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AMMAR MAWSILLI- (died in 1010) Ammar AI-Mawsilli was born in Mossoul in Iraq, where he pursued his studies before going to Cairo to specialize in Ophthalmology, a field in which he excelled. He lived under the reign of the Caliph Fatimide AI-Hakem. Our knowledge of Arab ophthalmology is due to J. Hirshberg, a German scholar who, in the course of his research, demonstrated the very high standard reached by the Arabs in this field. His research dates from the beginning of the 20th century, when he was professor of ophthalmology at the University of Berlin, According to Hirshberg, Ammar was the best Arab specialist in Ophthalmology. His book entitled The Choice of Diseases of the Eyes is the best work written by the Arabs in this speciality. It is a complete encyclopedia, containing all of the knowledge of Ophthalmology of the era. Only a few copies of this book are still in existence and it has not yet ben re-edited. It was translated into Latin by Pansier and into German by Hirshberg. Zahravius quotes it in his book At-Tasrif. Ammar was the inventor of suction lens extraction via a hollow tube in the surgical treatment of cataract. Hirshberg states that there is no evidence that the Greeks were aware of this technique. Also, this technique has no connection with the Greek world ; all the evidence converges to attribute the discovery to the Arabs and to Ammar, in particular. The frenchman Daville (16931762) adopted this method and quoted it in his book. We reproduce the passage from Ammar's book which deals with this technique : I treated a patient from the town ofTaghred or Diar Bakr, who was 30 years old with a congenital cataract. He was completely blind. He came to see me and I examined him and found a typical cataract. I told him that he was going to recover his sight. I gave him a sedative, I let some blood and then I operated on his eyes. I have never seen anything like this patient. Each time that I approached the lens with the knife, it became yellow or red. I suspected a total loss of vision, despite the presence of a rock-hard lens which did not
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move and which did not change colour under the knife. I said to myself: I will not let you go until I have got you. I persisted and the lens shattered into pieces like an egg shell. I continued to incise the lens as I have just described. The man recovered his sight, but I put a bandage over his eyes for three days. The man looked as if he had never had a cataract. The patient swore that he had never lain on his back. Since then, I had a hollow tube made which I did not use until I had a Christian patient who required operation for his cataract. The patient said to me : Do what you like, I can not stay on my back. I operated on him and I removed the lens with the hollow tube. The patient recovered his vision immediately, he did not have to lie down. However, I bandaged his eyes for 7 days and he slept as he wished. This technique has never been used before me. I have since used it o patients from Egypt . IBN ABI ODSAIBI'A - (1203-1269 )

The Arabs were interested in the History of Medicine as a distinct art form and gave it the form that it has today. Before the Arabs, historians occasionally mentioned doctors in their writings. The Greeks limited themselves to telling anecdotes and stories about the actions of wise men and philosophers, just as Hunayn lbn Ishaq did in The Anecdotes of the Philosophers , or lbn Al Athri or lbn An-Nadim, etc... Arab doctors specialized in the History of Medicine, with books like History of Wise Men by AI-Qifti, The Generations of Doctors and Wise Men by lbn Juljul, Medical Ethics by Zahawi, The History of Doctors by lbn Ad-Dayeh, The Bibliography of Doctors by Rhazes and The Garden of the Doctors by lbn AI-Mutrane. There is no doubt that the most important book in this field is Sources of Information on Generations of Doctors by lbn Abi Ousaibi'a. Mouwaffaq Ed-Dine Abu Al' Abbas Ahmad lbn Sadid Ed-Dine AI-Qasem AsSaadi AI-Khazradji was born in Damascus into a family of doctors. His grandfather was a friend of Saladin. He settled in Alep. His elder son, Shadid Ed-Dine was the father of the author of The Sources and his second son was Rashid Ed-Dine. The two sons studied Medicine at a time when Syria and Egypt were in the process of great scientific activity. Shadid Ed-Dine was interested in ophthalmology. He developed such a good reputation, that he became head of the ophthalmologists in Damascus, especially after he had cured the personal servant of King Adel. All of the other doctors had failed and had unanimously decided that the case was hopeless and that the patient was going to lose his sight. His son, the author of The Sources studied medicine at the An-Nuri hospital in Damascus and at the Ad-Dakhwariya school, together with lbn An-Nafis. He continued his studies at the Al Mansuri hospital in Cairo
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and also specialized in ophthalmology. The prince of Salkhad (a small town in the south of Syria) summoned him to be his personal physician. He replied to this request, but we do not know his exact reasons. He wrote many books which, unfortunately, have been lost. He was also a poet. The Sources consists of 15 chapters and contains the bibliographies of 400 doctors, classified by country of origin. It is an objective book, written in a fine and precise style. This book was edited for the first time in Cairo in 1882. IBN AL BITAR- (1197-1248 ) Diya Ed-Dine Abu Muhammad Abdullah lbn Ahmad Al Maliaqi (from Malaga) AnNabati (the Herbalist), nick-named lbn Al Bitar (son of the veterinary surgeon), was born in Malaga in Andalousia. His father was a veterinary surgeon. lbn Al Bitar studied in Seville under great teachers. He often travelled in the Orient and in Arab countries. Some authors say that he visited Turkey, Greece, Arabia etc... In each town, he contacted the scholars and studied the plants. As-Souri and Abdel Latif were amongst his acquaintances. In Egypt, King Adel named him head of the Herbalists and some authors claim that he also held the post as head doctor. He spent the end of his life and died in Damascus. His best known book is undoubtedly The Compendium of Simples . It contains all of the species described before him and he adds 200 new species, results of his personal research (L. Leclerc). It is an encyclopedia which has been edited several times in Latin, once in French and once in German. This book was used for teaching in European universities until the 18th century. The Arabs devoted a lot of works to pharmacology. They developed newproducts which were recognized throughout the world. Each Arab book contains a part devoted to the pharmacopoeia, under the name of Agrabazine . This is the case in the Canon , the Royal , At-Tafsir , the Continens , etc... These advances were due to discoveries in chemistry and the invention of several processess, such as distillation, filtration, transformation, calcination, evaporation, crystallization, etc... The Arabs discovered alcohol, ammonia, silver nitrate, sulphuric acid, the bases etc..,

