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{{Short description|Persian scholar and physician}}
'''Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari''' ({{lang-fa|علی ابن سهل ربان طبری }}) (c. 838 – c. 870 ]; also given as 810–855 was a ]<ref name="Frye1975">{{cite book|last=Frye|first=Richard Nelson|title=The Cambridge History of Iran: The period from the Arab invasion to the Saljuqs|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=hvx9jq_2L3EC|accessdate=23 May 2011||page=415-416|date=1975-06-27|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-20093-6}}</ref> ] ], ], ] and ], a ] convert,<ref name="Frye1975">{{cite book|last=Frye|first=Richard Nelson|title=The Cambridge History of Iran: The period from the Arab invasion to the Saljuqs|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=hvx9jq_2L3EC|accessdate=23 May 2011||page=416|date=1975-06-27|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-20093-6}}</ref><ref>SN Nasr, "Life Sciences, Alchemy and Medicine", The Cambridge History of Iran, Cambridge, Volume 4, 1975, p. 416:"Ali b. Rabbani Tabari who was a convert from Zoroastrianism to Islam is the author of the first major work on Islamic medicine, entitled Firdaus al-Hikma."</ref> who produced one of the first ] of ]. He was a pioneer of ] and the field of ].<ref name=Amber/>{{Verify source|date=May 2011}} His stature, however, was eclipsed by his more famous pupil, ] ("Rhazes").
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox philosopher
| era = ]
| image =
| name = {{nowrap|Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari}}<br />{{nastaliq|علي بن سهل ربَّن طبري}}
| birth_date =
| birth_place = ], ]
| death_date =
| death_place = ], ]
| main_interests = Medicine, philosophy, calligraphy, astronomy
| notable_works = '']'', first Islamic encyclopedic work on medicine
| notable_students = ]
| notable_ideas = Discovery of the contagious nature of ]
}}

'''Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari''' ({{langx|fa|علی ابن سهل ربن طبری آملی}}; c. 838 – c. 870 ]; also given as 810–855<ref name="Prioreschi2001">{{cite book|last=Prioreschi|first=Plinio|title=A History of Medicine: Byzantine and Islamic medicine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q0IIpnov0BsC&pg=PA222|year=2001|publisher=Horatius Press|isbn=9781888456042|page=223}}</ref> or 808–864<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/greece-x|title=Greece x. Greek Medicine in Persia – Encyclopaedia Iranica|access-date=14 December 2013}}</ref> also 783–858<ref name="Selin1997" />), was a ]<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Frye|editor-first1=R.N.|title=The Cambridge history of Iran.|date=1975|publisher=Cambridge U.P.|location=London|isbn=978-0-521-20093-6|pages=415–416|edition=Repr.|quote=The greatest of these figures, who ushered in the golden age of Islamic medicine and who are discussed separately by E. G. Browne in his Arabian Medicine, are four Persian physicians: 'All b. Rabban al-Tabarl, Muhammad b. Zakariyya' al-Razl, 'All b. al-'Abbas al-Majusi and Ibn Sina.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Selin | first = Helaine | title = Encyclopaedia of the history of science, technology, and medicine in non-western cultures | url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediahis00seli | url-access = limited | publisher = Springer | location = Berlin New York | year = 2008 | isbn = 9781402049606 | page= | quote=The work is quoted in the Firdaws al-Hikma or "Paradise of Wisdom" composed in AD 850 by the Persian physician 'Alī Ibn Sahl Rabban at-Tabarī who gives a very complete summary of the āyurvedic doctrines.| bibcode = 2008ehst.book.....S }}</ref> ] ], ] and ], who produced one of the first Islamic ] of ] titled ''Firdaws al-Hikmah'' ("Paradise of Wisdom"). Ali ibn Sahl spoke ] and ], the two sources of the medical tradition of Antiquity which had been lost by medieval Europe, and transcribed in meticulous calligraphy. His most famous student was the physician and alchemist ] ({{circa|865–925}}). Al-Tabari wrote the first encyclopedic work on medicine. He lived for over 70 years and interacted with important figures of the time, such as Muslim caliphs, governors, and eminent scholars. Because of his family's religious history, as well as his religious work, al-Tabarī was one of the most controversial scholars. He first discovered that ] is contagious.<ref>Adang, Camilla, Muslim Writers on Judaism and the Hebrew Bible: From Ibn Rabbān to Ibn Hazm, Leiden: 1996, pp. 23-30.</ref><ref>Arnaldez, R., Le Paradis de la sagesse du medecin 'Ali b. Rabbān al-Tabarī," Documenti e studi sulla tradizione filosofica médiévale, 8 (1997), pp. 389-402.</ref>

