This document provides biographies of several great Arab physicians from history, including: - Abu Nasr Al-Farabi who made significant contributions to many fields including philosophy, logic, and medicine. - Ibn Sina (Avicenna) whose most important work was his medical encyclopedia called The Canon which comprised the entire medical knowledge at the time. - Al-Zahrawi who is considered the father of modern surgery and authored a 30-volume medical encyclopedia called Al-Tasrif that described over 200 surgical instruments and techniques still used today. - Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi who was a polymath known as the father of pediatrics and made advances in

1. GREAT ARAB
PHYSICIANS
BY:
ATHIATHULLAH HABIBULLAH

2. Abu Nasr Al-Farabi (872 –
950)
Farabi contributed
considerably to science,
philosophy, logic,
sociology, medicine,
mathematics and music,
but the major ones are in
philosophy, logic and
sociology and for which
he stands out as an
Encyclopedist

3. Ibn Sina (980 – 1037)
AVICENNA WAS A PERSIAN
POLYMATH
His most important contribution
to medical science was his
famous book al-Qanun, known as
the “Canon” in the West. This
book is an immense encyclopedia
of medicine including over a
million words and like most
Arabic books is richly divided and
subdivided. It comprises of the
entire medical knowledge

4. Thabit ibn Qurra (826 – 901)
Also known as Thebit. Arab
mathematician, physician and
astronomer; who was the first
reformer of the Ptolemaic
system and the founder of
statics.

5. Abu Bakr Al-Razi (865 – 925)
Also known as Rhazes. Persian
alchemist and philosopher, who
was one of the greatest
physicians in history.

6. Ibn Zuhr (1091 – 1161)
Also known as Avenzoar. Arab
physician and surgeon, known for
his influential book Al-Taisir Fil-
Mudawat Wal-Tadbeer (Book of
Simplification Concerning
Therapeutics and Diet).

7. Ibn Al-Baitar (1197 – 1248)
Arab scientist, botanist and
physician who systematically
recorded the discoveries
made by Islamic physicians in
the Middle Ages.

8. Arabic: ‫ﻢﺳﺎﻘﻟﺍ‬ ‫ﻒﻠﺧ‬ ‫ﻦﺑ‬ ‫ﺱﺎﺒﻌﻟﺍ‬ ‫ﻱﻭﺍﺮﻫﺰﻟﺍ‬‫ﻮﺑﺃ‬

9. BIOGRAPHY
• ABU AL-QASIM KHALAF IBN AL-ABBAS AL-ZAHRAWI (936–1013), ALSO KNOWN IN THE WEST
AS ALBUCASIS, WAS AN ARAB MUSLIM PHYSICIAN WHO LIVED IN AL-ANDALUS. HE IS
CONSIDERED THE GREATEST MEDIEVAL SURGEON TO HAVE APPEARED FROM THE ISLAMIC
WORLD, AND HAS BEEN DESCRIBED BY MANY AS THE FATHER OF MODERN SURGERY. HIS
GREATEST CONTRIBUTION TO MEDICINE IS THE KITAB AL-TASRIF, A THIRTY-VOLUME
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MEDICAL PRACTICES. HIS PIONEERING CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FIELD
OF SURGICAL PROCEDURES AND INSTRUMENTS HAD AN ENORMOUS IMPACT IN THE EAST
AND WEST WELL INTO THE MODERN PERIOD, WHERE SOME OF HIS DISCOVERIES ARE STILL
APPLIED IN MEDICINE TO THIS DAY.
• HE WAS THE FIRST PHYSICIAN TO DESCRIBE AN ECTOPIC PREGNANCY, AND THE FIRST
PHYSICIAN TO IDENTIFY THE HEREDITARY NATURE OF HAEMOPHILIA.

10. WORKS
• ABŪ AL-QĀSIM WAS A COURT PHYSICIAN TO THE
ANDALUSIAN CALIPH AL-HAKAM II. HE DEVOTED HIS
ENTIRE LIFE AND GENIUS TO THE ADVANCEMENT
OF MEDICINE AS A WHOLE AND SURGERY IN
PARTICULAR. HIS BEST WORK WAS THE KITAB AL-
TASRIF, DISCUSSED BELOW.
• ABŪ AL-QĀSIM SPECIALIZED IN CURING DISEASE BY
CAUTERIZATION. HE INVENTED SEVERAL DEVICES
USED DURING SURGERY, FOR PURPOSES SUCH AS
INSPECTION OF THE INTERIOR OF THE URETHRA,
APPLYING AND REMOVING FOREIGN BODIES FROM