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The ancient pharmacopoeias underwent transformations, such as : exchange: that is the replacement of one drug by another cheaper or locally available product the use of local drugs in the place of drugs imported from distant countries ( China, Afghanistan, etc...) the reduction in the number of drugs used in a compound product the simplification of treacles, for example, which were very complex for no reason examination of drugs to prevent counterfeiting unification of weights and measures. Finally, new, more valuable pharmacopoeias were produced, such as that of lbn AI-Tilmith, Qalanisi, Kohen AI-Attar, etc... IBN AL JAZZAR - (Algizar) - (1203-1269 ) Algizar, or Ahmed lbn lbrahim lbn Abi Khaled lbn Al Jazzar, also known as Abu Jaafar, was the most famous doctor of the School of Kairouan. This town was founded in Tunisia in the year 50 of the Hegira, by Uqba lbn Nafi. It grew and became rich during the period of the Aghlabides and reached a high level of development. It became a centre of culture for all of the Arab world and attracted students from every country. The Caliph lbrahim II founded a House of Wisdom , similar to the one created by the Caliph Abbasside AI-Mamoune in Baghdad. Ishaq lbn Urnrane (muslim), nicknamed The Instant Cure , was the first doctor of Kairouan. Born and brought up in Baghdad, he was so famous that his fame spread to Tunisia. Ziyadullah, the Caliph, invited him to go to Tunisia, where he spent 20 years and founded a medical school. He had a great many disciples, the most famous of whom was no doubt Ishaq lbn Sulayman Al-lsraili, who was born in Egypt where he practiced ophthalmology. He came to Tunisia and stayed a long time. He wrote The Fevers which was translated into Latin. Amongst the other doctors of Kairouan, we can mention the family of Jazzar. The first representative was Ahmed, uncle of Ahmed, student of lbn Urnrane, followed by lbrahim, father of Ahmed, who was an ophthalmologist who worked with his brother. Ziyad lbn Khalfun and lbn Zufre were other well known doctors. Ahmed is well known in the Western world for his book Zad-AI-Musafer (Viaticum) which was translated into Latin, Greek and Hebrew, lbn Al Jazzar was an example of a scholar who devoted
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his whole life to his profession. He received patients in his home, helped by his assistant, the young Rashiq, who prepared the prescriptions of his master and collected the fees. He remained a bachelor and lived to an old age. He spent his summers in Monastir. After his death, 25 quintals of books and 24,000 golden dinars were found in his house, which demonstrates his interest in books and reflects his richness. However, we believe that these figures have been greatly exaggerated. He wrote a lot of books; the number varies, according to the authors, from 27 to 44. Twelve of these books deal with Medicine, Philosophy and History. His best known book is certainly the Viaticum which was translated by Constantine the African who put his name as author of the book. Constantine, born in Carthage in Tunisia, was a Muslim converted to Christianity. He retired to the monastery of Monte-Cassino in Italy. He translated lots of Arab books into Latin and stuck a paper with his name in the place of the author's. lbn AI-Jazzar wrote The Diseases of the Stomach and Their Treatment , which we have edited and published.

