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ALI IBN RABBAN AL-TABARI (838-870 A.D.)

This accomplished Hakim was the tutor of the unparalleled physician Zakariya al-Razi. Luck favoured the disciple more than the teacher in terms of celebrity. As compared to Razi people know very little about his teacher Ali.

Ali Bin Rabban's surname was Abu al-Hasan, the full name being Abu al-Hasan Ali Bin Sahl Rabban al-Tabari. Born in 838 A.D. his father Sahl hailed from a respectable Jew family. The nobility and sympathy inherent in his very nature soon endeared him to his countrymen so much so that they used to call him Rabban which implies "my leader".

Professionally Sahl was an extremely successful physician. He had command over the art of calligraphy too. Besides he had a deep insight into the disciplines of Astronomy, Philosophy, Mathematics and Literature. Some complicated articles of Batlemus's book al-Mijasti came to be resolved by way of Sahl's scholarly expertise, translators preceding him had failed to solve the mystery.

Ali received his education in the disciplines of Medical science and calligraphy from his able father Sahl and attained perfection in these fields. He had also mastered Syriac and Greek languages to a high degree of proficiency.

Ali hailed from a Israelite family. Since he had embraced Islam, he is classified amongst Muslirn Scholars. This family belonged to Tabristan's famous city Marv.

The fame acquired by Ali Bin Rabban did not simply account for the reason that a physician of the stature of Zakariya al-Razi was amongst his disciple. In fact the main cause behind his exalta- tion lies in his world-renowned treatise Firdous al-Hikmat.

Spread over seven parts, Firdous al-Hikmat is the first ever Medical encyclopaedia which incorporates all the branches of medical science in its folds. This work has been published in this century (20th century) only. Prior to this publication only five of his manuscripts were to be found scattered in libraries the world over. Dr. Mohammed Zubair Siddiqui compared and edited the manuscripts. In his preface he has provided extremely useful informa- tion regarding the book and the author and, wherever felt necessary, explanatory notes have been written to facilitate publication of this work on modern publishing standards.

Later on this unique work was published with the cooperation of English and German institutions. Following are the details of its all seven parts:
1. Part one: Kulliyat-e-Tibb. This part throws light on contempo- rary ideology of medical science. In that era these principles formed the basis of medical science.
2. Part two: Elucidation of the organs of the human body, rules for keeping good health and comprehensive account of certain muscular diseases.
3.Part three: Description of diet to be taken in conditions of health and disease.
4. Part four: All diseases right from head to toe. This part is of profound significance in the whole book and comprises twelve papers:

i) General causes relating to eruption of diseases.
ii) Diseases of the head and the brain.
iii) Diseases relating to the eye, nose, ear, mouth and the teeth.
iv) Muscular diseases (paralysis and spasm).
v) Diseases of the regions of the chest, throat and the lungs.
vi) Diseases of the abdomen.
vii) Diseases of the liver.
viii) Diseases of gallbladder and spleen.
ix) Intesti- nal diseases.
x) Different kinds of fever.
xi) Miscellaneous diseases--Brief explanation of organs of the body.
xii) Exami- nation of pulse and urine. This part is the largest in the book and is almost half the size of the whole book.

5. Part five: Description of flavour, taste and colour.

6. Part six: Drugs and poison.

7. Part seven: Deals with diverse topics. Discusses climate and astronomy. Also contains a brief mention of Indian medicine.

Though he wrote Firdous al-Hikmat in Arabic but he simultaneously translated it into Syriac. He has two more compilations to his credit namely Deen-o-Doulat and Hifdh al-Sehhat. The latter is available in manuscript-form in the library of Oxford University. Besides Medical science, he was also a master of Philosophy, Mathe- matics and Astronomy. He breathed his last around 870 A.D.

AL-IDRISI (1099-1166 A.D.)

Abu Abdallah Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Ibn AbdallahIbn Idris al-Qurtubi al-Hasani, was bom in Ceuta, Spain, in1099 A.D . He was educated in Cordova. Later he travelled farand wide in connection with his studies and then flourished at theNorman court in Palermo. The date of his death is controversial,being either 1166 or 1180 A.D.

Biographical notes on him are to be found rathe rararely, andaccording to F. Pons Boigues the underlying reason is the fact thatthe Arab biographers considered al-Idrisi to be a renegade, since hehad been associated with the court of a Christian king and writtenin praise of him, in his work . The circumstances which led him tosettle in Sicily at the court of Roger II are not on record.
His major contribution lies in medicinal plants as presentedin his several books, specially Kitab al-Jami-li-Sifat Ashtat al-Nabatat.He studied a nd reviewed all the literature on the subject of medicinalplants and formed the opinion that very little original material hadbeen added to this branch of knowledge since the early Greekwork. He, therefore, collected plants and data not reported earlieran d added this to the subject of botany, with special referenceto medicinal plants. Thus, a large number of new drugs plantstogether with their evaluation became available to the medicalpractitioners. He has given the names of the drugs in six languages:Syr iac, Greek, Persian, Hindi, Latin and Berber.

