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On the Properties and Benefits of Coffee Attributed to Muḥammad Badr al-Dīn al-Qūṣūnī

Björn, Juhan LU (2026) In Orientalia Suecana 75. p.1-20
Abstract
This article presents a critical edition and analysis of a short 16th-century medical treatise entitled Fī bayān aḥwāl al-qaḥwa wa-ḫāṣṣiyyatihā wa-manāfiʿihā, attributed to the Ottoman court physician Muḥammad Badr al-Dīn al-Qūṣūnī. The base manuscript, preserved in Leiden University Libraries as Or. 945:16 (fol. 58r), is collated against two later versions: Ragıb Paşa, K. No. 1482, ff. 56 r–56 v, and al-Nūr al-sāfir ʿan aḫbār al-qarn al-ʿāšir. The treatise, which adopts a question-and-answer format to examine the properties and medicinal benefits of qaḥwa, ‘coffee’, offers insights into the role of coffee in early Ottoman medical discourse and into the adaptation of Galenic humoral theory to a new substance.
Abstract (Swedish)

Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Arabic, history of medicine, coffee, Muḥammad Badr al-Dīn al-Qūṣūnī, Arabiska, Medicinhistoria, Kaffe, Muḥammad Badr al-Dīn al-Qūṣūnī
in
Orientalia Suecana
volume
75
pages
20 pages
publisher
Uppsala University
ISSN
0078-6578
DOI
10.33063/os.v75.671
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e7180a67-0b4f-4758-b7e6-4758fd6d02c8
date added to LUP
2026-06-02 12:33:57
date last changed
2026-06-16 11:06:27
@article{e7180a67-0b4f-4758-b7e6-4758fd6d02c8,
  abstract     = {{This article presents a critical edition and analysis of a short 16th-century medical treatise entitled Fī bayān aḥwāl al-qaḥwa wa-ḫāṣṣiyyatihā wa-manāfiʿihā, attributed to the Ottoman court physician Muḥammad Badr al-Dīn al-Qūṣūnī. The base manuscript, preserved in Leiden University Libraries as Or. 945:16 (fol. 58r), is collated against two later versions: Ragıb Paşa, K. No. 1482, ff. 56 r–56 v, and al-Nūr al-sāfir ʿan aḫbār al-qarn al-ʿāšir. The treatise, which adopts a question-and-answer format to examine the properties and medicinal benefits of qaḥwa, ‘coffee’, offers insights into the role of coffee in early Ottoman medical discourse and into the adaptation of Galenic humoral theory to a new substance.}},
  author       = {{Björn, Juhan}},
  issn         = {{0078-6578}},
  keywords     = {{Arabic; history of medicine; coffee; Muḥammad Badr al-Dīn al-Qūṣūnī; Arabiska; Medicinhistoria; Kaffe; Muḥammad Badr al-Dīn al-Qūṣūnī}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  pages        = {{1--20}},
  publisher    = {{Uppsala University}},
  series       = {{Orientalia Suecana}},
  title        = {{On the Properties and Benefits of Coffee Attributed to Muḥammad Badr al-Dīn al-Qūṣūnī}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/251739402/671_1_.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.33063/os.v75.671}},
  volume       = {{75}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}