11. AL-ZAHRAWI WAS THE FIRST TO ILLUSTRATE THE VARIOUS
CANNULAE AND THE FIRST TO TREAT A WART WITH AN
IRON TUBE AND CAUSTIC METAL AS A BORING
INSTRUMENT. HE WAS ALSO THE FIRST TO DRAW HOOKS
WITH A DOUBLE TIP FOR USE IN SURGERY

12. KITAB AL-TASRIF
Abū al-Qāsim's thirty-chapter medical treatise, Kitab
al-Tasrif, completed in the year 1000, covered a broad range
of medical topics, including dentistry and childbirth, which
contained data that had accumulated during a career that
spanned almost 50 years of training, teaching and practice.
In it he also wrote of the importance of a positive
doctor-patient relationship and wrote affectionately of his
students, whom he referred to as “my children”He also emphasized the importance of treating patients
irrespective of their social status. He encouraged the close
observation of individual cases in order to make the most
accurate diagnosis and the best possible treatment.

15. He introduced over 200
surgical instruments. Many of
these instruments were never
used before by any previous
surgeons
His use of catgut for internal
stitching is still practised in
modern surgery. The catgut
appears to be the only natural
substance capable of dissolving
and is acceptable by the body.
Abū al-Qāsim also invented the
forceps for extracting a dead

16. Al-Tasrif described how to ligature blood vessels
almost 600 years before Ambroise Paré, and was the
first recorded book to document several dental
devices and explain the hereditary nature of
haemophilia. He was also the first to describe a
surgical procedure for ligating the temporal artery
for migraine, also almost 600 years before Pare
recorded that he had ligated his own temporal
artery for headache that conforms to current
descriptions of migraine. Abū al-Qāsim was
therefore the first to describe the migraine surgery

17. On Surgery and Instruments is an illustrated surgical
guide written by Albucasis, known in Arabic as ‘al-
Zahrāwī’. Albucasis contributed many technological
innovations, notably which tools to use in specific
surgeries. In On Surgery and Instruments, he draws
diagrams of each tool used in different procedures to
clarify how to carry out the steps of each treatment. The
full text consists of three books, intended for medical
students looking to gain more knowledge within the field
of surgery regarding procedures and the necessary tools.
Interestingly, Albucasis considers his educated opinion to
be superior than that of the Ancients: “…whatever skill I
On Surgery and
Instruments

18. Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-
Razi

19. Muhammad ibn Zakariyā
Rāzī(Persian: ‫ﺪﻤﺤﻣ‬ ‫ﯼﺎﯾﺮﮐﺯ‬ ‫ﯼﺯﺍﺭ‬
Mohammad-e Zakariā-ye
Rāzi, also known by his
Latinized name Rhazes or Rasis)
(854 CE – 925 CE), was a
Persian polymath, physician,
alchemist and chemist,
philosopher and important
figure in the history of medicine
and as the discoverer of alcohol

20. Being endowed by nature with a comprehensive mind, Razi made
fundamental and enduring contributions to various fields of
science, which he recorded in over 200 manuscripts, and is
particularly remembered for numerous advances in medicine
through own observations and discoveries An early proponent of
experimental medicine, he became a successful doctor; was
appointed a court physician, and served as chief physician of
Baghdad and Rey hospitals. He was among the first to use
Humoralism to distinguish one contagious disease from
another and has been described as doctor's doctor, the father of
pediatrics, and a pioneer of ophthalmology.

21. Contributions to medicine
"Smallpox appears when blood 'boils' and is infected, resulting in
vapours being expelled. Thus juvenile blood (which looks like wet
extracts appearing on the skin) is being transformed into richer
blood, having the color of mature wine. At this stage, smallpox
shows up essentially as 'bubbles found in wine' - (as blisters) - ...
this disease can also occur at other times - (meaning: not only
during childhood) -. The best thing to do during this first stage is
to keep away from it, otherwise this disease might turn into an
epidemic."
Smallpox vs. measles
Razi's book: al-Judari wa al-Hasbah (On Smallpox and
Measles) was the first book describing smallpox and measles
as distinct diseases

22. Razi contributed in many ways to the early practice of
pharmacy by compiling texts, in which he introduces
the use of 'mercurial ointments' and his development
of apparatus such as mortars, flasks, spatulas and
phials, which were used in pharmacies until the early
twentieth century
Pharmacy

