Ibn Juljul’s Generations of Physicians and Sages

Ibn Juljul’s Generations of Physicians and Sages is a fine addition to the Near and Middle Eastern Studies in the “Handbook of Oriental Studies” Series. This 173rd volume in the series presents an annotated translation of a work that is a goldmine of information about some of the greatest physicians and philosophers of Islam . Its English version provides access to short bio-bibliographical notes on fifty-seven persons whom Abū Ayyūb Sulaymān ibn Ḥusayn, commonly known as Ibn Julul (b .332/943 or 944), arranges in nine ṭabaqāt (generations or, more broadly, classes) . Following Manfred Ullmann, Kahl credits the application of the ṭabaqāt genre to the history of medicine to Ibn Juljul in his well-written 30-page “Introduction” (p. 14).