Outside the rational sciences, as a convert from Christianity to Islam he was also involved in interreligious polemics, writing two works critical of his former religion, ''al-Radd ´alā l-Nasārā'' (The Refutation of the Christians) and ''Kitāb al-dīn wa-l-dawla'' (The Book of Religion and Empire), both of which having been published by ] in 2016 in a single book, ''The Polemical Works of ʿAlī al-Ṭabarī''.

==Life==
Ali came from a ]<ref name="Frye1975">{{cite book|last=Frye|first=Richard Nelson|title=The Cambridge History of Iran: The period from the Arab invasion to the Saljuqs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hvx9jq_2L3EC|access-date=23 May 2011|pages=415–416|date=27 June 1975|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-20093-6}}</ref> or ]<ref name="Selin1997">{{cite book|last=Selin|first=Helaine|title=Encyclopaedia of the history of science, technology, and medicine in non-western cultures|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=raKRY3KQspsC&pg=PA930|year=1997|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-7923-4066-9|page=930}}</ref> family of ] ] (hence ''al-Tabari'' &ndash; "from Tabaristan"). ] states that he was a convert to Islam from ],<ref name="Frye1975"/> however Sami K. Hamarneh and ] state he was a convert from ].<ref name="Selin1997"/><ref>{{Cite book| publisher = SUNY Press| isbn = 978-0-88706-563-7| last = Ṭabarī| title = The History of Al-Tabari| date=1989|page=50|volume=1}}</ref> His father ] was a state official, highly educated and well respected member of the Syriac community.<ref name="Selin1997"/>
Rabbān received his educational bases in the medical field, natural sciences, calligraphy, mathematics, philosophy and literature from his father Sahl.<ref>Flügel, G. L., Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, Leipzig/Wiesbaden, 1846, XIII, 559.</ref>


Ali came from a well-known ] family of ] but moved to ] (hence ''al-Tabari'' &ndash; "from Tabaristan") but became an ]ic convert under the ] caliph ] (833–842), who took him into the service of the court, in which he continued under ] (847–861). His father ] was a state official, highly educated and well respected member of the Syriac community.<ref name="Selin1997">{{cite book|last=Selin|first=Helaine|title=Encyclopaedia of the history of science, technology, and medicine in non-western cultures|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=raKRY3KQspsC&pg=PA930|accessdate=18 May 2011|date=1997-07-31|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-7923-4066-9|pages=930–}}</ref> The ] caliph ] (833–842) took him into the service of the court, which he continued under ] (847–861). Ali ibn Sahl was fluent in ] and ], the two sources for the medical tradition of ], and versed in fine calligraphy.
Ali ibn Sahl was fluent in ] and ], the two sources for the medical tradition of ], and versed in fine calligraphy.


