitāb Rubba and a book on the Divine Essence and the Essential Attributes as discussed by the scholastic theologians.⁸⁹⁴ My purpose in taking up this last issue was to refute al-Kindī.⁸⁹⁵

In Damascus I found again the shaykh ʿAbd Allāh ibn Tātalī who had taken up residence at the western minaret (al-maʾdhanah al-gharbiyyah). He had attracted a large group of followers. People were divided into two camps, with one party for him and the other against him. The khaṭīb (preacher) al-Dawlaʿī,⁸⁹⁶ a notable personality who enjoyed great prestige and respect, was opposed to him. Later, Ibn Tātalī made a serious mistake and aided his foes against himself, for he began to speak about alchemy and philosophy, and disparaging remarks about him soon became more frequent. I met with him, and he began to question me concerning various pursuits, which I regarded as contemptible and trivial, though he, on the contrary, attributed great importance to them, and wrote down all that I said about them. I saw through him and found that he was not the man I had imagined him to be, with the result that I came to have a poor opinion of him and his methods. When I spoke about the sciences with him, I found that he had only a superficial knowledge of them. One day I said to him:

If you had devoted the time you have wasted in the pursuit of the art [i.e., alchemy] to some of the Islamic or rational sciences, today you would be without equal, waited on hand and foot. This alchemy nonsense simply does not have the answers you seek.

I learned a lesson from his example and kept my distance from the evil that befell him: ‘the fortunate one is he who is warned by the fate of another’, and I renounced [the art], albeit not entirely. Afterwards, Ibn Tātalī went to see Saladin on the outskirts of Acre⁸⁹⁷ to complain to him about al-Dawlaʿī. He returned sick, and was conveyed to the hospital, where he died. His books were taken by al-Muʿtamid, the military commander of Damascus, who was himself infatuated with the art of alchemy.⁸⁹⁸

I then set out for Jerusalem, and then to Saladin in his camp outside Acre, where I met Bahāʾ al-Dīn ibn Shaddād, the military judge [qāḍī al-ʿaskar] at that time.⁸⁹⁹ My reputation had reached him in Mosul, so he was delighted to meet me and gave me his attention. ‘Let us join ʿImād al-Dīn, the secretary,’ he said,⁹⁰⁰ so we rose and went to his tent, which was next to that of Bahāʾ al-Dīn. I found him writing a letter in thuluth-script⁹⁰¹ to the chancery (dīwān) of al-ʿAzīz without first having made a rough draft. ‘This’, he said, ‘is a letter to your hometown’. He then proceeded to put me to the test on some matters of speculative theology (ʿilm al-kalām), and then said, ‘Come, let us go to call on al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil’.⁹⁰² When we entered his lodging, I saw a thin man, puny (with a relatively big head and a lively mind), who was simultaneously writing and dictating; his face and his lips moved about in all sorts of expressions due to the intensity of his effort to pronounce the words correctly, as if he were writing with all of his limbs. Al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil questioned me about some of the Almighty’s words:

Where is the apodosis of the particle ‘when’ in the Qur’anic verse «Until, when they arrive there, and its gates will be opened and its keepers will say»?⁹⁰³ And where is the apodosis of ‘if’ in the verse «If there were a Qur’an with which mountains were moved»?⁹⁰⁴

He also questioned me on many other matters, and all the time he never stopped writing and dictating. Then he said to me, ‘Return to Damascus, for there you will be given a salary’. I said that I preferred Egypt, to which he replied: ‘The Sultan is worried about the capture of Acre by the Franks and the killing of the Muslims in that town’. ‘It can only be Egypt’, I answered, whereupon he wrote me a brief letter addressed to his representative in Egypt.

When I entered Cairo, I was met by his agent,⁹⁰⁵ Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk,⁹⁰⁶ who was an old man of great virtue and authority. He lodged me in a house that had been thoroughly renovated and supplied me with money and a grain allowance. He then went to the high-ranking state functionaries and said, ‘This is the guest of al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil’, whereupon presents and blessings were showered upon me from all directions. Every ten days or so a memorandum would come to the administrative office of the Egyptian government from al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil, outlining important matters of state. In it there would be a paragraph that clearly set forth his instructions concerning my privileges. I stayed in the mosque of the chamberlain (al-ḥājib) Luʾluʾ – may God have mercy upon him, teaching people to recite.⁹⁰⁷

My purpose in going to Egypt was to meet three persons: Yāsīn al-Sīmiyāʾī (‘the letter-magician’),⁹⁰⁸ the Jewish scholar Mūsā ibn Maymūn [i.e., Maimonides],⁹⁰⁹ and Abū l-Qāsim al-Shāriʿī.⁹¹⁰ All of them came to call on me. Yāsīn I found to be a swindler (mukhāliban),⁹¹¹ a liar, and a common juggler. He used to testify to al-Shāqānī’s expertise in alchemy, while al-Shāqānī used to testify to Yāsīn’s knowledge of magic. It was said of him that he was able to do things that even Mūsā ibn ʿImrān [i.e., the prophet Moses] was unable to do, that he could produce minted gold whenever he wished, of any quantity he wished, and in any coinage that he wished, and that he could turn the waters of the Nile into a tent, under which he and his companions would be able to sit; yet he was in a sorry state.

Mūsā [ibn Maymūn] came to see me as well. I found him to be extremely learned, but he was overcome with the adulation of authority and service to those who occupied important positions. He has written a treatise on medicine based on the sixteen books of Galen⁹¹² and on five books by others. He imposed upon himself the rule of not altering a single letter in it unless it was either a conjunction (wāw ʿaṭf) or a connecting fāʾ (fāʾ waṣl) and he only copied sections of his choice. He has also composed a book for the Jews entitled Kitāb al-Dalālah (The Guide),⁹¹³ and pronounced a curse on anyone who would transcribe it in any but Hebrew characters. I looked through it and found it to be an evil book that corrupted the foundations of law and faith with elements that he had imagined would benefit them.

One day I was in the mosque with a number of people gathered around me, when an old man dressed in shabby clothes entered. He was sharp-featured, with a pleasing appearance. The crowd stood in awe of him and showed him reverence. I finished what I had to say, and when the meeting was over, the imam of the mosque came to me and said, ‘Do you know this old man? He is Abū l-Qāsim al-Shāriʿī’. I embraced him and cried, ‘It is you I seek!’ I brought him to my house, and after our meal we entered into conversation. I found him to be all that souls can desire and eyes delight in. His conduct was that of a man of wisdom and intelligence, his bearing likewise. He contented himself with the barest necessities of life, not involving himself with anything that would distract him from moral excellence. Following our initial encounter, he frequently sought my company, and I found that he was well versed in the works of the ancient philosophers and of Abū Naṣr al-Fārābī. I did not have much confidence in any of those [authors], thinking as I did that the whole of philosophy had been encompassed by Ibn Sīnā and was embodied in his books. When we engaged in discussion, I would surpass him in strength of disputation and refinement of language, but he would surpass me in the force of his argumentation and the clarity of his methods. I did not yield to his arguments, nor did I give up my passionate and stubborn [resistance] to his allusions. But then he presented me with work after work by Abū Naṣr [al-Fārābī], Alexander [of Aphrodisias] and Themistius in an effort to tame my aversion and to soften my headstrong disposition, until I inclined towards his side, putting one foot forward and the other back.

News arrived that Saladin had concluded a truce with the Franks and had returned to Jerusalem, so it was necessary for me to go and see him there. I took with me as many of the books of the ancient philosophers as I could carry and set out for Jerusalem. There I saw a formidable king, who filled all eyes with respect and all hearts with love, who was approachable, tolerant and generous. The members of his entourage tried to imitate him, competing for recognition. As the word of God, exalted be He, says: «And we shall take out all rancour from their breasts».⁹¹⁴

The first night I entered his presence, I found myself at a meeting attended by men of learning, discussing various sciences. Saladin listened attentively and took an active part in the conversation, taking up the subject of the manner of building walls and digging trenches. He had a good understanding of this matter and came up with all kinds of original ideas. He was concerned about the construction of the walls of Jerusalem and about the digging of its trenches. He himself took part in the work of carrying stones on his shoulders. His example was followed by the whole population, poor and rich, strong and weak alike, even the secretary al-ʿImād and al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil followed his example. For this purpose, he would ride out on horseback before sunrise. At the time of midday prayer he would return home, have a meal and rest. He would mount his horse again at the time of the afternoon prayer, and would return home in the evening, then spend most of the night planning what he would do the next day. Saladin assigned to me in writing thirty dinars a month [to be paid by] the administrative office of the mosque.⁹¹⁵ His sons granted me stipends as well, so that I had a regular monthly income of a hundred dinars.

[15.40.4]

[Muwaffaq al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī continues:]

I then returned to Damascus and devoted myself to studying and teaching at the mosque. The more deeply I studied the books of the ancient philosophers, the more my desire for them increased, whereas [my desire] for the books of Ibn Sīnā waned. I began to realise the vanity of alchemy and to know the truth of the matter about its foundation, its founders, and their lies and motivations. I was thus delivered from two great, ruinous errors. My thanks to God were redoubled on that account, for many people have been led to perdition through the books of Ibn Sīnā and alchemy.

Saladin subsequently returned to Damascus, but left the city again to bid farewell to the pilgrims [leaving for Mecca]. Upon his return, he became feverish and was bled by someone without any skill.⁹¹⁶ Thereupon, his strength ebbed and he died before his illness had lasted a fortnight. The people were as afflicted with grief [at his death] as if he had been a prophet. I have never seen a ruler whose death so saddened the people; for he was loved by the pious and the profligate alike, by Muslims and infidels.

Saladin’s sons and companions ‘dispersed like the ancient Sabaeans’⁹¹⁷ and were scattered to the four winds throughout the various countries. The greater number of them went to Egypt, on account of its fertility and prosperity. I stayed in Damascus, which was then under the rule of al-Malik al-Afḍal, Saladin’s eldest son, until al-Malik al-ʿAzīz came with the Egyptian army to besiege his brother in Damascus. However, he failed in his design and withdrew to Marj al-Ṣuffar,⁹¹⁸ stricken with colic. I went over to see him after his recovery, and he allowed me to return with him [to Cairo] and assigned me a salary from the treasury, which was more than sufficient for my needs.

In Cairo, I stayed with the shaykh Abū l-Qāsim. We were inseparable from morning to night, until he died from a pleurisy (dhāt al-janb) arising from a head cold (nazlah min rāʾsihi). As his illness grew worse, I advised him to take medication, whereupon he recited the following verse:⁹¹⁹

I do not chase birds away from a tree

of which I have tasted the bitter fruit.

Then I asked him about his pain, and he replied:⁹²⁰

A wound cannot hurt a dead man.

My occupations during this period were as follows: I gave lectures at the al-Azhar mosque from early morning until approximately the fourth hour.⁹²¹ At midday, those who wished to study medicine and other subjects would come to me. Then at the end of the day, I would return to the al-Azhar mosque to teach other students. At night I used to study for myself. In this manner I continued until the death of al-Malik al-ʿAzīz. He was a generous, courageous young man, modest and unable to say no. In spite of his youthfulness and tender age, he was wholly abstinent from worldly possessions and sexual pleasures.

[15.40.5]

Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah resumes speaking:

After this the shaykh Muwaffaq al-Dīn lived in Cairo for some time, enjoying great prestige and receiving stipends from the sons of al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn. Egypt was then visited by a huge rise in [food] prices and many deaths⁹²² such as never had been seen before. The shaykh Muwaffaq al-Dīn wrote a book on this subject, in which he described things that he had seen himself or heard from eyewitnesses,⁹²³ which make the mind reel; this book he entitled: Information and Reflections on Events Witnessed and Incidents Observed in the Land of Egypt (Kitāb al-Ifādah wa-l-iʿtibār fī l-umūr al-mushāhadah wa-l-ḥawādith al-muʿāyanah bi-arḍ Miṣr).⁹²⁴

When the Sultan al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Sayf al-Dīn Abū Bakr ibn Ayyūb took control of the land of Egypt, the greater part of Syria and the eastern regions, and the children of his brother al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn were scattered and their power was taken away from them, the shaykh Muwaffaq al-Dīn moved to Jerusalem and stayed there for a while. He used to frequent the al-Aqṣā mosque, where he had pupils who studied many different sciences under his guidance, and he composed many books. In the year 604/1207 he set out for Damascus, where he took his abode in the al-ʿAzīziyyah law college, devoting himself to teaching and study. Many pupils came to study with him and learn various sciences under his guidance. He distinguished himself in the art of medicine, composing many books in that domain, and acquiring a great reputation in it, whereas formerly his fame had rested on his mastery of the science of grammar. He stayed in Damascus for some time, and many people derived great benefit from him.

Thereafter the shaykh Muwaffaq al-Dīn travelled to Aleppo, and beyond, into Anatolia [i.e. the land of the Rūm Seljuqs⁹²⁵], staying there for several years in the service of al-Malik ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Dāwūd ibn Bahrām,⁹²⁶ the governor of [the city of] Erzinjan; he acquired an established position and an important status, receiving a large salary and many allowances. He composed many works that he dedicated to that ruler, who was a man of high aspirations, modest and generous, and had already devoted himself to some of the sciences. Muwaffaq al-Dīn remained in his service until the ruler of Erzerum, the Sultan Kayqubādh ibn Kaykhusraw ibn Qilij Arslān,⁹²⁷ seized power. The ruler of Erzinjan was arrested and nothing more was heard of him.

[15.40.6]

The shaykh Muwaffaq al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Laṭīf continues:

When it was the seventeenth of Dhū l-qaʿdah of the year 625 [18 October 1228], I set out for Erzerum. On the eleventh of Ṣafar of the year 626 [9 January 1229] I returned to Erzinjan from Erzerum. In the middle of Rabīʿ I [February 1229] I went to Kamākh; in Jumādā I [April 1229] I went from there to Dabarkī [i.e. Divrigi]; in the month of Rajab [June 1229] I headed from there to Malatya; and at the end of Ramadan [August 1229] I set out for Aleppo. We held the prayer for the feast at the end of the fasting period (ʿīd al-fiṭr) at Bahnasāʾ and we entered Aleppo on Friday the 9th of Shawwāl [31 August 1229].⁹²⁸ We found that the city had grown immensely and that its prosperity and security had increased as a result of the good deeds of the atābak [atabeg]⁹²⁹ Shihāb al-Dīn.⁹³⁰ The whole population was unified in their love for him, because he treated his subjects equitably.

[15.40.7]

I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – say:

The shaykh Muwaffaq al-Dīn remained in Aleppo, where pupils studied under his guidance and he wrote prolifically. He had a good patron in the eunuch (khādim) Shihāb al-Dīn Ṭughrīl, the atabeg of Aleppo. Muwaffaq al-Dīn devoted much of his time to teaching the art of medicine and other sciences, but also frequented the mosque, where he would listen to lectures and teach the Arabic language. He was always engaged in writing and composing [works]. When he was living in Aleppo it was my intention to meet with him, but it did not happen. I received a steady stream of books and letters from him, including some of his works in his own handwriting.

Here follows the text of a letter that I wrote to him when he was [staying] in Aleppo:

The servant conveys his prayers, his praise, his gratitude and his commitment to the adored, eminent, illustrious, magnificent, most virtuous excellency Muwaffaq al-Dīn, chief of scholars in times past and present who has united in himself the sciences scattered among the inhabitants of the world, protector of the commander of the faithful. May God elucidate the paths of right guidance to him and illuminate the ways of knowledge for him in the life hereafter, and confirm his authority through the [revelation of] the true meaning of his words. May his happiness continue to exist unendingly, his mastery ascend to lofty heights and may his writings remain in all lands the model for the learned and the main source for all men of letters and philosophy. The servant renews his homage, offers his most courteous salutations and his most affectionate thanks and compliments. He makes known to you the pain from which he suffers in his endeavour to witness the lights of the illuminating sun, the joy that is provoked by the exciting vision of your noble and illustrious presence and the intensification of his anxiety and the graveness of his insomnia on hearing of the nearness of his visit.⁹³¹

Longing is at its most painful one day

when abodes are near abodes.⁹³²

Were it not for the [hope of the] return of the noble traveller and the arrival of the honourable and exalted excellency, the servant would have hurried to come to him and hastened to appear before him, and would come to pay his respects and be successful in seeing his beautiful appearance. How blessed is he who has the fortune to gaze upon it, and how glad is he who stands before him! How fortunate is the person in which he shows an interest, who draws from the seas of his excellence and is irrigated by its wholesome water, who is illumined by the sun of his knowledge and travels in brilliant light! We ask God, exalted is He, that he will soon unite us and by His grace and bounty bring about the merger between the delight of the eyes and the pleasures of the hearing, if God, exalted be He, wills.

Among the letters of the shaykh Muwaffaq al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Laṭīf is one that he sent to my father. At the beginning of the letter he said of me, ‘The son of the son [i.e. the grandson] is dearer than the son. This Muwaffaq al-Dīn [i.e., Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah] is the son of my son and no one is dearer to me than he. His excellence has been clear to me ever since his early youth’. He then continues to speak appreciatively of me and praises me. He also says in this letter, ‘If I could go to him in order to enable him to study under my guidance, I should do it’, indicating that he had decided to remove to Damascus and settle there.