In addition to the above, he made original contributions togeography, especially as related to economics, physical factors andcultural aspects. He made a planishere in silver for King Roger II,and descri bed the world in Al-Kitab al-Rujari (Roger's Book), alsoentitled Nuzhat al-Mushtaq fi Ikhtiraq al-Afaq (The delight of himwho desires to journey through the climates). This is practicallya geographical encyclopaedia of the time, containing i nformationnot only on Asia and Africa, but also Western countries.

Al-Idrisi, later on, also compiled another geographical encyclo-paedia, larger than the former entitled Rawd-Unnas wa-Nuzhatal-Nafs (Pleasure of men and delight of souls) also known as Kitab al-Mamalik wa al-Masalik.

Apart from botany and geography, Idrisi also wrote on fauna,zoology and therapeutical aspects. His work was soon translatedinto Latin and, especially, his books on geography remained popularboth in th e East and the West for several centuries.
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IBN AL-BAITAR (DIED 1248 A.D.)

Abu Muhammad Abdallah Ibn Ahmad Ibn al-Baitar Dhiya al-Din al-Malaqi was one of the greatest scientists of Muslim Spain and was the greatest botanist and pharmacist of the Middle Ages. He was born in the Spanish city of Malaqa (Malaga) towards the end of the 12th century. He learned botany from Abu al-Abbas al-Nabati, a learned botanist, with whom he started collecting plants in and around Spain. In 1219 he left Spain on a plant-collecting expedition and travelled along the northern coast of Africa as far as Asia Minor. The exact modes of his travel (whether by land or sea) are not known, but the major stations he visited include Bugia, Qastantunia (Constantinople), Tunis, Tripoli, Barqa and Adalia. After 1224 he entered the service of al-Kamil, the Egyptian Gover- nor, and was appointed chief herbalist. In 1227 al-Kamil extended his domination to Damaseus, and Ibn al-Baitar accompanied him there which provided him an opportunity to collect plants in Syria His researches on plants extended over a vast area:including Arabia and Palestine, which he either visited or managed to collect plants from stations located there. He died in Damascus in 1248.

Ibn Baitar's major contribution, Kitab al-Jami fi al-Adwiya al- Mufrada, is one of the greatest botanical compilations dealing with medicinal plants in Arabic. It enjoyed a high status among botanists up to the 16th century and is a systematic work that embodies earlier works, with due criticism, and adds a great part of original contribution. The encyclopaedia comprises some 1,400 different items, largely medicinal plants and vegetables, of which about 200 plants were not known earlier. The book refers to the work of some 150 authors mostly Arabic, and it also quotes about 20 early Greek scientists. It was translated into Latin and published in 1758.

His second monumental treatise Kitab al-Mlughni fi al-Adwiya al-Mufrada is an encyclopaedia of medicine. The drugs are listed in accordance with their therapeutical value. Thus, its 20 different chapters deal with the plants bearing significance to diseases of head, ear, eye, etc. On surgical issues he has frequently quoted the famous Muslim surgeon, Abul Qasim Zahrawi. Besides Arabic, Baitar has given Greek and Latin names of the plants, thus facilitating transfer of knowledge.

Ibn Baitar's contributions are characterised by observation, analysis and classification and have exerted a profound influence on Eastern as well as Western botany and medicine. Though the Jami was translated/published late in the western languages as mentioned above, yet many scientists had earlier studied various parts of the book and made several references to it.

IBN AL-NAFIS (1213-1288 A.D.)

Ala-al-Din Abu al-Hasan Ali Ibn Abi al-Hazm al-Qarshi al- Damashqi al-Misri was born in 607 A.H. of Damascus. He was educated at the Medical College-cum-Hospital founded by Nur al- Din Zangi. In medicine his teacher was Muhaththab al-Din Abd al- Rahim. Apart from medicine, Ibn al-Nafis learnt jurisprudence, literature and theology. He thus became a renowned expert on Shafi'i School of Jurisprudence as well as a reputed physician.

After acquiring his expertise in medicine and jurisprudence, he moved to Cairo where he was appointed as the Principal at the famous Nasri Hospital. Here he imparted training to a large number of medical specialists, including Ibn al-Quff al-Masihi, the famous surgeon. He also served at the Mansuriya School at Cairo. When he died in 678 A.H. he donated his house, library and clinic to the Mansuriya Hospital.

