Jaghmini

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A manuscript of al-Mulakhkhas fi al-hay'ah written in Arabic by al-Jaghmini (from a private collection).

Mahmud ibn Muhammad ibn Umar Jaghmini, or al-Jaghmini was a 14th century Persian physician. He was born at Jaghmin, a village in Khwarezm (Khiva), current day Uzbekistan.

Little is known of his life. He is known only through his very short epitome of The Canon of Medicine by Avicenna that was written in Persian and titled Qanunshah. It proved so popular as to become the subject of commentaries, and several attempts were made to set the Qanunshah in verse.

There is considerable testimony to its being used in schools for teaching medicine in the eastern provinces of the Islamic world.

It is not clear when he died. Some say he died in 1344. Others give the date 1221 in accordance with another treatise titled al-Mulakhkhas fi al-hay'ah (Compendium of the Science of Astronomy) by an author with the same name.

[edit] Sources

For a discussion of his popular epitome, the Qanuncheh, and the use made of it by subsequent generations of medical students, see:

A. Z. Iskandar, A Catalogue of Arabic Manuscripts on Medicine and Science in the Wellcome Historical Medical Library (London: The Wellcome Historical Medical Library, 1967), pp. 56-64.

C.A. Storey, Persian Literature: A Bio-Bibliographical Survey. Volume II, Part 1: A. Mathematics, B. Weights and Measures, C. Astronomy and Astrology, D. Geography (London: Luzac, 1958), p. 219.

Carl Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, 1st edition, 2 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 1889-1936). Second edition, 2 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 1943-49). Page references will be to those of the first edition, with the 2nd edition page numbers given in parentheses, p. 473 (625)

Carl Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, Supplement, 3 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 1937-1942). vol. 1, p. 865.

Manfred Ullmann, Die Medizin im Islam, Handbuch der Orientalistik, Abteilung I, Ergänzungsband vi, Abschnitt 1 (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1970), p. 154 note 4.

Lutz Richter-Bernburg, Persian Medical Manuscripts at the University of California, Los Angeles: A Descriptive Catalogue, Humana Civilitas, vol. 4 (Malibu: Udena Publications, 1978), p. 28.

C.A. Storey, Persian Literature: A Bio-Bibliographical Survey. Volume II, Part 1: A. Mathematics, B. Weights and Measures, C. Astronomy and Astrology, D. Geography (London: Luzac, 1958), p. 50 no. 88.