Then it came to his mind to go on pilgrimage first, making his way via Baghdad, and offering some of his works to the caliph al-Mustanṣir bi-Allāh.⁹³³ After reaching Baghdad he fell ill and died – may God have mercy upon him – on Sunday, the twelfth of Muḥarram 629 [9 November 1231]. He was buried next to his father in the al-Wardiyyah cemetery. This happened after an absence of forty-five years from the city of Baghdad. God, exalted be He, sent him back and decreed his fate there.

[15.40.8]

The following are some examples of the aphorisms of Muwaffaq al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī, which I have taken from works in his own handwriting:

1. It is necessary to account to yourself for what you have done every night when you go to sleep, and reflect on the meritorious deeds that you have done during the day and to thank God for them, and the evil deeds you have committed and to ask God’s pardon for them and to abstain from them. Prepare yourself for the good things that you will do in the morning, and ask God for help in this.

He also says:

He also says:

Furthermore he says:

He then says:

When you are not engaged in study and reflection, move your tongue in remembrance of God and in glorifying Him, especially before you go to sleep, for then your heart will be permeated with Him and He will be kneaded into your imagination, so that you may speak of Him even while you are sleeping. When you experience joy and pleasure in some worldly matters, then remember death, the swiftness of passing and the different kinds of hindrances you have encountered. When something saddens you, say the following words: «We belong to God and to Him we return».⁹³⁵ When you have been indifferent to Him, ask for forgiveness.

I have copied a few more examples of his aphorisms from works in his own handwriting, including the following:

Another example is the following:

He also says:

He also says:

He also says:

He then says:

He concludes by saying:

In one of his prayers⁹³⁹ – may God have mercy upon him – he says:

O God, preserve us from the contrariety of the natural disposition and the defiance of the evil soul, smooth for us the way that will guide us to success and lead us on the straight path. O leader of the blind and guide of those who had gone astray, You who revive through faith the dead hearts⁹⁴⁰ and lighten the darkness of error with perfect light, take us by the hand lest we fall into the abyss of destruction, deliver us from the mire of nature, cleanse us from the clay of the vile world through our sincere devotion to You and the instilment of fear in us. You are the ruler of the hereafter and of this world.

One of his glorifications of God runs as follows:

Glory to Him who pervades existence with His wisdom, who deserves to be worshipped in every respect. The whole universe gleams with the light of Your splendour and the sun of Your knowledge radiates on souls with the greatest brightness.

[15.40.9]

Muwaffaq al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī is the author of the following books:⁹⁴¹

1. On obscure words [employed] in the Hadith, in which are compiled the ‘al-Gharīb’ of Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām and the ‘al-Gharīb’ of Ibn Qutaybah and al-Khaṭṭābī (K. gharīb al-ḥadīth jamaʿa fīhi gharīb Abī ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām wa-gharīb Ibn Qutaybah wa-gharīb al-Khaṭṭābī).⁹⁴²

2. Summary on the obscure words [employed] in the Hadith (K. al-mujarrad min gharīb al-ḥadīth).⁹⁴³

3. Explanation of the syntax [employed] in the first sūrah of the Qur’an (K. al-wāḍiḥah fī iʿrāb al-Fātiḥah).⁹⁴⁴

4. On alif and lām (K. al-alif wa-l-lām).⁹⁴⁵

5. Question on His utterance, He be glorified, «When he stretches out his hand, he can barely see it» (Masʾalah fī qawlihi subḥānahu idhā akhraja yadahu lam yakad yarāhā).⁹⁴⁶

6. A syntactical question (Masʾalah naḥwiyyah).

7. Collection of syntactical questions and explanatory remarks (Majmūʿ masāʾil naḥwiyyah wa-taʿālīq).

8. On [the particle] rubba [‘Many a …’] (K. rubba).

9. Commentary on the [qaṣīdah] Bānat Suʿād (‘Suʿād has departed’) [by Kaʿb ibn Zuhayr] (S. Bānat Suʿād).⁹⁴⁷

10. Supplement to the Faṣīḥ [by Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā Thaʿlab] (K. dhayl al-faṣīḥ).⁹⁴⁸

11. On the Divine Essence and the Essential Attributes as discussed by the scholastic theologians (al-Kalām fī dhāt wa-l-ṣifāt al-dhātiyyah ʿalā alsinat al-mutakallimīn).

12. Commentary on the first chapters of the Mufaṣṣal [by Abū l-Qāsim Maḥmūd ibn ʿUmar al-Zamakhsharī] (S. awāʾil al-mufaṣṣal).⁹⁴⁹

13. Five syntactical questions (Khams masāʾil naḥwiyyah).

14. Commentary on the Introduction [to Grammar] by Ibn Bābashādh, which he dedicated to (al-Malik) al-Kāmil (S. muqaddimat Ibn Bābashādh wa-sammāhu bi l-lumaʿ al-kāmiliyyah).⁹⁵⁰

15. Commentary on Ibn Nubātah’s Sermons (S. al-khuṭab al-nubātiyyah).⁹⁵¹

16. Commentary on uninterrupted chains of tradition (S. al-ḥadīth al-musalsal).

17. Commentary on seventy traditions (S. sabʿīn ḥadīthan).

18. Commentary on forty medical traditions (S. arbaʿīn ḥadīthan ṭibbiyyah).⁹⁵²

19. Refutation of the Son of the Preacher of al-Rayy regarding the exegesis of sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ (K. al-radd ʿalā Ibn Khaṭīb al-Rayy fī tafsīr sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ).⁹⁵³

20. Examination of the injustice done to Qudāmah [ibn Jaʿfar] (K. kashf al-ẓulāmah ʿan Qudāmah).⁹⁵⁴

21. Commentary on the Naqd al-shiʿr [criticism of poetry] by Qudāmah [ibn Jaʿfar] (S. naqd al-shiʿr li-Qudāmah).

22. Prophetic traditions excerpted from compilations combining the two Ṣaḥīḥs (Aḥādīth mukharrajah min al-jamʿ bayna al-Ṣaḥīḥayn).⁹⁵⁵

23. ‘The Mighty Banner’: on Hadith, dedicated to al-Malik al-ʿAzīz (K. al-liwāʾ al-ʿazīz bi-ism al-Malik al-ʿAzīz fī al-ḥadīth).

24. ‘Principles of the Art of Good Style’ (K. qawānīn al-balāghah), which he composed in Aleppo in the year 615/1218.

25. Marginal notes to Ibn Jinnī’s ‘Distinctive Features [of Grammar]’ (Ḥawāshī ʿalā kitāb al-khaṣāʾiṣ li-ibn Jinnī).⁹⁵⁶

26. On equity between Ibn Barrī and Ibn al-Khashshāb with regard to Ibn al-Khashshāb’s refutation of the Maqāmāt by al-Ḥarīrī and Ibn Barrī’s defence of al-Ḥarīrī (K. al-inṣāf bayna Ibn Barrī wa-Ibn al-Khashshāb fīmā radda bihi Ibn al-Khashshāb ʿalā al-maqāmāt lil-Ḥarīrī wa-intiṣār Ibn Barrī lil-Ḥarīrī).⁹⁵⁷

27. Question concerning their utterance ‘anti ṭāliq’ (‘you are divorced’) ‘fī shahr qabla mā baʿda qablihi ramaḍān’ (‘in a month before the one after before it is Ramadan’).⁹⁵⁸

28. Explanation of His word, peace be upon Him, ‘Those who show mercy are shown mercy by the Merciful’ (Tafsīr qawlihi ʿalayhi al-salām “al-rāḥimūn yarḥamuhum al-Raḥmān”).⁹⁵⁹

29. Enlightenment for someone in a hurry: On syntax (K. qabsat al-ʿajlān fī naḥw).

30. Abridgement of al-ʿAskarī’s ‘On the Two Arts’: [prose-writing and poetry] (Ikhtiṣār kitāb al-ṣināʿatayn [al-kitābah wa-l-shiʿr] lil-ʿAskarī).⁹⁶⁰

31. Abridgement of Ibn Rashīq’s ‘On the Mainstay’ (Ikhtiṣār kitāb al-ʿumdah li-Ibn Rashīq).⁹⁶¹

32. Treatise on concord (M. fi l-wafq).⁹⁶²

33. The Sufficient and Evident: on Indian arithmetic (K. al-mughnī al-jalī fī l-ḥisāb al-hindī).⁹⁶³

34. Abridgement of Abū Ḥanīfah al-Dīnawarī’s ‘Book of Plants’ and another book of the same kind (Ikhtiṣār kitāb al-nabāt li-Abī Ḥanīfah al-Dīnawarī wa-kitāb ākhar fī fannihi mithluhu).⁹⁶⁴

35. Abridgement of al-Tamīmī’s ‘Continuation of Existence’ (Ikhtiṣār māddat al-baqāʾ).⁹⁶⁵

36. On aphorisms in the language of the philosopher, in seven chapters. He finished it in the month of Ramadan of the year 608 [February 1212] (K. al-fuṣūl wa-huwa bi-lughat al-ḥakīm).

37. Commentary on the Hippocratic ‘Aphorisms’ (S. kitāb al-fuṣūl li-Abuqrāṭ).⁹⁶⁶

38. Commentary on the Hippocratic ‘Prognostic’ (S. kitāb taqdimat al-maʿrifah li-Abuqrāṭ).⁹⁶⁷

39. Abridgement of Galen’s commentary on the book of acute diseases by Hippocrates (Ikhtiṣār sharḥ Jālīnūs li-kutub al-amrāḍ al-ḥāddah li-Abuqrāṭ).⁹⁶⁸

40. Abridgement of the ‘Book of Animals’ [Historia Animalium] by Aristotle (Ikhtiṣār kitāb al-ḥayawān li-Arisṭūṭālīs).

41. Revision of the Problems of the natural sciences, entitled Why is it that …? (al-Masāʾil al-ṭabīʿiyyah al-musammāt bi-mā bālu) by Aristotle (Tahdhīb masāʾil mā bālu li-Arisṭūṭālīs).⁹⁶⁹

42. Book on the same theme.

43. Abridgement of Galen’s Book ‘The Use of the Parts’ (Ikhtiṣār kitāb manāfiʿ al-aʿḍāʾ li-Jālīnūs).⁹⁷⁰

44. Abridgement of ‘The Opinions of Hippocrates and Plato’ (Ikhtiṣār kitāb ārāʾ Buqrāṭ wa-Aflāṭun).⁹⁷¹

45. Abridgement of ‘The Embryo’ (Ikhtiṣār kitāb al-janīn).⁹⁷²

46. Abridgement of ‘The Voice’ (Ikhtiṣār kitāb al-ṣawt).⁹⁷³

47. Abridgement of ‘The Sperm’ (Ikhtiṣār kitāb al-maniyy).⁹⁷⁴

48. Abridgement of ‘The Organs of Respiration’ (Ikhtiṣār kitāb ālāt al-tanaffus).⁹⁷⁵

49. Abridgement of ‘The Muscles’ (Ikhtiṣār kitāb al-ʿaḍal).⁹⁷⁶

50. Abridgement of ‘The Book of Animals’ by al-Jāḥiẓ (Ikhtiṣār kitāb al-ḥayawān lil-Jāḥiẓ).⁹⁷⁷

51. On the organs of respiration and their functioning, in six chapters. (K. fī ālāt al-tanaffus wa-afʿālihā. Sitt maqālāt).

52. Treatise on the division of fevers: how each one of them is assessed and how they are generated (M. fī qismat al-ḥummayāt wa-mā yataqawwamu bihi kull wāḥid minhā wa-kayfiyyat tawalludihā).⁹⁷⁸

53. The Selection, an epitome of the [book on] acute diseases (K. al-nukhbah wa-huwa khulāṣat al-amrāḍ al-ḥāddah).⁹⁷⁹

54. Abridgement of ‘On Fevers’ by al-Isrāʾīlī (Ikhtiṣār kitāb al-ḥummayāt lil-Isrāʾīlī).⁹⁸⁰

55. Abridgement of the ‘On Urine’ by al-Isrāʾīlī (Ikhtiṣār kitāb al-bawl lil-Isrāʾīlī).⁹⁸¹

56. Abridgement of ‘On the Pulse’ by al-Isrāʾīlī (Ikhtiṣār kitāb al-nabḍ lil-Isrāʾīlī).

57. The greater ‘Book on Egypt’ (K. akhbār Miṣr al-kabīr).

58. The lesser ‘Book on Egypt’. Two treatises. (K. akhbār Miṣr al-ṣaghīr. Maqālatān).

59. Introduction [to the Books on Egypt]: Information and details about events witnessed and incidents observed in the land of Egypt. He finished this work on the tenth of Shaʿbān of the year 603 [12 March 1207] in Jerusalem (K. al-ifādah wa l-iʿtibār fī l-umūr al-mushāhadah wa l-ḥawādith al-muʿāyanah bi-arḍ Miṣr).⁹⁸²

60. ‘On History’ (K. tārīkh), which comprises his biography. It was written for his son Sharaf al-Dīn Yūsuf.⁹⁸³

61. On thirst (M. fī l-ʿaṭash).

62. On water (M. fī l-māʾ).

63. On the enumeration of the aims of those who write books, and what kind of advantages and disadvantages follow therefrom (M. fī iḥṣāʾ maqāṣid wāḍiʿī l-kutub fī kutubihim wa-mā yatbaʿu dhalika min al-manāfiʿ wa-l-maḍārr).

64. On the topic of substance and accident (M. fī maʿnā al-jawhar wa-l-ʿaraḍ).

65. Concise treatise on the soul (M. mūjazah fī l-nafs).

66. On problematical movements (M. fī l-ḥarakāt al-muʿtāṣah).⁹⁸⁴

67. On habits (M. fī l-ʿādāt).

68. Short treatise on divinity (Kalimah fī l-rubūbiyyah).

69. A treatise comprising eleven sections: facts about medicines and foods with a guide to their groups and constituents (M. tashtamilu ʿalā aḥad ʿashara bāban fī ḥaqīqat al-dawāʾ wa-l-ghidhāʾ wa-maʿrifat ṭabaqātihā wa-kayfiyyat tarkībihā).⁹⁸⁵

70. On the originator of the art of medicine (M. fī l-bādiʾ bi-ṣināʿat al-ṭibb).⁹⁸⁶

71. On curing by opposites (M. fī shifāʾ al-ḍidd bi l-ḍidd).⁹⁸⁷

72. On diabetes and suitable medicaments for it (M. fī dīyābīṭas wa-l-adwiyah al-nāfiʿah minhu).⁹⁸⁸

73. On rhubarb. He composed it in Aleppo in Jumādā II of the year 617 [August 1220], but he already put it down in writing in Cairo in the year 595/1198 (M. fī l-rāwand).

74. On the Egyptian lizard (M. fī l-saqanqūr).

75. On wheat (M. fī l-ḥinṭah).

76. On wine and grapes (M. fī l-sharāb wa-l-karm).

77. On the crisis, a small treatise⁹⁸⁹ (M. fī l-buḥrān).

78. Letter to a practical and distinguished geometrician, written from the city of Aleppo (R. ilā muhandis fāḍil ʿamalī kataba bihā ilayhi min madīnat Ḥalab).

79. Abridgement of Ibn Wāfid’s ‘On Simple Drugs’ (Ikhtiṣār kitāb al-adwiyah al-mufradah li-Ibn Wāfid).⁹⁹⁰

80. Abridgement of Ibn Samajūn’s ‘On Simple Drugs’ (Ikhtiṣār kitāb al-adwiyah al-mufradah li-Ibn Samajūn).⁹⁹¹

81. Large work on simple drugs (K. kabīr fī l-adwiyah al-mufradah).

82. Epitome on fevers (Mukhtaṣar fī l-ḥummayāt).

83. On mixing (M. fī l-mizāj).⁹⁹²

84. The sufficient book on anatomy (K. al-kifāyah fī l-tashrīḥ).

85. Refutation of Ibn al-Khaṭīb’s ‘Commentary on the Generalities of the Canon [of Medicine]’. He composed this book for my paternal uncle Rashīd al-Dīn ʿAlī ibn Khalīfah⁹⁹³ – may God have mercy upon him – and sent it to him. He wrote it in Aleppo before his return to the country of the Rūm Seljuqs (K. al-radd ʿalā Ibn al-Khaṭīb fī sharḥihi baʿḍ kulliyyāt al-qānūn).⁹⁹⁴

86. On investigation (K. al-taʿaqqub).

1. Marginal notes by Ibn Jumayʿ on the Canon [of Medicine by Ibn Sīnā] (Ḥawāshī Ibn Jumayʿ ʿalā l-qānūn).⁹⁹⁵

2. Treatise in which he refutes the work of ʿAlī ibn Riḍwān, the Egyptian,⁹⁹⁶ on the differences between Galen and Aristotle (M. yaruddu fīhā ʿalā kitāb ʿAlī ibn Riḍwān al-Miṣrī fī ikhtilāf Jālīnūs wa-Arisṭūṭālīs).

