Galen, De diebus decretoriis, from Greek into Arabic (Medicine in the Medieval Mediterranean)

This book presents the first edition, translation, and study of Hunayn ibn Ishaq's Arabic translation of the Galenic treatise De diebus decretoriis (kitab ayyam al-buhran Concerning the Critical Days).There is currently a resurgence of interest among physicians in the ancient art of medical prognosis. Galen was one ancient thinker who gave most eloquent and coherent expression to the theory and practice of prognosis, and the Critical Days has been one of the most influential texts on the subject through the ages. But as it is unavailable in any modern language, neither its contents nor its significance can be accessed or assessed by non-specialists. In addition, scholars of ancient medicine with increasing frequency refer to the Critical Days in their work, but often they do not clearly understand the entire argument of the treatise, or its significance in the history of the discipline. The present translation and study will make this key work of ancient medicine available to modern scholarship.Furthermore, the present volume will contribute to the study of the formation of the Arabic scientific and philosophical vocabulary by providing fresh lexical material in the fields of medicine, astrology, and general science. The great translator responsible for this translation, Hunayn ibn Ishaq, who contributed as much as anyone to the availability of Greek texts in Arabic, left a tremendous mark on the lexicon in medieval, and ultimately modern, Arabic. In the commentary to this proposed edition Critical Days, laymen and specialists alike may obtain a glimpse of Hunayn at work in his painstakingly accurate efforts to render Galenic medicine into Arabic. This study will permit further assessment of Hunayn's pivotal role in the intellectual history of the Islamic world.Cooper, Glen M. is the author of 'Galen, De diebus decretoriis, from Greek into Arabic (Medicine in the Medieval Mediterranean)', published 2011 under ISBN 9780754656340 and ISBN 0754656349.