Nur al-Oyun

• Persian Title: نورالعیون
• Transliterated Title (ALA-LC): Nūr al-ʿUyūn
• English Title: Light of the Eyes
• Author: Abū Rūḥ Muḥammad ibn Manṣūr ibn Abī ʿAbdallāh al-Jurjānī al-Yamānī, known as Zarrīn-Dast (5th century A.H.)
• Editor: Yūsuf Beg Bābāpūr, under the supervision of Mahdī Muḥaqqiq
• Language: Persian
• ISBN: 978-203-600-054-2
• Publication Year: 2012
• Pages: 841
• Format: PDF
• Category: Science and Technology
• Miras Maktoob Collection Code: 244

【Summary】

Nūr al-ʿUyūn is the earliest known Persian work devoted entirely to ophthalmology. It was composed by Abū Rūḥ Muḥammad al-Jurjānī al-Yamānī—also known as Zarrīn-Dast (“Golden-Handed”) and al-Muʿālij (“the Physician”)—who served as court physician to the Seljuk ruler Malikshāh (r. 465–485 A.H.). The work was completed in 480 A.H. and dedicated to Malikshāh.

The treatise is organized into ten chapters and draws upon the accumulated medical knowledge of earlier authorities, supplemented by the author’s own clinical experience. Modeled in a question-and-answer format inspired by the works of Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq, the book was written as an instructional guide and explicitly addressed to the author’s son.

One of the most significant sections is the seventh chapter, which focuses on surgical ophthalmology. Here, the author discusses eye diseases treatable by surgery, detailing surgical techniques as well as the instruments employed. As such, Nūr al-ʿUyūn constitutes a foundational source for the history of Islamic medicine and provides invaluable insight into medieval ophthalmological practice in the Persian-speaking world.