Zayn-e-Attar


Haji Zayn Attar was a 14th-century Persian physician. He is best known as the author of the Persian language pharmacopoeia Ekhtiyarat i Badi i.

Biography

Attar was born in 1329-1330 CE in Shiraz, and lived during the rule of the Injuids and the Muzaffarids. He was a descendant of the Sufi philosopher Abdullah Ansari. His father Kamal ol Din Hosein Ansari was a well-known physician, and had migrated from Isfahan to Shiraz.
He served for sixteen years as the court physician to the Muzaffarid ruler Shah Shuja.
Attar died at Shiraz in 1403-1404 CE. He had two sons: Hosein and Ahmad. The elder son Hosein Ansari wrote Sahah ol Adviah or Is-hah ol Adviah', considered a supplement to his father's book. The book provides correct pronunciation of the drugs listed in his father's book and the author's opinions on specific medical cases. The younger son Ahmad ibn Ali alias Ahmad Ansari wrote multiple books, including Miftah ol Kunuz ; Dastur ol Muteakelin ; Tohfat ol muluk ; Dastur ol Zira-ah ; and Dastur ol suada. A collection of biographies - Fazilat e Elm u Hikmat va Tawarikh e Hukama - is also attributed to him; this book is also known as Kitab li-Valad Haji Zain ol Attar.

Works

Attar wrote Miftah ol Khazain in 1365–1366. The book contains three sections, on simple medications, improvements and substitutes, and compound medications.
Attar's most famous work is Ekhtiyarat i Badi i, which he completed in 1368–1369 CE, and dedicated to the Muzaffarid queen Badi ol Jamal. A comprehensive pharmacopoeia of simple and compound remedies, it is probably the most popular Old Persian medical book. Besides the supplement Sahah ol Adviah authored by Attar's son, several other writers wrote derivative works or supplements to Attar's work. Attar's work was the basis of several later Persian pharmacopoeias including Qarabadin Jalali, Tohfat ol Momenin and Makhzan ol Adviah. Jalal ibn Amin al Morshed al Kazerooni expanded and redacted the second part of Attar's book. Hakim Mohammad Ali al Hoseini of Hyderabad wrote a commentary titled Tatmim Ekhtiyarat i Qutb Shahi on Attar's work.
Attar's other works include:Tuhfat ol Salatin, an anatomical pamphletTuhfat ol Khavatin or Tohfat al Khavanin
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