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Concept
The Canon of Medicine
Summary
The Canon of Medicine (القانون في الطب al-Qānūn fī al-Ṭibb; قانون در طب, Qanun-e dâr Tâb; Latin: Canon Medicinae) is an encyclopedia of medicine in five books compiled by Muslim Persian physician-philosopher Avicenna (ابن سینا, Ibn Sina) and completed in 1025. Perhaps one of the most famous and influential early books, that continued to influence later creations. It presents an overview of the contemporary medical knowledge of the Islamic world, which had been influenced by earlier traditions including Greco-Roman medicine (particularly Galen), Persian medicine, Chinese medicine and Indian medicine. Its translation from Arabic to Latin in 12th century Toledo greatly influenced the development of medieval medicine. It became the standard textbook for teaching in European universities into the early modern period.
The Canon of Medicine remained a medical authority for centuries. It set the standards for medicine in Medieval Europe and the Islamic world and was used as a standard medical textbook through the 18th century in Europe. It is an important text in Unani medicine, a form of traditional medicine practiced in India.
The English title Canon of Medicine is derived from the common medieval Latin Canon Medicinae, itself a translation of the original Arabic القانون في الطب (), with the same meaning. "Canon" (often translated in English as "law" or "legal code") here connotes an ordered system, or complete, universal encyclopedia. The common medieval version of the title was Liber Canonis.
The medical traditions of Galen and thereby Hippocrates, had dominated Islamic medicine from its beginnings. Avicenna sought to fit these traditions into Aristotle's natural philosophy. He began writing the Canon in Gorganj, continued in Rey and completed it in Hamadan in 1025. The result was a "clear and ordered "summa" of all the medical knowledge of Ibn Sīnā's time". It served as a more concise reference in contrast to Galen's twenty volumes of medical corpus.
Official source
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