# Muhammad Mumin
**Muhammad Mumin** (محمد مؤمن), fully Muhammad Mumin ibn Mir Muhammad Zaman Husayni Daylami Tankabuni and known by the byname Hakim Mumin, was a Persian physician and pharmacologist who served at the court of the Safavid shah Sulayman I (r. 1666–1694) and wrote the *Tuhfat al-Mu'minin* ("Gift of the Believers"), a comprehensive Persian pharmacopoeia completed in AH 1080 (1669–1670).[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/12293/8/448) • [2](https://marco.ox.ac.uk/ark:29072/v4bk1289146g) The book remained one of the medical works referenced by physicians in Iran for about three centuries after its composition.[2](https://marco.ox.ac.uk/ark:29072/v4bk1289146g) • [3](https://cmja.arakmu.ac.ir/article-1-695-fa.pdf)
| Key facts | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Muhammad Mumin ibn Mir Muhammad Zaman Husayni Daylami Tankabuni, byname Hakim Mumin[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/12293/8/448) |
| Polity and ruler | Safavid Iran, court of Shah Sulayman I (r. 1666–1694)[4](https://www.fihrist.org.uk/catalog/manuscript_7067) • [5](https://www.bonhams.com/auction/16221/lot/20/muhammad-mumin-bin-muhammad-zaman-husaini-tunakabuni-daylami-tuhfat-al-muminin-a-comprehensive-pharmacopoeia-of-simple-and-compound-medicines-dedicated-to-the-safavid-shah-sulayman-1666-1694-persia-dated-ah-1080ad-1669/) |
| Major work | *Tuhfat al-Mu'minin*, Persian pharmacopoeia, completed AH 1080 (1669–1670)[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/12293/8/448) • [5](https://www.bonhams.com/auction/16221/lot/20/muhammad-mumin-bin-muhammad-zaman-husaini-tunakabuni-daylami-tuhfat-al-muminin-a-comprehensive-pharmacopoeia-of-simple-and-compound-medicines-dedicated-to-the-safavid-shah-sulayman-1666-1694-persia-dated-ah-1080ad-1669/) |
| Other work | *Tabsirat al-Mu'minin*, finished AH 1086 (1675–1676)[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/12293/8/448) |
| Family | Father and grandfather physicians at the Safavid court; son Muhammad also a physician[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/12293/8/448) |
| Death | Unknown; alive at least until AH 1086 (1675–1676); the date 1698 given in catalogs rests on a guess by Isma'il Pasha Baghdadi[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/12293/8/448) • [2](https://marco.ox.ac.uk/ark:29072/v4bk1289146g) |
## Origins and family
Muhammad Mumin states in the preface of the *Tuhfa* that his father and grandfather were physicians at the Safavid court, that a number of other ancestors were also physicians, and that he served the shah by hereditary devotion.[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/12293/8/448) According to Storey, the father and grandfather were both court physicians to the Safavid kings.[5](https://www.bonhams.com/auction/16221/lot/20/muhammad-mumin-bin-muhammad-zaman-husaini-tunakabuni-daylami-tuhfat-al-muminin-a-comprehensive-pharmacopoeia-of-simple-and-compound-medicines-dedicated-to-the-safavid-shah-sulayman-1666-1694-persia-dated-ah-1080ad-1669/) His father was also an author, and Muhammad Mumin collected his writings.[6](https://jiitm.ir/article-1-51-fa.pdf) His son, Muhammad ibn Muhammad Mumin, was also a physician and wrote a Persian book called *Kharqa*, on diseases of the genital organs and the hygiene of the fetus and newborn, in 30 "bakhya" sections, for a man named Aman Allah Khan.[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/12293/8/448)
## Career and works
According to the Journal of Islamic and [Iranian Traditional Medicine](https://www.edgepedia.org/iranian-traditional-medicine), Muhammad Mumin learned medicine from his father and other family members and became one of the skilled physicians of his age; he also had expertise in kalam (theology).[6](https://jiitm.ir/article-1-51-fa.pdf) Journal articles describe him as the special physician (tabib-i makhsus) of Shah Sulayman Safavi,[6](https://jiitm.ir/article-1-51-fa.pdf) • [7](http://jiitm.ir/article-1-617-fa.pdf) but his own preface claims only hereditary devoted attendance in the king's retinue, without explicitly claiming the office of special physician.[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/12293/8/448)
