“Sharh ul-asbab va аl-Аlamat”

Before you is a manuscript copy of one of the renowned medical works of the Islamic East Sharh al-Asbab wa al-Alamat, or Commentary on the Causes and Symptoms of Diseases. The text is associated with the physician Burhan al-Din Nafis al-Kermani, who worked in Samarkand during the age of Mirzo Ulugh Beg.
The book is devoted to the diagnosis of illnesses, the description of symptoms, and methods of treatment. In the Islamic medical tradition, such works served as principal textbooks for the training of physicians, or hakims. They combined the classical heritage of Galen and Ibn Sina with the practical experience of Central Asian medicine.
The manuscript’s decoration is especially remarkable. Its binding is adorned with embossed ornament and medallions known as turunj. The opening pages preserve an illuminated frontispiece, or unwan, executed in rich blue and gold tones. Such decoration was typically reserved for prestigious scientific and religious manuscripts.
The text is written in a clear naskh script, highly suitable for extended reading and teaching. Marginal notes and annotations indicate that the manuscript was actively used in scholarly practice.
Most importantly, this copy was produced in the late seventeenth century more than two centuries after the time of Ulugh Beg. It demonstrates the remarkable continuity of the scientific traditions of the Timurid Renaissance in Central Asia.