3. On the senses (M. fī l-ḥawāss).⁹⁹⁷

4. On [the words] ‘word’ and ‘speech’ (M. fī l-kalimah wa-l-kalām).

5. On the lioness [?], or On the seven [?] (K. al-sabʿah).

6. On the gift of hope (K. tuḥfat al-amal).

7. On the refutation of the Jews and Christians (M. fī l-radd ʿalā l-Yahūd wa-l-Naṣārā).

8. Two treatises also dealing with the refutation of the Jews and the Christians (Maqālatān ayḍan fī l-radd ʿalā l-Yahūd wa-l-Naṣārā).

9. On the classification of authors (M. fī tartīb al-muṣannifīn).

10. On the wisdom of ʿAlāʾ [al-Dīn], in which he mentions beautiful things regarding metaphysics (K. al-ḥikmah al-ʿAlāʾiyyah dhukira fīhi ashyāʾ ḥasanah fī l-ʿilm al-ilāhī). Al-Baghdādī composed it for ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Dāwūd ibn Bahrām, the ruler of Erzinjān.

11. Treatise concerning preparation for logic (M. ʿalā jihat al-tawṭiʾah fī l-manṭiq).

12. Marginal notes with regard to the ‘Book of Demonstration’ [Analytica Posteriora] of al-Fārābī (Ḥawāshī ʿalā kitāb al-burhān lil-Fārābī).

13. On the antidote [theriac] (K. al-tiryāq).⁹⁹⁸

14. Excerpts from the works of the philosophers (Fuṣūl muntazaʿah min kalām al-ḥukamāʾ).⁹⁹⁹

15. Resolution of some of al-Rāzī’s doubts on the works of Galen (Ḥall shayʾ min shukūk al-Rāzī ʿalā kutub Jālīnūs).

16. The stairs towards the goal of being human. Eight sections. (K. al-marāqī ilā l-ghāyah al-insāniyyah thamānī maqālāt).

17. On the weighing in a balance scale of compound drugs, with regard to quantity (M. fī mīzān al-adwiyah al-murakkabah min jihat al-kammiyyāt).

18. On the equilibrium between drugs and diseases, with regard to quality (M. fī muwāzanat al-adwiyah wa-l-adwāʾ min jihat al-kayfiyyāt).

19. On the determination of the dosages of drugs (M. fī taʿaqqub awzān al-adwiyah).

20. Another treatise on the same subject (M. ukhrā fī l-maʿnā).

21. [Another] on the same subject, which includes the answer to three questions (M. fī l-maʿnā fīhā jawāb thalāth masāʾil).

22. A sixth treatise. Abridged (M. sādisah mukhtaṣarah).

23. On the weighing of medical drugs in compound formulations (M. tataʿallaqu bi-mawāzīn al-adwiyah al-ṭibbiyyah fī l-murakkabāt).

24. Another treatise on the same subject (Qawl ayḍan fī l-maʿnā).

25. On respiration, the voice, and speech (M. fī l-tanaffus wa-l-ṣawt wa-l-kalām).

26. On the abridgement of Galen’s arguments for preserving health (M. fī ikhtiṣār kalām Jālīnūs fī siyāsat al-ṣiḥḥah).¹⁰⁰⁰

27. Extracts from Dioscorides’ ‘On the Properties of Herbs’ (Intizāʿāt min kitāb Dīyāsqūrīdas fī ṣifāt al-ḥashāʾish).¹⁰⁰¹

28. Other extracts on the benefits of herbs (Intizāʿāt ukhrā fī manāfiʿihā).

29. A treatise on warfare, which al-Baghdādī wrote for a certain prince of his time in the year 623/1226. (M. fī tadbīr al-ḥarb katabahā li-baʿḍ mulūk zamānihi fī sanat thalāth wa-ʿishrīn wa-sittimiʾah).

30. I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – found a transcription of the [latter] work which was entitled ‘Treatise on Effective Governance’ (wa-wajadtuhu ayḍan wa-qad tarjamahā M. fi l-siyāsah al-ʿamaliyyah).

31. The Support: on the principles of governance (K. al-ʿumdah fī uṣūl al-siyāsah).

32. Treatise that deals with replies to certain questions about the slaughtering and killing of animals, and whether this is admissible from a natural and rational point of view, as it is according to religious law (M. fī jawāb masʾalah suʾila ʿanhā fī dhabḥ al-ḥayawān wa-qatlihi wa-hal dhālika sāʾigh fī l-ṭabʿ wa-fī l-ʿaql kamā huwa sāʾigh fī l-sharʿ).

33. Two treatises on the virtuous city (Maqālatān fī l-madīnah al-fāḍilah).¹⁰⁰²

34. On harmful fields of learning (M. fī al-ʿulūm al-ḍārrah).

35. An epistle on the possible. Two volumes (R. fī l-mumkin. maqālatān).

36. Treatise on the genus and the species: a reply to questions he was asked in Damascus in the year 604/1207 (M. fī l-jins wa-l-nawʿ ajāba bihā fī Dimashq suʾāl sāʾil fī sanat arbaʿah wa-sittimiʾah).

37. Four maxims on logic (al-Fuṣūl al-arbaʿah al-manṭiqiyyah).

38. Training in Platonic discourse (Tahdhīb kalām Aflāṭun).

39. Wise sayings in prose (Ḥikam manthūrah).

40. Isagoge. Expanded. (Īsāghūjī mabsūṭ).

41. Occurrences (al-Wāqiʿāt).

42. On the finite and the infinite (M. fī l-nihāyah wa-l-lā-nihāyah).

43. On the kindling [of the fire of] intelligence in logic, the natural and the metaphysical (K. taʾrīth al-fiṭan fī l-mantiq wa-l-ṭabīʿī wa-l-ilāhī).

44. On how to use logic (M. fī kayfiyyat istiʿmāl al-manṭiq). Al-Baghdādī wrote this treatise [and sent it] to me whilst in the land of the Rūm Seljuqs.

45. On the definition of medicine (M. fī ḥadd al-ṭibb).

46. On the originator of the art of medicine (M. fī l-bādiʾ bi-ṣināʿat al-ṭibb).¹⁰⁰³

47. On on the nine parts of logic. A large volume (M. fī ajzāʾ al-manṭiq al-tisʿah mujallad kabīr).

48. On analogy (M. fī l-qiyās).

49. On analogy, in fifty quires. He furthermore added thereto the Introduction, the Categories, the Interpretation [Peri Hermeneias] and the Demonstration. It comprises four volumes (K. fī l-qiyās).

50. On an answer to a question asked about instruction on the paths to happiness (M. fī jawāb masʾalah fī tanbīh ʿalā subul al-saʿādah).

51. ‘The Natural Sciences’,¹⁰⁰⁴ from the Physics until the end of [the part on] Sense Perception.¹⁰⁰⁵ Three volumes (al-Ṭabīʿiyyāt min al-samāʿ ilā ākhir kitāb al-ḥiss wa-l-maḥsūs thalāth mujalladāt).

52. ‘On Physics’. Two volumes (K. al-samāʿ al-ṭabīʿī mujalladān).

53. Another book on ‘The Natural Sciences’ from the ‘Physics’ to ‘On the Soul’ (K. ākhar fī l-ṭabīʿiyyāt min al-samāʿ ilā kitāb al-nafs).

54. On wondrous things (K. al-ʿajīb).

55. Marginal notes to the eight books on logic by al-Fārābī (Ḥawāshī ʿalā kitāb al-thamāniyah al-manṭiqiyyah lil-Fārābī).

56. Commentary on the demonstrative figures from the eight books of Abū Naṣr [al-Farābī] (S. al-ashkāl al-burhāniyya min thamāniyat Abī Naṣr).

57. A treatise in which the fourth figure is shown to be spurious (M. fī tazyīf al-shakl al-rābiʿ).¹⁰⁰⁶

58. A treatise in which Abū ʿAlī ibn Sīnā’s belief that the existence of conditional syllogisms generates conditional deductions is shown to be false (M. fī tazyīf mā yaʿtaqiduhu Abū ʿAlī ibn Sīnā min wujūd aqyisah sharṭiyyah tuntiju natāʾij sharṭiyyah).

59. On mixed and unmixed analogical inferences (M. fī l-qiyāsāt al-mukhtaliṭāt wa-l-ṣirf).

60. Peri Hermeneias (Interpretation). Extended (Bārīmānyās mabsūṭ).

61. A treatise in which the analogical estimations that are considered right by Ibn Sīnā are shown to be false (M. fī tazyīf al-maqāyīs al-sharṭiyyah allatī yaẓunnuhā Ibn Sīnā).

62. Another treatise on the same topic (M. ukhrā fī l-maʿnā ayḍan).

63. Two pieces of advice to physicians and sages (K. al-naṣīḥatayn lil-aṭibbāʾ wa l-ḥukamāʾ).¹⁰⁰⁷

64. On the judicial proceeding between the philosopher and the alchemist (K. al-muḥākamah bayna al-ḥakīm wa-l-kīmiyāʾī).¹⁰⁰⁸

65. On minerals and the invalidation of alchemy (R. fī l-maʿādin wa-ibṭāl al-kīmiyāʾ).¹⁰⁰⁹

66. On the senses (M. fī l-ḥawāss).¹⁰¹⁰

67. Admonition to sages (ʿAhd ilā l-ḥukamāʾ).

68. An abridgement of Ibn Abī l-Ashʿath’s ‘On Animals’ (Ikhtiṣār kitāb al-ḥayawān li-Ibn Abī l-Ashʿath).¹⁰¹¹

69. An abridgement of Ibn Abī l-Ashʿath’s ‘On Colic’ (Ikhtiṣār kitāb al-qūlanj li-Ibn Abī l-Ashʿath).

70. On a specific kind of cerebral disease (M. fī sirsām).¹⁰¹²

71. On the ailment hypochondria (M. fī ʿillah al-marāqqiyyah).¹⁰¹³

72. Treatise refuting Ibn al-Haytham’s ‘On Space’ (M. fī l-radd ʿalā Ibn al-Haytham fī l-makān).¹⁰¹⁴

73. Summary of ‘The Metaphysics’ (Mukhtaṣar fīmā baʿd al-ṭabīʿah).¹⁰¹⁵

74. On the date palm (M. fī l-nakhl). He wrote it in Egypt in the year 599/1202 and made a fair copy of it in the city of Erzinjān in the month of Rajab of the year 625/1228.

75. On languages and how they originated (M. fī l-lughāt wa-kayfiyyat tawalludihā).

76. On poetry (M. fī l-shiʿr).¹⁰¹⁶

77. Treatise on positive logical conclusions (M. fī l-aqyisah al-waḍʿiyyah).

78. On divine predestination (M. fī l-qadar).

79. On religious communities (M. fī l-milal).

80. The large comprehensive book on logic, natural sciences and metaphysics (al-Kitāb al-jāmiʿ al-kabīr fī l-manṭiq wa-l-ʿilm al-ṭabīʿī wa-l-ʿilm al-ilāhī). It contains a total number of ten books and was composed in circa twenty years.

81. The book of marvellous information on animals (K. al-mud′hish fī akhbār al-ḥayawān).

82. The Crowned (al-Mutawwaj), on the qualities of our Prophet, may peace and the most excellent prayers be upon him. Al-Baghdādī said, ‘I started writing one quire in Damascus in the year 607/1210. It was completed within four months in Aleppo in the year 628/1231. It comprises a hundred quires’.

83. The eight books on logic: the middle version (K. al-thamāniyah fī l-manṭiq wa-huwa l-taṣnīf al-wasaṭ)

15.41 Abū l-Ḥajjāj Yūsuf al-Isrāʾīlī¹⁰¹⁷

Abū l-Ḥajjāj Yūsuf al-Isrāʾīlī hailed from North Africa, having been a native of the city of Fez,¹⁰¹⁸ but moved to Egypt, where he became distinguished in the arts of medicine, geometry and astronomy. He studied medicine under the master Mūsā ibn Maymūn of Cordoba.¹⁰¹⁹ Yūsuf subsequently travelled to Syria and settled in the city of Aleppo, where he entered the service of al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Ghāzī, the son of al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb.¹⁰²⁰ Al-Malik al-Ẓāhir depended on him in medical matters. Yūsuf was also in the service of the emir Fāris al-Dīn Maymūn al-Qaṣrī.¹⁰²¹ He lived in Aleppo, teaching the art of medicine, until his death.¹⁰²²

Abū l-Ḥajjāj Yūsuf al-Isrāʾīlī is the author of the following books:

1. On the sequence in which delicate and heavy foods should be taken (R. fī tartīb al-aghdhiyah al-laṭīfah wa-l-kathīfah fī tanāwulihā).

2. Commentary on the Hippocratic Aphorisms (S. al-fuṣūl li-Abuqrāṭ).

15.42 ʿImrān al-Isrāʾīlī¹⁰²³

ʿImrān al-Isrāʾīlī is the physician Awḥad al-Dīn ʿImrān ibn Ṣadaqah, who was born in Damascus in the year 561/1165. His father was a renowned physician as well. ʿImrān studied the art of medicine under the shaykh Raḍī al-Dīn al-Raḥbī¹⁰²⁴ and attained distinction in both the theoretical and practical side of the art, becoming one of the most important persons of his time. He enjoyed the favour of rulers, who depended on him for medical therapy and treatment: they showered large sums of money upon him and treated him with generosity beyond description. He acquired more books on medicine and other subjects than almost anyone else.

ʿImrān al-Isrāʾīlī never attached himself to the personal service of any ruler or accompanied him on his travels. Yet, whenever a ruler fell ill, or someone for whom it was difficult to call on him, he would not hesitate to provide the finest medical treatment and would take good care of the patient until the cure was completed. Al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Abū Bakr ibn Ayyūb desired to engage him for his own personal service, but ʿImrān refused him, as he did other rulers.

The emir Ṣārim al-Dīn al-Tibnīnī¹⁰²⁵ – may God have mercy upon him – has told me that while he was staying in al-Karak with the ruler of that place, al-Malik al-Nāṣir Dāwūd ibn al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam,¹⁰²⁶ his host suffered from a serious indisposition of his temperament. The physician ʿImrān was summoned to come over from Damascus, and stayed with al-Malik al-Nāṣir for some time, providing him with medical treatment, until the prince recovered. The physician was then given a robe of honour and presented with a large sum of money. al-Malik al-Nāṣir also offered him a monthly salary of 1500 dirhams if he would enter his service, and even agreed to advance him the sum of 27,000 dirhams, the amount of his salary for eighteen months. However, ʿImrān declined the offer.

I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – say: The Sultan al-Malik al-ʿĀdil bestowed many favours, a high salary and a special grant upon ʿImrān, who resided in Damascus and frequently visited the Sultan’s household in the citadel. His prosperity continued under al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam, who also assigned him an ample salary and a special grant. ʿImrān regularly visited the ‘Great Hospital’ [al-bīmāristān al-kabīr] and treated the sick. At that time, my teacher Muhadhdhab al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn ʿAlī¹⁰²⁷ – may God have mercy upon him – was also working at the hospital. The cooperation of these two doctors was very fruitful and was highly advantageous for the treatment of the patients. At that time I was training under their guidance in the practical application of medicine, and thus I was able to witness the physician ʿImrān’s amazing treatment [of patients] and his accurate diagnosis of diseases. One day, for example, a hemiplegic was brought to the hospital, and the physicians insisted that he should be administered certain boiled decoctions and other [medicaments] that they used to prescribe. When ʿImrān looked at him, he put him on a diet for that day, and afterwards ordered him bled. After having been bled, he was treating him until he was completely restored to health. I have also observed many times that ʿImrān prescribed vegetarian dishes [mazāwīr]¹⁰²⁸ for the sick in accordance with their desires, but still in keeping with the necessities of the treatment, and they proved to be beneficial. This is a very important aspect of therapy! I also saw him treat many patients with chronic illnesses, who had become weary of life and for whom the physicians had no hope of a cure. They recovered at his hands through some exotic drugs that he prescribed and uncommon treatments he knew of. I have given a brief account of this in The Book of Experiences and Useful Lessons (K. al-tajārib wa-l-fawāʾid).

The physician ʿImrān died in the city of Homs in the month of Jumādā I of the year 637 [December 1240], just after having been summoned by the ruler of that city to come and attend him.

15.43 Muwaffaq al-Dīn Yaʿqūb ibn Siqlāb¹⁰²⁹

[15.43.1]

Muwaffaq al-Dīn Yaʿqūb ibn Siqlāb,¹⁰³⁰ a Christian,¹⁰³¹ was one of the foremost persons of his time in the domain of knowledge, understanding and critical examination of Galen’s works. Thanks to his constant efforts in the art of medicine, his ardent desire and perseverance in reading and studying the works of Galen, his excellent innate character and high intelligence, the entire range of Galen’s works and the teachings in them were always present in his mind. Whenever speaking about the art of medicine, its various divisions, the diversity of its topics, and the many minor issues concerning it, he always quoted Galen. Whenever he was asked a question on some medical problem or a certain passage, whether difficult or otherwise, he would simply reply by saying ‘Galen says’ and quoting some of Galen’s utterances. For this he was greatly admired. Sometimes, when quoting some of Galen’s sayings, he even indicated such and such page of a certain chapter of Galen’s works, referring to the copy in his possession, for he had studied that copy so many times that he had become wholly accustomed to it.

