ABSTRACT
In 1880 Muhammad Ahmad al-Iskandaram (d. 1889), a physician, lay theologian, and sometime Ottoman naval officer from Syria, published his three-volume work Unveiling the Luminous Secrets of the Qur'an and Their Relation to the Heavens, Earth, Animals, Plants and Minerals, adding another-The Book of the Divine Secrets of Plants, Minerals and Animal Characteristics-two years later.1 An account of the signs of God's wisdom and creation in nature and in the Qur 'an, these works emphasized the correlation between scriptural and modern scientific, and particularly medical, dictates. They offered modern medical views of man's constitution-from the physiology of digestion and the circulation of blood to details of respiration and the nervous system-as well as modern scientific discussions of the 'three kingdoms of creation.' Yet they also served as religious treatises on ethical living and right conduct. The Book of Divine Secrets, for instance, emphasizes the importance of proper nutrition, arguing that 'good food gives men the power to worship.'2 Similarly, it describes the need for adequate sleep and exercise and urges the restraint of certain passions.3 And alongside commentary on various verses of the Qur'an, came sundry digressions, ranging from proper table manners and the nutritional value of okra, oxtail soup, and buffalo cream [al-qishtah] to the causes of impotence and corpulence.4