AR-RAZI- (Rhazes) - (865-925 ) Rhazes, or Abu Bakr Muhammed lbn Zakarya Ar-Razi, was born in Ray (hence his name), a small village to the south of Teheran, of which only a few ruins remain. He spent his life travelling between Ray and Baghdad. At a young age, he was interested in chemistry. It is said that he had a disease of the eyes and that he went to see a doctor who charged very high fees. He is supposed to have said: Here is profession which produces gold, not alchemy . So, he started to study medicine at the age of 30. In our opinion, this anecdote was made up by his enemies and envious competitors who wanted to make him out to be a materia- list. In reality, his attitudes were quite the opposite: he was a wellbalanced, serious, hard working man. He spent his days with his students and his patients and his nights reading and writing. He fought against charlatans and charlatanism. He tried to reach the highest levels of medicine and science. He was also interested in music, when he was young, then in philosophy, literature and poetry. It is even said that he used to sing. His teacher in medicine was Tabaripur and his teacher in philosophy was Balakhi. This is denied by certain historians. His fame as a doctor gained him the post of head doctor of the AI-Adudi
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hospital in Baghdad. The construction of this hospital was ordered by Prince Adud Ad-Dawla (hence its name), who asked Rhazes to choose the most appropriate site. Rhazes hung fresh mutton in the four corners of Baghdad and examined them several days later. The piece of meat which was in the best condition indicated the best site for building of the hospital. Rhazes was undoubtedly one of the greatest doctors of mankind. There is a saying : Medicine did not exist, Hippocrates created it : it was dead and Galien revived it: it was dispersed and Rhazes re-united it: it was incomplete and Avicenne completed it . Rhazes is therefore considered to be one of the best doctors of the Middle Age : he is called the Arabic Galien. He served Prince Abu Salih Al Mansur, Prince of Kirman and Khurasan. It was to him that he dedicated his book Al Mansuri (Mansorom). Towards the end of his life, he developed a cataract. An ophtaimo- logist was called to operate. Rhazes questioned this specialist on the anatomy of the eye, but the specialist could not reply. Rhazes refused to let himself be operated by a doctor who did not know anatomy. Some say that he refused the operation, saying that he had seen enough of life. Other chroniclers invented a different story: prince Nuh lbn Mansur asked him to perform the chemical experiments described in his books. As the prince did not obtain the expected result, he ordered that the author be hit on the head with his own books. The order was carried out and the blows led to a loss of vision. However, there is a century's difference between this prince and Rhazes. In any case. he was very likely to have had a cataract, like many people of his age, as he died very old. H started his medical studies as an adult. He wrote several encyclopedias. Amongst his books, we can mention the Hawi (Continens) consisting of 30 volumes, the Mansuri, The Division and the Branches

AD - DAKHWAR(died in 1230) Many hospitals developed throughout the Islamic world and became flourishing medical schools. The training lasted three years. The student started by learning what we call today the basic sciences : mathematics, geometry and logic. He then studied the twelve books of Hippocrates, the nine books ofGalien and Discoridesbook on plants. During this time, he was also taught to practice his art, under the surveillance of his teachers who examined the patients at the same time and then the teachers and students met to discuss the cases and to read the medical works of the great predecessors. The kings gave a lot of money to these training

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hospitals and provided them with books, medications, slaves, etc... They invited famous people from the medical world from all over the globe. The studies finished by an examination according to very precise rules described in various books. That of Rhazes is well known ( The Examination of the Doctor ). Ali lbn Radwan devoted a whole book to medical training. The student finished his training by taking Hippocrates' oath and some students presented a thesis. The choice of students and teachers conformed to rather difficult, but well defined criteria. In Damascus, next to the hospital built by the sultan Nur EdDine, there was a private school, that ofDakhwar. Mouhadhab-Ed-Dine Abu Muhammad AbdelRahim lbn Ali lbn Hamed Ad-Dakhwar was born and raised in Damas. His father was a well known ophthalmologist, like his brother. Radhi Ed-Dine Ar-Rahbi, then Muwaffaq Ed-Dine lbn Mutrane were his teachers, under the reigh of Al Adel. He was director of the hospital. When the king became sick in Egypt, he summoned Ad-Dakhwar and, when he was cured, made him Head doctor of Egypt and Syria. He returned to Damas and started to teach medicine. He was a fervent admirer of Galien, a good teacher and a serious worker, lbn An-Nafis and lbn Abi Usaibia were amongst his students. He is famous for his private medical school (the first in the world) called Ad Dakhwariya (after him), to which he devoted all his time and his money. It remained a centre of medical training for almost a century. Addakhwar remained a bachelor all of his life. He died and was buried in Damascus. He wrote several books, including The Garden of Medicine.

IBN AN NAFIS- (1210-1288 Hassan Ali lbn Abi AI-Hazm in a village near Damascus. reign ofAdel Seif Ed-Dine. He studies by Ad-Dakwar. He sophisticated scientific spread as far as Egypt, where him. Very great doctors like Hadjij, Maimonides and lbn practicing in Cairo at this Because of his abilities, lbn high level in the medical He was extremely modest and remained unmarried. He medical and religious

) Ala' Id-Dine AbulAI-Qaraschi was born He lived during the was guided in his was brought up in a environment. His fame King Kamel invited Ali lbn Radwane, lbn Al Bitar were time. An-Nafis reached a hierarchy of the time. courteous. He studied and taught sciences.