I have witnessed the following with regard to the above. Early in my studies of the art of medicine, I read some of the texts of Hippocrates with him, which I had to learn by heart and comment upon. At the time, we were staying in al-Muʿaẓẓam’s military encampment, where my father too was employed in the service of al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam¹⁰³² – may God have mercy upon him. I observed that Muwaffaq al-Dīn could explain everything so excellently and was able to penetrate deeply into the subject matter in such clear, concise and complete language as no one else would have been able or would have dared to do. He would then present a summary of what he had said, giving the gist of it, so that there remained no passage in the Hippocratic writings that he had not explained in the best way. Next, he mentioned what Galen had said in his commentary with regard to the chapter in question, in an uninterrupted sequence from beginning to end. When I consulted Galen’s commentary on this section, I found that he had given a full account of the complete Galenic text on this subject. He had even quoted many of the very words used by Galen, without adding or leaving out a single one. He was the only man of his time who was capable of doing this.

While Muwaffaq al-Dīn was living in Damascus, he met the shaykh Muhadhdhab al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn ʿAlī¹⁰³³ quite frequently in the salon assigned to the physicians at the Sultan’s palace, and the two would discuss various medical matters. The shaykh Muhadhdhab al-Dīn spoke more eloquently and was more skilled and a better scholar, whereas the physician Yaʿqūb had more presence. He spoke more precisely and, moreover, quoted the [ancient] authors and their works more extensively; for he was in the position of an interpreter who could call to mind that what Galen had said in all his books on the art of medicine.

Yaʿqūb’s treatments were impressively excellent and successful. That was because he would first acquire knowledge about the disease in a most thorough manner and then would start the treatment according to the rules laid down by Galen, yet he would act independently and also used contemporary insights. He took great pains with his examination of the symptoms: whenever he examined a patient, he would ask endless questions about all of the patient’s symptoms and complaints, so that he would never overlook any symptom that allowed him to obtain more information pointing to the diagnosis of the disease. Consequently, his treatment was always excellent. Al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam praised him for this quality. Describing his character, he said: ‘If doctor Yaʿqūb’s only merit were taking the utmost care to diagnose illnesses in order to treat them correctly, there’d be no doubts about him on that score’. Yaʿqūb also possessed a thorough mastery of the Greek language, which he rendered expertly into Arabic. He had in his possession some of Galen’s works that were written in Greek, such as The Method of Healing (K. ḥīlat al-burʾ), On Causes and Symptoms (K. al-ʿilal wa l-aʿrāḍ)¹⁰³⁴ and others,¹⁰³⁵ which he constantly read and studied.

[15.43.2]

Yaʿqūb was born in Jerusalem and lived there for many years.¹⁰³⁶ In that city he spent much time in the company of a virtuous man, a philosopher, a monk at the monastery of al-Sīq,¹⁰³⁷ who was an expert in the natural sciences, a master in geometry and arithmetic. He was also well-versed in astrology and the observation of the stars: he knew of fates that had been foretold and had come to pass, and amazing warnings. The physician Yaʿqūb related to me many things about his knowledge of philosophy, his good character and his intelligence. In Jerusalem, the physician Yaʿqūb also met shaykh Abū Manṣūr al-Naṣrānī, the physician, under whom he studied.¹⁰³⁸ He assisted al-Naṣrānī in his medical practice and profited greatly thereby.

[15.43.3]

The physician Yaʿqūb was a very clever, astute and level-headed person. While he was in the service of al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam ʿĪsā ibn Abī Bakr ibn Ayyūb, who had great faith in him as a friend, the ruler relied not only on his medical judgement, but also on his judgement in other matters, which invariably turned out to al-Muʿaẓẓam’s advantage, with a favourable outcome. Al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam wanted to appoint Yaʿqūb to a post in the administration of his realm, but the physician refused, preferring to devote himself exclusively to the art of medicine.

Yaʿqūb suffered from gout (niqris) in both legs and was sometimes in so much pain that he was hardly able to move, so that when Al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam took him along on his travels, he was carried in a litter. Al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam visited him regularly, honoured him greatly, paid him a generous salary and did him many favours. One day he asked him, ‘O physician, why don’t you cure that ailment in your legs?’ Yaʿqūb replied, ‘O master, once wood has become worm-eaten, there is no remedy for it’. Yaʿqūb remained in his service until al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam died,¹⁰³⁹ which he did – may God have mercy upon him – in Damascus at three o’clock on Friday, at the end of the month Dhū l-Qaʿdah of the year 624 [November 1227].

Al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam was succeeded by his son, al-Malik al-Nāṣir Dāwūd. The physician Yaʿqūb came to introduce himself to the new ruler, blessed him and recalled old ties of friendship, his previous service [of many years] and that he had grown old, feeble and decrepit. He then recited the following verses:¹⁰⁴⁰

I came to you when the robes of childhood were new;

how could I depart from you when they are rags?

I deserve the respect of a guest, an old neighbour, and those

who came to you when the middle-aged men of the tribe were children.

These lines are by Ibn Munqidh – may God have mercy upon him. Al-Malik al-Nāṣir bestowed many favours upon Yaʿqūb, gave him money and attire, ordered that he should continue to receive all he had been granted by al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam, and excused him for attendance at the palace. This situation continued until Yaʿqūb died in Damascus on the Christian Easter, which fell in the month of Rabīʿ II of the year 625 [March 1228].¹⁰⁴¹

15.44 Sadīd al-Dīn Abū Manṣūr¹⁰⁴²

Sadīd al-Dīn Abū Manṣūr is the revered and learned physician Abū Manṣūr, son of the physician Muwaffaq al-Dīn Yaʿqūb ibn Siqlāb. He was an outstanding physician and an eminent scholar, distinguished in the theory and practice of the art of medicine and a master in the particulars and universals of medicine. He studied the art of medicine under his father and others. In al-Karak, he also studied many of the natural sciences under the learned authority Shams al-Dīn al-Khusrawshāhī.¹⁰⁴³

15.45 Rashīd al-Dīn ibn al-Ṣūrī¹⁰⁴⁴

[15.45.1]

Rashīd al-Dīn ibn al-Ṣūrī’s full name was Abū Manṣūr ibn Abī l-Faḍl ʿAlī al-Ṣūrī. He had a comprehensive knowledge of all aspects of medicine and keen insight into the obvious and hidden merits of that art. His knowledge of simple drugs, their nature, different names and characteristics, and the precise determination of their properties and effects, was incomparable. He was born in the year 573/1177 in the city of Tyre [i.e. Ṣūr]. He grew up there, but later on moved away to study the art of medicine under shaykh Muwaffaq al-Dīn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz¹⁰⁴⁵ and shaykh Muwaffaq al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Laṭīf ibn Yūsuf al-Baghdādī,¹⁰⁴⁶ and under their tutelage became a distinguished exponent of the art of medicine. Rashīd al-Dīn resided in Jerusalem for several years, practising medicine in the local hospital. He came to be on friendly terms with the shaykh Abū l-ʿAbbās al-Jayyānī,¹⁰⁴⁷ who was an outstanding authority on simple drugs, well-versed in other sciences and a pious and charitable person. Rashīd al-Dīn ibn al-Ṣūrī benefitted greatly from his friendship with this shaykh, from whom he learned much. He also became familiar with many of the specific properties of simple drugs, to such an extent that he outshone many scholars in that domain, and others who had aspired to mastery of it. Rashīd al-Dīn combined all this with the highest of virtues, unprecedented zeal, an unparalleled intelligence and extraordinary courage.

[15.45.2]

In the year 612/1215, Rashīd al-Dīn entered the service of al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Abū Bakr ibn Ayyūb as a physician. When al-Malik al-ʿĀdil left Jerusalem for Egypt, Rashīd al-Dīn accompanied him and remained in his service until al-Malik al-ʿĀdil – may God have mercy upon him – died. Thereafter, he entered the service of al-Malik al-ʿĀdil’s son, al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam ʿĪsā ibn Abī Bakr, who gave him a powerful position [in his realm], making him a prominent personality in his day and age. Together with his patron, he witnessed a number of battles with the Franks, when they fell upon the port of Damietta [i.e. Dimyāṭ]. Rashīd al-Dīn remained in al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam’s service until that ruler – may God have mercy upon him – died. He was succeeded by his son, al-Malik al-Nāṣir Dāwūd ibn al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam, who continued to pay Rashīd al-Dīn his salary and, in consideration of his previous service, entrusted him with the office of chief physician. Rashīd al-Dīn remained in his service until al-Malik al-Nāṣir moved to al-Karak. The physician stayed behind in Damascus, where he established a scholarly salon that was frequented by many persons wishing to study the medical art. He also accurately formulated the ingredients of the great theriac, in which he combined such drugs as he deemed proper, with the result that its benefits became manifest and its effects powerful. He had previously prepared a great quantity of it in the days of al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam. Rashīd al-Dīn ibn al-Ṣūrī – may God have mercy upon him – died in Damascus on Sunday the first of the month of Rajab of the year 639 [5 January 1242].

[15.45.3]

Rashīd al-Dīn once presented me with one of his books containing useful lessons and instructions concerning the art of medicine. By way of thanks, I wrote him a letter in which I said the following:¹⁰⁴⁸

The knowledge of Rashīd al-Dīn, in every assembly, has a lighthouse

of lofty qualities, taken as a lead by every seeker of guidance.

A sage who possesses all noble traits,

inherited from master to master:

He collected excellence from his fathers and grandfathers;

it is something of old in him, not newly made.

He is unique in this era, without anyone resembling him,

with the best characteristics that cannot be fully listed.

His fine Instructions came to me, which contained,

in prose speech, every well-composed paragraph.¹⁰⁴⁹

Thus he imparted joy to my heart; he never ceases

to confer favours with his beneficence to people like me.

I found in them what I hoped for, and I shall

forever follow them in whatever I attempt.

No wonder that Rashīd, with his knowledge and excellence,

is, after God, in knowledge my guide (murshidī).¹⁰⁵⁰

May God make eternal the days of the unique, exalted and most distinguished physician, the learned, virtuous and perfect practitioner, the chief [physician], who is rightly guided in worldly and religious matters, the confidant of kings and [other] rulers, the loyal adherent of the Commander of the Faithful, and let him arrive at both the abodes¹⁰⁵¹ for full protection and the ultimate fulfilment of his wishes. May God crush those who are envious of him and confound his enemies, and make his excellent qualities linger on when he is gone. May his virtue emanate towards his peers and may all tongues agree in thanking and praising him. May health be preserved through his wise supervision, and may diseases vanish through his excellent care and treatment. The servant performs his service with joy, regretting that he has been unable to be constantly present. May the noble and precious things for which [the servant] ardently longs meet the greatest expectations, and may instruction on medical matters combine theory and practice. The servant has made that a basis on which to rely and a code to which to refer. He will always remember them and will not harm those for which he is responsible.

Nothing can be compared to the beneficence of the master but the devout prayer of the servant and the praise elicited by his good qualities, which diffuse a fragrant perfume. Why should I not praise and propagate the good qualities of a man who I find to possess only moral excellence! I have found ease only because of him. God hears the devout prayers of his servant and the master gives all good things out of his perfect generosity, if God, exalted be He, so wills.

Muhadhdhab al-Dīn Abū Manṣūr Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Khaḍir of Aleppo recited the [following] poem to me, in which he lauds the physician Rashīd al-Dīn ibn al-Ṣūrī and thanks him for a favour:¹⁰⁵²

Her phantom came at night, when the grudgers were asleep;¹⁰⁵³

it spent the night nearby, though a visit to her is remote.

How strange, that her phantom visited me

while there are fearful deserts between and yet more deserts!

And that this phantom should visit the eyes of someone sleepless,

pleasant slumber being kept away from his eyes!

While in his heart there is a fire of passion and grief

that burns inside his ribs,

5After painful sickness and emaciation had worn out

my cloak of fortitude when love was still new.

By God, the apparition did not come back!¹⁰⁵⁴ – But

my thoughts make it appear to me, so it returns.

You, chiding me, stop your chiding and do not add to it,

for nothing can be added to my passion and love.

I have a liver¹⁰⁵⁵ that is hot, eyes that are sleepless,

and a heart that loves pretty women, smitten.

Ah, he who dies from being amorous, for the sake of love,

and is killed by tender girls, is a martyr.¹⁰⁵⁶

10My eyes have never seen the like of Asmāʾ, as a girlfriend,

who is stingy with being with me, while her apparition is generous.

My sorrows and my ardour are renewed

by familiar places now deserted in al-Liwā,¹⁰⁵⁷ and assignments.

May God protect the ‘white nights’¹⁰⁵⁸ in which I was together

with fair white women, with black hair,

And spent the night, while the dark night let down its curtains,

embracing the willow branches that were bodies,

Sipping wine clarified by mouths,

and plucking roses that had grown on cheeks,

15Until dawn appeared, not to be blamed,

and the gloom of the night, to be praised, disappeared.

Why should I blame the morning or not love it,

even though a loved one and a loving one are scared by it?

For every morning one’s eyes are favoured

to see the face of Rashīd al-Dīn when he is happy.

He is the foremost scholar and sage, whose speech

resembles well-arranged pearls.

The chief of physicians, Ibn Sīnā, and before him

Ḥunayn, are his pupils and servants.

20If Galen were alive in his era

he would learn and revise under him.

Say to the Banū l-Ṣūrī: you have been the masters of humankind

(people are either master or mastered).

You have acquired the heritage of noble deeds not from remote kin:

like this you have fathers and grandfathers.

O scholar (ʿālim) of the world, O banner (ʿalam) of guidance,

in whom noble traits have their existence,

You who have a well-populated abode of excellence,

a palace of lofty qualities, built high with eulogy,

25A spreading tree of beneficence bearing fruit by fulfilling wishes,

and a protective shade stretching for those seeking refuge!

One through whom stubborn rebels obey me

and obdurate tyrants are humble towards me:

The stronghold of my strength in his sanctuary, unassailable,

fortified, while my life in his shelter is comfortable;

He whose favour and patronage feathered my bed¹⁰⁵⁹

and who stood up for me while all others sat down;

Who did well to me in deed, so I did well in words; he was good to me

so I am doing my best in my eulogy of his noble deeds.

30Compared with his bounty Ḥātim the Generous¹⁰⁶⁰ was a miser,

and compared with me Labīd¹⁰⁶¹ was a dullard (balīd) in his eulogy.

He set out to acquire praise from every direction,

while other people are averse to gain eulogy.

He provides the shade of a gracious man to every seeker of refuge,

giving protective shade (mufīʾ) and useful (mufīd) knowledge,

And favour (ʿurf) which, whenever he shows it, wafts with its flavour (ʿarf),

and open-handedness (wa-jūd) when finding (wujūd) it is difficult.

All people worship (taʿabbada) generosity, and thus noble, free men turned

to his beneficence, becoming slaves (ʿabīd).

35So many eulogists (mādiḥ) resorted to him as a donor (māniḥ)

and their purpose (qaṣd) and praise poems (qaṣīd) were successful.

In the evening one sees proofs of his goodness,

in the morning there are witnesses to his blessings.¹⁰⁶²

So why should I fear misfortunes and adversities

when Rashīd al-Dīn’s judgement of me is right,

And I have, in his graciousness, a forearm (sāʿid) and a helper (musāʿid),

and, in his glory, an abundant outfit (ʿuddah wa-ʿadīd)?

I expect that there will be many who envy me

for gaining what I expect and wish.

40Benefaction is what is followed by riches

and numerous enraged, envious people.

When I have the equipment (ʿatād) of his graciousness and patronage

my strength will be well-equipped (ʿatīd) as long as I live.

It is not surprising that, in turning to him, someone like me

ascends (ṣuʿūd) to winning good fortune (suʿūd).

I say to those who expect something from other people:

‘Take it easy! Your chance of success is remote.

Would you turn to a trickling stream and leave a deep sea

swelling with its high tides of noble deeds?’

45Whoever seeks refuge in Abū l-Manṣūr¹⁰⁶³

will have a conjunction of success and lucky stars.

O Kaaba of hopes, rain-cloud of generosity,

by whom the meadow of hopes is rained upon copiously,

To whom Ḥātim, on a day of magnanimity, is a servant (ʿabd)

just as ʿAbīd is the servant to my eulogy of his lofty qualities!¹⁰⁶⁴

I cannot thank you enough for your favours to me,

for nothing can surpass what your hands have bestowed.

But for your favours my drink would not have been pure

and but for refuge in you my branch would not have been green.

50Thus my good fortune in turning to the door of your house is rising

and my star, by often seeing you, is auspicious.

Be congratulated, forever, with this happy feast,¹⁰⁶⁵

while delegations after delegations congratulate you!

Those who have needs need seek no other,

those who have hopes cannot avoid you.