His major contribution lies in medicine. His approach comprised writing detailed commentaries on early works, critically evaluating them and adding his own original contribution. Hlis major original contribution of great significance was his discovery of the blood's circulatory system, which was re-discovered by modern science after a lapse of three centuries. He was the first to correctly describe the constitution of the lungs and gave a description of the bronchi and the interaction between the human body's vessels for air and blood. Also, he elaborated the function of the coronary arteries as feeding the cardiac muscle.
The most voluminous of his books is Al-Shamil fi al-Tibb, which was designed to be an encyclopaedia comprising 300 volumes, but it could not be completed due to his death. The manuscript is available at Damascus. His book on ophthalmology is largely an original contribution and is also extant. However, his book that became most famous was Mujaz al-Qanun and a number of commentaries were written on this. His own commentaries include one on Hippocrates' book. He wrote several volumes on Ibn Sina's Qanun, that are still extant. Likewise he wrote a commentary on Hunayn Ibn Ishaq's book. Another famous book embodying his original contribution was on the effects of diet on health. entitled Kitab al-Mukhtar fi al-Aghdhiya.
Ibn Al-Nafis' works integrated the then existing medical know- ledge and enriched it, thus exerting great influence on the develop- ment of medical science, both in the East and the West. However, only one of his books was translated into Latin at early stages and, therefore, a part of his work remained unknown to Europe for a long time.

IBN KHALDUN (1332-1395. A.D. )

A bd al-Rahman Ibn Mohammad is generally known as IbnKhaldun after a remote ancestor. His parents, originall y YemeniteArabs, had settled in Spain, but after the fall of Seville, had migratedto Tunisia. He was born in Tunisia in 1332 A.D., where he receivedhis early education and where, still in his teens, he entered the serviceof the Egyptian ruler Sultan Barqu q. His thirst for advanced know-ledge and a better academic setting soon made him leave this serviceand migrate to Fez. This was followed by a long period of unrestmarked by contemporary political rivalries affecting his career.This turbulent period also included a three year refuge in a smallvillage Qalat Ibn Salama in Algeria, which provided him with theopportunity to write Muqaddimah, the first volume of his worldhistory that won him an immortal place among historians, sociolo-gists and philosop hers. The uncertainty of his career still continued,with Egypt becoming his final abode where he spent his last 24 years.Here he lived a life of fame and respect, marked by his appointmentas the Chief Malakite Judge and lecturing at the Al-Azhar Universit y,but envy caused his removal from his high judicial office as many asfive times.

Ibn Khaldun's chief contribution lies in philosophy of historyand sociology. He sought to write a world history preambled by afirst volume aimed at an analysis of hist orical events. This volume,commonly known as Muqaddimah or 'Prolegomena', was based onIbn Khaldun's unique approach and original contribution andbecame a masterpiece in literature on philosophy of history andsociology. The chief concern of this mon umental work was toidentify psychological, economic, environmental and social factsthat contribute to the advancement of human civilization and thecurrents of history. In this context, he analysed the dynamics ofgroup relationships and showed how group-fe elings, al-'Asabiyya,give rise to the ascent of a new civilisation and political power andhow, later on, its diffusion into a more general civilization invitesthe advent of a still new 'Asabiyya in its pristine form. He identifiedan almost r hythmic repetition of rise and fall in human civilization,and analysed factors contributing to it. His contribution to historyis marked by the fact that, unlike most earlier writers interpretinghistory largely in a political context, he emphasised environ mental,sociological, psychological and economic factors governing theapparent events. This revolutionised the science of history and alsolaid the foundation of Umraniyat (Sociology).

Apart from the Muqaddimah that became an importantin dependent book even during the lifetime of the author, the othervolumes of his world history Kitab al-I'bar deal with the history ofArabs, contemporary Muslim rulers, contemporary European rulers,ancient history of Arabs, Jews, Greeks, Romans, Pers ians, etc.,Islamic History, Egyptian history and North-African history,especially that of Berbers and tribes living in the adjoining areas.The last volume deals largely with the events of his own life and isknown as Al-Tasrif. This was also written in a scientific manner andinitiated a new analytical tradition in the art of writing autobio-graphy. A book on mathematics written by him is not extant.

Ibn Khaldun's influence on the subject of history, philosophyof history, sociology, political s cience and education has remainedparamount ever since his life. His books have been translated intomany languages, both in the East and the West, and have inspiredsubsequent development of these sciences. For instance, Prof. GumPloughs and Kolosio conside r Muqaddimah as superior in scholarshipto Machiavelli's The Prince written a century later, as the forrnerbases the diagnosis more on cultural, sociological, economic andpsychological factors.

ck_mohd@hotmail.com

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