== His works == == Works ==
Although few of his works are extant, al-Tabarī wrote twelve books. Most of them were about medicine. In addition to medicine, he was known as a scholar of philosophy, mathematics and astronomy.<ref>Reddy, D. V. Subba, "Indian Medicine in Firdausu'l-hikmat of Ali Raban-al-Tabarī," Bulletin of the Department of History of Medicine, I (1963), pp. 26-49.</ref>
# His ''Firdous al-Hikmah'' (''"Paradise of Wisdom"''), which he wrote in ] called also ''Al-Kunnash'' was a system of medicine in seven parts. He also translated it into Syriac, to give it wider usefulness.{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}} The information in ''Firdous al-Hikmah'' has never entered common circulation in the West because it was not edited until the 20th century, when Mohammed Zubair Siddiqui assembled an edition using the five surviving partial manuscripts. There is still no English translation.
# His ''Firdaws al-Hikmah'' (''"Paradise of Wisdom"''), which he wrote in ] called also ''al-Kunnash'' was a system of medicine in seven parts. He also translated it into Syriac, to give it wider usefulness. The information in ''Firdaws al-Hikmah'' has never entered common circulation in the West because it was not edited until the 20th century, when Mohammed Zubair Siddiqui assembled an edition using the five surviving partial manuscripts. There is still no English translation. A German translation by Alfred Siggel of the chapters on Indian medicine was published in 1951.<ref name=siggel>{{cite book|last1=Siggel|first1=Alfred|title=Die indischen Bücher aus dem Paradies der Weisheit über die Medizin des' Alī ibn Sahl Rabban al-Ṭabarī. Übersetzt und erläutert|date=1951|publisher=Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur|location=Wiesbaden}}</ref>
# ''Tuhfat al-Muluk'' (''"The King's Present"'') # ''Tuhfat al-Muluk'' (''"The King's Present"'')
# a work on the proper use of food, drink, and medicines. # a work on the proper use of food, drink, and medicines.
Line 13: Line 35:
# ''Kitab fi Tartib al-'Ardhiyah'' (''"Treatise on the Preparation of Food"'') # ''Kitab fi Tartib al-'Ardhiyah'' (''"Treatise on the Preparation of Food"'')


== ''Firdous al-Hikmah'' == === ''Firdaws al-Hikmah'' ===
{{Main|Paradise of Wisdom}}
''Firdous al-Hikmah'' was one of the oldest ] of ], Based on Syriac translations of Greek sources (Hippocrates, Galen Dioscorides, and others). It is divided into 7 sections and 30 parts, with 360 chapters in total. The appendix contains a review of Indian medicine based on Persian and Arabic translations of Indian medical works. It deals with ] and ] in depth, as well as ] and ].{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}} Unlike earlier physicians, however, al-Tabari emphasized strong ties between psychology and medicine, and the need of psychotherapy and ] in the therapeutic treatment of patients.{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}} He wrote that patients frequently feel sick due to ]s or ], and that these can be treated through "wise counselling" by smart and witty physicians who could win the rapport and confidence of their patients, leading to a positive therapeutic outcome.<ref name=Amber>Amber Haque (2004), "Psychology from Islamic Perspective: Contributions of Early Muslim Scholars and Challenges to Contemporary Muslim Psychologists", ''Journal of Religion and Health'' '''43''' (4): 357–377 </ref>{{Verify source|date=May 2011}}


