ABU AL-FARAJ AMIN AL-DAWLA IBN YA’QUB IBN ISHAQ IBN AL-QUFF, SHARH KULLIAT AL-QANUN, VOL. VI, A COMMENTARY ON THE QANUN BY IBN SINA, NEAR EAST, 13TH CENTURY |

Arabic manuscript on paper, 267 leaves, 19 lines to the page written in brown neat naskh script, important words picked out in red, in brown leather binding with a central lobed stamped panel with the impression of a deer, smaller lobed panels above and below, 'jild al-sadis written along exterior side of text block

In good condition, minor stains and smudges, minor restoration to the paper affecting mainly the borders, the manuscript has been rebound and on f.1a and 267b are still visible impressions of the old binding, as viewed.
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Born in 1233 AD in the city of Karak into a Christian family, Ibn al-Quff moved at an early age with his father to Syria, first to Sarkhad and then to Damascus, where he was taught by Ibn Abi Uṣaybiʿah who introduced him to the study of medicine and natural sciences. He became a surgeon and was dispatched to work with the army in Jordan. He later moved back to Damascus where he died in 1286 AD.

Ibn al-Quff is renowned for his contribution to the field of surgery. His masterpiece Kitab al-‘umda fi'l-giraha ('The Basics of the Art of Surgery') is a detailed medical manual including the anatomy of the arteries, veins and capillaries which appears to be the earliest medieval Arabic treatise intended for surgeons (Portmann and Savage-Smith 2010, p.61).

As a man of science, and in the tradition of the time, he commented on the Qanun of Ibn Sina. This is the sixth volume of the Sharh al-kulliyat, which begins with chapter one of fann four. A further volume from this commentary is now in the Al-Assad Library, Damascus (inv. no.7802 www.alassad-library.gov.sy); to the best of our knowledge this is the earliest copy recorded.