Muhammed Zerrindest was an Iranian ophthalmologist who lived during the Great Seljuk Empire in the 11th century. His full name is Ebû Ruh Muhammed bin Mansûr bin Ebî Abdullah bin Mansûr el-Cürcânî and he is also known as Gorganî. The nickname Zerrindest, meaning "golden hand" in Persian, was used as a term of respect for an eye surgeon.
Details about his life are limited. The most important aspect that is known is that he worked during the reign of Sultan Melikşah, who reigned between 1072 and 1092.
Nûr'ül-Uyûn
Zerrindest completed his ophthalmology book Nûr'ül-Uyûn ("Light of the Eyes") in Persian in 1087-1088. The work, consisting of ten chapters, deals with the structure and functioning of the eye, eye diseases and their treatments. Chapter seven describes some thirty eye surgeries, including three separate methods of cataract surgery.
The work is among the early medical books written in Persian and is examined as one of the sources showing the level reached by ophthalmology in the medieval Islamic world.
