Muwaffaq al-Din Yaqub ibn Siqlab

Muwaffaq ad-Din Yaqub ibn Siqlab ( (muwaffaqu d-dīni bni yaʿqūbi bni siqlāb); He studied in the Kingdom of Jerusalem ruled by the Frankish crusaders and worked in Ayyubid-ruled Jerusalem and Damascus. He was a respected medical expert in both cities. Ibn Abi Usaybi'ah, who studied and worked alongside him in Damascus, includes an entry on Ibn Siqlab in his biographical encyclopedia of physicians ,Uyūn ul-Anbāʾ fī Ṭabaqāt al-Aṭibbā . He notes therein that Ibn Siqlab undertook studies in philosophy and medicine in a local (Jerusalem area) monastery with a learned man named only as "the Antioch philosopher" , describing this teacher as possessing great wisdom encompassing the natural sciences, geometry, arithmetic, astrology, astronomy and the forecasting of fates. The monastery referred to is likely to have been Mar Saba, an important center of learning, housing an extensive library and centuries old pedagogical tradition where the translation of Greek and Syriac texts into Arabic was regularly pursued.

Ibn Siqlab managed a hospital in the Old City of Jerusalem, the Salahi Bi-maristan, a public clinical institution, secular in orientation, that also served as a kind of school of medicine, and whose name is still preserved in Muristan, Jerusalem today. and extensive resources, storing 10,000 scientific volumes and employing three copyists. He was also an avid follower of the work of Hippocrates ("Epicrat"), He also had knowledge of Latin. Ibn Siqlab died in Damascus on Easter in 1228.