[15.45.4]

Rashīd al-Dīn al-Ṣūrī is the author of the following books:

1. On simple drugs (K. al-adwiyah al-mufradah). He began to compose it during the reign of al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam, to whom he dedicated it. The book gives a full account of simple drugs, and also provides insight into simples of which the author had acquired knowledge, and which had not been mentioned by his predecessors. Rashīd al-Dīn ibn al-Ṣūrī would go to places in which plants grew, such as Mount Lebanon and other spots in which particular plants were found, taking along with him a painter who had at his disposal all kinds of dyes and brushes. Rashīd al-Dīn would observe and examine the plants, and then he would show them to the painter, who would look at their colour, measure their leaves, branches and roots, and then paint them, doing his utmost to make them as realistic as possible. Rashīd al-Dīn had an instructive method for these illustrations: first he would show them to the painter at the time of sprouting and tenderness, and would have him paint them at that stage. Then, he would show them to him when they were fully grown and in full bloom, and the painter would depict them at that specific stage. Finally, he would show him the plants when they were withered and dried up, and the painter would sketch them at that stage. In this way, the reader of the book could see the plants as he would encounter them in the field, and this would enable him to obtain more perfect information and clearer notions.

2. Refutation of al-Tāj al-Bulghārī’s ‘Book of Simple Drugs’ (Al-radd ʿalā kitāb al-Tāj al-Bulghārī fī l-adwiyah al-mufradah).¹⁰⁶⁶

3. Explanatory remarks, useful lessons and instructions regarding medicine, dedicated to myself (Taʿālīq lahu wa-fawāʾid wa-waṣāyā ṭibbiyyah kataba bihā ilayya).

15.46 Sadīd al-Dīn ibn Raqīqah¹⁰⁶⁷

[15.46.1]

Abū l-Thanāʾ Maḥmūd ibn ʿUmar ibn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Shujāʿ al-Shaybānī al-Ḥānawī, known as Ibn Raqīqah, was a man endowed with a noble soul and perfect virtues. He gathered together the medical teachings of the ancient authors that had become scattered, stood out above all his peers, and surpassed his fellow physicians and healers. Moreover, he possessed an outstanding character, flawless diction and a wonderful [gift] for composing poems of high stylistic quality, of which many have become proverbs and maxims. As for verse in rajaz metre, I have never seen any physician in his time who was quicker in composing it than he. He could take any medical work and render it in the rajaz metre in an instant, remaining faithful to the content and doing justice to the beauty of the words. He associated with the shaykh Fakhr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Salām al-Māridīnī,¹⁰⁶⁸ becoming his close friend and studying the art of medicine and other sciences under his guidance.

Sadīd al-Dīn ibn Raqīqah was also familiar with the art of ophthalmology¹⁰⁶⁹ and surgery, and in treating diseases of the eye, performing many surgical operations. He also removed cataracts (al-māʾ al-nāzil) from the eyes of many persons, who, thanks to his skill, were able to see again. The instrument that he used for that purpose was hollow and curved, so that during the operation, the fluid could be more efficiently extracted, with the result that the treatment was more effective.¹⁰⁷⁰ Sadīd al-Dīn also devoted himself to the art of astronomy, and he studied the Book of Ingenious Devices (K. al-Ḥiyal) by the Banū Mūsā,¹⁰⁷¹ from which he learnt to make unusual things. Furthermore, he was distinguished in grammar and lexicography. He had a learned brother, named Muʿīn al-Dīn, who was the most outstanding scholar of his time in the Arabic language, which was his particular domain, but he also composed many poems. Sadīd al-Dīn ibn Raqīqah also studied under masters in the domain of Hadith.

[15.46.2]

I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – heard the following [tradition] from Sadīd al-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn ʿUmar ibn Muḥammad al-Ṭabīb al-Ḥānawī: He said, ‘The distinguished authority Fakhr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Salām al-Māridīnī reported to me the following: we cite the shaykh Abū Manṣūr Mawhūb ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Khiḍr al-Jawālīqī, who was informed by Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā ibn ʿAlī al-Khaṭīb al-Tibrīzī, who cites Abū l-Qāsim ʿAlī ibn ʿUbayd Allāh al-Raqqī, who cites master Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad al-Battī, who cites Abū Bakr Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh al-Shāfīʿī, who was informed by the judge Abū Isḥāq Ismāʿīl ibn Isḥāq, who heard it from Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Uways, who cites Hishām ibn ʿUrwah, who heard it from his father, who received the information from ʿĀʾishah, God be pleased with her, who said:¹⁰⁷² A Bedouin came to the Prophet (God bless him and keep him!) and said, ‘We have come to you, Messenger of God, now that we have no camel left that groans nor a young boy who drinks his morning milk!’ Then he recited:¹⁰⁷³

We come to you while virgins have bloody gums¹⁰⁷⁴

and mothers do no longer heed their children;

A man droops his hands in resignation,

from hunger, in shame, not uttering a bitter or a sweet word.¹⁰⁷⁵

We have nothing for the people to eat

except ʿilhiz in a year of drought and shrivelled colocynth.¹⁰⁷⁶

We can only flee to you:

where can people flee if not to Messengers?

Al-Raqqī said: ʿIlhiz is camel hair treated with the blood of ḥalam, which are ticks when they have grown big; it is eaten in time of famine. Another version has ʿunqur, also ʿanqar, which is the stem of the papyrus plant; both these readings are correct. Yet another version has ʿaqhar; but this is a misreading and to be rejected.¹⁰⁷⁷ Then the Prophet (God bless and keep him!) stood up, dragging his cloak, ascended the minbar, and praised God and glorified Him. Then he raised his hands towards heaven and said, ‘O God! Send us a rain that drenches, lush, life-giving, bursting forth in buckets, abundant, long-lasting, copiously, timely and not tarrying, salubrious and not harmful, which makes plants grow, fills the udders, and revives the earth after it has died!’ And, by God! No sooner had the Messenger of God (God bless and keep him!) lower his hand to his chest than the heavens opened. The Prophet’s closest followers began to shout, ‘Messenger of God! A flood! We’ll drown!’ The Prophet turned his eyes to the sky and laughed, so that his molar teeth could be seen.¹⁰⁷⁸ Then he said, ‘O God! Around us, not on top of us!’ And the clouds moved away from Medina until they surrounded it like a diadem. Then he said, ‘Good Abū Ṭalib!¹⁰⁷⁹ How pleased he would have been if he were alive! Can anyone recite his poem to us?’ Then ʿAlī (peace be upon him) said, ‘Messenger of God, perhaps you mean the following:¹⁰⁸⁰

And a noble¹⁰⁸¹ man, with whose face the clouds can be asked for rain,

the support of orphans, the protection of widows:

The starving men of the clan of Hāshim swarm around him,

for with him they find bliss and benefits.

You lied, we swear by God’ House,¹⁰⁸² Muḥammad shall not be overcome¹⁰⁸³

before we shall have fought for him and defended him,

And we shall not surrender him until we are slain around him

and be unmindful of our children and wedded wives!’

‘Precisely!’ replied the Prophet (God bless and keep him!). Thereupon a man of the tribe of Kinānah stood up and recited to him:¹⁰⁸⁴

To Thee be praise, and praise from those that are grateful:

we have been given rain through the face of the Prophet.

He prayed to God, his Creator

and fixed his eyes towards Him,

And it was but an hour or so

or quicker before we saw the rain in buckets,

Pouring as from mouths of water-skins, bursting in abundance,

with which God gave rain to the elite of Muḍar.

He was, as his uncle Abū Ṭālib said

a man with a radiant, bright face.

Through him God made the clouds pour out:

that reported event was seen with these eyes.

He who will thank God will meet with more

and who is ungrateful to God will meet with misfortunes.

The Messenger of God (God bless and keep him!) said to him, ‘You may sit down, if ever a poet did!’¹⁰⁸⁵

[15.46.3]

I heard from Sadīd al-Dīn ibn Raqīqah that he was born in 564/1168 in the town of Ḥīnī,¹⁰⁸⁶ where he also grew up. When Fakhr al-Dīn al-Māridīnī was staying there, the ruler of the town, Nūr al-Dīn ibn Jamāl al-Dīn ibn Artuq, contracted an eye disease. The shaykh Fakhr al-Dīn treated him for a number of days, but then had to leave and accordingly advised Nūr al-Dīn ibn Artuq to consult Sadīd al-Dīn ibn Raqīqah. He did do, and the physician cured him within a short time. Grateful for his complete recovery, Nūr al-Dīn ibn Artuq awarded Sadīd al-Dīn a stipend and an allowance in recognition of his medical services. Sadīd al-Dīn told me himself that he was then not yet twenty years old.

After having remained for some time in Nūr al-Dīn’s service, Sadīd al-Dīn took service with al-Malik al-Manṣūr Muḥammad ibn Taqī al-Dīn ʿUmar, the ruler of Hama. Some time thereafter, however, he went to Khilāṭ,¹⁰⁸⁷ which at that time was ruled by al-Malik al-Awḥad Najm al-Dīn Ayyūb, the son of al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Abī Bakr ibn Ayyūb, and entered the service of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yāghī Siyān, whose sister was the wife of al-Malik al-Awḥad. Sadīd al-Dīn served as her personal physician as well, and she showed him great honour. He remained in Khilāṭ until al-Malik al-Awḥad died in Malāzkird [i.e. Mantzikert]¹⁰⁸⁸ of pleurisy on Saturday, the eighteenth of Rabīʿ I of the year 609 [18 August 1212], despite the care he had been receiving both from Sadīd al-Dīn and from Ṣadaqah al-Sāmirī [i.e. the Samaritan]. Sadīd al-Dīn next entered the service of al-Malik al-Ashraf Abū l-Fatḥ Mūsā, the son of al-Malik al-ʿĀdil, in Mayyāfāriqīn,¹⁰⁸⁹ where he lived for many years.

On the third of Jumādā II of the year 632 [23 February 1235], Sadīd al-Dīn ibn Raqīqah arrived at the court of Sultan al-Malik al-Ashraf in Damascus, where he was kindly received and greatly honoured. Al-Malik al-Ashraf ordered him to attend the Sultan’s household in the citadel and also to treat the sick at the ‘Great Hospital’, which had been founded by al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Nūr al-Dīn ibn Zankī. For his services, al-Malik al-Ashraf allotted him a stipend and an allowance.

At that time, I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – was also receiving payments for treating the patients at that hospital. Sadīd al-Dīn and I became great friends. What I was able to observe of his perfect virtues, noble origins, rich knowledge, and excellent skills in the domain of diseases and their treatment is beyond all description. He lived in Damascus, devoting himself to the art of medicine, until he died – may God have mercy upon him – in the year 635/1238. I, for my part, had already moved to Ṣarkhad¹⁰⁹⁰ in the month of Rabīʿ I of the year 634 [December 1236] to enter the service of its ruler, the Emir ʿIzz al-Dīn al-Muʿaẓẓamī. The following lines are some of Sadīd al-Dīn ibn Raqīqah’s own poetry that he recited to me:¹⁰⁹¹

O Thou who hast clothed me, by (giving me) speech, with the robe of nobility

and hast made me complete, generously, with it and straightened me:

Take me, when my time has come to an end and my life

is over, on a straight line to Thee!

And dispel in Thy kindness, O my God, my grief

and polish the rust from the soul of Thy servant and be merciful!

Then, perhaps, after disgrace (mahānah) I may acquire

the clothes of respect (mahābah) in the Most Noble Place,

5And gain Paradise after my stay

in an abode manifestly ugly and gloomy;

For I have come to loathe my dwelling there.

He who lives in the abode of delusion will detest it,

An abode whose misery and wretchedness are perfidious to those

who live there, as if he has never been happy;

He exchanges his serene living and life

for trouble, so do not turn to it and you will be safe.

For in Thee is refuge, O our God, from its evil

and in Thee is shelter from error, so hold back!

10On Thee is my reliance, Thy pardon is always

my goal. O for my loss if Thou art not merciful!

O my soul, strive hard, be tireless, hold fast on to

the ties of right guidance; sever the ties of obstacles!

Be not neglectful, O soul, of your Self:¹⁰⁹² in forgetting it

you forget your Lord. Know this!

And you must reflect on His blessings, that you may

be made to revert to His Gardens and made to live in bliss;

And betake yourself to the path of the right course: it will

save; and refrain from the middle of the road to error.

15Be not content to feel at home in this unworthy world,¹⁰⁹³

and you will be raised to the ranks of the night-travelling stars,

And you will behold what no eye has seen and no ear

has perceived,¹⁰⁹⁴ so strive towards it and you will obtain!

And you will observe that of which the true nature has never

been grasped by thought or the fancy of a fancier:

A holiness so exalted that none can dwell in its vicinity

O soul, except any astute and reckless(?) one.¹⁰⁹⁵

He is transcendent above being composite

with a fourth, or a third, or a twin!¹⁰⁹⁶

20And you will be a neighbour of the pious, in a home

that will never be obliterated or destroyed.

O deluded one! Your hair is grey but you have not given up

what you were so fond of, nor did you have remorse.

Do not think that your grey hair is caused by a passing illness

or by a mouldiness in the phlegm!

But your youth was a devil, and a rebellious demon

will truly be stoned with shooting stars.¹⁰⁹⁷

Do not join grey hair, with its bright radiance, with the darkness (ẓalām)

of youth’s passing symptoms, or you will be wronged (tuẓlam).

25Grey hair is an illumination to the intellect and its light, so despise

your passion when your hair turns grey, and you will be honoured.

Devote yourself to praising (tamjīd) Him who brought you into being (mūjid),

whose generosity (jūd) floods all that exists (wujūd), and magnify Him!

For by mentioning Him souls are healed of their sick passion,

so if you wish to be cured, resolve to do this!

How noble is the soul of a man who sees that the roads of passion

are loved passionately, but turns to the straight Path!

He is the one who chooses, on the Day of Return,

a kingdom that is perennial and will not end.

30O Setter of broken bone, Forgiver of grave sin

committed by every sinning servant:

I have no means, no expedient to come to Thee

by which I can be saved but the belief of a Muslim.

Therefore accept, in Thy graciousness, my repentance (tawbatī)

of my offence (ḥawbatī), that I may not be deprived of my Return (awbatī)!

Praise be to Thee, O God, which may increase as long as

the brightness of a dawn will dispel the blackness of a pitch-dark night;

And bless and preserve Thy Prophet, the resplendent one,

and his kin, the trusted masters,

35Those who take away the hunger of the orphan, and on

the distressed captive and the destitute bestowed their provision,

And his Companions, who helped him to be victorious

when the fire of unbelief was ablaze!

[15.46.3.1]

He also said:¹⁰⁹⁸

I see you are heedless of the Broad Place¹⁰⁹⁹

and instead disport yourself with what has a dwindling root.

How much longer will you be proud – woe unto you – on being in a prison

and how much longer will you boast of what is narrow and feeble,

Granting affection to those who tempt you with it

and being suspicious of what restrains and forbids you?

Don’t you know that every day

all kinds of calamities can take you by surprise?

5They will dissolve your faculties bit by bit

and you will cease to exist while the world remains as it is.

You think she is a friend; but she is the most pernicious

enemy, of manifest rancour, cunning.

Your concerns are for it,¹¹⁰⁰ incessantly, successively,

though your life in it is not flourishing.

Does your grey hair not suffice as a rebuke?

To a man with intelligence (nuhā) grey hair is enough to restrain him (nāhī).

So turn back from it, to a broad and spacious place

where your staying will be without end.

10Until when then will you feign being unmindful and blind?

How much longer, this inclination to disportments?

Be not deluded if in it you first become

wealthy and then of great standing:

So many a man was strong at first and then,

shortly after his riches and strength, became weak!

He would say in his folly that one would not find

anyone resembling him or to be compared with him.

So repent, for all you have committed will be found

trifling in God’s forgiveness.

He also said:¹¹⁰¹

I say to my soul when it shows a yearning

for the Higher World: Take it easy, soul!

It is absurd! You want salvation while you are in

lethal perils, of natural and sensory nature!

But before you is a sea: if you cross it,

you are safe and you will gain release from being confined.

If you want to be united with your origin,

then lift your cover and strip the clothing that you wear.

5Do not turn to what is concrete, lest you be deprived

of the vicinity of the pure in the presence of Holiness.

Do not abandon what God commands by going astray,

or you will perpetually remain in doubt and confusion.

Do not be heedless, O soul, of your Self¹¹⁰² but

reflect much¹¹⁰³ on it and renounce all that makes you forget.

And do not be oblivious of mentioning the First,¹¹⁰⁴ through whom

the celestial spheres, the Throne, and the Footstool¹¹⁰⁵ came into being.

You were joined, unwillingly, to the frame¹¹⁰⁶ that you received, though long

frightened, as compensation for (your former) intimacy.

10This joining was only so that you may return

exalted with knowledge above the blemish of deficiency.

Your return is near to being decreed, therefore do

for your Hereafter what will save you from the darkness of the grave.

