Biography
He was born in Ahvaz,
southwestern Persia, and studied under Shaikh Abu Maher Musa ibn Sayyār.
He was considered one of the three greatest physicians of the Eastern Caliphate
of his time, and became physician to Emir Adhad al-dowleh Fana Khusraw of the Buwayhid dynasty,
who ruled from 949 CE to 983 CE. The Emir was a great patron of medicine, and
founded a hospital at Shiraz in
Persia , and in 981 the Al-Adudi Hospital in Baghdad, where al-Magusi worked. His ancestors
were Zoroastrian, but he himself was a Muslim. His reverence for Allah is evident in the worship and styles
of expression throughout his work.[1]
The
Complete Art of Medicine
Al-Majusi is best known for his Kitab
Kamil as-Sina'a at-Tibbiyya ("Complete
Book of the Medical Art"), later called The Complete Art of Medicine,[1] which
he completed circa 980. He dedicated the work to the Emir,
and it became known as the Kitab
al-Maliki ("Royal
Book", or in Latin Liber
Regalis or Regalis Dispositio). The book
is a more systematic and concise encyclopedia than Razi's Hawi, and more practical than Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine,
by which it was superseded.
The Maliki is divided into 20 discourses, of
which the first ten deal with theory and the second ten with the practice of
medicine. Some examples of topics covered are dietetics andmateria medica, a rudimentary conception of
the capillary system, interesting clinical
observations, and proof of the motions of the womb during parturition (for
example, the child does not come out, but is pushed out).
In Europe a partial Latin translation was adapted as the Liber pantegni by Constantinus
Africanus (c. 1087),
which became a founding text of the Schola Medica
Salernitana in Salerno. A complete and much better
translation was made in 1127 by Stephen of Antioch,
and this was printed in Venice in
1492 and 1523. Haly's book of medicine is cited in Chaucer'sCanterbury Tales.
Medical ethics and research methodology
The work emphisized the need for a healthy relationship between
doctors and patients, and the importance of medical ethics. It also provided details on a scientific methodology that is similar to modern biomedical research.[2]
Neuroscience and psychology
Neuroscience and
psychology were
discussed in The Complete Art
of Medicine. He described the neuroanatomy, neurobiology and neurophysiology of the brain and first discussed various mental disorders, including sleeping sickness, memory loss, hypochondriasis, coma,
hot and cold meningitis, vertigo epilepsy, love sickness, and hemiplegia. He placed more emphasis on
preserving health through diet and
natural healing than he did on medication or drugs,
which he considered a last resort.[1]
Psychophysiology and psychosomatic medicine
Ali ibn Abbas al-Majusi was a pioneer in psychophysiology and psychosomatic
medicine. He described how the physiological and psychological
aspects of a patient can have an effect on one another in his Complete Book of the Medical Art.
He found a correlation between patients who were physically and mentally
healthy and those who were physically and mentally unhealthy, and concluded
that "joy and contentment can bring a better living status to many who
would otherwise be sick and miserable due to unnecessary sadness, fear, worry
and anxiety."[3]