He was a very prolific writer. When he was in the mood, he wrote without stopping. His students sharpened his pencils (or rather his rushes) so that he did not have to stop. It is even said that he once got out of his bath to write a text. At his death, he left all of his belongings to the Al Mansuri hospital in Cairo. He had a bold and open approach when he criticized Galien an Avicenne, based on scientific logic and his own experience. Thus, he said : We would like (in this book) to arrange the
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findings and to discuss them in terms of our experience, by putting truth above all else, in order to reject the false and to remove its traces . He also wrote: To understand the physiology, we depend on experience and precise research, without worrying about wether that corresponds to the ideas of those who have gone before or not and this is false as we have clearly explained and This is a lie and impossible and Dissection denies that etc... These sentences suggest that he dissected huma cadavers. In fact, his book Commen-taries on the Anatomy of Avicenne presents many new facts which were unknown before him, such as the discovery of the small circulation, which was recognized all over the world, dissection of the bile ducts, the optic nerve chiasma, etc... We have the honour to publish a critical edition of this important work. We should also mention the 300 volumes of his book Ash-Shamel ; he died before being able to revise it IBN RUCHD - (Averroes) - (1210-1288 ) The American historian Georges Sarton divided Arab scholars into doctor philo-sophers and philosopher doctors. In fact, the majority of doctors at this time were interested simultaneously in medicine and philosophy. Some philosophers were very involved in medicine. Such was the case of Rhazes. However, Avicenne and Averroes were more interested in philosophy. Some authors claim that there were two schools, a western school (Andalousia) with Avenzoar at its head, who was never interested in philosophy and an eastern school, according to which one had to be both doctor and philosopher. Averroes was the disciple of Avenzoar, but was, nevertheless, a philosopher! For muslims, in fact, there is no barrier between science and morality. lbn Ruchd, also known as Abu Walid Muhammad lbn Ahmad lbn Ruchd, was born in Cordoba (where there is still a statue of him) at the height of this city's civilisation. His father and his grandfather were Cadis (judges). He received an education destined for the same profession. His life had its ups and downs, like Avicenne's. He served two sultans; the second, Ya'qub lbn Mansur initially showered him with gifts and titles and then ordered his exile to Morocco and had all his books burned in the public square. lhn Ruchd was courageous and defended his ideas strongly. He tried to reconcile the spirit with religion. His writings influenced Maimonides and St Thomas Aquinas. His doctrine is known by the name of Averroism. The famous Italian Renaissance painter, Raphael, represented him in his painting The School of Athens . He was a poet and was interested in astronomy. He commentated The Poem of Medicine , which is considered to be the best commentary of the many which have been written on the subject. His best known medical book is the Colligete , consisting of 7 volumes. It was translated into Latin. He described the retina and he stated that one could not catch smallpox twice. This book was published on two occasions, in 1482 and in 1552.
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He was a clever doctor who had a thorough knowledge of medical science. He died at the age of 72 in Marrakech in Morocco. His remains were later transferred In Cordoba.

ALY BEN' ISSA - (died in 1010) Arab scholars excelled in the art ofAI-Kahala (ophthalmology). Mayerhof says that the Europeans took the ophthalmological drug prescriptions of the Arabs and used them throughout the Middle Ages, even keeping the Arabic names. The Europeans only described new facts in this field at the beginning of the 18th century . J. Hirshberg, famous historian and professor of Ophthalmology in Berlin, said that the Arabs had attained a high standard of ophthalmology by the 4th century of the Hegira (10th century A.D.) and that the best Arabic book on this subject was that ofAmmar Al Mawsili. The first book on ophthalmology in Arabic was that ofMosue (190-242 of the Hegira). It was entitled The Stuff of the Eye and is written in a difficult language, full of Syrian and Greek terms. The Arabs were innovators, lbn An-Nafis corrected an anatomical error described by Galien and repeated after him, concerning the crossing of the optic nerves. Al Hazern proposed a theory on the mechanism of vision (which proved to be corect). Arab surgeons perfected the operation for cataract. Ammar Al Mawsili invented the technique of suction extraction of the lens. Pyrites were also used as corrective lenses. Arab authors also developed several prescriptions an medicinal plants for the treatment of eye diseases. The best known books are: the Ten Lectures on Diseases of the Eyes ofHunayn lbn Ishaq, The Ophthalmologist's Handbook by Ali lbn Issa, Selected Methods for the Treatment of Diseases of the Eyes by Ammar, The Light of the Eyes by Salah Ed-Dine, Summary of Experimental Ophthalmology by lbn An-Nafis and The Requirements in the Kohl by Khalifa Abul Mahassen. Aly lbn Issa (The Christian) lived in Baghdad during the 10th century. He was a famous ophthalmologist and very sought after by doctors from all over the world. We have already quoted his book entitled The ophthalmologist's Handbook , one of the best books of its time. It was translated into Latin. Aly also wrote a book on zoology. The handbook consists of three chapters : The 1st : Definition and anatomy of the eye. The 2nd : External diseases of the eye and their treatment. The 3rd : Internal diseases of the eye and their treatment. It was published in India.
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The picture : Aly lbn Issa operating on a patient with a cataract, a disease characterized by opacification of the lens. The light does not reach the retina and the patient gradually loses his sight. The extraction (AI-Qadh) consists of introducing a fine needle into the eye, in order to dislodge the lens so that the light can reach the retina, restoring the patient's sigh