If you leave the path of guidance you will tomorrow be

like someone who sells his capital for a paltry price.¹¹⁰⁷

So turn back to your Crator, O soul, and you will rise

to Him; or else you will remain in the forgettable world,

Allied with lasting worry and sorrow,

neighbour to people of vileness and filth,

15Abandoned(?),¹¹⁰⁸ inhibited, humiliated,

made miserable in exchange for bliss,

made to settle in the abode of abasement, degraded,

and gathered among the troop of the mute and deaf.¹¹⁰⁹

The path of Guidance, O soul, shines to the intelligent

brighter than the radiance of the full moon and the sun.

[15.46.3.2]

He also said:¹¹¹⁰

Let the cheerful face of your time not delude you,

for its cheerfulness is bound to change.

Its frowning is its true nature (ṭabʿ), not a second nature (taṭabbuʿ);

a true nature remains and a second nature ceases.

He also said:¹¹¹¹

I am not one of those who seek profit by means of vulgarity,¹¹¹²

even if I would die naked and starving.

Even if I could possess Solomon’s realm

I would not choose to give up my dignity.

In emulation of the words of the Commander of the Faithful, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (peace be upon him!): ‘Look at what is said, not at who said it’, he said:¹¹¹³

Do not look at who says the words

but look at what he says;

Take the words when you find them sensible,

even if spoken by an ignorant fool.

The barking of dogs, base though they are,

is an indication of the dwelling of a generous man.¹¹¹⁴

Likewise, gold is mined in the earth

but it is a precious, noble thing.

And he also said:¹¹¹⁵

Be on your guard against the people of today; do not

put your faith in anyone and do not trust them.

None of those you befriend is naturally free

from craftiness, tinkering, and flattery.

And he also said:¹¹¹⁶

I see that every unjust man is decent when he is

powerless, and shows his iniquity when he is able.

If someone gets in this world more than he is worth,

then his character changes for the worse.

Every man you find to have a liking for evil

will inevitably encounter what he liked (for others).¹¹¹⁷

And he also said:¹¹¹⁸

When I saw that people with excellence and intelligence

were not in demand, whereas any fool is,

I resigned myself to despair, knowing that I have

a Lord who is generous and who will grant what I desire.

I stayed at home and took as my companion

a book that speaks of all kinds of virtues.

In it, whenever I take it up to leaf through what it contains,

I have a lush and pretty garden.

And he also said:¹¹¹⁹

My slender means do not harm my character or my nature,

nor does my destitution keep my from the path of intelligence.

How could that be, since knowledge is my allotment, which is

the most precious possession and blessing the Guardian has given!

Knowledge thrives on deeds, always and forever,

while wealth, if one is given to spending, does not last.

He who possesses wealth guards it all his days,

while knowledge guards those who have it from trials.

[15.46.3.3]

And he also said:¹¹²⁰

I have been created sharing the same species with some people,

but at the same time I differ from them as a person.

I want them to be perfect and I strive to be useful,

while they wish me harm and loss.

When I enumerate their faults

I attempt something uncountable.

He also said:¹¹²¹

Do not befriend a man who, feigning, shows you

love and hides its opposite by his nature,

And shun your friend if his affection changes for the worse:

a limb’s disease is terminated by amputating it.

And he said:¹¹²²

If some foolish man attacks you one day in public,

make a point of not raising your eyes towards him;

For if you appease him you are superior to him

and if you respond to him you are his equal.

There has been many a fool who, in his folly, wanted to defame me,

whose praise and lampoons on me were all the same to me.

He also said:¹¹²³

An enemy, even when he is seen to laugh,

is like colocynth, its leaves looking tender,

Whereas it is deadly to those who aim to take it,

its taste repulsive, disgusting, loathsome.

Know that an adversary is a poison when near

and his remoteness truly the antidote.

He also said:¹¹²⁴

If you are planting a beautiful tree¹¹²⁵

then do not let it grow thirsty or the fruit will fail you;

Irrigate it continually, as much as you can,

with the water of generosity, not with rainwater;

And do not follow it up with reproach,¹¹²⁶ for

we have seen that it is bad for trees.

He also said:¹¹²⁷

Let it be your nature to avoid the people of this world: their proximity

yields odious things, whether they are stingy or generous (in jādū).

Among people there is rarely someone who, if an accident

strikes you, who¹¹²⁸ gives assistance or support (injādū).

Do not despise your good fortune if Fate protects you, for

when good fortune turns away noble men are courageous (anjādū),

And cross wastelands, always seeking to acquire lofty qualities,

and let lowlands not deter you nor highlands (anjādū).

[15.46.3.4]

He also said:¹¹²⁹

And the man most afflicted with grief and distress on earth,

who will not recover from these,

Is a noble man whose exalted place is taken by

someone else, though he is qualified for it.

He also said:¹¹³⁰

Bestowing benefits on a scoundrel is followed

by persistence of request to him who practises it;¹¹³¹

But it will move a noble man of virtuous character to

reward handsomely the giver of the benefit, soon.

For people are like the soil: it is irrigated equally

with sweet water and brings forth plants like colocynth and fresh dates.

He also said:¹¹³²

I am a man who by nature (ṭabʿ) represses his cravings;

I restrain myself naturally (ṭābiʿan), not as a second nature (taṭabbuʿan).

I possess a richness of soul and the virtue of contentedness;

I am not like those who grovel when in dire straits.

If some people stretch forth their hands towards the food

I move back an arm’s length when people move an inch closer.

Since this world is vile in my view

I turn my mind to turning away from it, feeling myself above it.

5This is because I know that God will provide for me,

so whom else should I ask from and fear, or be worried?¹¹³³

Weakness will not remove livelihood if it is near,

nor will force bring it near if it is cut off.

So be not merry if your Fate lets you acquire riches

and be proud if you are indigent.

A man’s worth is the knowledge he has acquired or imparted,

not the wealth he has collected and amassed.

So be learned or a learner among people,

or if you cannot be either, listen so that you may hear;

10Do not be, if you can, a fourth to these categories, lest you will be

repelled and driven back from the watering-place of salvation.

He also said:¹¹³⁴

If a man’s livelihood comes from preordination

his greed does not avail him in seeking it.

Likewise his death: though it be grave blow,

persisting in living for low, worldly things is the summit of stupidity.

So if you wish to live as a noble man, be resigned,

for resignation is a noble trait.

The resignation of a man of noble character is sweet to the taste

to him, whenever he wants to beg from people.

He also said:¹¹³⁵

I see that this existence of yours has not been for nothing,¹¹³⁶

but only so that your soul may become perfected, so wake up (intabih)!

Turn away for the body and do not turn towards it; incline

to the keeping of that by which you (anta bih) a human being.

He who makes his soul resigned to give up passions is vigilant,

whereas he who makes the soul covet them is not awake.

So walk on the path of Guidance and the outcome will be praiseworthy,

for the way of Truth is manifest, unambiguous.

[15.46.3.5]

He also said:¹¹³⁷

Be by nature beneficent to

him who changes his good deeds for bad ones (masāʾah);

And doubly bestow favours on him

always, morning and evening (masāʾah),

For perhaps he will turn back

and swerve (yaḥūla) from the state (ḥāl) doing evil.

A noble man mentions the good things of his friend,

not the harm done by him to him.

Many an evildoer has been brought back by

beneficence from the watering-place of wickedness (radāʾah),

So he became sincere (ṣafā), returned (wa-fāʾ) to loyalty (wafāʾ),

and made good deeds his clothing (ridāʾah).

Therefore, if you are afflicted with someone false

in his affection who has not conducted (adāʾah) himself well,

Tell him the truth; perhaps your sincere affection

will remove his sickness (dāʾah).

He also said:¹¹³⁸

Be decent in what you say and don’t say anything

demeaned by ribaldry or depravity (fasādū).

It was the habit of all sages before your time

to be decent in speech; and they ruled as masters (fa-sādū).

He also said:¹¹³⁹

The man of authority is like a traveller

on a broad sea, aware that he may drown.

Even if he returns safe and sound from it,

the terror never leaves him.

He also said:¹¹⁴⁰

You who look at what I intended to compile,

be forgiving! A virtuous man forgives,

Knowing that even when a man has reaches the full extent

of his lifetime he meets death still falling short.

[15.46.3.6]

The following lines he wrote on a wine cup, in the middle of which there was a bird sitting on a perforated dome. If water¹¹⁴¹ was poured into the cup the bird would turn round quickly and whistle loudly. The person facing the bird when it stopped had to drink. If he drank and left some drink in the cup, the bird would whistle; likewise, if he drank it in one hundred draughts. But if he drank all the contents (in one draught)¹¹⁴² without leaving as much as one dram,¹¹⁴³ the whistling would stop.¹¹⁴⁴

I am a bird in the shape of a sparrow,

beautifully shaped and formed.

Now drink to my tune a choice wine,

undiluted, which illumes the gloomy night,

Yellow, shining in the cups as if it were

the fire of Moses¹¹⁴⁵ that appeared on the top of Mount Sinai;¹¹⁴⁶

And when one dram of your drink is left

in the cup, my whistling will alert you to it.

And he said – it is good advice:¹¹⁴⁷

Beware of eating your fill, shun it!

Digest one kind of food before eating another.¹¹⁴⁸

Do not have sex often, for by doing it

continually one invites illness.

Don’t drink water straight after eating

and you will be safe from great harm,

Nor on an empty stomach and being hungry,

unless you have a light snack with it.

5Take a little of it: that is useful

when you have an aching, burning thirst.

Make sure your digestion is sound, that is the basic principle.

Purge yourself with laxatives once a year.

Avoid venesection, except for someone with

an illness of a mature and hot nature.

Do not exercise yourself straight after eating

but make it happen after digestion,

Lest the chyle (al-kaylūs) descend uncooked

and block the passages and pores.

10But do not rest continually, for this makes that

every humour in you will be made unhealthy.

Drink as little water as possible after exercise

and abstain from drinking wine.

Balance the mixing of your wine with water, for this preserves

the innate heat that always burns in you.

But do not become inebriated, shun it forever,¹¹⁴⁹

for drunkenness is something for common people.

Keep your soul well away from its cravings,

and you will attain eternity in the Abode of Wellbeing.¹¹⁵⁰

[15.46.3.7]

He also said:

The purpose of medicine, understanding friend, is to get to know

the principles of our bodies and the foundations,¹¹⁵¹

Before their conditions and what causes these conditions

in them, and their symptoms,

So that our bodies remain in a state

of health, and this comes by means of balancing;¹¹⁵²

And that diseases disappear, if the case allows,

and this comes by means of evacuation and substitution.

He also said:¹¹⁵³

Nutrition, though it is a friend of what

is the ruling regulator, I mean the innate strength of the ailing person (quwwat al-waṣib),¹¹⁵⁴

It is also the enemy of the latter, because it by means of it

there is an increase of the opposite, I mean the origin of illness (ʿunṣur al-waṣab).

And he said:¹¹⁵⁵

The causes of health, in truth, are six;¹¹⁵⁶

and these are also the causes of illness.

If you balance them in four¹¹⁵⁷

that balancing is the ultimate goal.

He also said:¹¹⁵⁸

If someone who has an illness desires something

that contains the cure of the disease that has lodged (ḥallā) in his body,

Then do not keep from him what he desires, for it may well be

that you will soon see that he has untied (ḥallā) the knot of his disease.

It is as a current saying goes:

it is part of good luck to find a passion that coincides with reason.

[15.46.3.8]

He also said:¹¹⁵⁹

One with a slender body and red cheeks has enthralled me

and in seas of ‘red’ (al-qānī) sorrow thrown me (alqānī).¹¹⁶⁰

If a second one, other than he, were to lodge in my heart and turn my passion away

from him, I would turn away that ‘turning’ second (thanaytu l-thāniya l-thānī).

If I reaped the fruits of which the planter

was love for him, I would be a criminal reaper (al-jāniya l-jānī).

And if, I swear by the love of him, his phantom paid a visit in my dream

in the middle of the night, it would find me (alfānī) perishing (al-fānī).

He has nullified my affection, its abode being the heart. Who is there to protect me,

now that he without need (al-ghānī)¹¹⁶¹ has nullified me (alghānī)?

He also said:¹¹⁶²

A slender youth with languid eyes: he led

his lovers with his flirtation to the watering-place of death (radā).

He wore his cheek-down as an ample coat of mail, which protects him

from a lover’s eye, while the glance of his eye is a sword (ridā).

If he had let me drink the coolness of his saliva,

this painful disease had not become a cloak (ridā) to me.¹¹⁶³

If he walks swaying from side to side he puts an end, with his bending, to any twig;¹¹⁶⁴

when he comes in sight he mocks the new Moon when it appears.

Whenever I look at (shimtu) the mole (shāmah) on his cheek he attacks

with a sword from both his eyes and becomes quarrelsome;

Or whenever I want one day’s respite from my love of him,

he says, ‘You intend to beg the question!’¹¹⁶⁵

He also said:¹¹⁶⁶

O young gazelle, for whose sake my exposure and disgrace

are pleasant, after guarding my reputation:

The sickness (ʿillah) of your eyelids¹¹⁶⁷ is the cause (ʿillah) of my disease,

and my cure is sipping the wine of your mouth.

And he said, praising Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yāghī-Siyān:¹¹⁶⁸

A pampered boy, with languid eyelids, slender:

the Exalted has gathered all prettiness for him

And made it dwell in him. He became its master

and made all human hearts incline to him.

From his eyelid¹¹⁶⁹ the sword of al-Ṣalāḥ Muḥammad appears,

and from my eyelids the clouds of his hands.¹¹⁷⁰

[15.46.3.9]

And he said, congratulating al-Ṣāḥib Jalāl al-Dīn Abū l-Fatḥ Muḥammad ibn Nubātah,¹¹⁷¹ on the building of his house:¹¹⁷²

O great, eminent Ṣāḥib, Jalāl al-Dīn,

O scion of noble lords, high-born¹¹⁷³ (shurafā)!

You have built a house that rises above Orion,

as you, of old, have built glory and nobility (sharafā).

May it last as a place of joy that will not change, and may

the heads of your enemies always be its battlements (shurafā)!

You are noble by lineage, character, and behaviour;

you are not one of those who are noble (sharufā) by only a single lineage.

And he said, writing to his teacher Fakhr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Salām al-Māridīnī:¹¹⁷⁴

Driver on your way to Mayyāfāriqīn, halt

there your camels and convey some of my yearnings

And the passion I suffer, the sorrow,

the anguish, the ardors, the sleeplessness,

To him who rises above his contemporaries in intelligence

and lineage,¹¹⁷⁵ while their praise is (merely) a noble descent;¹¹⁷⁶

And say: ‘There is someone who loves you, who has wasted away

by illness, and none but you can charm his disease away!

5The viper of nature does not stop biting him;

remove his pains from him with an antidote!

Half my life has passed and my soul is still deficient;

be the one who makes it perfect in the remaining half!

For you are the one most suited to refine and enlighten me,

by polishing my traits and my character,

And by freeing my soul from the obstacles preventing it

from arriving at “the intertwining of legs”.¹¹⁷⁷

The glass of my mind’s lamp-holder has become smudged,¹¹⁷⁸

so wipe it clean, in the name of the One, the Protector!

10And fill its lamp with the oil of your knowledge, that it

may again, having been extinguished, be shining!

Too long have I stayed in Nature’s prison;

but now I intend to receive my release through you.

So untie from my neck the cords that tie me to distractions

and grant me my manumission after my slavery!

Perhaps my soul will rise refined

at the Parting, when it is said, “Who is a sorcerer?”¹¹⁷⁹

And then will arrive at bliss never-ending,

never-perishing, in the protection of the One, the Lasting.’

[15.46.3.10]

And he said, as an elegy on a son of his:¹¹⁸⁰

Dear son, you have left in my breast,

because of losing you, a fire with blazing heat,

And you have incited my eyelids, after their sleep,

to be sleepless and now they never cease being wakeful.

I do not care, since you departed, about those who stayed behind,

not seeing anyone I should fear for or care for.

People say that grief diminishes the more time

passes, but my grief forever grows and increases.

I used to be steadfast when any calamity struck;

now, since you perished, showing fortitude is hard.

You were perfect; then fateful death came to you. Likewise,

an eclipse may come to a Moon when it is full.

And he said, for some purpose or other:¹¹⁸¹

I sought your favour by eulogising in verse for a while,

and by means of astrology, grammar, medicine;

I made novel astronomical and other instruments,

I explained the difficulties of the Arabic lexicon;

I transmitted the reports about the Prophet and what

the ancient sages before my time said in books.

I dealt with you sincerely in what I said,

I spared no effort in giving you advice and love,

But I never gained anything but misery, distress,

and wasting my life. A bad gain!

We treated our disease with every means, but nothing cured it,

except that living far away is better than close by.

Yes, living far away does not harm

when those whom you visit have no understanding.

And he said:¹¹⁸²

They said to me, ‘Why have you make a satire on the son of So-and-So,

that dog? Why indeed did you go to great lengths to list his faults?

Decent people seek fit to satirise only someone

who has intelligence and good qualities!’

I replied, ‘I was angry, one day, with my poetry,

so I confronted him with it,¹¹⁸³ as if to punish it.’

