Comprehensive Library of Medicine

About Comprehensive Library of Medicine

The Comprehensive Library of Medicine, in the field of traditional medicine, is a software that contains reliable medical sources and sources written by great Islamic and Iranian physicians.

The presence of writings by the greatest medical geniuses of Iran's past in this software is a source of pride and honor for us; because their medical collections, which were in fact derived from profound divine knowledge and human experiences, are the primary foundation of modern medicine; However, with the passage of time and the advancement of industry, the natural treatment methods that were the basis of the medicine of our ancestors have been forgotten, and in the words of the great researcher of traditional medicine, Dr. Seyyed Jalal Mostafavi, a crooked wall of medicine has been erected on that strong foundation.

He says about the value of the Sinai School of Medicine (natural and temperamental):

"With reference to the medical school of Ibn Sina... However, the realization of this great cause and the provision of this precious service are dependent and conditioned on proving to the esteemed readers, through logical and scientific arguments, that the science of medicine has gone astray for 450 years and has been a false science instead of a true science, but of course, in its historical course, step by step, it has also achieved progress and discoveries. As an analogy, it can be claimed with complete confidence that modern medicine, which began 450 years ago and was founded by Paracelsus, is built like a wall on a crooked foundation, as in:

If the architect lays the first brick crookedly, the wall will be crooked until the chandelier rises."[1]

We call this software the Comprehensive Library of Medicine (Traditional and Islamic); because it contains the largest number of first-hand and reference books on ancient medicine, and that too based on traditional medicine, which is in fact the same as temperamental medicine, and the adjective temperamental is the most appropriate word to be used after the word medicine; Because with a glance, we realize that the foundation of Iranian and Islamic medicine is based on temperament, and there are many reasons and evidence for this claim that should be discussed and examined in their place.

The high position of Iranian traditional medicine in the past sets a clear path for us so that by properly utilizing this valuable treasure, we can take effective steps in the field of health and treatment, which is one of the most basic needs of human societies. Regarding the role and impact of Iranian and Islamic traditional medicine in world medicine, we refer to the valuable material of the sage Dr. Seyyed Jalal Mostafavi Kashani:

"Dr. Gustave Le Bon writes:

"Until the 15th century, European scientists did not consider a statement that was not taken from Arab authors to be documented. Georges Bacon, Leonard Dupuis, Arnaud, Vilano, Raymond Lowell, Saint Thomas, Albert the Great, and Alphonse X were all either students of Arab scholars or transmitters of their sayings. Monsieur Renan wrote: "Albert the Great learned everything he had from Abu Ali Sina, and Saint Thomas derived all his philosophy from Ibn Rushd. For five to six hundred years, all the faculties and universities of Europe were based on these translations, and our knowledge was based solely on Muslim sciences, and in some fields of science, such as medicine, it can be said that this has continued to our time; for in France, the works of Abu Ali Sina remained until the end of the last century, and commentaries were written on them." In the August-September 1972 issue of the World Health Organization's "Hocronicle," an article by Dr. Norman Howard-Jones is included in the "History of Medicine" and writes about Ibn Sina as follows:

"The most important author of medical books in Islam is Abu Ali al-Hussein ibn Sina (born 980), whose name is called Avicenna in Latin, and his medical book is called the Qanun, and no book has ever been so famous; It was taught in the medical schools of Europe and Asia for 500 years.”

With such valuable documents, there is not the slightest doubt that Avicenna’s Canon was taught as a textbook for medical students throughout Europe for 500 years, simultaneously with its teaching in the vast Islamic countries. In order to provide tangible evidence in this regard, we quote the image of the cover page of a medical book that was taught in the medical schools of Europe in the 16th century, and we have adapted it from the book History of Medicine, written by two French scientists named Andre Hahn and Paul Dumaitre: Above the image, in Latin, is written Avicenne; meaning Avicenna; and below it is: Liber Cano; meaning Book of the Canon.”[2]

*Definition of medicine

The best definition that can be given for the knowledge of medicine is the comprehensive definition that Ibn Sina mentioned in the book "Law in Medicine":

"Indeed, good knowledge is known from the condition of the human body, from the direction of what is correct and what goes away from the correctness, in order to preserve the correctness. And it's returned to me"; "Medicine is the science by which the states of the human body in terms of health and its absence are known, and its purpose is to maintain existing health and to try to restore it when it is lost."

Therefore, the definition, the goal presented for medical science is to maintain health and restore it in case of illness; therefore, the restrictions that are put forward after the word medicine by different individuals and circles, are merely an indication of the school and method adopted to achieve this common goal. Medicine does not have a more specific definition, and it is common among all medical schools.

