The Pole of Medicine in the History of Science of Islam and Iran

Qutb od-Din Shirāzi is one of the few Iranian scientists who has managed to get closer to Avicenna’s place in the integrity of the rational sciences and also combination of medical research and philosophy.Tuhfe-ie Sa’die, written in Arabic language, is a report of his reading the commentaries on Law along with his discussions with his contemporary masters and scientists, and his many contemplations. Writing Tuhfe-ie Sa’die, he first of all provides a short piece of the original text of the Law, and then follows to point out different views, especially those thathave lapse in interpreting the text. Finally he presents his own point of view. Sometimes he agrees with one or more commentators’ opinion, and sometimes he rejects all the other opinions and gives his final perspective. In the present paper, the author has tried to use Tuhfe-ie Sa’die text, its introduction in particular, in order to acquaint the reader with Qutb od-Din Shirāzi’s research method, especially his medical research. Regarding this, firstly, he is going to provide a short biography of Qutb od-Din Shirāzi in chronological order, and talks about some of his characteristics. Then, he is going to explore why Qutb od-Din chose Avicenna’s Law to explicate. The other issues which are going to be discussed here include the features of Avicenna’s Law, and the other commentaries on Law which were written after Tuhfe-ie Sa’die. In the last part, the author is going to present an outlook on Tuhfe-ie Sa’die.