ʿAmmār b. ʿAlī al-Mawṣilī - Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE
[Article]
Savage-Smith, Emilie
Leiden
Brill
(950 words)
ʿAmmār b. ʿAlī al-Mawṣilī was an important early fifth/eleventh-century Cairene oculist. Little is known of his life or education except what can be gleaned from his only composition, Kitāb al-muntakhab fī ʿilm al-ʿayn ("The book of choice in ophthalmology"). Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa (d. 668/1270) provides the only medieval biographical note: ʿAmmār b. ʿAlī al-Mawṣilī was a famous oculist (kaḥḥāl) and well-known practitioner (muʿālij) , experienced in the treatment of eye diseases and skilled with procedures using the knife. He travelled to Egypt and