Revisiting a masterpiece of arab-islamic veterinary medicine: nacéri

Abstract

During medieval times, the Arab-Islamic civilization has astonished the world by its rapid success and expansion. We saw then a large number of written books reflecting the contribution of this civilization to universal knowledge.At first, the Arabs have translated the Greek, Persian and Hindu masterpieces. After, they left many original writings.

In the field of veterinary medicine, there are over one hundred writings on animals, diagnosis and treatment of their disease during the period from the 7^th to the 15^th century. A large majority of these writings was devoted to the horse because of the passion, love and concern that the Arabs have expressed to their companion in glory. Among the books which are world famous, both in Orient and Occident, one emerged: it is the treatise of hippiatry and hippology written by Abu BekrIbn Badr Al Baytar in 1333 AD / 733 AH. Abu Bekr was a veterinarian at the stables of the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt Mohammed En-NacerIbn Qualawun and he dedicated the book to the  Sultan (En-Nacer). That why the book was known as the Nacéri. The original title “Kâshif Hamm al-waylfîma’rifat ‘amrâd al-khayl“ fell into disuse.

The first translation from Arabic to French’s of the Nacéri was attempted by Dr. Perron (1798-1876), who was a director of the medical school of Cairo and edited from 1852 to 1860. This translation was published in three volumes by the publishing house Veuve Bouchard-Huzard in Paris. Although this first translation was not faithful to the original text, it had the great merit of making known, in the Occident first and then in the Orient, this significant work of arabic veterinary medicine of the 14th century. In 1991, Dr. Daccak, a Lebanese veterinarian, has published a new translation and critical study of the book of Abu Bekr based on multiple copies stored in various libraries in Europe and Middle East. His work has been published in two volumes in 1991 and 1996. The work done by Dr. Daccak is interesting because it has been annotated and  supplemented with comments and explanations of technical words to better understand the spirit of the original manuscript. More recently, a French veterinary thesis of DrHakimi from Alfort was devoted to the translation of the work of Abu BekrIbnBadr based on a manuscript preserved at the National Library of France.

The purpose of this paper is to present the work of Abu BekrIbnBadr Al Baytar through the original text and its various translations in order to increase awareness of veterinarians, doctors, researchers, professionals and horse lovers about the historical contribution of the Arab-Islamic civilization in the universal heritage of veterinary medicine.

1. Introduction

During the medieval period, the Arab-Islamic civilization has astonished the world by the rapidity of its success and its expansion. This civilization has contributed fully to universal knowledge through thousands of original books in different fields of knowledge. In the field of veterinary medicine, Moulé (1896) recorded over a hundred manuscripts, from the 7th to the 15th century, devoted to animalhusbandry and veterinary medicine. The majority of these manuscripts were devoted to the horse as an expression of full passion and love that the Arabs manifested for this noble animal. Among the books that are universally known, both in the Orient and the Occident, mention should be made to the treatise on hippiatry and hippology, known as the Nacéri, which was written by Abu BekrIbnBedr Al Baytar in 1333 AD/733 AH. This book has attracted the interest of historians, veterinarians and horse lovers. It was among the first books of Arab veterinary art to be translated into French and published in 3 volumes by the publishing house Veuve Bouchard-Huzard in Paris (Perron, 1852, 1859, 1860).

The aim of this article is to present the book of Abu BekrIbnBedr Al Baytar through its original text and its various translations and to increase awareness of veterinarians, doctors, researchers, professionals and horse lovers about the historical contribution of the Arab-Islamic civilization in the universal heritage of veterinary medicine in general and of equine veterinary medicine in particular.

2. The author

Little is known about the author. In fact, Abu BekrIbnBedr Ed-dine Al Baytar, died in 1343 AD/741 AH, and he was the official veterinarian assigned to the stables of the Mameluk Sultan of Egypt Mohammed En-NâcerSaïf Ed-dine IbnQualawûn. The book was written at the request of the Sultan and was dedicated to him by the author. This explains the name of the Nacéri that was given to the manuscript. The father of Abu Bekr, Bedr Ed-dine, was also a veterinarian.

The Mamluks reigned over Egypt from 1250 AD/ 648 AH to 1517 AD/923 AH. The reign of En-Nacer lasted 44 years and the work of Abu Bekr is a good example of the cultural and scientific life reached in Egypt at that time. The reign of En-Nacer, in spite of agitations and wars, was a brilliant period in Egypt history. This sultan took care of all forms of science and invited to his court philosophers, doctors and scientists of all disciplines (Perron, 1852).

What is the situation in the Muslim Occident during the first half of the 14th century? Morocco is under the reign of the Merinide dynasty (1248-1465) characterized by a flourishing manifestation of sciences, academic education and construction of several medersas. In Fez, the capital of the Merinides, there were about tenmedersas. In this region, famous scholars were contemporaries of Abu BekrIbnBedr Al Baytar. We can cite, for instance, IbnKhaldun (1332-1406), Ibn Al Khatib (1313-1374), and Ibn Battuta (1304-1377).

