Medicine Dietetics and Pharmacology - Food Culture and Health in Pre-Modern Islamic Societies - page 223

Yūannā b. Sarābiyūn utā b. Lāū al-Balabakkī

Yūannā b. Sarābiyūn was a Christian
(Nestorian) physician of the 3rd/9th cen-
tury. He wrote in Syriac a medical compen-
dium ( kunnā ª ) in two different forms, one
with seven, the other with twelve maālāt .
According to Ibn Abī Uaybia, the
first compendium, called the small one
( al-kunnā ª al-a ∞ īr ), was translated into
Arabic by the secretary Mūsā b. Ibrāhīm
al-adī º ī on behalf of the physician Abu
'l-asan b. Nafīs. This translation is said
to have been superior, stylistically speak-
ing, to that of Abū Bi ª r Mattā b. Yūnus
al-unnāī (d. 328/940) and to that of the
well-known annotator asan b. Bahlūl
al-Awānī. This kunnā ª was translated by
Gerhard of Cremona under the title Prac-
tica Joannis Serapionis aliter breviarium nun-
cupata ; in later times this translation was
often reprinted. The Latin translation led
to a Hebrew one by Mōshē b. Mazlia.
In this way, the structure and the contents
of the work became known rather early.
The seven treatises deal with: 1) diseases
of body and nerves; 2) diseases of eye,
mouth, lungs, breast and heart; 3) diseases
of stomach, intestines, and those caused
by worms; 4) diseases of liver, spleen,
kidneys, bladder, gout; 5) skin-diseases,
wounds caused by a bite, gynaecological
diseases; 6) fever; 7) composite medicines
( arābā £ īn ).
According to the critical al-Ma ¡ ūsī
who, in the preface to his main work,
the Kāmil al-ināa al-ibbiyya , reviews the
achievements of his predecessors, not
many positive elements are to be found in
Yūannā's work: e.g., he finds fault with
the latter for limiting therapy to medica-
ments and diets, while disregarding “man-
ual treatment” (surgery); furthermore,
there are allegedly many complaints about
omissions, deficiencies and inaccuracies.

utā b. Lāū al-Balabakkī was a
mediaeval scientist and translator. He
was of Christian origin, from the town of
Balabakk. In Ba ∞ dād, where he worked
for some time as a doctor, scientist and
translator, his reputation was as high as
that of unayn b. Isā. He was fluent in
Greek, Syriac and Arabic, being particu-
larly noted for his excellent style in Ara-
bic. The last part of his life was spent in
Armenia, where he was induced to take up
residence by the prince Sanarīb. Accord-
ing to Ubayd Allāh b. ⁄ ibrāīl, he came
into contact with a certain Abu 'l- fi irīf
Barī, for whom he composed a number
of scholarly works. usā died in Armenia
ca. 300/912-13; a shrine was erected over
his grave, which was accorded the same
honours as the graves of kings and other
eminent personages.
It was, of course, usual for Arabic schol-
ars to be well versed in a wide range of
subjects, and usā was no exception. He
is said to have been skilled in medicine,
philosophy, geometry, arithmetic, astron-
omy, and music—all these subjects are
included in the lists of his works given by
the biographers. Ibn Nadīm, having first
stated specifically that he has excluded
translations, lists over thirty of usā's
original works, and Ibn Abī Uaybia adds
a further thirty works to this list. Medi-
cal works, which preponderate, include
the following treatises: on gout; infectious
diseases; insomnia; knowledge of fevers,
types of crises in illnesses, the pulse; paral-
ysis-types, causes and treatment; the four
“humours”; and phlebotomy.
No comprehensive study of usā's
works has yet been undertaken, nor has
there been made any detailed evaluation
of his contribution, certainly a significant
one, to the progress of science. His ser-
vices as a translator must surely rank at

(A. Dietrich)