The Persians carried the humoral theory a step further by...

The Persians carried the humoral theory a step further by identifying the four humours with the four elements of nature, i, e., air, fire, earth, and water. Browne[^8] however, defines Arabic medicine as one which has been presented in Arabic and considers that a large portion of it has been derived from the Greeks, though contributions have also been made by Indians, Persians, and scholars of other countries.

He further states that during the period between the downfall of the Greeks and the Renaissance of Europe, the Arabs kept up the medical traditions and subsequently Europe was benefited by their treasure of learning. Wasti[^9] remarks that the Arabs not only translated the old medical books but also prepared their abstracts, commented upon them, enriched them, and improved upon them.

In his support Cumston [^10]states, “It has been regarded for a long time that the Arabs slavishly copied the Greeks, rather they stood in the way of progress in medicine. But this is a wrong conception, because when the Arabs came into the field, Greek medicine had completely vanished and everywhere charm and magic were practised.

At that moment the Arabs not only saved the Greek knowledge from destruction but popularized Greek medicine by commenting and improving on it and subsequently created a taste for scientific learning in Europe. Even if the Arabs had only restricted their activities to collecting and translating Greek medical books into Arabic and had transmitted this knowledge to Europe again, it would not have been a mean achievement.

But they stepped further and wrote original books.” While the Greeks surpassed all other peoples in their achievements in anti­quity, the Muslims did so in the Middle Ages. Their works written in Arabic were, in Sarton's words, “the most original, the most valuable and the most pregnant.” Arabic became a most progressive and scientific language from the middle of the second/eighth to the end of eleventh/fifteenth century.

In the contemporary West there were hardly any names as glorious as those of 'Ali al-Tabari, Ahmad al-Tabari, al-Razi (L. Rhazes), 'Ali ibn al.'Abbas (L. Haly), ibn al-Baitar, abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi (L. Abulcasis), and ibn Sina (L. Avicenna).