ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Abī Ḥazm al-Qarashī (Arabic: علاء الدين أبو الحسن عليّ بن أبي حزم القرشي), known as Ibn al-Nafīs (Arabic: ابن النفيس), was an Arab polymath whose areas of work included medicine, surgery, physiology, anatomy, biology, Islamic studies, jurisprudence, and philosophy. He is known for being the first to describe the pulmonary circulation of the blood. The work of Ibn al-Nafis regarding the right sided (pulmonary) circulation pre-dates the later work (1628) of William Harvey's De motu cordis. Both theories attempt to explain circulation. The 2nd century Greek physician Galen's theory about the physiology of the circulatory system remained unchallenged until the works of Ibn al-Nafis, who has therefore been described as "the father of circulatory physiology".
As an early anatomist, Ibn al-Nafis also performed several human dissections during the course of his work, making several important discoveries in the fields of physiology and anatomy. Besides his famous discovery of the pulmonary circulation, he also gave an early insight of the coronary and capillary circulations. He was also appointed as the chief physician at al-Naseri Hospital founded by Sultan Saladin. Due to his discoveries, he has been described by some as “the second Avicenna”.
Apart from medicine, Ibn al-Nafis studied jurisprudence, literature and theology. He was an expert on the Shafi'i school of jurisprudence and an expert physician. The number of medical textbooks written by Ibn al-Nafis is estimated at more than 110 volumes.
Biography Ibn al-Nafis was born between 1210 and 1213 to an Arab family in Damascus. The origin of his nisba, "al-Qurashi", has been discussed by various historians. Some accounts suggest it is derived from a village named "al-Qurashiyya" (or Karashia) near Damascus. However, the prevailing view among authoritative biographers is that the name signifies his tribal descent from the Quraysh, specifically the Banu Makhzum clan, as historical geographical surveys have not verified the existence of such a village. Early in his life, he studied theology, philosophy and literature. Then, at the age of 16, he started studying medicine for more than ten years at the Nuri Hospital in Damascus, which was founded by the Turkoman emir of Aleppo and Damascus, Nur-al Din Muhmud ibn Zanki, in the 12th century. He was contemporary with the famous Arab physician Ibn Abi Usaibia and they both were taught by the founder of a medical school in Damascus, Al-Dakhwar. Ibn Abi Usaibia does not mention Ibn al-Nafis at all in his biographical dictionary "Lives of the Physicians". The seemingly intentional omission could be due to personal animosity or maybe rivalry between the two physicians.
In 1236, Ibn al-Nafis, along with some of his colleagues, moved to Egypt under the request of the Ayyubid sultan al-Kamil. Ibn al-Nafis was appointed as the chief physician at al-Naseri hospital which was founded by Saladin, where he taught and practiced medicine for several years. One of his most notable students was the famous Christian physician Ibn al-Quff. Ibn al-Nafis also taught jurisprudence at al-Masruriyya Madrassa (Arabic: المدرسة المسرورية). His name is found among those of other scholars, which gives insight into how well he was regarded in the study and practice of religious law.
Ibn al-Nafis lived most of his life in Egypt, and witnessed several pivotal events like the fall of Baghdad and the rise of Mamluks. He even became the personal physician of the sultan Baibars and other prominent political leaders, thus showcasing himself as an authority among practitioners of medicine. Later in his life, when he was 74 years old, Ibn al-Nafis was appointed as the chief physician of the newly founded al-Mansori hospital where he worked for the rest of his life.
Ibn al-Nafis died in Cairo after some days of sickness. His student Safi Abu al-Fat'h composed a poem about him. Prior to his death, he donated his house and library to Qalawun Hospital or, as it was also known, the House of Recovery.
Writings
The Comprehensive Book on Medicine The most voluminous of his books is Al-Shamil fi al-Tibb (The Comprehensive Book on Medicine), which was planned to be an encyclopedia comprising 300 volumes. However, Ibn al-Nafis managed to publish only 80 before his death, and the work was left incomplete. Despite this fact, the work is considered one of the largest medical encyclopedias ever written by one person, and it gave a complete summary of the medical knowledge in the Islamic world at the time. Ibn al-Nafis bequeathed his encyclopedia along with all of his library to the Mansoory hospital where he had worked before his death.
Along the time, much of the encyclopedia volumes got lost or dispersed all over the world with only 2 volumes still being extant in Egypt. The Egyptian scholar Youssef Ziedan started a project of collecting and examining the extant manuscripts of this work that are cataloged in many libraries around the world, including the Cambridge University Library, the Bodleian Library, and the Lane Medical Library at Stanford University.
Commentary on Anatomy in Ibn Sina's Canon Sharh Tashrih al-Qanun ("Commentary on Anatomy in Books I and II of Ibn Sina's Kitab al-Qanun"), published when Ibn al-Nafis was only 29 years old, still it is regarded by many as his most famous work. While it did not prove to be as popular as his medical encyclopedia in the Islamic circles, the book is of great interest today specially for science historians who are mostly concerned with its celebrated discovery of the pulmonary circulation.
The book discusses the anatomical concepts of Avicenna's Canon. It starts with a preface in which Ibn al-Nafis talks about the importance of the anatomical knowledge for the physician, and the vital relationship between anatomy and physiology. He then proceeds to discuss the anatomy of the body which he divides into two types; the general anatomy which is the anatomy of the bones, muscles, nerves, veins and arteries; and special anatomy which is concerned with the internal parts of the body like the heart and lungs.