3. The Abu Bekr’s book

3.1 Copies:

Abu Bekr finished his manuscript in 1333 AD/ 733 AH. The original manuscript, written by the author’s hand, apparently exists in the Ahmad III library in Istanbul, Turkey. But unfortunately, no contemporary researcher has had access to this copy to study it for unknown reason. Table 1 lists the various copies of Abu Bekr’s manuscript in the eastern and western libraries. It is useful to recall that a copy has more value and will be considered more faithful to the original text when its copy date approaches 1333 AD/733AH which corresponds to the date when Abu Bekr finished his work.

Table 1. Copies of Abu Bekr’s manuscript kept in major libraries and categorized by year of copying (according to Daccak, 1991).

3.2. The title:

The title given by the author to his work is Kâshif Hamm al-waylfîma’rifat ‘amrâd al-khayl(the discoverer of the importance of evils in relation to the knowledge of the diseases of horses). This title is mentioned in the manuscript book preserved at the National Library of France, Paris, which is dated back to 1471 AD (Fig.1) and also in the copy of Cairo dated back to1459 AD. However, for unknown reasons, the original title will be abandoned by the copyists and will be replaced by “Kamil as-saina’atayn al-baytarawaaz-zartaqah”, which means the perfection of both arts: hippiatry and hippology. This title is that of another book on the same subject and written by Mohamed IbnAkhiHizam in the 9th century during the Abbasside period. Abu Bekr mentioned the manuscript of IbnAkhiHizam as a bibliographical source in his work. The French translators will follow the copyists and will adopt the new denomination while adding the name of Nacéri. Thus, we find several versions of the title in French: 1 / TheNacéri: the perfection of the two arts or a complete treatise on hippology and hippiatry (Perron, 1852, Daccak, 1991) or the Nacéri: The complete treatise of the two arts in veterinary medicine (Hakimi 2004, Hakimi and Degueurce, 2006).

3.3. The sources:

It is Abu Bekr himself who specified in the introduction of his work the written sources used but unfortunately without indicating the title. These were Greek sources of Aristotle, Galen, Hermes, Hippocrate as well as Persian and Hindu sources. For Arab sources, Abu Bekr cited two authors. The first is Abu Yussef. It could have been Abu Yussef at-tifâchî who lived in the 7th century. The second is Mohamed IbnAkhiHizam who lived in the 9th century. In addition to the written sources, Abu Bekr pointed out that he also based his work on his own experience and his father’s as veterinary practitioners (My father told me….).

4. Translations of the book

4.1. Dr. Perron’s translation:

Dr. Perron was director of the Cairo School of Medicine in Egypt during the second half of the 19th century. The translation of Perron was published at the request of the French Ministry of the Interior, Agriculture and Commerce, in three volumes in 1852, 1859 and 1860 respectively by publishing house Veuve Bouchard-Huzard in Paris. The translation of Perron was based on the copy dated back to 1667 AD in the Paris library. It enabled the Western world, and French speaking countries in particular, to know and appreciate the work of Abu Bekr. However, there were several anomalies in the translation. First, it is not a linear and faithful translation of the original work. Moreover, the translator repeatedly added personal comments that he included in the corpus of the text. Finally, the tenth exhibition dealing with horseshoeing was omitted(Daccak, 1991).

4.2. Dr. Daccak’s translation.

The translation of Dr. Perron lasted for more than a century. In 1991, Dr. Daccak, a Lebanese veterinary laureate of the Alfort Veterinary School in Paris, published a new translation and critical edition of Abu Bekr’s work based on, and comparing, several copies kept in the libraries of Cairo, Baghdad, Mecca, Paris, Berlin and Vienna. His work was published in 2 volumes in 1991 and 1996 respectively (Fig.2). The first volume is devoted to the first four exhibitionsand the second to the last six. As we will see later, Abu Bekr divided his book into 10 major exhibitions. The work done by Dr. Daccak is very interesting because it has been annotated with linguistic and technical comments and explanations to better understand the spirit of the original work.

4.3. The translation of Dr. Hakimi and Dr. Degueurce.

In 2004, Dr. Hakimi, chose for his veterinary doctoral thesis as a topic the translation into French of Abu Bekr’s work. His work was supervised by DrDegueurce, veterinarian and professor of anatomy at the veterinary school of Alfort in Paris. The thesis was recently published in extenso by Errance publisher in Paris. The copy used for this translation is the one deposited in the National Library of France dating from 1471 AD/875 AH. This translation, bringing together the efforts of a veterinarian, whose mother tongue is Arabic, and a professor of anatomy is very pleasant to read and makes it possible to restore, for the people who do not master the Arabic language, the different facets of the original work.

