1210-1280

Arab Palestinian Physician

Ibn an-Nafis was a famous Arab physician and writer who contributed to the value of Arab medicine by helping preserve and systematize existing medical knowledge, as well as commenting on and explaining the ideas in these documents. He proposed the circulation of the blood 300 years before this was identified in the West by Michael Servetus (1511-1553), Realdo Colombo (1516?-1559?), and William Harvey (1578-1657).

Born at al-Qarashi near Damascus, Ibn an-Nafis studied medicine at the great medical college-cum-hospital in Damascus, founded by Nur al-Din Zangi. As with many physicians of his day, Ibn an-Nafis's interests were wide and varied. He was versed in logic, grammar, theology, literature, and law, in addition to medicine. He became a renowned...