''Firdaws al-Hikmah'' or ''Paradise of Wisdom'' is one of the oldest encyclopedias of ], based on Syriac translations of Greek and Indian sources (Hippocrates, Galen, Dioscorides, and others).It is divided into 7 sections and 30 parts, with 360 chapters in total.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 224348|title = 'Alî at-Tabarî's ''Paradise of Wisdom'', one of the oldest Arabic Compendiums of Medicine|journal = Isis|volume = 16|issue = 1|pages = 6–54|last1 = Meyerhof|first1 = Max|year = 1931|doi = 10.1086/346582| s2cid=70718474 }} He extracted his summary from the books of CHARAKA (Arabic: Jarak), SUSHRUTA (Arabic: Susrud), the Nidana (Arabic: Niddin), and the Ashtafigahradaya (Arabic Ashtdnqahrada).</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/154782076/Meyerhof-Ali-Tabari-Paradise-Wisdom|title=Meyerhof Ali Tabari Paradise Wisdom|work=]|access-date=16 September 2014}}</ref><ref name="Browne2011">{{cite book|last=Browne|first=E. G.|title=Arabian Medicine: The FitzPatrick Lectures Delivered at the College of Physicians in November 1919 and November 1920|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H_O1HiEHdZsC&pg=PA38|year=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781108013970|page=38}}</ref>
== ''Quotes'' ==
*Part I. general philosophical ideas, the categories, natures, elements, metamorphosis, genesis and decay.subdivided into I2 chapters, treats of general philosophical ideas, mostly following ].
On the ] he said:
**On the Name of the Book and its Composition. The author mentions among his sources ], ] and ] ]
"When I was a Christian I used to say, as did an uncle of mine who was one of the learned and eloquent men, that eloquence is not one of the signs of prophethood because it is common to all the peoples; but when I discarded (blind) imitation and (old) customs and gave up adhering to (mere) habit and training and reflected upon the meanings of the Qur'an I came to know that what the followers of the Qur'an claimed for it was true. The fact is that I have not found any book, be it by an Arab or a Persian, an Indian or a Greek, right from the beginning of the world up to now, which contains at the same time praises of God, belief in the prophets and apostles, exhortations to good, everlasting deeds, command to do good and prohibition against doing evil, inspiration to the desire of paradise and to avoidance of hell-fire as this Qur'an does. So when a person brings to us a book of such qualities, which inspires such reverence and sweetness in the hearts and which has achieved such an overlasting success and he is (at the same time) an illiterate person who did never learnt the art of writing or rhetoric, that book is without any doubt one of the signs of his Prophethood."<ref>http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Quran/Miracle/ijaz1.html#Rab</ref><ref> Abdul Aleem, "I'jaz ul Qur'an", Islamic Culture, Op. Cit., pp. 222–223</ref>
**On Matter Shape, Quantity and Quality
**On simple and compound Temperaments
**On the Antagonism of these Temperaments and the Refutation of the Opinion of those who allege that the Air is cold (of temper.). diagram of the four temperaments and their antagonistic action.
**On the Genesis of Temperaments one from another.
**On Metamorphosis ] is quoted.
**On Genesis and Decay.
**On Activity and Passivity
**On the Genesis of Things from the Elements, the Action of the Celestial Sphere and the Luminous Bodies therein.
**On the Effects of the Action of the Elements on the Air and subterranean Conditions
**On shooting Stars and the Colors which are generated in the Air. (rainbows)
*Part II embryology, pregnancy, the functions and morphology of different organs, ages and seasons, psychology, the external and internal senses, the temperaments and emotions, personal idiosyncrasies, nervous affections, tetanus, torpor, palpitation, nightmare, the evil eye, hygiene and dietetics.
**Book I
**Book II
**Book III
**Book IV
**Book V
*Part III. Treats of nutrition and dietetics. 3 chapters
*Part IV. (The longest, 107 out of 276 folios and 152 chapters. Each chapter is short, often less than one page and seldom more than two. There is little beyond the signs and symptoms of each disease and the treatment recommended there are no references to actual cases, or clinical notes. ) general and special pathology, from the head to the feet, and concludes with an account of the number of muscles, nerves and veins, and dissertations on phlebotomy, the pulse and urinoscopy.
**Book 1 (9 chapters) on general pathology, the signs and symptoms of internal disorders, and the principles of therapeutics.
**Book 2 (14 chapters) on diseases and injuries of the head; and diseases of the brain, including epilepsy, various kinds of headache, tinnitus, vertigo, amnesia, and nightmare.
**Book 3 (12 chapters) on diseases of the eyes and eyelids, the ear and the nose (including epistaxis and catarrh), the face, mouth and teeth.
**Book 4 (7 chapters) on nervous diseases, including spasm, tetanus, paralysis, facial palsy, etc.
**Book 5 (7 chapters) on diseases of the throat, chest and vocal organs, including asthma.
**Book 6 (6 chapters) on diseases of the stomach, including hiccup.
**Book 7 (5 chapters) on diseases of the liver, including dropsy.
**Book 8 (14 chapters) on diseases of the heart, lungs, gall-bladder and spleen.
**Book 9 (19 chapters) on diseases of the intestines (especially colic), and of the urinary and genital organs.
**Book 10 (26 chapters) on fevers, ephemeral, hectic, continuous, tertian, quartan and semi-quartan; on pleurisy, erysipelas, and smallpox; on crises, prognosis, favorable and unfavorable symptoms, and the signs of death.
**Book 11 (13 chapters) on rheumatism, gout, sciatica, leprosy, elephantiasis, scrofula, lupus, cancer, tumours, gangrene, wounds and bruises, shock, and plague. The last four chapters deal with anatomical matters, including the numbers of the muscles, nerves and blood-vessels.
**Book 12 (20 chapters) on phlebotomy, cupping, baths and the indications of the pulse and urine.
*Part V. of tastes, scents and colors. 1 book, 9 chapters
*Part VI materia medica and toxicology.
*Part VII. climate, waters and seasons in their relation to health, outlines of cosmography and astronomy, and the utility of the science of medicine: and a summary of Indian Medicine in 36 chapters.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 224348|title = 'Alî at-Tabarî's ''Paradise of Wisdom'', one of the oldest Arabic Compendiums of Medicine|journal = Isis|volume = 16|issue = 1|pages = 6–54|last1 = Meyerhof|first1 = Max|year = 1931|doi = 10.1086/346582| s2cid=70718474 }}</ref>