The *Tuhfat al-Mu'minin* is a comprehensive pharmacopoeia of simple and compound drugs, written in Persian and dedicated to Shah Sulayman, which is why it is also called *Tuhfat-i Sulaymani*.[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/12293/8/448) • [6](https://jiitm.ir/article-1-51-fa.pdf) • [5](https://www.bonhams.com/auction/16221/lot/20/muhammad-mumin-bin-muhammad-zaman-husaini-tunakabuni-daylami-tuhfat-al-muminin-a-comprehensive-pharmacopoeia-of-simple-and-compound-medicines-dedicated-to-the-safavid-shah-sulayman-1666-1694-persia-dated-ah-1080ad-1669/) The author's stated aim was to correct inaccuracies in the then-prevailing pharmacopoeia, the *Ikhtiyarat-i Badi'i* of Ali ibn Husayn Ansari.[4](https://www.fihrist.org.uk/catalog/manuscript_7067) • [3](https://cmja.arakmu.ac.ir/article-1-695-fa.pdf) The work falls into two major divisions: the first, *Tashkhis*, in five chapters, and the second, *Dasturat*, in further subdivisions.[4](https://www.fihrist.org.uk/catalog/manuscript_7067) • [3](https://cmja.arakmu.ac.ir/article-1-695-fa.pdf) The preface announces about four tasrihat and two or three dasturs, but all extant manuscripts contain only a couple of dasturs.[3](https://cmja.arakmu.ac.ir/article-1-695-fa.pdf) Beyond illnesses, their diagnoses, cures, medicines, and herbs, the book unusually contains sections on minerals, gemstones, and talismanic symbols.[8](https://www.bonhams.com/auction/20833/lot/274/tuhfat-al-muminin-also-known-as-tuhfeh-ye-hakim-mumin-and-tuhfeh-ye-sulaymani-a-medical-treatise-by-mir-muhammad-mumin-husaini-tonekaboni-known-as-hakim-mumin-the-physician-and-pharmacist-working-at-the-court-of-the-safavid-shah-sulayman-reg-1666-94-qajar-persia-waqf-dedication-dated-muharram-1240august-september-1824-copied-before-ah-1235ad-1819-20/) Based on the preface of the lithograph editions he used 24 books and treatises, and in the text itself he names about eighty authors or books repeatedly.[6](https://jiitm.ir/article-1-51-fa.pdf)
The *Tuhfa* records local Persian, Turkish, and Indian plant names, making it a valuable source for the dialect vocabulary of regions of Iran; per Ahmad Tafazzoli's report the counts of local plant names include Tankabani 66, Isfahani 57, Daylami 43, Mazandarani 23, Tabari 13, Shirazi 12, Gilani 7, Khorasani 7, and Luri 5.[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/12293/8/448)
A second work, *Tabsirat al-Mu'minin*, was finished in AH 1086 (1675–1676), according to Agha Buzurg.[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/12293/8/448)
## Political influence
At court he represented a hereditary medical household attached to the Safavid shahs, and he wrote the *Tuhfa* in the name of Shah Sulayman and presented it to him.[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/12293/8/448) • [5](https://www.bonhams.com/auction/16221/lot/20/muhammad-mumin-bin-muhammad-zaman-husaini-tunakabuni-daylami-tuhfat-al-muminin-a-comprehensive-pharmacopoeia-of-simple-and-compound-medicines-dedicated-to-the-safavid-shah-sulayman-1666-1694-persia-dated-ah-1080ad-1669/) Its lasting institutional effect was on the practice of Persian medicine: for about three centuries after composition it was among the important medical books referenced by physicians in Iran.[2](https://marco.ox.ac.uk/ark:29072/v4bk1289146g) • [3](https://cmja.arakmu.ac.ir/article-1-695-fa.pdf) Manuscripts continued to circulate and to be dedicated long after his death; according to a Bonhams auction catalog, a Qajar copy was given as waqf (endowment) to Tabas Gilaki by Amir Ali Naqi Khan in Muharram 1240 (August–September 1824), having been copied before AH 1235 (1819–1820).[8](https://www.bonhams.com/auction/20833/lot/274/tuhfat-al-muminin-also-known-as-tuhfeh-ye-hakim-mumin-and-tuhfeh-ye-sulaymani-a-medical-treatise-by-mir-muhammad-mumin-husaini-tonekaboni-known-as-hakim-mumin-the-physician-and-pharmacist-working-at-the-court-of-the-safavid-shah-sulayman-reg-1666-94-qajar-persia-waqf-dedication-dated-muharram-1240august-september-1824-copied-before-ah-1235ad-1819-20/)
## Death and successors
The year of Muhammad Mumin's death and his burial place have not been established, since no historian recorded them.[6](https://jiitm.ir/article-1-51-fa.pdf) The date AH 1110 (1698–1699) given in some sources is apparently a guess by Isma'il Pasha Baghdadi; what is certain is that he was alive at least until AH 1086 (1675–1676), when he finished the *Tabsirat al-Mu'minin*.[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/12293/8/448) Oxford and Leipzig manuscript catalogs nonetheless record his death as 1698.[2](https://marco.ox.ac.uk/ark:29072/v4bk1289146g) • [9](https://refaiya.dl.uni-leipzig.de/receive/DE1Book_manuscript_00074054) His son Muhammad ibn Muhammad Mumin continued the family's medical tradition with the *Kharqa*.[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/12293/8/448)
