Ibn al-Nafis

ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Abī Ḥazm al-Qarashī (<a href="/facts/Arabic/A1e66hVV">Arabic</a>: علاء الدين أبو الحسن عليّ بن أبي حزم القرشي ), known as Ibn al-Nafīs (<a href="/facts/Arabic/A1e66hVV">Arabic</a>: ابن النفيس), was an <a href="/facts/Arab/E77duPsg">Arab</a> <a href="/facts/Polymath/eqIfjQRu">polymath</a> whose areas of work included <a href="/facts/Medicine/2fnp90Je">medicine</a>, <a href="/facts/Surgery/fG8tWf5Y">surgery</a>, <a href="/facts/Physiology/fh25y2pQ">physiology</a>, <a href="/facts/Anatomy/p8TCWJuV">anatomy</a>, <a href="/facts/Biology/1M1ee3pB">biology</a>, <a href="/facts/Islamic_studies/kNWshAlX">Islamic studies</a>, <a href="/facts/Jurisprudence/wNTsXP4F">jurisprudence</a>, and <a href="/facts/Philosophy/zAH5PVD6">philosophy</a>. He is known for being the first to describe the <a href="/facts/Pulmonary_circulation/mBM1zMzc">pulmonary circulation</a> of the <a href="/facts/Blood/03zEulkj">blood</a>. The work of Ibn al-Nafis regarding the right sided (pulmonary) circulation pre-dates the later work (1628) of <a href="/facts/William_Harvey/w6WokymW">William Harvey</a>'s <a href="/facts/De_motu_cordis/ouRKBBJh">De motu cordis</a>. Both theories attempt to explain circulation. The 2nd century Greek physician <a href="/facts/Galen/9gDqPdwl">Galen</a>'s theory about the physiology of the <a href="/facts/Circulatory/WXwudzzc">circulatory</a> system remained unchallenged until the works of Ibn al-Nafis, who has therefore been described as "the father of circulatory physiology".
As an early anatomist, Ibn al-Nafis also performed several human <a href="/facts/Dissection/7Tbbx3rr">dissections</a> during the course of his work, making several important discoveries in the fields of <a href="/facts/Physiology/fh25y2pQ">physiology</a> and <a href="/facts/Anatomy/p8TCWJuV">anatomy</a>. Besides his famous discovery of the <a href="/facts/Pulmonary_circulation/mBM1zMzc">pulmonary circulation</a>, he also gave an early insight of the <a href="/facts/Coronary_circulation/SJhPVTgM">coronary</a> and <a href="/facts/Microcirculation/EecoBYyz">capillary circulations</a>. He was also appointed as the chief physician at al-Naseri Hospital founded by <a href="/facts/Sultan/4vdHlkdf">Sultan</a> <a href="/facts/Saladin/NcfPdcNW">Saladin</a>. Due to his discoveries, he has been described by some as “the second <a href="/facts/Avicenna/EYKG4Vez">Avicenna</a>”.
Apart from medicine, Ibn al-Nafis studied <a href="/facts/Jurisprudence/wNTsXP4F">jurisprudence</a>, <a href="/facts/Literature/CmUDxokU">literature</a> and <a href="/facts/Theology/N71Fyw2M">theology</a>. He was an expert on the <a href="/facts/Shafi%27i/tE6xsQxj">Shafi'i</a> school of jurisprudence and an expert <a href="/facts/Physician/qJ3woFvG">physician</a>. The number of medical textbooks written by Ibn al-Nafis is estimated at more than 110 volumes.

Ibn al-Nafis open-in-new

Ibn al-Nafis