SALEH AS-SALLUM - (died in 1670)

and the Translation of the West Alep ( Syria) was the crossroads for caravans coming from the West to go to India or, conversely, coming from the Orient to the West. During the Ottoman period, this was the most important town in all of the empire, just after Constantinople and Cairo. It therefore enjoyed a very rich economic and intellectual period. The first Arab printing press was established in Alep. This town was the centre for the beginnings of an intellectual renaissance and the first scientific translations of European languages were produced by its workshops. The translator was called Saleh As-Sallum and represents a turning point in the History of Arab Medicine. Up until this time, Arab books were translated into Latin, Hebrew, German and French, but Sallum reversed the process and translated western languages into Arabic. Saleh Effendi was born in Alep where he pursued all of his studies. Later, he went to Roumelli, a town to the west of Constantinople, where he achieved fame. His reputation reached the ears of the sultan Muhammad lbn-lbrahim IV ( 1648-1687) who named him Head Doctor and Head Cadi of Constantinople. Like all of the intellectuals in Alep, he was melomaniac and loved life. He had a beautiful voice and was a good musician and spent his time between work and pleasure. He spoke several languages. He died in Constantinople. Three of his books have survived : The Urgent Cure , The Supreme Perfection and Modern Chemical Medicine together with Chimica Basilica which are the translations of Paracelsus ( 1490-1541 ) and of his student Crolius. Thus scientific translation began during the 17th century

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IBN ZUHR - (Avenzoar) - (1101-1161 ) Avicenne defined Medicine in the following way : Medicine is the art of presving health and of curing the disease which affects the body . Averroes defined Medicine differently: It is an active profession based on definite principles which aim to preserve the human body and eliminate disease as quickly as possible. The aim of this profession is not to heal at whatever cost, but to do what is necessary to the right degree and at the right time. One then needs to wait for results, just as in the professions of the navy and the army . When a doctor was called, first examination he performed was to carefully examine the patient's face, looking for unfavourable signs suggestive of a fatal outcome (hippocratic facies). If he judged that nothing could be done, he saluted the patient and left. In the opposite case, he saluted the patient and commenced the examination by careful inspection followed by history-taking. He made the patient partly undress and he examined the diseased region by palpation and percussion. Taking of the pulse was an important part of the examination, together with an examination of the urine. Finally, he wrote his prescription which was filled by the pharmacist. Abu Marwan lbn Abdulmaiek lbn Zuhr came from a family of doctors and was the best known of his family. He was born in Seville and undertook very serious studies. His father Abul Ala, also a doctor, encouraged him to study medicine. He was a good doctor and a poet. lbn Zohr travelled in Morocco on several occasions, at the time of the Almohades. The great sultan Yazid lbn Tachfine put him into prison for political reasons. He was released under the sultan Abdul Mumin and occupied an important position and even became High Vizier. He was a very serious worker. He spent his nights working, except, it is said, for his wedding night and the night of his father's death. He wrote many books of which the most famous is no doubt At-Tafsir which he wrote at the request of his disciple Averroes. This book has been translated several times into Latin.Avenzoar described scabies, velo-palatine paralysis, acute suppurative otitis media and purulent pericarditis. He described the use of an oesophageal tube, nutritional enemas, sub-cutaneous injections and autopsies. He was not interested in philosophy and criticized philosopher doctors. Amongst his sons and grandsons, there were well known doctors like Abu Bakr, Abu Muhammad, Abdul Maiek and Abdul Ala