==Legacy==
In 2013 a statue of al-Tabari was revealed at the ].<ref></ref><ref></ref>


==See also== ==See also==
{{Wikiquote|Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari}}
*] *]
*] *]
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==Sources== ==Sources==


* H. Suter: Die Mathematiker und Astronomen der Araber (l0, 1900) * H. Suter: Die Mathematiker und Astronomen der Araber (10, 1900)
* M. Steinschneider: Die arabische Literatur der Juden (23–34, Frankfurt, 1902). * M. Steinschneider: Die arabische Literatur der Juden (23–34, Frankfurt, 1902).
* ], Islamic Medicine, 2002, p.&nbsp;37–38, ISBN 81-87570-19-9 * ], Islamic Medicine: Fitzpatrick Lectures Delivered at the Royal College of Physicians in 1919-1920 2002, p.&nbsp;37–38, {{ISBN|81-87570-19-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Tibi|first=Selma|title=The Medicinal Use of Opium in Ninth-Century Baghdad|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=nlEGNe7G_cUC&pg=PA313|accessdate=30 September 2012|year=2006|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004146969|pages=68–90}} * {{cite book|last=Tibi|first=Selma|title=The Medicinal Use of Opium in Ninth-Century Baghdad|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nlEGNe7G_cUC&pg=PA313|year=2006|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004146969|pages=68–90}}
*{{cite book|last=Ṭabarī|first=ʻAlī ibn Sahl Rabbān|title=The Book of Religion and Empire: a Semi-official Defence and Exposition of Islam Written by Order at the Court and with the Assistance of the Caliph Mutawakkil (A.D. 847-861)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ysQwAQAAMAAJ|year=1922|publisher=University Press}}
*{{cite book|last1=Ṭabarī|first1=ʻAlī ibn Sahl Rabbān|last2=Siddiqi|first2=Muḥammad Zubair|title=فردوس الحكمة في الطب|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9GpFAAAAYAAJ|year=1975|publisher=مكتبة المتنبي،}}
* Adang, Camilla, Muslim Writers on Judaism and the Hebrew Bible: From Ibn Rabbān to Ibn Hazm, Leiden: 1996, pp. 23-30.
* Ali b. Husayin al-Mas'ūdī, Murūj al-zahab wa ma'ādīn al-Jawhar. Ed. M. Muhyiddin Abdulhamīd, Kahire 1948, Beirut 1964-5, IV, 239.
* Ali b. Muhammad b. al-Athīr, al-Kāmil fi al-Tārīkh, ed.C. J. Tornberg, Leiden 1851, 76, VI, pp. 75- 76, 191-192.
* Ali b. Rabbān al-Tabarī, al-Dīn wa al-dawla, ed. ādil Nuwayhiz, Beyrut 1973, pp. 35, 36, 98, 210.
* Ar-Radd ‘alā-n-Nāsārā de ‘Ali at-Tabarī, ed. I. A. Khalifa - W. Kutsch, Beyrouth: Imprimerie Catholique, 1959.
* Firdaws al-hikma fī al-tibb, ed. by M. Z. Al-Siddiqī, Gibb Memorial, Berlin: Matba' āftāb, 1928, pp. 1-2, 8, 518, 519.