*Islamic Medicine

It is not correct to consider traditional medicine as Greek medicine; Because it is true that many great physicians were from Greece and Rome, and the role of Hippocrates' scientific works in medical knowledge, especially after their translation into Arabic, is beyond doubt, but Cyril Algoud's confession, which in the opening pages of his book "Historical Geography of the Lands of the Eastern Caliphate", indicates the introduction of the theory of the Four Pillars and the subsequent transformation of the Four Pillars from Iranian philosophy to Greek, itself indicates the influence of Iranian traditional medicine on Greece.

Therefore, traditional medicine, whether in terms of innovation or in terms of transmission from other civilizations and its growth and excellence in the Iranian medical school, indicates the fundamental and unique role of Iran and Islam in it and is known as Iranian and Islamic medicine.

General characteristics of the Comprehensive Medicine Library Software (Traditional and Islamic)

Library software is one of the most important offline products of the Islamic Sciences Computer Research Center Using a powerful and flexible search engine designed in the center, it enables the audience to search for the works and library resources they need by specifying various research domains through multilingual terminals.

The Medicine (Traditional and Islamic) Library Software contains the most important and valuable authoritative medical books formed throughout the history of Islamic civilization to the present era, which have been published in various formats (both modern and ancient). The temporal, linguistic, and geographical scope of the resources and information provided in this software is not limited to a specific era, language, or geographical region, but rather most of the resources that have been formed and reached us in the light of Islamic culture and civilization are included in this library software after research and refinement of the resources; therefore, the scope of the resources provided in this software ranges from the Islamic West (Andalus) to the Islamic East (India) in the era of Islamic civilization.

Objectives and Necessities of Implementing This Project

A) Key Objectives:

Collecting and presenting the valuable resources of "Traditional and Islamic Medicine and the Properties of Herbal, Animal and Mineral Medicines" in a digital environment;

Collecting and presenting medical and medicinal verses and narrations and creating a suitable environment for their adaptation and research;

Creating coherent search, adaptation and retrieval capabilities of the information and resources mentioned above, based on the general formatting of various text components.

B) Necessities:

Creating a suitable basis for research and theorizing in the field of "Traditional and Islamic Medicine and Medicines" and the history of traditional medicine;

Promoting first-hand works and resources of "Traditional and Islamic Medicine and the Properties of Medicines" related to the ancient and Islamic heritage, which are sometimes used by others under related titles. are offered to other nations and ethnic groups;

Further identification of Muslim scientists, pharmacists and doctors with emphasis on their works;

Consolidation of the contribution of Muslim scientists in the field of medicine and pharmaceuticals;

Increasing the contribution of "traditional medicine and herbal, animal and mineral medicines" in the per capita medicine and treatment of Muslim nations, especially Iranians.

Audience of this program

The audience of this software is:

1. Doctors and pharmacists;

2. Researchers in the history of science, especially the history of "traditional and Islamic medicine and herbal medicines";

3. Botanists, zoologists and mineralogists interested in the properties of herbal, animal and mineral medicines;

4. Researchers in Orientalism and Islamic studies;

5. Those interested in "traditional and Islamic medicine and herbal medicines";

6. Researchers in the field of ancient Persian culture and literature.

Content of this software

1- The library section, like other library programs of the center, has a text display and search menu, along with features such as: Quran, dictionary, etc., along with research tools.

This library includes the following collections:

Medical books (visual and typewritten), 906 book and treatise titles in 1200 parts with the following categories:

- Reference medical books;

- General medical books;

- Islamic medical books;

- Poetic medical books;

- Persian medical books;

- Arabic medical books;

- Urdu and English medical books;

- Books of rules and ethics Medicine;

- Medical terminology and vocabulary books;

- Picture books.

2- Dictionary section, extracting 51,388 medical terms and vocabulary from 69 traditional medicine books and 70,629 links between them and related texts.

3- Gallery section, displaying 9000 images in two topics:

A- Medicinal terms (in three sections: plant, animal and mineral) with scientific name, family, English name of plants and their other names in different languages ​​and dialects;

B- Anatomy and dissection (images of human organs based on the law of Bu Ali).

Software capabilities of this program

1- Providing complete texts in the form of an electronic library;

2- Providing Quranic and narrational sources with complete Arabic;

3- Researching texts through word lists, combined word searches and indexing;

4- Providing search answers at two levels: general "source address" and detailed "text display";

5- Providing a Quranic and general lexical dictionary Along with searching for derivatives and roots of words;

6- Access to text information based on a tree diagram of chapters and seasons of the text;

7- Linking all texts to the program's dictionaries;

8- Providing a list of medical terms and terms and the relationship of texts to them;

9- The ability to annotate, colorize text, mark and index text;

10- The ability to take notes