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IBN SINA - (Avicenne) - (980-1036 ) Avicenne, or Abul Hussayn lbn Abdallah lbn Al Hassan lbn Ali lbn Sina, is known by several honorary titles: the Proof of Truth, the Honour of the Kingdom, the Master and Leader, the Wise Minister, the Constitution and the Prince of Doctors. He was born in Afchana, a small village near Boukhara. Before the age of ten, he knew the Koran by heart and had already read many literary works. He had an extraordinary memory. Initially, he studied philosophy and then he studied medicine on his own, at the age of 16. Day and night, he read any book that fell into his hands. When Prince Nuh became ill, he was invited to treat him. In this way, he dicovered all of the books in the famous library of this prince. He read almost all of them with great avidity. Princess ~ubaya of Ray summoned him, one day, to treat her son who suffered from a disease which none of the court physicians were able to diagnose. The young prince had fallen hopelessly in love with a very beautiful girl. Avicenne discovered his secret by taking his pulse while naming all of the quarters of the town and then all of the names of the families in this quarter and finally, the names of the young girls in this family. When Avicenne named the young prince's beloved, his pulse accelerated. Avicenne led a very agitated life. He left Ray for Quazwin, then for Hamadhane. Prince ChamsAd-Dawla suffered from colic and asked Avicenne to treat him. To reward him for his useful advice, the prince named him High Vizier. However, the prince did not follow Avicenne's prescriptions and died. His sister immediately suspected Avicenne of having poisoned the prince and she ordered his arrest. Avicenne disguised himself as a Soufi (a muslim monk) and escaped. He arrived in Ispahan where he was warmly received by Prince Adid-Ad-Dawla. Avicenne was proud, or even arrogant, which gained him a lot of enemies. He loved life and lived it to the full. He fell ill (with colic!) and treated and cured himself. However, he had a relapse and his treatment was no longer effective. Feeling that he was close to death, he sold his belongings, distributed them to the poor and read the Koran until his last breath. Avicenne was undoubtedly one of the greatest geniuses that the world has ever known. He was the author of many books. His most important medical text was certainly the Canon , an encyclopedia of medicine, surgery and pharmaceutics, consisting of about one million words. It contains all of the medical knowledge of his time, set out in a logical system in very brief, condensed chapters. This book was translated several times into Latin and has been edited and commentated by many Eastern and Western scholars.
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He composed a long poem (about 1032 AD) in which he summarized the medical knowledge of his canon. This is The Poem of Medicine or Avicennae Cantica . It has also been translated into French and has been edited on several occasions, most recently in Paris, in 1956. Avicenne also wrote Cardiac Drugs, The Pulse and an impressive number of treatises and epistles. His best known philosophical work is entitled The Healing (of the Soul). The best known of his poems is Al Ayni-Ya in which he defines the soul. Picture: Avicenne teaching the method of performing blood-letting. Beside him his disciple and friend AI-Jozjani, taking down notes from the Master.

ABUL KASSEM ZAHRAWI - (Zahravuns or Belcassis) - (9367-1036 ) Arab scholars made spectacular advances in surgery. In fact, the Arabs already used a number ofstupefiants as a form of anaesthesia : opium poppy, mandrake, Indian hemp, belladonna, hyosciamine, etc... They invented the anaesthesic sponge: a sponge was dipped into a mixture of all of these substances and was allowed to dry in the sun. To anaesthetize a patient, the sponge was dipped in water and placed over the patient's nose and the patient fell asleep immediately. Bellows or a so-called Irish shower (warm water then cold water) were used to waken the patient. According to the books on Arab Medicine, such as the Continens of Razes, each hospital had its own surgeon. Amongst the scholars interested in surgery, Ali Abbas described, for the first time, the capillaries, in his book Regis Liber . Abn Al Qoff also wrote a book on surgery entitled The Column of Surgery . Belcassis is the most famous and best known surgeon in the West. He was born in Zahra, a small town near Cordoba, which was built in 936 by the Caliph Abdul Rahmane III to which he gave the name of his beloved. Zahraoui lived in Cordoba, a very flourishing town, with a population of one million Arabs. In this town, there were 59 hospitals and 70 libraries, including that of the Caliph which alone contained 225.000 volumes. The school ofCordoue enjoyed a great scientific reputation which even exceeded that of Baghdad, Toledo and Seville. We know very little about the life of this surgeon, except that he was the personal physician of Abdul Rhamane. His book At-Tasrif was distributed throughout the world. It was an encyclopedia of 30 books treating all of the diseases, from head to foot, as well as a pharmacopoeia.

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The 30th book is the most well known, as it is devoted entirely to surgery. It describes the many instruments and techniques invented by its author. It was translated into Latin, Hebrew and even Occitan. A Latin version appearead in 1519 and in 1530. It was re-translated and reprinted on several occasions. It is first book in the History of Medicine which includes very detailed drawings (which vary in number from 175 to 200, in the different manuscripts). Belcassis completed the work of his predecessors by his numerous experiments, operations and inventions. He was no doubt the greatest surgeon of the Middle Ages. His book was the basis for the books written by Roger of Palermo, Guillaume or Salictioliand by the great French surgeon, Guy de Chauliac who quoted it more than 200 times in his book entitled Great surgery which is the basis for the whole of Western surgery. Belcassis described haemophilia, pitting oedema, the technique of detecting ascites by percussion, measurement of the cervix of the uterus, the vaginal examination, the differential diagnosis between normal and pathological pregnancy, etc... In the Green Amphitheatre of the Faculty of Medicine in Paris, there is a picture of him, together with Avicenne and Rhazes.

