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27 IBN JAZLAH (Yahya ibn ‘Issa ibn Jazlah al-Baghdadi). Taqwim al-abdan fi sihat al-insan fi tadbir al-a’m, signed by ‘Ali ibn abi bakr al-katib al-hanafi. [Anatolia or Jazirah: ah 878 / 1473–74 ce] an important work on medical diagnosis and treatment – “the schedule of the body: standard regulations for human health” This important medical text was composed during the golden age of Abbasid intellectual discovery. The intellectual boom was
in large part fuelled by interest in and the translating of classical Greek texts on areas as wide ranging as astronomy, philosophy, and of course medicine. Much of the body of classical Greek knowledge was translated into Arabic by members of the oriental Christian communities who lived under Muslim rule. The author of this text, Ibn Jazlah, comes directly from that mould, having been born a Nestorian Christian in Baghdad and later having converted to Islam, rising to become the official physician of the Abbasid Caliph al-Muqtadi bi-Amr Allah (r.1075–1094 ce). The text itself, which is dedicated to the Caliph al-Muqtadi bi-Amr Allah, is organised in a very practical way. It lists a series of some 352 illnesses separated into some 44 tables. The names
sharjah international book fair
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