Taba’e al-Heyvan (2 vols.)

• Arabic Title: طبائع الحیوان (2جلد)
• Transliterated Title: Ṭabāʾiʿ al-Ḥayawān
• English Title: The Natures of Animals (2 vols.)
• Author: Sharaf al-Zamān Ṭāhir al-Marwazī (alive in 523 A.H. / 1128 CE)
• Editor: Yūsuf al-Hādī (critical edition based on three manuscripts; indexes compiled)
• Language: Arabic
• ISBN: 978-600-203-187-7 (set)
• Publication Year: 2020
• Pages: 920
• Format: PDF
• Category: Sciences and Techniques
• Miras Maktoob Collection Code: 333

【Summary】

Ṭabāʾiʿ al-Ḥayawān is a major medical and zoological compendium by Sharaf al-Zamān al-Marwazī. Beyond veterinary and human medicine, the work assembles a wide range of knowledge, presenting the author’s personal clinical observations alongside the latest medieval developments in pathology, anatomy, and pharmacology.

Al-Marwazī draws extensively on Greek medicine, including the works of Hippocrates and Galen, as well as Islamic medical authorities such as Ibn Rabbān al-Ṭabarī and Ibn Sīnā. While many of these sources are known, the text also preserves references to otherwise lost or little-known works.

Structured into five books, the work further contains valuable geographical information on major world regions, often citing early sources—some now lost—making these sections especially significant. Among the referenced works are Masālik wa Mamālik traditions and materials attributed to al-Jayhānī and astronomer-geographers; al-Marwazī’s accounts function as supplements to classics such as Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam, Zayn al-Akhbār, and several writings of al-Bīrūnī.

The book offers detailed discussions of animals, combining citations from al-Jāḥiẓ and Aristotle with the author’s own observations. It also preserves important historical, social, and anthropological information, particularly regarding the Seljuk court and al-Marwazī’s travels across diverse regions, rendering the work a multifaceted source for medieval science and culture.