## Historians' assessment
The *Tuhfat al-Mu'minin* has been described as one of the most important medical works referenced by physicians in Iran for three centuries after its composition, and as a comprehensive pharmacopoeia that remained among Iran's important medical books for about three centuries.[2](https://marco.ox.ac.uk/ark:29072/v4bk1289146g) • [3](https://cmja.arakmu.ac.ir/article-1-695-fa.pdf) Three points of disagreement run through the literature. First, the death date: 1698 is treated as Isma'il Pasha Baghdadi's guess, with 1675 as a terminus ante quem non,[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/12293/8/448) while Oxford and Leipzig catalogs print 1698.[2](https://marco.ox.ac.uk/ark:29072/v4bk1289146g) • [9](https://refaiya.dl.uni-leipzig.de/receive/DE1Book_manuscript_00074054) Second, the date of composition: the author's own statement at the end of the third dastur fixes completion in AH 1080 (1669–1670),[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/12293/8/448) Oxford gives AH 1080/1670,[2](https://marco.ox.ac.uk/ark:29072/v4bk1289146g) and one journal article gives a writing period of AH 1078 to 1105.[7](http://jiitm.ir/article-1-617-fa.pdf)
## Legacy
The *Tuhfa*'s value extends beyond medicine into linguistics, because its recording of local plant names preserves dialect vocabulary from across Iran's regions.[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/12293/8/448) The work must not be confused with the *Tuhfat-i Sulaymani* of Muhammad Hashim ibn Muhammad Tahir Tehrani, a physician contemporary with Hakim Mumin, which shares the alternative title derived from the same dedicatee.[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/12293/8/448) [Manuscript](https://www.edgepedia.org/manuscript) copies of the work have appeared in modern auction sales.[5](https://www.bonhams.com/auction/16221/lot/20/muhammad-mumin-bin-muhammad-zaman-husaini-tunakabuni-daylami-tuhfat-al-muminin-a-comprehensive-pharmacopoeia-of-simple-and-compound-medicines-dedicated-to-the-safavid-shah-sulayman-1666-1694-persia-dated-ah-1080ad-1669/) • [8](https://www.bonhams.com/auction/20833/lot/274/tuhfat-al-muminin-also-known-as-tuhfeh-ye-hakim-mumin-and-tuhfeh-ye-sulaymani-a-medical-treatise-by-mir-muhammad-mumin-husaini-tonekaboni-known-as-hakim-mumin-the-physician-and-pharmacist-working-at-the-court-of-the-safavid-shah-sulayman-reg-1666-94-qajar-persia-waqf-dedication-dated-muharram-1240august-september-1824-copied-before-ah-1235ad-1819-20/)
## References
1. [دائرة المعارف بزرگ اسلامی، ج 8، ص 448 (ذیل حکیم مؤمن)](https://lib.eshia.ir/12293/8/448)
2. [Tuḥfat al-Muʾminīn, Manuscripts and Archives at Oxford University](https://marco.ox.ac.uk/ark:29072/v4bk1289146g)
3. [معرفی و بررسی کتاب تحفه حکیم مؤمن (مجله تاریخ پزشکی، دانشگاه اراک)](https://cmja.arakmu.ac.ir/article-1-695-fa.pdf)
4. [Persian MS 569 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library) - Fihrist](https://www.fihrist.org.uk/catalog/manuscript_7067)
5. [Bonhams: Tuhfat al-Mu'minin, dedicated to the Safavid Shah Sulayman, dated AH 1080/AD 1669](https://www.bonhams.com/auction/16221/lot/20/muhammad-mumin-bin-muhammad-zaman-husaini-tunakabuni-daylami-tuhfat-al-muminin-a-comprehensive-pharmacopoeia-of-simple-and-compound-medicines-dedicated-to-the-safavid-shah-sulayman-1666-1694-persia-dated-ah-1080ad-1669/)
6. [نوآوریها و مجرّبات حکیم سیّد محمّد مؤمن تنکابنی در کتاب تحفهالمؤمنین (مجله طب سنتی اسلام و ایران)](https://jiitm.ir/article-1-51-fa.pdf)
7. [بررسی کتاب تحفۀ حکیم مؤمن، از دیدگاه ادبی و طبی (مجله طب سنتی اسلام و ایران)](http://jiitm.ir/article-1-617-fa.pdf)
8. [Bonhams lot 274: Tuhfat al-mu'minin manuscript](https://www.bonhams.com/auction/20833/lot/274/tuhfat-al-muminin-also-known-as-tuhfeh-ye-hakim-mumin-and-tuhfeh-ye-sulaymani-a-medical-treatise-by-mir-muhammad-mumin-husaini-tonekaboni-known-as-hakim-mumin-the-physician-and-pharmacist-working-at-the-court-of-the-safavid-shah-sulayman-reg-1666-94-qajar-persia-waqf-dedication-dated-muharram-1240august-september-1824-copied-before-ah-1235ad-1819-20/)
9. [Qalamos manuscript record (Universität Leipzig)](https://refaiya.dl.uni-leipzig.de/receive/DE1Book_manuscript_00074054)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Other history › Middle East and North Africa › Safavid Iran (1501 to 1736) › Rulers, courtiers, and tribes*
*Initially written Sep 23, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license