5. Contents of Abu Bakr’s book

5.1. Overview :

AbûBekr organized his work into 10 exhibitions (maqâlât). Each exhibition is subdivided into chapters (abwab). The first four exhibitions are devoted to hippology or az-zartaqah among the Arabs. Az-zartaqa deals with the knowledge of the horse, its exterior, its breeding and especially its dressage. The medical notion is almost absent in az-zartaqah. The other 5 exhibitions deal with hippiatry or equine veterinary medicine or al-baytara in Arabic. It should be remembered that among the Arabs Albaytara was mainly directed towards the practice of equine veterinary medicine. It does include general notions about the horse (dress, exterior, vices of behavior) but the equine pathology aspect is preponderant. It is a description of the symptoms of horse diseases, diagnostic methods, and medical and surgical treatment processes. The tenth and last exhibition is devoted to horseshoeing. The title and number of chapters of all exhibitions are summarized in Table 2.

Table 2: The ten exhibitions of Abu Bekr’s book (According to Daccak, 1991, Hakimi, 2004)

5.2. Some examples:

It would be difficult to describe in detail the whole book of Abu Bekr. We shall confine ourselves to two examples in order to give an idea of the extent of the contents of the work of Abu Bekr. The first relates to the code of ethics of the veterinarian and the second to treatment of uterine prolapse in mare.

A- Veterinary ethics: Abu Bekr addresses this issue in Exhibition 6, Chapter 2. He outlines the main personal, behavioral, moral and technical qualities that a veterinarian must have. This chapter can be summarized in 8 points cited below. It is easy to notice that Abu Bekr begins with the respect that should be given to the teacher and the trainer. It goes through a religious question that is quite understandable in the context of that time. He insists on the honesty and probity of the veterinarian before giving us at the end (points 6, 7 and 8) a sort of technical reference system of skills that a veterinarian (albaytar) must absolutely have:

1. To be grateful to teachers.
2. Toe be respectful of religion especially prayer.
3. To be sincere and honest in advice.
4. Do not seek to have a fee from the poor.
5. Do not unnecessarily treat an incurable disease.
6. To know the therapeutics.
7. To know the treatment of wounds.
8. To master the blood letting.

B- Treatment of uterine prolapse. This question is addressed by Abu Bekr in Exhibition 8, Chapter 16. He described the treatment of such disease as follows:

1 Lay the mare to the ground and turn it over on the back.

2. Rinse the matrix with water with chamomile and sweet clover until the matrix is released.
3. Put back the uterus in its place.
4. Suture the entire vulva and leave only enough space for urination.
5. Rest for 7 days.
6. Wash the uterus with bark of pomegranate boiled in syrup

At this stage, one question arises. Would Abu Bekr’s book deserve the term masterpiece? We think the answer is yes. We will limit ourselves to two opinions that we believe are relevant.

The first is that of DrMoulé (1896), a veterinarian with deep knowledge of the history of veterinary medicine, who said of Abu Bekr “The fact that he added to the legacy of the past the observations of his immediate predecessors, his contemporaries and his own is not contestable; But his book is truly original only when it deals with the conformation and appreciation of the horse, dressage, paces, harness, and horseshoeing. These chapters abound in interesting and persistent observations on the choice of breeders, knowledge of the age and ruses of horse dealers, vicious instincts and the means of correcting them, training, the beauties of the regions and the whole animal, defects, color, marks and genealogy of famous horses “.

The second is the opinion of Dr. Hakimi and Dr. Degueurce (2006) who conclude in their translation of Abu Bekr’s book, as a critical and evaluation point, that “it is particularly striking to note the subtlety of certain diagnoses, and although it is too long to enumerate all that the text contains pertinent semiological distinctions … … everything shows how far this treaty is superior to those drafted in the West at the same time like the treaties of JordanusRuffus (1250 AD) and LaurenzoRusio (1340 AD). The European contemporaries of Abu Bekr were practically limited to the skin care of the animal and they paid very little attention to internal diseases”.

In conclusion, we can say that studying the history of veterinary medicine in general makes it possible to elucidate the evolution of a millennial profession. The contribution of the Arab-Islamic civilization in this field can be appreciated by the study, criticism and translation of the original books. The example of the Nacéri shows that there is still matter to seek and to perfect. The translation into other languages (English for example) would be more than appreciable to make known the works of the past for the future generations.

6. Bibliographie

1. Daccak A. 1991 et 1996. Traduction et édition critique de l’œuvre d’Abû Bekr Ibn Bedr Al Baytâr : le Nâcéri (French), 2 volumes, Beyrouth, Lebanon.
2. Hakimi, M.M. 2004. Traduction du traité complet des deux arts en médecine vétérinaire : Hippologie et hippiatrie, le Nâcéri (French). Thesis in veterinary medicine.Alfort national school of veterinary medicine, France.
3. Hakimi et Degueurce, 2006. Hippologie et médecine du cheval en terre d’islam au XIVe siècle : Le traité des deux arts en médecine vétérinaire dit le Nâceri (French), Errance Publications, France.
4. Moulé L. 1896. Histoire de la médecine vétérinaire (French). Maule, Doumenc& Cie, Paris, France.
5. Perron M. 1852, 1859, 1860. Le Nâcéri : la perfection des deux arts ou traité complet d’hippologie et d’hippiatrie arabes (French). Veuve Bouchard-Huzard Publications, 3 volumes, Paris, France.