'''Abd-al-latif''', '''Abd-el-latif''' or '''Abd-ul-Latif''' ([[1162]] – [[1231]]), also known as '''al-Baghdadi''', born in [[Baghdad]], [[Iraq]], was a celebrated [[Islamic medicine|physician]], [[Historiography of early Islam|historian]], [[Egyptologist]]. and traveller, and one of the most voluminous writers of the [[Near East]] in his time.

==Biography==
An interesting memoir of Abdallatif, written by himself, has been preserved with additions by Ibn Abu-Osaiba (Ibn abi Usaibia), a contemporary. From that work we learn that the higher education of the youth of Baghdad consisted principally in a minute and careful study of the rules and principles of [[grammar]], and in their committing to memory the whole of the ''[[Qur'an]]'', a treatise or two on [[philology]] and [[jurisprudence]], and the choicest Arabic poetry.

After attaining to great proficiency in that kind of learning, Abdallatif applied himself to [[natural philosophy]] and [[medicine]]. To enjoy the society of the learned, he went first to [[Mosul]] (1189), and afterwards to [[Damascus]]. With letters of recommendation from [[Saladin]]'s [[vizier]], he visited [[Egypt]], where he realized his wish to converse with [[Maimonides]], ''the Eagle of the Doctors''.

He afterwards formed one of the circles of learned men whom Saladin gathered around him at [[Jerusalem]]. He taught medicine and [[philosophy]] at [[Cairo]] and at Damascus for a number of years, and afterwards, for a shorter period, at [[Aleppo]].

His love of travel led him to visit different parts of [[Armenia]] and [[Asia Minor]] in his old age. Also, he was in the process of setting out on a [[hajj|pilgrimage]] to [[Mecca]] when he died at Baghdad.

==''Account of Egypt''==
Abdallatif was undoubtedly a man of great knowledge and of an inquisitive and penetrating mind. Of the numerous works (mostly on medicine) which Osaiba ascribes to him, one only, his graphic and detailed ''Account of Egypt'' (in two parts), appears to be known in [[Europe]].

===Egyptology===
This work was one of the earliest works on [[Egyptology]]. It contains a vivid description of a [[famine]] caused, during the author's residence in Egypt, by the [[Nile]] failing to overflow its banks. He also wrote detailed descriptions on [[Ancient Egyptian architecture|ancient Egyptian monuments]].<ref>Dr. Okasha El Daly (2005), ''Egyptology: The Missing Millennium: Ancient Egypt in Medieval Arabic Writings'', [[University College London|UCL Press]], ISBN 1844720632. ([[cf.]] [http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=481 Arabic Study of Ancient Egypt], Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation.)</ref>

===Autopsy===
Al-Baghdadi wrote that during the famine in Egypt in [[597 AH]] ([[1200]] AD), he had the opportunity to [[observe]] and [[examine]] a large number of [[skeleton]]s. This was one of the earliest examples of a postmortem [[autopsy]], through which he discovered that [[Galen]] was incorrect regarding the formation of the [[bone]]s of the lower [[jaw]] and [[sacrum]].<ref>Emilie Savage-Smith (1996), "Medicine", in Roshdi Rashed, ed., ''[[Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science]]'', Vol. 3, p. 903-962 [951]. [[Routledge]], London and New York.</ref>

===Translation===
The Arabic manuscript was discovered in 1665 by [[Edward Pococke]] the [[orientalist]], and preserved in the [[Bodleian Library]]. He then published the Arabic manuscript in the 1680s. His son, Edward Pococke the Younger, translated the work into [[Latin]], though he was only able to publish less than half of his work. Thomas Hunt attempted to publish Pococke's complete translation in 1746, though his attempt was unsuccessful.<ref>G. J. Toomer (1996), ''Eastern Wisedome and Learning: The Study of Arabic in Seventeenth-Century England'', pp. 272-273, [[Oxford University Press]], ISBN 0198202911.</ref> Pococke's complete Latin translation was eventually published by Professor Joseph White of [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] in 1800. The work was then translated into [[French language|French]], with valuable notes, by [[Silvestre de Sacy]] in 1810.<ref>G. J. Toomer (1996), ''Eastern Wisedome and Learning: The Study of Arabic in Seventeenth-Century England'', p. 275, [[Oxford University Press]], ISBN 0198202911.</ref>

==Medical works==
===''Al-Mukhtarat fi al-Tibb''===
Al-Baghdadi's ''Mukhtarat fi al-Tibb'' was one of the earliest works on [[hirudotherapy]]. He introduced a more modern use for [[medicinal leech]], stating that leech could be used for cleaning the [[Tissue (biology)|tissues]] after [[Surgery|surgical]] operations. He did, however, understand that there is a risk over using [[leech]], and advised patients that leech need to be cleaned before being used and that the dirt or dust "clinging to a leech should be wiped off" before application. He further writes that after the leech has sucked out the blood, [[salt]] should be "sprinkled on the affected part of the human body."<ref>Nurdeen Deuraseh, "Ahadith of the Prophet (s.a.w) on Healing in Three Things (al-Shifa’ fi Thalatha): An Interpretational", ''Jounal of the International Society for the History of Islamic Medicine'', 2004 (3): 14-20 [18].</ref>

===''Medicine from the Book and the Life of the Prophet''===
He wrote a book called ''Al-Tibb min al-Kitab wa-al-Sunna'' (''Medicine from the Book and the Life of the Prophet'') describing the [[Islamic medicine|Islamic medical]] practices from the time of [[Muhammad]].<ref name=Prophet>[http://tabsir.net/?p=211 The Prophet’s Medicine: Part One]</ref>

===Diabetes===
Al-Baghdadi was also the author of a major book dealing with [[diabetes]].<ref name=Prophet/>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{Wikisource1911Enc|Abdallatif}}
*{{1911}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Latif}}
[[Category:1162 births]]
[[Category:1231 deaths]]
[[Category:Iraqi people]]
[[Category:People from Baghdad]]
[[Category:Iraqi writers]]
[[Category:Iraqi educators]]
[[Category:Iraqi physicians]]
[[Category:Egyptologists]]
[[Category:Arab physicians]]
[[Category:Arab scientists]]

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[[ru:Абдул-Латиф (арабский учёный)]]
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