Muvaffak
Illustration — Title page of al-Abniya 'an Haqa'iq al-Adwiya from an 11th-century manuscript Abū Manṣūr Muwaffaq Harawī (Arabic/Persian: أبو منصور موفق هروي) was a 10th-century Persian physician. He flourished in Herat (modern-day Afghanistan), under the Samanid prince Mansur I, who ruled from 961 to 976. He was apparently the first to think of compiling a treatise on materia medica in Persian; he travelled extensively in Persia and India to obtain the necessary information.
Also recorded as Abu Mansur Muwaffaq
Muvaffak
Public domain
- Born
- 1000 · Herat.
- Died
- 976
- Occupation
- writer · inventor · physician
- Languages
- Arabic
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Illustration — Title page of al-Abniya 'an Haqa'iq al-Adwiya from an 11th-century manuscript Abū Manṣūr Muwaffaq Harawī (Arabic/Persian: أبو منصور موفق هروي) was a 10th-century Persian physician. He flourished in Herat (modern-day Afghanistan), under the Samanid prince Mansur I, who ruled from 961 to 976. He was apparently the first to think of compiling a treatise on materia medica in Persian; he travelled extensively in Persia and India to obtain the necessary information.
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The book, al-Abniya
The book, al-Abniya
Abu Mansur distinguished between sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate, and seems to have had some knowledge about arsenious oxide, cupric oxide, silicic acid, and antimony; he knew the toxicological effects of copper and lead compounds, the depilatory vertue of quicklime, the composition of plaster of Paris, and its surgical use.
• Illustration — Kitab al-Abniya 'an Haqa'iq al-Adwiya excerpt from a 13th-15th century manuscript. Between 968 and 977 C.E., Muwaffaq compiled his Kitab al-Abniya 'an Haqa'iq al-Adwiya (Kitab al-Abniya 'an Haqa'iq al-Adwiya, کتاب الابنیه عن حقائق الادویه), which is the oldest prose work in New Persian. It is also the only work of his to survive into modern times. The book begins with an introductory general theory of pharmacology. The body of the work mainly deals with over five-hundred remedies (most of which are plant-based, however seventy-five come from minerals, and forty-four from animals); they are classified into four groups according to their physiological action. Muwaffaq was a consummate scholar, and cited Arab, Greek, Syrian and Ayurvedic authorities. The oldest copy of this book that we have is from 1055, which was transcribed by Asadi Tusi, a famous poet, and is in the Austrian National Library.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
976
Muvaffak died.
1000
Muvaffak born at Herat.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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