| Ali Ibn Radwan | |
| Birth Date: | 988 |
| Birth Place: | Giza, now Egypt |
| Death Date: | 1061 (aged 73) |
| Death Place: | Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate, now Iraq |
| Occupation: | Physician, Astrologer, Astronomer |
| Nationality: | Arab, Egyptian |
| Notableworks: | Commentator of Galen's Tetrabiblos, Commentator of Ancient Greek Medicine, De revolutionibus nativitatum, Tractatus de cometarum significationibus per xii signa zodiaci, On the Prevention of Bodily Ills in Egypt, Detailed of Supernova SN 1006 |
Abu'l Hassan Ali ibn Radwan Al-Misri (c. 988 - c. 1061) was an Arab[1] of Egyptian origin who was a physician, astrologer and astronomer, born in Giza.
He was a commentator on ancient Greek medicine, and in particular on Galen; his commentary on Galen's Ars Parva was translated by Gerardo Cremonese. However, he is better known for providing the most detailed description of the supernova now known as SN 1006, the brightest stellar event in recorded history, which he observed in the year 1006.[2] This was written in a commentary on Ptolemy's work Tetrabiblos.
He was later cited by European authors as Hali, Haly, or Haly Abenrudian. According to Alistair Cameron Crombie[3] he also contributed to the theory of induction. He engaged in a celebrated polemic against another physician, Ibn Butlan of Baghdad.[4]
In "The Book of Medical Competence" he mentions the traits of the virtuous physician as the one who possesses the following seven characteristics:
1. He should be ethical, intelligent, with good vision, sane, and benevolent.
2. He should be clean and well-dressed.
3. He should treat patients' secrets as confidential, not revealing their illnesses.
4. His desire to cure patients should exceed his desire to profit from them; he should be more willing to cure the needy than the rich.
5. He should be eager to learn and help.
6. He should be pure of heart, honest, and not envious. Nothing about the wealth he has seen or the affairs of women should cross his mind.
7. He must be careful not to prescribe an untested potentially fatal medicine, or one that would cause abortion. He should cure his enemies as he would his loved ones.