==External links== ==External links==
* http://www.unhas.ac.id/rhiza/arsip/saintis/tabari.html * {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181125210945/http://www.unhas.ac.id/rhiza/arsip/saintis/tabari.html |date=25 November 2018 }}


{{Islamic medicine}} {{Islamic medicine}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2011}}
{{Islamic philosophy}} {{Islamic philosophy}}


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{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see ]. -->

| NAME = Tabari
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = Persian scholar and physician
| DATE OF BIRTH = 838
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH = 870
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabari}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Tabari}}
] ]
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Latest revision as of 16:45, 19 November 2024

Persian scholar and physician

Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari
علي بن سهل ربَّن طبري
BornAmol, Iran
DiedSamarra, Iraq
Notable workFirdaws al-Hikmah, first Islamic encyclopedic work on medicine
EraIslamic Golden Age
Notable studentsAbu Bakr al-Razi
Main interestsMedicine, philosophy, calligraphy, astronomy
Notable ideasDiscovery of the contagious nature of pulmonary tuberculosis

Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari (Persian: علی ابن سهل ربن طبری آملی; c. 838 – c. 870 CE; also given as 810–855 or 808–864 also 783–858), was a Persian Muslim scholar, physician and psychologist, who produced one of the first Islamic encyclopedia of medicine titled Firdaws al-Hikmah ("Paradise of Wisdom"). Ali ibn Sahl spoke Syriac and Greek, the two sources of the medical tradition of Antiquity which had been lost by medieval Europe, and transcribed in meticulous calligraphy. His most famous student was the physician and alchemist Abu Bakr al-Razi (c. 865–925). Al-Tabari wrote the first encyclopedic work on medicine. He lived for over 70 years and interacted with important figures of the time, such as Muslim caliphs, governors, and eminent scholars. Because of his family's religious history, as well as his religious work, al-Tabarī was one of the most controversial scholars. He first discovered that pulmonary tuberculosis is contagious.

Outside the rational sciences, as a convert from Christianity to Islam he was also involved in interreligious polemics, writing two works critical of his former religion, al-Radd ´alā l-Nasārā (The Refutation of the Christians) and Kitāb al-dīn wa-l-dawla (The Book of Religion and Empire), both of which having been published by Brill in 2016 in a single book, The Polemical Works of ʿAlī al-Ṭabarī.

Life

Ali came from a Persian or Syriac family of Tabaristan Amol (hence al-Tabari – "from Tabaristan"). Hossein Nasr states that he was a convert to Islam from Zoroastrianism, however Sami K. Hamarneh and Franz Rosenthal state he was a convert from Christianity. His father Sahl ibn Bishr was a state official, highly educated and well respected member of the Syriac community. Rabbān received his educational bases in the medical field, natural sciences, calligraphy, mathematics, philosophy and literature from his father Sahl.

The Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim (833–842) took him into the service of the court, which he continued under al-Mutawakkil (847–861). Ali ibn Sahl was fluent in Syriac and Greek, the two sources for the medical tradition of antiquity, and versed in fine calligraphy.

Works

Although few of his works are extant, al-Tabarī wrote twelve books. Most of them were about medicine. In addition to medicine, he was known as a scholar of philosophy, mathematics and astronomy.

  1. His Firdaws al-Hikmah ("Paradise of Wisdom"), which he wrote in Arabic called also al-Kunnash was a system of medicine in seven parts. He also translated it into Syriac, to give it wider usefulness. The information in Firdaws al-Hikmah has never entered common circulation in the West because it was not edited until the 20th century, when Mohammed Zubair Siddiqui assembled an edition using the five surviving partial manuscripts. There is still no English translation. A German translation by Alfred Siggel of the chapters on Indian medicine was published in 1951.
  2. Tuhfat al-Muluk ("The King's Present")
  3. a work on the proper use of food, drink, and medicines.
  4. Hafzh al-Sihhah ("The Proper Care of Health"), following Greek and Indian authorities.
  5. Kitab al-Ruqa ("Book of Magic or Amulets")
  6. Kitab fi al-hijamah ("Treatise on Cupping")
  7. Kitab fi Tartib al-'Ardhiyah ("Treatise on the Preparation of Food")

Firdaws al-Hikmah

Main article: Paradise of Wisdom

Firdaws al-Hikmah or Paradise of Wisdom is one of the oldest encyclopedias of Islamic medicine, based on Syriac translations of Greek and Indian sources (Hippocrates, Galen, Dioscorides, and others).It is divided into 7 sections and 30 parts, with 360 chapters in total.

