al-Masā’il fī al-ṭibb lil-muta‘allimīn المسائل في الطب للمتعلّمين Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq al-‘Ibādī حنين بن إسحق العبادي

Content

An introduction to medicine for students in the form of questions and answers divided into ten chapters (فصول) by the famous physician and translator Abū Zayd Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq al-‘Ibādī (أبو زيد حنين بن إسحق العبادي, d. 873). The work is based on the Ars medica (Τέχνη ἰατρική) by Galen of Pergamon (جالينوس ; d. ca 216).

The copy is the work of at least three scribes (ff. 2r-23r, 23v-35v, and 36r-100v) and is defective at both the beginning and end. There are no chapter headings, but marginal notes mark the beginnings of some chapters and indicate they have been collated. The collation note for Chapter Six is dated 656 AH/AD 1258

Contents:

• Chapter Three of Ten (الفصل الثالث من العشرة; ff. 2r-9r);
• Chapter Four of Ten (الفصل الرابع من العشرة; ff. 9r-?);
• Chapter Six of Ten (الفصل السادس من العشرة; ff. 28v-?)

Begins (f. 2r, 1-6):

[...] شيء يوجد كل واحد من الصحة

[...] المزمن (؟) والحال التي ليست بصحة ولا مرض في ثلثة

أشياء وما هو. إما في البدن الذي يوجد فيه

إحدى هذه الحالات الثلاثة وإما في السبب

الذي يفعلها أو يحفظها وما في الدلائل التي تدل

عليها...

Ends (f. 100v, 10-13):

... وأما

الحال الذي يكون فيها محمودًا فهي أن تكون مرة

كذا ومرة ليس كذا فإنه إذا كان كذلك

دل على أن الريح يسير المقدار قليلة الغلظ فهي

Extent and format

Codex A collection of pages, usually gathered into quires, and bound between covers. ; ff. i+100+i

Physical characteristics

Material: Paper

Dimensions: 183 x 135 mm leaf [134 x 90 mm written]

Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil

Ruling: Misṭarah ; 13 lines per page; vertical spacing 10 lines per 10 cm

Script: Naskh

Ink: Black ink, with rubrications and some punctuation in red

Binding: British Museum binding

Condition: Water damage to upper portion of leaves, repaired near gutter; many wormholes

Marginalia: Some marginal annotations and chapter headings

Seals: None

Written in

Arabic in Arabic script

Type

Manuscript

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: Oriental Manuscripts

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

Or 5725

History of this record

Date(s)

656 (AH, Hijri qamari)

Immediate source of acquisition

Purchased from Ibrahim Elias Gejou, 10 April 1900

Related material

Finding aids

• Ellis, A.G. and Edward Edwards, A Descriptive List of the Arabic Manuscripts Acquired by the Trustees of the British Museum since 1894 (London: British Museum, 1912), p. 45
• Hamarneh, Sami, Catalogue of Arabic Manuscripts on Medicine and Pharmacy at the British Library (Cairo: Les Editions Universitaires d’Egypte 1975), Item 44, pp. 37-38

Select Bibliography

Edition:

• Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq al-‘Ibādī, al-Masā’il fī al-ṭibb lil-muta‘allimīn , ed. by Muḥammad ‘Alī Abū Rayyān, Mursī Muḥammad ‘Arab and Jallāl Muḥammad Mūsá (al-Iskandarīyah: Dār al-Jāmi‘āt al-Maṣrīyah, 1978)

Translations:

• Wilson, Jan E. and Samuel Dinkha, Hunayn ibn Ishaq's 'Questions on Medicine for Students': Transcription and Translation of the Oldest Extant Syriac Version (Vat. Syr. 192) (Vatican City: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 2010)
• Ghalioungui, Paul and Galal M. Moussa, Questions on medicine for Scholars by Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq; translated into English, with a preface and historical note, by Paul Ghalioungui, from a critical edition by Galal M. Moussa of the ninth century Arabic text, "al Masa'il fi al-tibb lil muta'allimin" (Cairo: A R E Al-Ahram Center for Scientific Translations, 1980)

Studies:

• Sezgin, Fuat, Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums , vol. 3 (Leiden: Brill, 1970). pp. 249-50
• Ullmann, Manfred, Die Medizin im Islam (Leiden: Brill, 1970), pp. 117-18

Subjects

Medicine, ArabMedicine, MedievalMedicine--Early works to 1800

People & organisations

Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq al-'Ibādī

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al-Masā’il fī al-ṭibb lil-muta‘allimīn المسائل في الطب للمتعلّمين Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq al-‘Ibādī حنين بن إسحق العبادي, British Library: Oriental Manuscripts, Or 5725, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100022931487.0x000001> [accessed 8 February 2025]

Link to this record

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