If the Arabs did only one thing...

If the Arabs did only one thing, namely, preserving the ancient literature and handing it honestly to Europe, that would have been a sufficient contribution in itself. The Moslem rulers encouraged translation, e.g. Khalif Al-Mamun Al-Abbassi paid the translator the weight of his translation in gold (Haddad 1942).

Among the eminent physicians who took part in the first stage were Jurjis lbn-Bakhtisliu, his grandson Jibril, Yuhanna Ibn-Masawaya, and Hunain Ibn-Ishak; most of them were Christians, yet they were respected and well treated by the Moslem rulers. It is said, rightly or wrongly, that the history of a nation is the sum total of the history of a few of its individuals. Ths is particularly true in the history of medicine during the Arab period.

In every stage of its development we find men of outstanding repute, the sum total of whose efforts has constituted this magnificent chapter. It is impossible to give an account of all the important physicians of Islwn.

We thus are going to discuss some of those who were known to Medieval Europe and whose books affected its thinking and practice for centuries (Table 1), I chose an internist, Al-Razi (Razes); a surgeon, Al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis); the physician-philosopher of Islam, Ibn-Sina (Avicenna); the philosopher-physician of Islam, Ibn-Rushd (Averroes); a pioneer in physiology, Ibn-Al-Nafis; and a Jewish Arab, Ibn- Maimon (Maimonides). Previous…