  • Part I. general philosophical ideas, the categories, natures, elements, metamorphosis, genesis and decay.subdivided into I2 chapters, treats of general philosophical ideas, mostly following Aristotle.
    • On the Name of the Book and its Composition. The author mentions among his sources Hippocrates, Galen and Aristotle Hunayn ibn Ishaq
    • On Matter Shape, Quantity and Quality
    • On simple and compound Temperaments
    • On the Antagonism of these Temperaments and the Refutation of the Opinion of those who allege that the Air is cold (of temper.). diagram of the four temperaments and their antagonistic action.
    • On the Genesis of Temperaments one from another.
    • On Metamorphosis Plato is quoted.
    • On Genesis and Decay.
    • On Activity and Passivity
    • On the Genesis of Things from the Elements, the Action of the Celestial Sphere and the Luminous Bodies therein.
    • On the Effects of the Action of the Elements on the Air and subterranean Conditions
    • On shooting Stars and the Colors which are generated in the Air. (rainbows)
  • Part II embryology, pregnancy, the functions and morphology of different organs, ages and seasons, psychology, the external and internal senses, the temperaments and emotions, personal idiosyncrasies, nervous affections, tetanus, torpor, palpitation, nightmare, the evil eye, hygiene and dietetics.
    • Book I
    • Book II
    • Book III
    • Book IV
    • Book V
  • Part III. Treats of nutrition and dietetics. 3 chapters
  • Part IV. (The longest, 107 out of 276 folios and 152 chapters. Each chapter is short, often less than one page and seldom more than two. There is little beyond the signs and symptoms of each disease and the treatment recommended there are no references to actual cases, or clinical notes. ) general and special pathology, from the head to the feet, and concludes with an account of the number of muscles, nerves and veins, and dissertations on phlebotomy, the pulse and urinoscopy.
    • Book 1 (9 chapters) on general pathology, the signs and symptoms of internal disorders, and the principles of therapeutics.
    • Book 2 (14 chapters) on diseases and injuries of the head; and diseases of the brain, including epilepsy, various kinds of headache, tinnitus, vertigo, amnesia, and nightmare.
    • Book 3 (12 chapters) on diseases of the eyes and eyelids, the ear and the nose (including epistaxis and catarrh), the face, mouth and teeth.
    • Book 4 (7 chapters) on nervous diseases, including spasm, tetanus, paralysis, facial palsy, etc.
    • Book 5 (7 chapters) on diseases of the throat, chest and vocal organs, including asthma.
    • Book 6 (6 chapters) on diseases of the stomach, including hiccup.
    • Book 7 (5 chapters) on diseases of the liver, including dropsy.
    • Book 8 (14 chapters) on diseases of the heart, lungs, gall-bladder and spleen.
    • Book 9 (19 chapters) on diseases of the intestines (especially colic), and of the urinary and genital organs.
    • Book 10 (26 chapters) on fevers, ephemeral, hectic, continuous, tertian, quartan and semi-quartan; on pleurisy, erysipelas, and smallpox; on crises, prognosis, favorable and unfavorable symptoms, and the signs of death.
    • Book 11 (13 chapters) on rheumatism, gout, sciatica, leprosy, elephantiasis, scrofula, lupus, cancer, tumours, gangrene, wounds and bruises, shock, and plague. The last four chapters deal with anatomical matters, including the numbers of the muscles, nerves and blood-vessels.
    • Book 12 (20 chapters) on phlebotomy, cupping, baths and the indications of the pulse and urine.
  • Part V. of tastes, scents and colors. 1 book, 9 chapters
  • Part VI materia medica and toxicology.
  • Part VII. climate, waters and seasons in their relation to health, outlines of cosmography and astronomy, and the utility of the science of medicine: and a summary of Indian Medicine in 36 chapters.

