Most of the early Arab physicians believed in treating the whole person, not just a given disease. They were aware of the links between a patient's physiological and psychological conditions. Early Islamic literature abounds in stories and anecdotes of a medical nature, particularly those dealing with what Razi termed ilaj-il-nafiani, or psychotherapeusis-that is, cures effected by psychoanalysis, for, the therapy he often applied consisted of leading his patient back to some early recollection of a long-forgotten incident that, planted in the unconscious, became the cause of an ailment physical in its manifestation, yet psychological in origin.  
   
 
     
  over medical practice and administered a special oath to doctors.

The first great physician of the Arab world was Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (860-940 A.D.), known as Razi by the Arabs and Rhazes by medieval Europe. Universally considered one of the outstanding authorities in medical history, Razi authored more than two hundred books. His most important work was the Hawi, an extremely detailed medical encyclopedia in twenty-five volumes that was being used by doctors and students not only in the East, but also throughout Europe well into the fifteenth century. Razi best demonstrated his sharp powers of observation in an encyclopedia of therapeutics.
Among his discoveries was the identification of smallpox and measles, both of which he treated successfully. His treatise on smallpox was translated into several European languages over the centuries, the last time in 1948, into English. Razi was the first to use alcohol as an antiseptic and mercury as a purgative. In surgery, he used a fine string made of animal intestine for sewing up wounds.
Perhaps the most renowned of all Arab philosopher-scientists was Abu Ah al-Hussain Ibn Sina (980-1037 A.D.), or Avicenna. An extremely precocious youngster, Ibn Sina did not turn to medicine until he was sixteen, by which time he had already mastered Islamic law, philosophy, natural sciences and mathematics. He was only eighteen when his fame as a physician was such as to induce ruling princes to seek his services. A busy statesman, teacher, lecturer, profound thinker, poet and highly prolific writer on subjects as diverse as geology, music and mathematics, Ibn Sina treated medicine as only one of his numerous occupations.

Nevertheless, he produced sixteen books on medicine, including the Canun, a work of one million words. This encyclopedia, dealing with every then-known disease, treatment and medication as prescribed by both Greek and Arab authorities, is generally regarded as the final codification

 
   
 
     
       
     
   
     
  They also developed an elaborate ethical theory for medicine based on Greek, Indian and Persian teachings as well as the tenets of Islam. Among early books on the subject was Adab al-Tibb (Literature of Medicine) by Ishaq ibn Ah al-Ruhawi who considered physicians as "guardians of souls and bodies." He expounded on proper etiquette for physicians, urging high standards of ethical conduct. To insure that such prescriptions were followed, a special office, created early in the ninth century to deal with overcharging, profiteering, extortion and fraud in business, also watched  
   
   
     
   
     
   
   

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