HUNAYN IBN ISHAQ - (809-870 ) The Period of Translation

In general, the historians divide the History of Arab Medicine into 3 periods : The first : that of Translation The second : that of Creation (10th Century) The third : that of Decadence: beginning with the Mongol invasion in the 13th century. In fact, the first scientific translations were made under the reign of Prince Omeyyade Khaled lbn Yazid, the grandson of the founder of the Muawiyya dynasty. He brought scholars from Alexandria and ordered them to translate western books. There were also centres of translation in Antioch, Damascus and Baghdad. The higpoint of translation was in Baghdad itself, in the House of Wisdom (analogous to the French Academy of Science and Literature), created by AI-Mamun in 215 after the Hegira. Hunayn, a Nestorian Christian with Syrian as his mother tongue, was the chief translator. His master, the eccentric Mosue, found him to be a poor student and dismissed him from the class. But Hunayn continued to work. He went to Greece and Byzantium and returned with precious manuscripts to become a master in Greek, Syrian and Arabic. His former teacher presented his apologies and dedicaced his book the Axioms to him. Hunayn became President of the House of Wisdom and gathered a group of translators who set to work with the encouragement of the Caliph who paid the translators by the weight in gold of their work. Amongst Hunayn's colleagues, we can mention

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Hubeish (his nephew), Ishaq (his son), Astaphane lbn Basil, Mussa lbn Khaled and Yahya lbn Harun... Hunayn initially translated Greek into Syrian and then into Arabic. Later, he translated directly into Arabic. His method consisted in collecting a large number of manuscripts, comparing them and then translating the text in a clear, simple, precise style, according to the meaning of the sentence and not word for word. He also reviewed the translations of his youth and of his predecessors such as Sergius, Ayub ArRahawi and those of his students. He is particularly remembered for his translations and commentaries of the works of Galien. He was a man of great moral character which provoked the jealousy of his colleagues and his religious brethren and caused him serious problems. The Caliph, Al Mutawakkel, was afraid of being poisoned and asked Hunayn to show him a poison. Hunayn refused on two grounds: a religious reason and an ethical reason. The Caliph immediately ordered his imprisonment, but later released him when he saw that Hunayn obstinately refused. Hunayn was imprisoned again after being accused of heresy by two of his colleagues. This accusation was confirmed by the Djathliq (bishop) of the Christians. However, after the death of the Caliph, Hunayn was able to lead a calm and fruitful life until his death. He translated 50 books into Syrian, 12 books directly into Arabic and 22 books into Syrian and then into Arabic: that is, a total of 92 books. He also edited commentated versions of 15 other books of Hippocrates and all of the books of Galien. His best known works, which have already been published, are Questions for Students and Ten Lectures on the Eye .