Legacy

In 2013 a statue of al-Tabari was revealed at the Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences.

See also

References

  1. Prioreschi, Plinio (2001). A History of Medicine: Byzantine and Islamic medicine. Horatius Press. p. 223. ISBN 9781888456042.
  2. "Greece x. Greek Medicine in Persia – Encyclopaedia Iranica". Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  3. ^ Selin, Helaine (1997). Encyclopaedia of the history of science, technology, and medicine in non-western cultures. Springer. p. 930. ISBN 978-0-7923-4066-9.
  4. Frye, R.N., ed. (1975). The Cambridge history of Iran (Repr. ed.). London: Cambridge U.P. pp. 415–416. ISBN 978-0-521-20093-6. The greatest of these figures, who ushered in the golden age of Islamic medicine and who are discussed separately by E. G. Browne in his Arabian Medicine, are four Persian physicians: 'All b. Rabban al-Tabarl, Muhammad b. Zakariyya' al-Razl, 'All b. al-'Abbas al-Majusi and Ibn Sina.
  5. Selin, Helaine (2008). Encyclopaedia of the history of science, technology, and medicine in non-western cultures. Berlin New York: Springer. p. 2179. Bibcode:2008ehst.book.....S. ISBN 9781402049606. The work is quoted in the Firdaws al-Hikma or "Paradise of Wisdom" composed in AD 850 by the Persian physician 'Alī Ibn Sahl Rabban at-Tabarī who gives a very complete summary of the āyurvedic doctrines.
  6. Adang, Camilla, Muslim Writers on Judaism and the Hebrew Bible: From Ibn Rabbān to Ibn Hazm, Leiden: 1996, pp. 23-30.
  7. Arnaldez, R., Le Paradis de la sagesse du medecin 'Ali b. Rabbān al-Tabarī," Documenti e studi sulla tradizione filosofica médiévale, 8 (1997), pp. 389-402.
  8. ^ Frye, Richard Nelson (27 June 1975). The Cambridge History of Iran: The period from the Arab invasion to the Saljuqs. Cambridge University Press. pp. 415–416. ISBN 978-0-521-20093-6. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  9. Ṭabarī (1989). The History of Al-Tabari. Vol. 1. SUNY Press. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-88706-563-7.
  10. Flügel, G. L., Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, Leipzig/Wiesbaden, 1846, XIII, 559.
  11. Reddy, D. V. Subba, "Indian Medicine in Firdausu'l-hikmat of Ali Raban-al-Tabarī," Bulletin of the Department of History of Medicine, I (1963), pp. 26-49.
  12. Siggel, Alfred (1951). Die indischen Bücher aus dem Paradies der Weisheit über die Medizin des' Alī ibn Sahl Rabban al-Ṭabarī. Übersetzt und erläutert. Wiesbaden: Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur.
  13. Meyerhof, Max (1931). "'Alî at-Tabarî's Paradise of Wisdom, one of the oldest Arabic Compendiums of Medicine". Isis. 16 (1): 6–54. doi:10.1086/346582. JSTOR 224348. S2CID 70718474. He extracted his summary from the books of CHARAKA (Arabic: Jarak), SUSHRUTA (Arabic: Susrud), the Nidana (Arabic: Niddin), and the Ashtafigahradaya (Arabic Ashtdnqahrada).
  14. "Meyerhof Ali Tabari Paradise Wisdom". Scribd. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  15. Browne, E. G. (2011). Arabian Medicine: The FitzPatrick Lectures Delivered at the College of Physicians in November 1919 and November 1920. Cambridge University Press. p. 38. ISBN 9781108013970.
  16. Meyerhof, Max (1931). "'Alî at-Tabarî's Paradise of Wisdom, one of the oldest Arabic Compendiums of Medicine". Isis. 16 (1): 6–54. doi:10.1086/346582. JSTOR 224348. S2CID 70718474.
  17. The statue of Hakim Tabari was unveiled at Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences
  18. Conference on medical education and honoring Rabban Tabari

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