What distinguish the book most is the confident language which Ibn al-Nafis shows throughout the text and his boldness to challenge the most established medical authorities of the time like Galen and Avicenna. Ibn al-Nafis, thus, was one of the few medieval physicians—if not the only one—who contributed noticeably to the science of physiology and tried to push it beyond the hatch of the Greco-Roman tradition.
Commentary on Hippocrates' "Nature of Man" The particular manuscript of Ibn al-Nafis' commentary on Hippocrates' Nature of Man is preserved by the National Library of Medicine. It is unique and significant because it is the only recorded copy that contains the commentary from Ibn al-Nafïs on the Hippocratic treatise on the Nature of Man. Al-Nafïs's commentary on the Nature of Man is found in Sharh Tabi'at al-Insan li-Burqrat. It offers an idea of medical education during this period, in the form of an ijaza included with the text. This document reveals that Ibn al-Nafïs had a student named of Shams al-Dawlah Abü al-Fadi ibn Abï al-Hasan al-Masïhï, who successfully read and mastered a reading course associated with the treatise, after which al-Masïhï received this license from Ibn al-Nafïs. Based on evidence from commentaries such as this one, modern scholars know that physicians in this era received a license when they completed a particular part of their training.
Commentary on "Endemics" In the second half of the thirteenth century, Ibn al-Nafïs composed the first Arabic commentary on Hippocrates' Endemics. The commentary is lengthy and contains two extant manuscripts, made up of 200 and 192 folios. Ibn al-Nafïs’ commentary on Hippocrates’ Endemics in Sharh Abidhimya li-Burqrat is an analysis of Hippocrates three constitutions. Al-Nafïs revisited the cases of illnesses described by Hippocrates in his text, while comparing and contrasting those cases to his own cases and conclusions. In his commentary, al-Nafïs emphasized disease outbreaks. In one example, he compared a particular outbreak of malnutrition in Damascus, Syria, to an outbreak described by Hippocrates. Like Hippocrates, al-Nafïs constructed an outbreak map and both men concluded that Damascus was the origin of the outbreak. This method of locating an outbreak origin was used by John Snow 600 years later, when he constructed his own outbreak map.
Other works Ibn al-Nafis also wrote a number of books and commentaries on different topics including on medicine, law, logic, philosophy, theology, grammar and environment. His commentaries include one on Hippocrates' book, several volumes on Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine, and a commentary on Hunayn Ibn Ishaq.
al-Mūjaz fī al-Tibb (“A Summary of Medicine”); a short outline of medicine which was very popular among Arab physicians and got translated into Turkish and Hebrew. Kitāb al-Mukhtār fī al-Aghḏiyah (“The Choice of Foodstuffs”); a largely original contribution which was on the effects of diet on health.L. Gari (2002), "Arabic Treatises on Environmental Pollution up to the End of the Thirteenth Century", Environment and History 8 (4), pp. 475-488. Bughyat al-Tālibīn wa Hujjat al-Mutaṭabbibīn (“Reference Book for Physicians”); a reference book for physicians containing his general knowledge to aid physicians in the diagnosis of disease, treatment of illness, and execution of surgical procedures. al-Muhaḏḏab fī al-Kuhl (“Polished Book on ophthalmology”); an original book on ophthalmology. Ibn al-Nafis made this book to polish and build off of concepts in ophthalmology originally made by Masawaiyh and Ibn Ishaq. Sharḥ Masā’il Hunayn (“Commentary on Hunayn Ibn Ishaq's Questions”). al-Risālah al-Kāmiliyyah fī al-Ssīrah al-Nabawiyyah; (“Theologus Autodidactus”); a Philosophical treatise that is claimed by some to be the first theological novel.
Anatomical discoveries
In 1924, Egyptian physician, Muhyo Al-Deen Altawi, discovered a manuscript entitled, Sharh tashrih al-qanun li’ Ibn Sina, or "Commentary on Anatomy in Avicenna's Canon" in the Prussian State Library in Berlin while studying the history of Arabic Medicine at the medical faculty of Albert Ludwig's University. This manuscript covers in detail the topics of anatomy, pathology, and physiology. This is the earliest description of pulmonary circulation.
Pulmonary circulation The most commonly accepted theory of cardiac function prior to Ibn al-Nafis was that of Galen. Galen taught that the blood reaching the right side of the heart went through invisible pores in the cardiac septum, to the left side of the heart, where it mixed with air to create spirit, and was then distributed to the body. According to Galen, the venous system was separate from the arterial system except when they came in contact through the unseen pores.
The newly discovered manuscript of Ibn al-Nafis was translated by Max Meyerhof. It included critiques of Galen's theory, including a discussion on the pores of the heart. Based on animal dissection, Galen hypothesized porosity in the septum in order for blood to travel within the heart as well as additional help on the part of the lungs. However, he could not observe these pores and so thought they were too small to see. “Ibn al-Nafīs's critiques were the result of two processes: an intensive theoretical study of medicine, physics, and theology in order to fully understand the nature of the living body and its soul; and an attempt to verify physiological claims through observation, including dissection of animals.” Ibn al-Nafis rejected Galen's theory in the following passage: