Khalifa Ben Abi Al-Mahassin

Khalifa Ben Abi Al-Mahassin (13th century) of Aleppo, who is the author of a large work of 564 pages in which he describes and gives drawings of various surgical instruments including 36 instruments for eye surgery. He is known to us through his work containing 250 pp on eye surgery; the treatise entitled: Kitab Al-Kafi fi’l Kohl – “The Sufficient Book on the Collyrium”, where he mentions eighteen major ophthalmologic texts; his work was very practical, too, with very good descriptions of cataract operations, and the instruments used, and also the steps to be taken after the operation. A manuscript of it was written by another hand in 1275 (Currently at the BN of Paris); the author was a Muslim the copyist, Abd Al-Aziz, was a Christian.

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