Unveiling al-Isfār ʽan ḥukm al-asfār: Structural Analysis of a Fifteenth-Century Medical Manual for Travellers

Abstract

ABSTRACT Around the middle of the ninth/fifteenth century, the Egyptian court physician Maḥmūd ibn Aḥmad Muẓaffar al-Dīn al-‘Ayntābī, also known as Ibn al-Amshāṭī (812/1409–902/1496), compiled a short health-guide for travellers dedicated to a prominent member of the Mamlūk administration, Muḥammad al-Juhanī al-Bārizī (796/1394–856/1452). As mentioned in its incipit, the scope of the booklet, entitled al-Isfār ʽan ḥukm al-asfār, was to accompany al-Bārizī in the pilgrimage to Mecca and provide him with the medical information necessary to keep healthy and cure sickness during the journey. By analysing the structure and contents of the unedited manuscript of this “provision for travellers”, this article discusses how Ibn al-Amshāṭī, mostly engaged with scholarly works, collected, organized and adapted scientific knowledge in a booklet for a non-professional readership. By looking into this process of knowledge transmission and adaptation, this article seeks to contribute to the re-evaluation of Mamlūk literary heritage.