Abu
al-Hasan Ali Bin Sahl Rabban al-Tabari
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Ali Bin Rabban's surname was Abu al-Hasan, 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
exaltation 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 information 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 contemporary 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)
Intestinal diseases. x) Different kinds of fever. xi) Miscellaneous
diseases--Brief explanation of organs of the body. xii) Examination
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, Mathematics and Astronomy. He breathed
his last around 870 A.D. |