The Commentary on Anatomy in Avicenna's Canon is a manuscript written in the 13th century by the Arab physician Ibn al-Nafis. The manuscript was discovered in 1924 in the archives of the Prussian State Library in Berlin, Germany.[1] It contains the earliest descriptions of the coronary circulation and pulmonary circulation systems.[1] The manuscript records Ibn Nafis' prediction of the existence of the capillaries which he described as perceptible passages (manafidh) between pulmonary artery and pulmonary vein. These passages would later be identified by Marcello Malpighi as capillaries.[2][3]
Latin translation
The manuscript was translated into Latin by the Italian physician Andrea Alpago,[4] In 1520, Alpago returned to Padua with a Latin translation of the commentary, after living in the Arabian Peninsula for 30 years.[5]
When he (Ibn al-Nafis) was only 29, he published his most important work, the Commentary on Anatomy in Avicenna's Canon, which included his ground-breaking views on the pulmonary circulation and heart
{{Commentary by Dr. (Ibn al-Nafis regarding the Canon of Avicenna is well documented.}} Many scholars recognize this polymath as the discoverer of the pulmonary circulation.
^Bosmia, Anand; Watanabe, Koichi; Shoja, Mohammadali M.; Loukas, Marios; Tubbs, R. Shane (2013). "Michael Servetus (1511–1553): Physician and heretic who described the pulmonary circulation". International Journal of Cardiology. 167 (2): 318–321. doi:10.1016/j.ijcard.2012.06.046. PMID22748500. "It is possible that Al-Nafis' book was known in 16th century Europe, for Andrea Alapago returned from thirty years in Arabia to Padua in 1520 with a Latin translation of the commentary