He also said:¹¹⁸⁴

They said, ‘It behoves a physician to be seen

as naturally lacking in glamour and beauty.’

Truly spoken; but not to such a degree

that he harms the patient and frightens the children.

He also said:¹¹⁸⁵

You ****,¹¹⁸⁶ leave your quackery and take it easy!

You are killing so many poor patients with your ignorance!

Human bodies are assembled until an appointed time:

why are you (may God not preserve you!) hastening their dissolution?

It is as if you, man, were charged with

reducing human souls to their origin.

You have outstripped the plague, for you kill people continually,

while the plague strikes only at times, for a season.

Your person suffices to kill a poor, sickly man

when you visit him, even before treating him in effect.

[15.46.4]

Sadīd al-Dīn ibn Raqīqah is the author of the following works:

1. Subtle questions and rare gifts for the questioner (K. luṭf al-masāʾil wa-tuḥaf al-musāʾil). This is a versification in rajaz metre of The Questions by Ḥunayn, The Generalities in The Canon of Medicine by Ibn Sīnā, and other indispensable concepts required by the art of medicine. Sadīd al-Dīn wrote a commentary on this book and also included some useful marginal notes.

2. Clarification of misgivings regarding drugs promoting sexual potency (K. mūḍiḥat al-ishtibāh fī adwiyat al-bāh).

3. The precious pearl for al-Malik al-Ashraf Shāh Arman Mūsā, being a poem on sexual potency (K. al-farīdah al-Shāhiyyah wa l-qaṣīdah al-bāhiyyah). Sadīd al-Dīn composed this poem in Mayyāfāriqīn, in the year 615/1218 for al-Malik al-Ashraf Shāh Arman Mūsā, the son of al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Abī Bakr ibn Ayyūb. He mentioned to me that he had composed it in two days. It comprises […] lines. He also wrote a thorough and profoundly meaningful commentary on it.

4. Canon of the sages and paradise of the drinking companions (K. qānūn al-ḥukamāʾ wa-firdaws al-nudamāʾ).

5. On the desirable limits regarding the regulation of food and drink (Kitāb al-gharaḍ al-maṭlūb fi tadbīr al-maʾkūl wa-l-mashrūb). A [single] treatise.

6. Questions and answers on fevers (Masāʾil wa-ajwibatuhā fī l-ḥummayāt).

7. A poem, in rajaz metre, on bloodletting (Urjūzah fī l-faṣd).

15.47 Ṣadaqah al-Sāmirī¹¹⁸⁷

[15.47.1]

Ṣadaqah ibn Manjā¹¹⁸⁸ ibn Ṣadaqah al-Sāmirī was one of the greatest medical authorities and belonged to the most distinguished and exemplary practitioners of the art of medicine, having been constantly engaged in study and research. He was very knowledgeable, extremely intelligent, and well-versed in philosophy and its riddles: he taught the art of medicine, but also composed mediocre poetry, dūbayt poems for the most part, in which he often included philosophical witticisms. Al-Sāmirī is also the author of a number of philosophical and medical works.

Ṣadaqah al-Sāmirī spent many years in the service of al-Malik al-Ashraf Mūsā, the son of al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Abū Bakr ibn Ayyūb, with whom he stayed in the East until his death. Al-Malik al-Ashraf, who relied on him in medical matters, held him in the highest esteem and honoured him greatly, allotting him large sums of money and constantly bestowing favours upon him. Ṣadaqah died in the city of Ḥarrān sometime after 620/1223. He left behind an enormous fortune, but no children.

The following are some of the sayings of Ṣadaqah al-Sāmirī, which I copied from his own handwriting.

‘Fasting consists in denying food to one’s body and keeping the senses from error and the limbs from sin; it is refraining from everything that distracts from the remembrance of God’.

Another of them: ‘Know that all pious deeds are visible except fasting, which can be seen by God alone; for it is an inner act of sheer perseverance. Fasting has three degrees: the general fast, which consists in restraining the stomach and liberating oneself from the gratification of desire; the special fast, which consists in keeping the ear, eye, tongue and all the limbs from sin; and the extraordinary fast, which consists in the heart’s abstinence from base concerns and mundane thoughts and its concentration on God alone, exalted be He’.

A third: ‘The body’s secretions that do not undergo change and are not transient,¹¹⁸⁹ such as tears, sweat, spittle and mucus, are pure, whereas the more long-lasting and changeable secretions, such as urine and excrement, are impure’.

A fourth: ‘Know that the [word] vizier (wazīr) derives its name from [the expression] ‘to carry a burden’ (ḥamala l-wizr) for the one whom he is serving; but bearing this burden is only possible if the vizier’s physiognomy and his natural disposition are sound. As regards his physiognomy, he should cut a fine figure and be of a pleasing appearance, with well-proportioned limbs and excellent senses. As regards his natural disposition, he should have superior insight and far-reaching aims, be highly intelligent and possess an outstanding intuitive knowledge of human nature. He should also be broad-minded, possess all the manly virtues, and have knowledge of matters of all kinds. Given those qualities, he is of the greatest value for the state, for he will keep the ruler from ruin, ensure that he does not stoop to baseness, and dive for opportunities for him [i.e., pave the way for him]; his function is that of an instrument that can serve to fulfil every desire, a wall that keeps the plague out of the city, or a bird of prey that catches food for its master. But not everyone who is qualified for such a task can serve every ruler, if he is not known for his devotion to the one he serves, his love for the one who claims his exclusive service, and his preference for the one who has raised his position’.

A fifth: ‘The patience of the chaste is graceful’.

[15.47.2.1]

Ṣadaqah al-Sāmirī composed the following poetry:¹¹⁹⁰

Ask him why he turned me away arrogantly, why he abandoned me,

and left my eyelids insomnia after sleep!

He treated me harshly, without crime or cause,

though I have been loyal to my covenant; so why did he betray me?

O men, stop and ask me to explain my story,

for others have not told you the true story.

If I am soft and humble he is hard and proud; if I seek

to approach him he moves away, if I am friendly he is aloof.

This is death, I think – what do you think? Don’t believe

that he who is parched and he who comes from the well are alike!

He also said:¹¹⁹¹

You who inherited from father and forefather

the virtue of medicine and sound opinion,

Who is guaranteed to bring back every soul

that is about to leave the body!

I swear that if he were to give medical treatment to Time

it would turn to coming-into-being without corruption.¹¹⁹²

He also said:¹¹⁹³

If you read his words you would suppose he is

Saḥbān,¹¹⁹⁴ or that he surpasses him.

If Maʿadd, or some speaker of pure Arabic of Qaḥṭān,¹¹⁹⁵

witnessed him delivering a speech,

They would willingly acknowledge that he is the ablest

of them in pure speech and eloquence.

He is the master of sciences;¹¹⁹⁶ when he shuffles his arrow-shafts

no two of them differ in winning.¹¹⁹⁷

Intelligent when there are problems; a mind sharper

and more penetrating than the edge of a spearhead.

When a scholar who rejects piety and the stipulations

of belief contemplates his books,

The aspects of Truth on their pages

will indicate to him clear proof,

And evidence that, with the ascendant of their good tiding, will reveal

the glory(?) of inborn dispositions of those with intellect.¹¹⁹⁸

I found the following line in his handwriting in the margin; it repeats a rhyme-word:

Of an argument, its victory fully guaranteed

by the text of The Syllogism¹¹⁹⁹ and clear proof.

It would seem that he wrote it as a substitute for the line beginning with ‘The aspects’.¹²⁰⁰

He said, lampooning:¹²⁰¹

Durrī,¹²⁰² his mistress and his master,

assembled, define the figure of a syllogism.

The master lies above the two, being carried,

and madam is laid beneath the two.¹²⁰³

The slave is carried by one and carries the other,

on account of the deference held up between them.¹²⁰⁴

That is a syllogism, the conclusion of which came

as a natural conjugate(?)¹²⁰⁵ in Damascus.

[15.47.2.2]

He also said:¹²⁰⁶

Ibn Qusaym,¹²⁰⁷ now you pretend to know grammar,

but your claim is spurious!

How is it that your mother – tell me, answer! –

has her legs raised (‘in the nominative’) though she is the object?

The subject is a prick, but it is erect (‘in the accusative’):

Here are some unknown problems for you.

The letter ʿayn is (normally) undotted,¹²⁰⁸ yet the ‘eye’ (ʿayn) of her coccyx

is dotted with two testicles.¹²⁰⁹

He also said:¹²¹⁰

We have an old man who is, in his grandeur, a clever fellow;

there has not been anyone like him among the nations of the past.

A geometrician,¹²¹¹ the length of his days;

despite his shortness he swallows a cylinder;¹²¹²

Triangular, supported by a perpendicular,

because his angle is obtuse.¹²¹³

He also said, a dūbayt:

O sun of loftiness, who moves (tasīr) in the constellations of an auspicious star:

In the grandeur of your noble qualities the world is a trifling thing (yasīr).

You have never ceased¹²¹⁴ to proceed (tasīr) with justice in your realm

Among us, and with your bounty ransom every captive (asīr)!

He also said, a dūbayt:

You who ask about symptoms (or: Ṣifāt)¹²¹⁵ from which comes my sickness,

Hear some interesting things and leave me with my own opinion!

In her saliva is choice reddish wine,

On her forehead are Orion’s stars.

He also said:¹²¹⁶

Whenever there appear to my sight eyes of the dark-eyed ones¹²¹⁷

A flood of my tears as from fountainheads springs forth:

Gazelles on a sandy hill between arāk¹²¹⁸ and twigs,

Who turned away as fruits to be plucked (?)¹²¹⁹ and increased my madness.

He also said:¹²²⁰

I implore you two¹²²¹ by God, call on him and ask him (salāh)!

How often has he killed me, and though that my heart had got over it (salāh)!

He has promised to be true; but if he betrays his loyalty (wafāh)

I shall kiss his forehead, his eyes, and his mouth (wa-fāh).

He also said:¹²²²

The wine (rāḥ) appeared with its fragrant (rayḥānī) smell (rīḥ);

Then it boasted of it spiritual subtlety.

When it shone with its luminous light

It was limpid and man’s dispositions became pure.

He also said:¹²²³

I banish Time’s misery with cups,

For wine is the mainstay of the souls’ essence.

He who stays sober for one day will never prosper,

Nor he who listens to the fine words of well-meaning admonishers.

He also said:¹²²⁴

Extinguish life’s misery with water and wine,

For Time is, as you see, a phantom and a mirage;

And exploit the time of pleasures between friends,

For the body’s destination is, as it was before, dust.

He also said:¹²²⁵

Wine (rāḥ) is refreshment (rawḥ),¹²²⁶ so drink on, sober friend!¹²²⁷

A yellow wine that with its subtlety is incompatible with sorrows;

But for the net¹²²⁸ that catches it in the cups

It would fly from joy to the place of spirits.

[15.47.3]

Ṣadaqah al-Sāmirī is the author of the following works:

1. A commentary on the Torah (S. al-Tawrāh).

2. On the soul (K. al-nafs).

3. Explanatory remarks with regard to medicine (Taʿālīq fī l-ṭibb), in which the author discusses diseases and their symptoms.

4. A commentary on Hippocrates’ Book of Aphorisms (S. kitāb al-fuṣūl li-Abuqrāṭ), which the author left unfinished.

5. On the names of simple drugs (M. fī asāmī l-adwiyah al-mufradah).

6. Treatise in which the author answers medical questions put to him by the Jew al-Asʿad al-Maḥallī (M. ajāba fīhā ʿan masāʾil ṭibbiyyah saʾalahu ʿanhā al-Asʿad al-Maḥallī al-Yahūdī).

7. On the unity of God, titled The Treasure of Success (M. fī l-tawḥīd wa-sammāhā kitāb al-kanz fī l-fawz).

8. On the principle of faith (K. al-iʿtiqād).

15.48 Muhadhdhab al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Abī Saʿīd¹²²⁹

The shaykh, learned authority, master and vizier Muhadhdhab al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Abī Saʿīd ibn Khalaf al-Sāmirī was well-versed in the science of medicine, distinguished in the philosophical sciences, and devoted to literature and culture. He was a man of the greatest merits and a very pleasant person, having been benevolent, noble-hearted and sensitive. Muhadhdhab al-Dīn Yūsuf studied the art of medicine under the physician Ibrāhīm al-Sāmirī, who was known as ‘the sun of the physicians’ and served al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf (Saladin). Muhadhdhab al-Dīn also studied under the tutelage of the shaykh Ismāʿīl ibn Abū l-Waqqār,¹²³⁰ the physician, and Muhadhdhab al-Dīn ibn al-Naqqāsh.¹²³¹ He studied the literary arts under Tāj al-Dīn al-Kindī Abū l-Yumn.

Muhadhdhab al-Dīn Yūsuf was distinguished in the art of medicine and renowned for his sound medical treatment and therapy, as may be seen from the following [anecdote]. Sitt al-Shām, the sister of al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Abū Bakr ibn Ayyūb, was afflicted with a dysentery of the liver (dusinṭāriyā kabidiyyah) that caused her to throw up quantities of blood every day. Her physicians were treating her with the accepted remedies against this disease, such as potions and the like. When Muhadhdhab al-Dīn arrived and felt her pulse, he said to the assembly, ‘O Gentlemen, as long as she has some strength left, give her camphor (kāfūr), to rectify the acute humoral imbalance that is the cause of her present condition’. He ordered qayṣūrī-camphor¹²³² to be brought in and administered it to her, together with an emulsion of roasted herbaceous seeds and a potion made of pomegranate and sandalwood. It was not long before she stopped [throwing up] blood, and her liver became less inflamed. Muhadhdhab al-Dīn administered this potion to her again on the second day and she improved further. Thereafter, he applied a supportive regimen until she had made a complete recovery.

Someone from the entourage of Ṣāḥib ibn Shukr,¹²³³ the vizier of al-Malik al-ʿĀdil, told me the following story. ‘Once,’ he said, ‘our master suffered from pain in his back, due to a chill. The physicians who came to attend him, treated him by correcting his diet and boiling a little castoreum (jund bīdastar) mixed with olive-oil and anointing him with it; others suggested anointment with camomile (bābūnaj) and mastic (maṣṭakā). “In place of all these things,” said Muhadhdhab al-Dīn, “it would be beneficial to try something that has a pleasant smell,” a suggestion that delighted al-Ṣāḥib Ibn Shukr. Muhadhdhab al-Dīn Yūsuf then ordered a perfume made of musk and ambergris (ghāliyah) and oil of the ben tree [duhn bān] to be brought to him. He melted it over the fire and anointed the [painful] spot. The patient was greatly relieved at once’.

Muhadhdhab al-Dīn Yūsuf served ʿIzz al-Dīn Farrukhshāh ibn Shāhanshāh ibn Ayyūb as his physician. When ʿIzz al-Dīn Farrukhshāh died – may God have mercy upon him – in Jumādā I of the year 578 [September 1182], he became the medical attendant of his son, al-Malik al-Amjad Majd al-Dīn Bahrām Shāh ibn ʿIzz al-Dīn Farrukhshāh, staying with him in Baalbek. During that ruler’s lifetime, Muhadhdhab al-Dīn Yūsuf enjoyed his good graces and received much money and many favours from him. The ruler consulted him on his affairs and relied on him with respect to his enterprises. The shaykh Muhadhdhab al-Dīn was a man of good character, who possessed sound intelligence and vast knowledge. The ruler thought his views sound and his intentions honest, and finally made him a vizier. In that post, Muhadhdhab al-Dīn Yūsuf’s power increased and his importance grew, until he came to be in charge of the whole government and of all the affairs of state, and his commands and prohibitions could not be disobeyed. This caused the shaykh Shihāb al-Dīn Fityān¹²³⁴ to compose the following verses about him:¹²³⁵

Al-Malik al-Amjad, to whose excellence

all kings testify.

Now believes as strongly in al-Sāmirī

as the Samaritan (al-Sāmirī) believed in the Calf.¹²³⁶

These two lines of poetry were recited to me by Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Shihāb al-Dīn Fityān, who said, ‘My father recited these verses, composed by himself, to me.’

I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – say: ‘The shaykh Muhadhdhab al-Dīn continued to enjoy his lofty status. However, there was a growing chorus of complaint about his family and his Samaritan relatives. A group of them had come up to him in Baalbek from Damascus, and as a man of high-standing whom none dared to resist, the vizier had given them all posts. But they only caused injustice, waste and corruption, and when al-Malik al-Amjad realized that money had been wasted and corruption had increased, and other rulers criticized him for handing over his government to the Samaritans, he finally had Muhadhdhab al-Dīn al-Sāmirī arrested, along with all the Samaritans who were in his service, and extracted large sums of money from them. The vizier remained in prison until there was nothing left of his fortune. He was then released and moved to Damascus. I saw him there in his house. When he arrived from Baalbek, and my father and I went over to call on him, I found him to be a fine old man, eloquent in speech and refined in opinion. He died a little later, on a Thursday, at the beginning of Ṣafar of the year 624 [21 January 1227], in Damascus’.

