Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (17/533)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

and Jajarm, then to Jurjan. (1)

I add: While in the region of al-Jabal the Master composed a great many works, among them al-Insāf in 20 volumes; al-Birr wa-l-Ithm in 2 volumes; al-Shifāʾ in 18 volumes; and al-Qānūn, extending over several volumes. (2)

He also penned al-Irṣād, one volume; al-Najāt, 3 volumes; al-Ishārāt, one volume; al-Qawlanj, one volume; al-Lugha, 10 volumes; Adwiyat al-Qalb, one volume; al-Mūjaz, one volume; al-Maʿād, one volume—and many other treatises and letters. (3)

He next took up residence in Rayy, serving Majd al-Dawla and his mother. From there he went on to Qazwin and Hamadan, where he was appointed vizier. The emirs then rose against him, plundered his house, and sought to kill him, so he concealed himself. Shortly afterward, Shams al-Dawla, the governor, was seized by colic; he sent for the Master, apologized to him, and was treated by him until he recovered, after which he reinstated him as vizier. They would study under him, and when the lesson was over the singers would arrive and the drinking session would be prepared.

After the prince’s death Abū ʿAlī hid with a certain man, yet he still composed fifty folios each day. He was eventually arrested and imprisoned for four months; afterwards he slipped away to Isfahan disguised in Sufi garb, together with his brother, his servant, and two young attendants.

(1) See al-Wafi bi-l-Wafayat, vol. 12, pp. 391–395, and Tabaqat al-Atibba, pp. 437–439, where the account is longer than the one given here. (2) The original manuscript likewise omits the number of volumes; the work is available in three printed parts. Safadi observes that what is now called al-Qanun should really be entitled Kitab al-Shifa because it deals with medicine and the treatment of diseases, whereas the work known as Kitab al-Shifa ought to be called al-Qanun, for al-Shifa embraces the four philosophical disciplines, and al-Qanun expresses the universal rule that covers all their particulars (al-Wafi, 12/404). (3) For his writings and letters, consult al-Wafi bi-l-Wafayat 12/404–406; Uyoon al-Anba 457–459; Hadiyat al-Arifin 1/308–309; G. Qanawati, Muallafat Ibn Sina; and the list of printed editions in Mujam al-Matbuaat, pp. 127–132.

وَجَاجرم، ثُمَّ إِلَى جُرْجَان (١) . قُلْتُ: وَصَنَّفَ الرَّئِيْسُ بِأَرْضِ الجبلِ كُتُباً كَثِيْرَةً، مِنْهَا (الإِنصَاف) ؛عِشْرُوْنَ مُجَلَّداً، (البِرّ وَالإِثم) ؛مُجَلَّدَان، (الشِّفَاء) ، ثَمَانِيَة عَشْرَة مُجَلَّداً، (القَانُوْنَ) ؛مُجَلَّدَات (٢) . (الإِرصَاد) ، مُجَلَّد، (النَّجَاة) ثَلاَث مُجَلَّدَات، (الإِشَارَات) مُجَلَّد، (الْقُولنْج) مُجَلَّد، (اللُّغَة) عشر مُجَلَّدَات، (أَدويَة القَلْب) مُجَلَّد، (الْمُوجز) مُجَلَّد، (المعَاد) مُجَلَّد، وَأَشْيَاء كَثِيْرَة وَرسَائِل (٣) . ثُمَّ نَزَلَ الرَّيَّ وَخدم مجدَ الدَّوْلَة وَأُمَّه، ثُمَّ خَرَجَ إِلَى قَزْوين وَهَمَذَان، فوزَر بِهَا، ثُمَّ قَامَ عَلَيْهِ الأُمَرَاءُ، وَنهبُوا دَارَهُ، وَأَرَادُوا قتلَه، فَاخْتَفَى، فَعَاود مُتَوَلِّيهَا شمسَ الدَّوْلَةِ القُولَنْجُ، فَطَلبَ الرَّئِيْس، وَاعْتَذَرَ إِلَيْهِ، فَعَالجه، فَبرَأَ وَاسْتوزرَهُ ثَانياً، وَكَانُوا يشتغِلُوْنَ عَلَيْهِ، فَإِذَا فرغُوا، حضَر المُغَنُّوْنَ، وَهُيِّئَ مَجْلِسُ الشَّرَاب. ثُمَّ مَاتَ الأَمِيْرُ، فَاخْتَفَى أَبُو عَلِيٍّ عِنْد شخصٍ، فَكَانَ يُؤلِّفُ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ خَمْسِيْنَ وَرقَةً، ثُمَّ أُخِذَ، وَسُجِنَ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشهر، ثُمَّ تسحَّب إِلَى أَصْبَهَانَ مُتَنَكِّراً فِي زِيِّ الصَّوَفَة هُوَ وَأَخُوْهُ وَخَادِمُه وَغُلاَمَان.

(١) انظر " الوافي بالوفيات " ١٢ / ٣٩١ - ٣٩٥، و" طبقات الاطباء " ٤٣٧ - ٤٣٩ بأطول مما هنا. (٢) كذا في الأصل لم يذكر عدد المجلدات، وهو مطبوع في ثلاث أجزاء. قال الصفدي: وكان ينبغي أن يسمى هذا " القانون " كتاب " الشفاء " لكونه في الطب وعلاج الامراض، وأن يسمى كتاب " الشفاء " كتاب " القانون " لان " الشفاء " فيه العلوم الأربع التي هي الحكمة، و" القانون " هو الامر الكلي الذي ينطبق على جميع جزئيات ذلك الشئ. " الوافي " ١٢ / ٤٠٤. (٣) انظر تصانيفه ورسائله في " الوافي بالوفيات " ١٢ / ٤٠٤ - ٤٠٦، و" عيون الانباء " ٤٥٧ - ٤٥٩، و" هدية العارفين " ١ / ٣٠٨، ٣٠٩، وكتاب " مؤلفات ابن سينا " وضع الاب جورج قنواتي، وانظر ما طبع منها في " معجم المطبوعات " ١٢٧ - ١٣٢.