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Ala-al-Din al-Qarshial-Dimashqi Ibn Al-Nafis

He is Ala-al-Din Abu al-Hassan Ali Ibn Abi al-Hazm al-Qarshi al-Dimashqi (known as Ibn Al-Nafis), a well-known Muslim physician in the Arab world. Ibn Al Nafis was born in 1213 A.D_607 A.H. in Damascus.

He received his education at the Medical College Hospital (Bimaristan Al-Noori) founded by Noor al-Din Al-Zanki. Ibn al-Nafis did not only study medicine, he also learned jurisprudence, literature and theology. He thus became a renowned expert on the Shafi'i School of Jurisprudence as well as a reputed physician.

After acquiring his expertise in medicine and jurisprudence, Ibn Al-Nafis moved to Egypt In 1236 and worked in Al-Nassri Hospital then in Al-Mansouri Hospital, where he became chief of physicians and the Sultan’s personal physician. Before he died in 1288 A.D_678 A.H he donated his house, library and clinic to the Mansuriya Hospital.

His major contribution was the discovery of the pulmonary circulation, which was re-discovered by modern science after a lapse of three centuries. Ibn Al-Nafis was the first to correctly describe the constitution of the lungs and gave a description of the bronchi and the interaction between the human body's vessels for air and blood. He also elaborated on the function of the coronary arteries as suppliers of blood to the cardiac musculature.

‘Al-Shamil fi al-Tibb’ is the most voluminous of his books, which was designed to be an encyclopedia comprising 300 volumes, but was not completed because of his death. The manuscript is available in Damascus. His book on ophthalmology is largely an original contribution and is also extant.

His most famous book, however, was Mujaz al-Qanun (The Summary of Law) and a number of commentaries that were written on this same topic. The commentaries include one on Hippocrates' book, and several volumes on Ibn Sina’s ‘Qanun’, which are still extant. Likewise he wrote a commentary on Hunayn Ibn Ishaq's book. Another famous book embodying his original contribution was on the effects of diet on health entitled ‘Kitab al-Mukhtar fi al-Aghdhiya’.

 

It was commonly believed that the Discovery of Pulmonary Circulation, which is the movement of blood from the right to the left ventricles of the heart via the lungs, had its inception in Europe in the sixteenth century by Servetus, Vesalius, Colombo, and finally Harvey. However later it was found that 300 years before Servetus, Vesalius or Harvey were born, an eminent physician of the thirteenth century: Ibn Al-Nafis explained correctly the Pulmonary Circulation. This fact has been now recognized by many of the historians but some people still try to argue the fact.

In 1924 an Egyptian physician, Dr. Muhyo Al-Deen Altawi, discovered a script entitled, "Commentary on the Anatomy of Canon of Avicenna" in the Prussian state library in Berlin while studying the history of Arab Medicine at the medical faculty of Albert Ludwig’s University in Germany. This script is known as one of the best scientific books in which Ibn Al-Nafis covers in details the topics of anatomy, pathology and physiology. This discovery revealed an important scientific fact, which up to then had been ignored: the first description of the pulmonary circulation.

The theory that was accepted before Ibn Al-Nafis was placed by Galen in the second century, who had theorized 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 consequently distributed to the whole body. According to Galen's views, the venous system was quite separate from the arterial system, except when they came in contact through the unseen pores.

However, Ibn Al-Nafis, based on his knowledge in anatomy and scientific thinking stated that:

 

Elsewhere in his book he said:

 

In describing the anatomy of the lungs, Ibn Nafis stated:

 

He then added:

 

Another important contribution of Ibn Nafis that is rarely mentioned is his postulation that the nutrition of the heart is extracted from the small vessels passing through its wall, as he said:

 

Ibn Al-Nafis was thus the first to put forward the concept of the coronary circulation.

 

These important facts were not known in Europe until 300 years later when Andrea Alpago of Belluno translated some of Ibn Al-Nafis’ writings into Latin in 1547. Later, Michael Servetus described the pulmonary circulation in his theological book, "Christianismi Restitutio", in 1553 and wrote, "...air mixed with blood is sent from the lungs to the heart through the arterial vein; therefore, the mixture is made in the lungs. The bright color is given to the sanguine spirit by the lungs, not by the heart.”

Views of Some Modern Historians:

It may be useful to mention the views of a some of the modern historians who reviewed the works of Ibn Nafis;

Max Meyrholf, a distinguished scholar of Arabic historical medicine, stated:

 

In the William Osler Medal Essay on the discovery of the pulmonary circulation, Edward Coppola said

 

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