A sample of his poetry follows:¹²³⁷

If Time (al-dahr) has been bad to me for a day,

it has given me joy for a long time (dahran);

And if it has afflicted me in my wealth,

I will have compensation as a reward.

God enriches and ruins:

Praise and thanks be to God.

Muhadhdhab al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Abī Saʿīd is the author of a commentary on the Torah (S. al-Tawrāh).

15.49 al-Ṣāḥib Amīn al-Dawlah¹²³⁸

[15.49.1]

The Ṣāḥib and vizier, the scholar and practitioner, the respected chief, the most excellent vizier, the chief physician, the learned authority, Amīn al-Dawlah Abū l-Ḥasan ibn Ghazāl ibn Abī Saʿīd, was a Samaritan who converted to Islam under the name Kamāl al-Dīn. Muhadhdhab al-Dīn al-Sāmirī was his paternal uncle.¹²³⁹ This Amīn al-Dawlah was a man of unsurpassable intelligence, whose knowledge was unparalleled among his peers. He was charitable and high-minded, performed many acts of kindness, and continually bestowed favours upon everyone. He acquired exhaustive knowledge of the art of medicine, to the uttermost limits of that domain. He was well aware of the outcomes of medicine, and had a perfect knowledge of its principles and branches, to the point that he had few peers, for even the learned and the accomplished were not able to attain to his superior status. He first served al-Malik al-Amjad Majd al-Dīn Bahrām Shāh, the son of ʿIzz al-Dīn Farrukh Shāh ibn Ayyūb,¹²⁴⁰ who relied upon him in all medical matters and entrusted him with governmental affairs and concerns. He held that post until al-Malik al-Amjad’s death – may God have mercy upon him, which occurred at his palace in Damascus, on Tuesday evening, the eleventh of the month Shawwāl of the year 628 [12 August 1231].

[15.49.2]

Subsequently, Amīn al-Dawlah served as a vizier under the rule of al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ ʿImād al-Dīn Abū l-Fidāʾ Ismāʿīl, the son of al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Abū Bakr ibn Ayyūb.¹²⁴¹ Al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Ismāʿīl left him a free hand, with the result that the state was governed in the best possible way and well organized under his judicious leadership. He strengthened and solidified the foundations of the realm, and commissioned and erected lofty edifices, overhauled the standards for science and scientists, and surpassed the ancients themselves in merit. Amīn al-Dawlah remained in the service of al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Ismāʿīl, enjoying eminent status, powerful authority, unquestioning obedience and supreme importance, until al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Najm al-Dīn Ayyūb,¹²⁴² the son of al-Malik al-Kāmil, conquered Damascus and appointed the emir Muʿīn al-Dīn ibn Shaykh al-Shuyūkh¹²⁴³ as his representative there. Upon taking over the city, he gave Baalbek to al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Ismāʿīl, who removed there with his family and his household, in the year 643/1245.

During his vizierate, Amīn al-Dawlah loved to accumulate money. He obtained large sums for al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Ismāʿīl at the expense of the citizens of Damascus and took possession of many of their properties, with the aid of the city’s chief judge Rafīʿ al-Dīn al-Jīlī and his subordinates.¹²⁴⁴ When the Sultan’s representative in Damascus [i.e. Muʿīn al-Dīn ibn Shaykh al-Shuyūkh], the Damascene vizier Jamāl al-Dīn ibn Maṭrūḥ¹²⁴⁵ and the notables of the realm became aware of the sums of money that Amīn al-Dawlah had amassed, they decided to arrest him and confiscate his property. They prepared a trap for him by sending for him and showing respect for his importance by standing up when he came in. When he was seated in their midst, they said to him, ‘If you wish to stay in Damascus, stay as you are, and if you wish to go to your master in Baalbek, do so’. ‘By God,’ he replied, ‘of course I will go to my master and stay with him’. He then left, collected his possessions, valuables, cash and everything that he owned, including the furniture and carpets from his houses, loaded the lot on a number of mules and set out for Baalbek. When he was just outside Damascus, he was arrested; everything that he carried with him was seized and placed under guard, and he was detained. This took place on Friday, the second of the month of Rajab, of the year 643 [23 November 1245]. He was then escorted to Egypt and thrown into prison in the fortress of Cairo, together with other associates of al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Ismāʿīl.

[15.49.3]

Some time later, al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Najm al-Dīn Ayyūb died in Egypt in the year 647/1249. Al-Malik al-Nāṣir Yūsuf ibn Muḥammad thereupon marched from Aleppo and took Damascus on Sunday, the eighth of the month Rabīʿ II of the year 648 [10 July 1250].¹²⁴⁶ Accompanied by al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Ismāʿīl and the other Syrian princes, he marched on Egypt, bent on conquest. At that time Egypt was ruled by al-Malik al-ʿAzīz al-Muʿizz ʿIzz al-Dīn Aybak al-Turkumānī,¹²⁴⁷ who had come to power after the death of his master, al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Najm al-Dīn Ayyūb. He now led his army out to meet that of al-Malik al-Nāṣir. The Egyptian forces were repulsed at first, but rallied and finally routed the Syrians. Al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Ismāʿīl and many of the other princes and emirs were captured and imprisoned in Egypt. Some of them were later released, but al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Ismāʿīl was never heard of again. It was said that he had been strangled with a bowstring.

[15.49.4]

I had the following account from the emir Sayf al-Dīn al-Mushidd ʿAlī ibn ʿUmar¹²⁴⁸ – may God have mercy upon him. News was brought from Bilbays¹²⁴⁹ that the princes of Syria had defeated the Egyptian troops. When the vizier Amīn al-Dawlah, in the fortress of Cairo, heard this, he said to the commander of the fortress, ‘Let us go free in the fortress, until the [Syrian] princes arrive, and then you will see how well we shall treat you’. The commander of the fortress wished to do that himself and set them free. In that section of the prison there were three of al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Ismāʿīl’s entourage: his vizier Amīn al-Dawlah, his majordomo, Nāṣir al-Dīn ibn Yaghmūr, and a Kurdish emir called Sayf al-Dīn. ‘Friends,’ said the Kurd, ‘do not hurry, but stay where you are; if the situation is as we hope, our master will certainly set us free, restore us to our former positions, treat us generously, and rescue us. But if the situation is not as we hope, we shall do better to stay in our places and not go rushing out; that will be safer for us’. But the vizier and Nāṣir al-Dīn ibn Yaghmūr did not agree and went out to various places all over the fortress, commanding and forbidding. When the outcome of the battle had been contrary to what they had hoped, ʿIzz al-Dīn al-Turkumānī ascended the fortress and ordered Nāṣir al-Dīn ibn Yaghmūr killed and the vizier hanged.¹²⁵⁰ Both orders were executed. Someone who had witnessed the hanging told me that the vizier was clad in a vest of green ʿAttābī cloth (qandūrat ʿattābī khaḍrāʾ),¹²⁵¹ with his legs in gaiters (sarmūzah),¹²⁵² which he had never seen on a hanged man. Their companion, the Kurd, for his part, was released, laden with honours and given bread.

[15.49.5]

I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – say: ‘A most amazing account of a judgement of the stars relating to these events, was told to me by the emir Nāṣir al-Dīn Zakarī,¹²⁵³ who was known as Ibn ʿUlaymah. He was in the service of al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Najm al-Dīn Ayyūb. “When the Ṣāḥib Amīn al-Dawlah was imprisoned by my master,” he said, “he sent for an Egyptian astrologer, who possessed extensive and acute knowledge of astrology and whose horoscopes were almost invariably accurate. Amīn al-Dawlah asked the astrologer about his situation and whether he would be released from prison. When the astrologer received the message, he examined the altitude of the sun at that particular moment, studied the degree of the ascendant, the twelve houses and the positions of the planets [relative to the twelve houses], wrote it all down, cast a horoscope and made his prediction in conformity with it”. “Amīn al-Dawlah will be released from prison,” he said, “and will leave it cheerful and happy. He will be favoured by fortune and remain in a high position in Egypt, and his orders and commands will be obeyed by all the people”. When this response reached Amīn al-Dawlah, he received it joyfully. Upon being informed of the arrival of the [Syrian] princes and their victory, he went out quite sure that he would remain a vizier in Egypt. Thus, the astrologer’s prediction of his release from prison, his happiness, the obedience to all his orders and commands, and his ending up in a high position came true that day. But Amīn al-Dawlah did not suspect what would happen to him later on, for God, mighty and glorious, was already preparing that which had been predestined for him and was written in the Book’.

[15.49.6]

The Ṣāḥib Amīn al-Dawlah had a virtuous soul. He took a keen interest in collecting and studying books, and purchased many outstanding works in all the sciences. Copyists were always busy with books for him. Once he desired a copy of The History of Damascus (Tāʾrīkh Dimashq) by al-Ḥāfiẓ ibn ʿAsākir,¹²⁵⁴ which was in eighty volumes in minute script. ‘One copyist will never be able to cope with this [large] book,’ he said, and he divided it among ten copyists, each of whom worked on eight volumes. They finished the work in approximately two years, and the whole book came into his possession. This shows his boundless ambition.

When Amīn al-Dawlah – may God have mercy upon him – was occupying the office of vizier in Damascus in the days of al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Ismāʿīl, he was a close friend of my father’s. One day he said to him, ‘Sadīd al-Dīn, I have heard that your son has composed a book on the classes of physicians that is unprecedented. All the physicians in my service praise him greatly for his highly valuable book. I have in my library more than twenty thousand volumes, but none in that particular domain. I would like you to send him a letter and ask him to have a copy of that book made for me.’ At that time I was in Ṣarkhad, at the court of its ruler, the emir ʿIzz al-Dīn Aybak al-Muʿaẓẓamī, and subject to his orders. Upon receiving my father’s letter, I went to Damascus, taking along with me the rough drafts of my book. There, I called upon the illustrious copyist Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Ḥusaynī, who did a lot of copying work for us: his handwriting was excellent, and his mastery of the Arabic language was admirable. I gave him space at our home, where he copied the book in a fairly short time, putting it into four sections, in quarter Baghdādī format.¹²⁵⁵

Having had these bound, I composed a panegyrical poem for the Ṣāḥib Amīn al-Dawlah and sent all these items to him by the hand of the chief judge of Damascus, Rafīʿ al-Dīn al-Jīlī,¹²⁵⁶ who was one of the teachers with whom I was on friendly terms and under whom I had studied and read a section of Ibn Sīnā’s Book of Pointers and Admonitions (K. al-ishārāt wa-l-tanbīhāt). When Amīn al-Dawlah read the book and poem, he was greatly surprised and extremely happy. He sent the judge back with a large sum of money and honorary robes for me, along with many expressions of gratitude. ‘It is my desire that you notify me of every new book you write,’ he said.

[15.49.6.1]

Here is the poem that I composed for him, at the beginning of the year 643/1245:¹²⁵⁷

My heart is a captive in my love of them:

wherever their riders go, there it goes too,

Yearning for al-ʿUdhayb¹²⁵⁸ and those who live there,

a yearning contained by a blazing fire;

And it would love a whiff, blowing early at dawn,

that carried the fragrance of their sweet smell.

But I am content, once having been close,

with a visit of a vision of their phantom.

5One with honied red lips, bitter to pluck,

is unjust (yajūru) to the lover and does not give refuge (yujīru);

He is bent on rejecting me, while my heart is always

hot as the midday heat (hajīr) because of his steady forsaking (hajr).

My eyes have been sleepless on account of him continuously;

so why this breaking-off and aloofness?

His figure is like a tender twig,

his face looks like a luminous full moon.

One would think him drunk from the wine of childish love,

swaying; his glances are languid.

10On his cheeks there is a garden of beauty;

on my cheeks there is a pool of tears.

So often have I seen him aggressively

to me, while I bore it patiently.

My situation (ḥālī) with the people of this time¹²⁵⁹ is not sweet (ḥālī);

my innermost thought (sirr) is not mixed with joy (surūr).

But if I complain about the time, my treasure is

the Ṣāḥib Amīn al-Dawlah, the Vizier:

A generous man, liberal, giver of favours

that are general as a dark cloud pouring its rain.

15He has risen in the sky of glory until

the ether (athīr)¹²⁶⁰ was marked (taʾaththara) with his footsoles’ traces.

Can any poetry (shiʿr) express his lofty qualities

when Sirius (al-Shiʿrā) is located beneath him?

He has authority and justice, continuously;

through him people’s affairs are justly balanced.

In times of famine (azamāt) he is charitable (mubirr) to the petitioner;

in times of firm resolve (ʿazamāt) he is a destroyer (mubīr) to the aggressor.

He has surpassed the ancients in noble deeds;

and how many an ancient one was surpassed by a later one?¹²⁶¹

20He towers over all living beings in all fields of knowledge;

Qaṣīr would fall short of him in sound opinion.¹²⁶²

Through him the world is made sound, and cities and frontiers

have submitted to their benefit.

You, whose favours are all-encompassing, you man of

benefaction (ifḍāl) and abundant excellence (faḍl),

You have revived knowledge that was dead, so that

its resurrection in existence was plain to see;

You let mankind drink from seas of generosity

when the watering-places had nearly dried up.

25So many obscure concepts in medicine

became evident again through an explanation from you.

Whoever will compare the Leader (raʾīs)¹²⁶³ with you

will find that he is now turned into Led (marʾūs).

Does he resemble you in expression and excellence,

while you never have an equal in either?

Hereby I send you a composition, so that it may preserve

your name and that epochs may not change it:

It is unique, no one in the past preceded me,

as our Master is well aware;

30But to your knowledge it finds it way

just as dates find their way to Hajar.¹²⁶⁴

Far be it that these virgin motifs, led as brides

to the Master, should fall on fallow ground!

And if I have made any evident error in it,

you will forgive such things.

[15.49.6.2]

I have copied the following verses from the handwriting of shaykh Muwaffaq al-Dīn Hibat Allāh Abū l-Qāsim ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī, the secretary, who was also known as Ibn al-Naḥḥās. He wrote them for the Ṣāḥib Amīn al-Dawlah, asking him for a manuscript promised him by al-Malik al-Amjad, in the year 627/1227:¹²⁶⁵

You promised the manuscript, so send what you promised,

O you who bestows benefits continuously without condescension!¹²⁶⁶

He who does a good deed reaps every honour

and buys, without paying a price, eulogies that will be recited.

A manuscript that will increase your good fortune,¹²⁶⁷ as long as

a grey dove coos on a branch in the trees.

Sharaf al-Dīn Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar,¹²⁶⁸ the secretary, who was also known as ‘the son of the Yemenite judge’, recited to me the following qaṣīdah composed by himself in honour of the Ṣāḥib Amīn al-Dawlah:¹²⁶⁹

Time has afflicted me with a change for the worse

and trouble has effaced my serene pleasure.

My life was always sweet but now,

when Time turned tyrannical, it has become bitter.

The one I love has gone away and no longer cares for me:

because of his forsaking (hajr) me, in my heart is a midday heat (hajīr).

I hoped to be cured of the sickness of a malady

that has wasted me and which inside me is a blazing fire.

5Someone said to me, when the sickness had defied treatment,

medicine was hard to find (ʿazza), and consultants were lacking (ʿāza):

‘How can you complain of pains, or how can the illness in your body

defy treatment when the Vizier is a physician?

Go to the Ṣāḥib, the Vizier, and do not fear,

for his beneficence is all-encompassing and abundant!

When an illness is feared to be fatal

only a discriminating sage can cure:

A lord, a companion (ṣāḥib), skilful, wise,

learned, glorious, a Vizier, a great man,

10Who rescues, is fair, gentle, compassionate,

beneficent, favouring others, noble, favoured!’

An example of the Ṣāḥib Amīn al-Dawlah’s own poetry was included in his letter to Burhān al-Dīn, the vizier of the emir ʿIzz al-Dīn al-Muʿaẓẓamī, in which he consoled Burhān al-Dīn on the death of his father, the preacher Sharaf al-Dīn ʿUmar:¹²⁷⁰

Speak¹²⁷¹ to this glorious lord

the words of someone grieving like him, bereaved:

There must be loss and someone losing;

No, no human being will live forever!

Be a condoler rather than someone condoled,

if you have to be one of them.

[15.49.7]

The Ṣāḥib Amīn al-Dawlah composed The Clear Path in Medicine (K. al-Nahj al-wāḍiḥ fī l-ṭibb), which is one of the best books ever written on the art of medicine. In it the author brings together the established principles of medicine, both universals and particulars. It is divided into five books:

The first book refers to matters of nature, the three states of the body, the types of diseases, the symptoms of the balanced, natural and healthy humours of the main organs and the surrounding areas, and other matters that are very useful and worthy of being mentioned in this context. This is followed by [a treatment of] the pulse, urine, excrement and the critical days. The second book deals with simple drugs and their effect. The third book deals with compound drugs and their benefits. The fourth book describes the regimen of healthy persons and the treatment of manifest diseases, their causes and symptoms, and also whether surgery (ʿamal al-yad) is necessary in these and other cases. It also mentions the measures that should be undertaken regarding proper clothing and in case of hot winds. The fifth book is concerned with internal diseases, their causes, symptoms and treatment, and whether surgery can be employed in these cases.