23. Books and articles on medicine
• The Virtuous Life (al-Hawi).
• A medical adviser for the
general public (Man la
Yahduruhu Al-Tabib)• Doubts About Galen (Shukuk 'ala alinusor)
• The Diseases of Children
• Mental health
• Isbateh Elmeh Pezeshki
(Persian proving the Science of
Medicine").
• Dar Amadi bar Elmh Pezeshki
(Persian Outcome of the
Science of Medicine").
• Rade Manaategha 'tibb jahez
• Rade Naghzotibbeh Nashi

24. • The Experimentation of Medical Science and
its Application
• Guidance
• Kenash
• The Classification of Diseases
• Royal Medicine
• For One Without a Doctor ( ‫ﻦﻣ‬ ‫ﻩﺮﻀﺤﯾﻻ‬ ‫ﺐﻴﺒﻄﻟﺍ‬)
• The Book of Simple Medicine
• The Great Book of Krabadin
• The Little Book of Krabadin
• The Book of Taj or The Book of the Crown
AND SO MANY BOOKS WHICH WERE
TRANSLATED IN ENGLISH

25. Alchemy The Transmutation of
Metals
Razi’s interest in alchemy and
his strong belief in the
possibility of transmutation of
lesser metals to silver and gold
was attested half a century
after his death by Ibn an-
Nadim’s book The Philosophers
Stone (Lapis Philosophorum in
Latin). Nadim attributed a
series of twelve books to Razi,

26. He is known
to have:
• perfected methods of distillation and extraction.
• dismissed the idea of potions and
• dispensed with magic, meaning the reliance on symbols
as causes.
• his alchemical stockroom was enriched with products of
Persian mining and manufacturing, even with sal
ammoniac, a Chinese discovery.
• He relied predominantly on the concept of ‘dominant’
forms or essences, which is the Neoplatonic conception of
causality rather than an intellectual approach or a
mechanical one). Razi’s alchemy brings forward such
empiric qualities as
• salinity and inflammability -the latter associated to

27. He is important figure in the history of
medicine and as the discoverer of alcohol and
vitriol (sulfuric acid) is well known.

28. Books on alchemy
Here is a list of Razi's known books on alchemy, mostly in Persian:
Modkhele Taalimi
Elaleh Ma'aaden
Isbaate Sanaa'at
Ketabeh Sang
Ketabe Tadbir
Ketabe Aksir
Ketabe Sharafe Sanaa'at
Ketabe Tartib, Ketabe Rahat, The Simple Book
Ketabe Tadabir
Ketabe Shavahed
Ketabe Azmayeshe Zar va Sim (Experimentation on Gold)
Ketabe Serre Hakimaan
Ketabe Serr (The Book of Secrets)
Ketabe Serre Serr (The Secret of Secrets)
The First Book on Experiments
The Second Book on Experiments
Resaale'ei Be Faan
Arezooyeh Arezookhah

29. This is a partial list of Razi's books on philosophy.
The Small Book on Theism
Response to Abu'al'Qasem Braw
The Greater Book on Theism
Modern Philosophy
Dar Roshan Sakhtane Eshtebaah
Dar Enteghaade Mo'tazlian
Delsoozi Bar Motekaleman
Meydaneh Kherad
Khasel
Resaaleyeh Rahnamayeh Fehrest
Ghasideyeh Ilaahi
Dar Alet Afarineshe Darandegan
Shakkook
Naghseh Ketabe Tadbir
Naghsnamehyeh Ferforius
Do name be Hasanebne Moharebe Ghomi
Books on philosophy

30. Ethics of medicine
On a professional level, Razi
introduced many practical,
progressive, medical and
psychological ideas. He attacked
charlatans and fake doctors who
roamed the cities and countryside
selling their nostrums and "cures".
At the same time, he warned that
even highly educated doctors did
not have the answers to all medical
problems and could not cure all
sicknesses or heal every disease,
which was humanly speaking
impossible.
To become more useful in their services and truer to their
calling, Razi advised practitioners to keep up with advanced
knowledge by continually studying medical books and exposing

31. RHAZES WROTE IN HIS MEDICAL ETHICS AS
FOLLOWING:
"The doctor's aim is to do good, even
to our enemies, so much more to our
friends, and my profession forbids us
to do harm to our kindred, as it is
instituted for the benefit and welfare
of the human race, and God imposed
on physicians the oath not to
compose mortiferous remedies."

32. THANK YOU