Al-Urjūza fī al-ṭibb — Poem on Medicine
AuthorIbn Sīnā (Avicenna)
TraditionPersian / Arabic
Edition Note1,326 verses of didactic medical poetry in rajaz meter by the greatest polymath of the Islamic Golden Age.
Historical Library
Physician poetry from many centuries
Read verse by physicians and about medicine, in sources from about 1350 to the nineteenth century. Search the editions, or start from a curated work.
Poet Doctor studies physician writing from about 1350 to today as evidence of how each era understood medical fact and medical ethics. We compare eras, including our own, knowing that today's views will also be revised, and we ask what, if anything, connects them.
Published Books Timeline
Showing all published books.
- 1350Le Regime du corpsAldobrandino of Siena
- 1477De viribus herbarumMacer Floridus (traditionally Odo of Meung)
- 1547In interpretationem Galeni super quatuordecim aphorismos Hippocratis dialogusDonatus a Mutiis
- 1561PoemataPetrus Lotichius Secundus
- 1561Sanitatis tuendae methodusGeorg Pictorius
- 1574Icones veterum aliquot, ac recentium medicorum, philosophorumque elegiolis suis editaeJoannes Sambucus (Janos Zsamboky)
- 1622Nicandri Theriaca, interprete Ioannis Gorraeo parisiensiNicander; Jean de Gorris
- 1649Coena, sive De cibariorum virtutibusBattista Fiera
- 1679Mikrokosmographia Metrica, sive Humani Corporis HistoriaLorenz Strauss
- 1700Three Arabic rajaz medical poems in MS Arabic 129 part 2Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Makki
- 1815La Luciniade du docteur SacombeJean-Francois Sacombe
- 1826Aegidii Corboliensis carmina medicaAegidius Corboliensis
- 1874Le Parnasse médical françaisAchille Chéreau
All published books are listed below.
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1350 / Medieval / Old French
Le Regime du corps
An Old French regimen of health and bodily care, excerpted from Wellcome MS 546, ff. 1r-21r
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1477 / Renaissance / Latin
De viribus herbarum
A Latin herbal poem on the powers of plants
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1547 / Renaissance / Latin
In interpretationem Galeni super quatuordecim aphorismos Hippocratis dialogus
A dialogue on Galen's interpretation of fourteen Hippocratic aphorisms
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1561 / Renaissance / Latin
Sanitatis tuendae methodus
Latin verse regimens for preserving health
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1574 / Renaissance / Latin
Icones veterum aliquot, ac recentium medicorum, philosophorumque elegiolis suis editae
Portraits of physicians and philosophers with elegiac poems
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1622 / Early Modern / Ancient Greek and Latin
Nicandri Theriaca, interprete Ioannis Gorraeo parisiensi
Greek toxicological poems with Jean de Gorris's Latin translation and commentary
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1649 / Early Modern / Latin
Coena, sive De cibariorum virtutibus
A Latin medical dinner poem with notes on diet and natural history
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1679 / Early Modern / Latin
Mikrokosmographia Metrica, sive Humani Corporis Historia
A Latin verse anatomy of the human body
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1700 / Early Modern / Arabic
Three Arabic rajaz medical poems in MS Arabic 129 part 2
Medical verse from Wellcome MS Arabic 129
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1815 / Nineteenth Century / French
La Luciniade du docteur Sacombe
A French didactic poem on childbirth and obstetrics
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1826 / Medieval / Latin
Aegidii Corboliensis carmina medica
A Latin critical edition of medieval medical poems
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1874 / Nineteenth Century / French
Le Parnasse médical français
The only known English translation of Achille Chéreau's 1874 dictionary of French physician-poets.
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Reference Points
Landmark works of physician verse from ten centuries and several languages. These are collection context, not all finished Poet Doctor editions.
Physician-Poetry Across World Traditions
These archives and collections hold poetry by physicians from many traditions, from Ibn Sina's Arabic medical verse to Sanskrit Ayurvedic compendiums, the School of Salerno, and contemporary medical humanities.
Arabic & Islamic
- NLM Islamic Medical Manuscripts — Medical PoetryIbn Sina's Poem on Medicine, poems on pulse, urine, eye diseases, and bloodletting.
- Wellcome Arabic Manuscripts OnlineArabic manuscripts, including commentaries on Avicenna's medical poetry.
- Yale Arabic & Persian Medical ManuscriptsWorks by Avicenna and al-Razi from the Cushing/Whitney Medical Historical Library.
Latin & Neo-Latin
- CAMENA Neo-Latin CorpusNeo-Latin poetry in TEI XML, including physician-humanist writers.
- Fracastoro, Syphilis sive morbus gallicusThe Latin poem that named syphilis.
- Regimen Sanitatis SalernitanumThe most famous medieval medical poem: rhyming Latin verse on health from the School of Salerno.
- Warwick Neo-Latin Texts DirectoryDigital collections of Neo-Latin texts, including medical and botanical treatises.
French
- Chéreau, Le Parnasse Médical FrançaisA foundational dictionary of French physician-poets, also available through Gallica.
- Medic@ (BIU Santé, Paris)Digitized medical-historical documents and databases.
Indian & Ayurvedic
- e-Charaka SamhitaA foundational Ayurvedic text in Sanskrit verse, with English translation.
- e-Sushruta SamhitaThe surgical compendium of ancient Ayurveda.
Chinese
- CUHK Chinese Medicine TextsAncient Chinese medical texts, many using songs, odes, and rhymed forms as memory aids.
English & German
- Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.Complete poetical works of the American physician-poet.
- Keats-Shelley House ManuscriptsAutograph manuscripts of John Keats, who trained as a surgeon-apothecary before becoming a poet.
- Deutsches TextarchivHistorical German texts, including Schiller, the military surgeon turned poet.
Major Archives
- Wellcome CollectionHealth, medicine, and culture collections across formats.
- Source Library Medicine CollectionLaunched June 4, 2026, with primary sources for the history of medicine.
- Medical Heritage LibraryOpen-access history of medicine texts.
- The Casebooks ProjectA model digital edition of medical-astrological consultations.
- Perseus / Scaife ViewerThe Hippocratic corpus and Galen in Greek, with reading tools for classical medicine.
Contemporary
- JAMA Poetry and MedicinePoems published in JAMA's medical humanities pages.
- LitMed (NYU)Annotated works at the intersection of literature, arts, and medicine.