Ibn Butlan

'''Abū 'l-Ḥasan al-Muḫtār Yuwānnīs ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbdūn ibn Saʿdūn ibn Buṭlān ( ; – 8 Šauwāl 458 AH or 2 September 1066), commonly known as Ibn Buṭlān ( ), was an Arab physician and Christian theologian. Born in Baghdad, the erstwhile capital city of the Abbasid Caliphate, he travelled throughout Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, and Anatolia, during which time he practiced medicine, studied, wrote, and engaged in intellectual debates—most famously the Battle of the Physicians'''}} with the Egyptian polymath Ibn Riḍwān. In 1054, he was in Constantinople, the capital city of the Byzantine Empire, where he witnessed first-hand the East–West Schism among Christendom, contributing a work to the discussions surrounding it for Michael I Cerularius, who was serving as the Patriarch of Constantinople. After his time in Constantinople, Ibn Buṭlān remained in the Byzantine Empire and eventually became a monk for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch amidst the end of the Macedonian Renaissance.

He is most renowned for his work ''Taqwīm aṣ-Ṣiḥḥa'' ( , ), a handbook on dietetics and hygiene.}} It was named for its intricate tables, similar to those found within a (, ), a type of astrological almanac.}} He was the first person to use these tables in a non-astrological work, creating a new scientific writing format that may be seen as the main influence for works like a medical work}} by the Arab physician Ibn Ǧazla and by the Kurdish geographer and historian Abū 'l-Fidāʾ. a geographical work}} () by , the () by , and the () by the Georgian physician . A non-medical work using format would be for example Ibn Abī'r-Rabīʿ's . () a mirror for princes. Additionally cites a number of works which also have adopted this scientific writing format invented by Ibn Buṭlān.}} Translations of ''Taqwīm aṣ-Ṣiḥḥa'' into Latin are preserved in many manuscripts from the early modern period, and are thought to illustrate the relationship between medieval Europe and the Arab world in the field of medicine. Despite increased European contact with Egypt and Syria through the Crusades and trade into the 16th century, there are no Latin translations of Arabic medical texts after Ibn Buṭlān's era.

Although he lived during a period when non-Muslims—the so-called People of the Pact,}} who were originally Jews, Christians, and Sabians—dominated the medical profession in the Arab world,.}} Ibn Buṭlān is noteworthy for being one of only a few non-Muslim physicians from the region about whom enough is known to paint a detailed biography. Documents like the Cairo Geniza, a collection of Jewish manuscript fragments, provide scientific records about the medical practices of such physicians, but lack reliable information outside of that to create detailed biographies about them and to describe their perception and role within society, thus proving Ibn Buṭlān as an important exception. Provided by Wikipedia