伊本·苏尔1073—1162

Abū Marwān ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Zuhr (Arabic: أبو مروان عبد الملك بن زهر), traditionally known by his Latinized name Avenzoar (; 1094–1162), was an Arab physician, surgeon, and poet. He was born at Seville in medieval Andalusia (present-day Spain), was a contemporary of Averroes and Ibn Tufail, and was the most well-regarded physician of his era. He was particularly known for his emphasis on a more rational, empiric basis of medicine. His major work, Al-Taysīr fil-Mudāwāt wal-Tadbīr ("Book of Simplification Concerning Therapeutics and Diet"), was translated into Latin and Hebrew and was influential to the progress of surgery. He also improved surgical and medical knowledge by keying out several diseases and their treatments.

Ibn Zuhr performed the first experimental tracheotomy on a goat. He is thought to have made the earliest description of bezoar stones as medicinal items.

Biography

Avenzoar was born in Seville in 1094, to the notable Banu Zuhr family who were members of the Arab tribe of Iyad. Starting in the early 10th century, the family produced six consecutive generations of physicians, as well as jurists, poets, viziers or courtiers, and midwives who served under the rulers of al-Andalus. Avenzoar started his education by studying religion and literature, as was the custom in medieval Muslim socialites. He later studied medicine with his father, Abu'l-Ala Zuhr (d.1131) at an early age. According to Avenzoar himself, his father introduced him to the works of Galen and Hippocrates, and asked him to swear the Hippocratic Oath while still a youth.

Avenzoar started his medical career as court physician for the Almoravid empire. However, for some undisclosed reason, he later fell out of favour with the Almoravid ruler, 'Ali bin Yusuf bin Tashufin, and fled from Seville. He was however, apprehended and jailed in Marrakesh in 1140. This experience left a bad resentment in him as alluded from his writing. Later in 1147 when the Almohad empire conquered Seville, he returned and devoted himself to medical practice. He died in Seville in 1162.

According to Leo Africanus, ibn Zuhr heard Averroes lecture, and learned physics from him. He was a great admirer of Galen, and in his writings he protests emphatically against quackery and the superstitious remedies of astrologers.

Legacy

The Jewish physician-philosopher Maimonides admired Ibn Zuhr, describing him as "unique in his age and one of the great sages". He frequently quoted him in his medical texts. Averroes praised him as the greatest physician since Galen. Both his daughter and granddaughter also became physicians, specializing in obstetrics.