Death of Ibn al-Nafis at Cairo and his endowment of estate and books to the Mansuri maristan, 21 Dhu al-Qa'da 687/December 1288

وفاة ابن النفيس بالقاهرة ووقف أملاكه وكتبه على المارستان المنصوري، ٢١ ذو القعدة ٦٨٧هـ

c. 18 December 1288 CE · 21 Dhu al-Qa'da 687 AH

Cairo

Ibn al-Nafis died at Cairo on 21 Dhu al-Qa'da 687 (December 1288) aged about eighty — the Shadharat margin notes 'he was eighty-four' — and endowed his house, fortune and books to the Mansuri maristan; none like him came after 1 2 3. Al-Suwaydan relates that on his deathbed he refused the wine prescribed him as medicine, saying he would not meet God with wine in his body, and died at dawn on Friday 4.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era
Region
Egypt & Nile

In time

128012901300 c.
The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks · The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era

In space

Cairo

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Summary

Ibn al-Nafis died at Cairo on 21 Dhu al-Qa'da 687 (December 1288) aged about eighty, and endowed his house, fortune and books to the Mansuri maristan; none like him came after 1 2 3.

On his deathbed

Al-Suwaydan relates that he refused the wine prescribed him as medicine, saying he would not meet God with wine in his body, and died at dawn on Friday 4.

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant
Ibn al-Nafis
Occurred at
Cairo

People and things also explored

Ibn al-Nafis becomes Chief Physician of Egypt and personal physician of Baybars, c. 658/1260· Ibn al-Nafis settles in Cairo and joins the Nasiri hospital, 633/1235· Ibn al-Nafis composes the Theologus Autodidactus (Fadil ibn Natiq) at Cairo, c. 670/1270· Completion of the Mansuri maristan in Cairo, 683/1284· Ibn al-Nafis· Cairo· Al-Azhar Mosque· Bab al-Futuh, Cairo

Sources

  1. Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p. 401-402
  2. Tarikh al-Islam wa-Wafayat al-Mashahir wa-l-A'lam — al-Dhahabi , s.a. 687 p. 312
  3. Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition (Leiden: Brill, 1954–2008), 13 volumes , vol. 3 p. 897
  4. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 17, at 00:22:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Death of Ibn al-Nafis at Cairo and his endowment of estate and books to the Mansuri maristan, 21 Dhu al-Qa'da 687/December 1288”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/death-ibn-al-nafis-687/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-01.

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Ibn al-Nafis becomes Chief Physician of Egypt and personal physician of Baybars, c. 658/1260

Headship of medicine in Egypt came to rest with him: he was given the post of Chief Physician of Egypt and became the personal physician of sultan Baybars. He also lectured on Shafi'i law at the Masruriyya madrasa, where the grammarian Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati was his disciple in logic — all within Baybars's reign (658–676/1260–1277); al-Suwaydan has him move to Qalawun's hospital as Baybars's private physician.