Investigation and study of Chapter Three: On the description of drinks and syrups from the aqrabādhīn of Sābūr ibn Sahl
- Publish Date: 28 - February - 2009
Research Abstract:
The professions of medicine and pharmacy were historically intertwined and inseparable; the physician who diagnosed the disease was the same practitioner who prepared and compounded the medication. This practice persisted until the 3rd century AH (9th century AD), specifically with the establishment of the Bimaristan (Hospital) of Gondishapur. At this juncture, medicine and pharmacy emerged as distinct professions; physicians utilized a compendium known as al-Kunnash, while pharmacists relied on a manual called al-Aqrabadhin (Pharmacopoeia). The first pharmacopoeia written in the Arabic language was authored by a physician from Gondishapur named Sabur ibn Sahl al-Kawsaj (d. 251 AH / 868 AD). Structured into sixteen chapters, this Aqrabadhin served as the authoritative reference in hospitals and pharmacies for approximately three centuries, particularly prior to the appearance of Ibn al-Tilmidh’s pharmacopoeia (d. 560 AH / 1164 AD) in the 6th century AH. The drugs within this work were classified according to their pharmaceutical dosage forms, encompassing approximately thirty-four distinct forms, each containing numerous prescriptions for compound medicines. Following this, physicians continued to compile subsequent pharmacopoeias. These were produced either as independent treatises—such as the pharmacopoeias of Ibn al-Tilmidh and al-Qalanisi—or as integrated sections within comprehensive medical texts, such as al-Razi's al-Hawi (The Virtuous Life) and Ibn Sina’s al-Qanun fi al-Tibb (The Canon of Medicine). This research highlights Sabur ibn Sahl’s pharmacopoeia, known as the "Abridged Pharmacopoeia of Ibn Sabur," emphasizing its medical significance as the first formally adopted pharmacopoeia of its time. Our study focuses on the third chapter, which discusses syrups (Sharab) and robs (Rub), providing a critical investigation and a historical-scientific analysis. This was achieved by selecting a specific prescription from each dosage form within the chapter to serve as a representative model for the remaining section
Publishers:
Mais Kataya