DAWUD IBN LIMAR AL- ANTAKI - (1543-1599 ) As we mentioned above, most historians divide the History of Arab Medicine into three periods: that of Translation, tha of Creation and that of Decadence. This last period begins with the fall of Baghdad which was taken by the Mongols in 1258. But the term decadence does not mean that science stopped. It was still a subject of study, but at a slower pace. Some excellent doctors have left us with some valuable books, for
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example Hajij lbn Qasem (died 1584) and Dawud AI-Antaki, considered by L. Leclerc to be the last representative of Arab Medicine. The Ottoman Empire had already enveloped most of the Arab countries (victory of Sultan Salim I over Qait-Bai, the Mamelouk of Egypt in 1516 and the conquest of Egypt in 1517). The period of Translation had begun with Prince Omeyyade Khaled lbn Yazid, grandson of Caliph Mu'awiyya lbn Ah Soufiane (661-680). The period of Decadence began with AI-Antaki, who died in 1590. Thus Arab Medicine had an important position for 8 centuries. It is absolutely essential to keep this in mind. Dawud was born in Antioch. He was blind and paraplegic and was nick-named AI-Basir (the non-seeing), as his paraplegia had improved. He studied Medicine and excelled. He travelled to Alep, Damascus and Cairo where h taught. He was particularly gifted in logic, philosophy, astronomy and medicine. He spoke Latin (?). At the end of his life, he was accused of heresy. He made a pilgrimage to Mecca where he died. He left us several books, including The Research of Diseases , The Poem of the Doctor , a treatise on baths, The Pleasure of Sight , etc... The most interesting and best known of his books is entitled The Memento , which contains 3 books, of which the last is the most important. It deals with the pharmacopoeia and contains more than 1712 names of drugs (the Canon contained less than 800). This is the most complete book after that of lbn Al Bitar. In this book, he described, for the first time, syphilis and its treatment with mercury. The first mention of coffee is also found in this book. Leclerc speaks of it in these terms : This book proves that the author was a very wise man, who was serious and conscientious . The book has been edited on several occasions. The picture shows Al Antaki and his disciples during a class in the great Omayade Mosque in Alep. RASHID ED-DINE AS-SOURI - (11881241 )Abu Mansur lbn Abil Al Fadi lbn Ali As-Souri was born in Tyre (Sour in Arabic). He studied medicine here under Abdel Latif. He lived in Jerusalem where he worked in his hospital. He left for Egypt to accompany King Adel. He later settled in Damascus, where he died. As-Souri studied, in particular, the features of the simple medications and wrote several books, the most important being The Book of Simples where he mentions drugs which nobody before him had mentioned. He used to look for plants in Anti-Lebanon, near Damascus. He always took a painter with him, who painted according to the indications of the scholar, the plants at the beginning of their growth, then at their height of flowering and finally at the stage of wilting. His book must have been unique in its field, but unfortunately, only a few pages remain. The drugs were divided into two groups: the simples and the compound drugs.
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The simples were those which only contained one active principle and the compounds contained a mixture of several products in variable proportions. The simples could be further divided into drugs of plant origin, drugs of animal origin and metals. The compound drugs could be aperitifs, syrups, tablets, powder, ointments, drops, etc... Each simple drug contained four degrees ofdryness, heat, humidity and coldness. For example, if the pain was dry initially and humid in the second degree, opposing drugs could be given, according to the principles of allopathy, i.e. humid in the first case and dry in the second. So-called hot drugs were prescribed to aerate, to attract, to open, to lighten, to soften and to wash. The so-called cold drugs were used to concentrate, to increase and to close. The second degree of action of a drug did not follow this classification, but was a result of experience: thus some were diuretics and others were analgesics (same classification as the present). The fourth degree was the pharmacological characteristic and took the name of the organ on which it acted : drugs for the head, for the stomach, etc... The moment to administer the drugs corresponded to AI-Burhane (the crisis), that is when the disease changes direction, either towards cure or towards death. Some Arab authors have compared health and disease to capital and profit. Others compare them to provisions for the traveller , the voyage being life and the provisions being strength. The longer the voyage, the more care needs to be taken of one's health. Treatment also consisted of diets, blood-letting and cauterizations ; surgery was separate specialty like ophthalmology.

ABDEL LATIF AL BAGHDADI- (1161-1231) Arab scholars has adopted Hippocrates' theory, that is the theory of the four elements. It has now been shown that the origin of this theory is to be found in the valley of the Indus and that a large part of socalled Greek medicine was derived, in fact, from eastern civilisations : Assyrio-Babylonian, Pharaonic and others. Hippocrates' theory claims that there are 4 elements : Air, Fire, Earth and Water. Each element corresponds to a humour: Blood, Lymph, Bile and Black Bile. Each element possesses a particular characteristic: heat for Fire, coldness for Earth, humidity for Water and dryness for Air. The equilibrium corresponds to the state of health and a disequilibrium corresponds to a state of disease. A good doctor should carefully look for the crisis of a disease and intervene when it is present. It is the critical moment in the clinical course of each disease, either towards cure or towards death. The Arabs had great respect for the two Respectables (Al Fadhilaiyn):

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Hippocrate and Galien. Initially, they only dared criticize them very timidly, except perhaps for Rhazes who devoted a book to criticizing Galien. Abdel Latif openly criticized Galien : and although Galien was at the highest standards of research in everything that he said and did, the tangible is more correct than him ; based on that, we need to imagine an explanation for his words, if that is possible . Abdel Latif was born in Baghdad, where he also pursued his studies. His teachers were the best known scholars of the day. He travelled a lot and lived in several towns: Damascus, Alep, Cairo, and Jerusalem where he was, together with Saladin, at the time the city was besieged by the Crusaders. He knew all of the scholars in Cairo and retained a bad impression of Maimonides whom he described as an opportunist and a hypocrit of little wisdom. He taught in each of the towns in which he lived and he also wrote. He taught in Cairo (AI-Azhar mosque) in Damascus (Azizie school) and in Alep (Great Ornmeyade Mosque). He had a critical intelligence and did not like Avicenne and thanked God for having delivered him from alchemy in which he barely believed. He died in Baghdad which he had left for 45 years. The best known of his many books is the Description of Egypt which was translated by Sylvestre de Sacy in 1810. In this book, he states, for the first time, that the lower jaw is a single bone and not two, as claimed by Galien. One of his hooks was devoted entirely to anatomv- but it annears to be los

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Baitul Hikma School

Al Zahrawi - Physician

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Al-Razi Physician

Ibn Nafis - Physician

Baitul Hikma Observatory

Ibn Sina - Physician

Ibn al Haytham the

Set of Seven Physician

Ibn First Scientist Haitham - Physician

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