Jazzar, Abu Ja'far Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Abi Khalid Al-Qayrawani Tunisian physician, born around 878CE in Kairouan, where he died in 980CE. Ibn al-Jazzar hailed from a family of physicians. He studied with the famous Jewish philosopher and physician Ishaq Bin Sulayman Al-Isra'ili (855-955CE), and then started a practice of his own in his native city. He led an austere life, devoting himself to the study and practice of medicine. He did not look for a position, like many of his colleagues, at one of the princely courts. As part of his medical practice he received and examined his patients during the hours of consultation, and in particular analysed their urine. His servant Rashiq would then administer to them the required medicines, free of charge. About 40 medical works are attributed to him, many of them were translated into Latin. For example Kitab Al-Adwiya Al-Mufrada (Treatise on Simple Drugs – Liber de Gradibus Simpleium), the Latin translation of which was done by Constantine the African. His Tibb Al-Fuqara Wal-Masakin (Medicine for the Poor) represents a literary topic which became especially popular during the Middle Ages. Ibn Al-Jazzar's most important and most influential work is his Zad Al-Musafir Wa-Qut Al-Hadir (Provisions for the Traveller and the Nourishment of the Town Dweller), translated by Constantine the African as ‘Viaticum Peregrinorum' in 1124. This work, consisting of seven books, is not, as the title suggests, a guide for the traveller, but a systematic medical handbook, discussing the different diseases and their treatment, “capite ad calcem” (from head to toe) in a concise form.
