Abu Bakr al-Razi [Rhazes] Biography

Abu Bakr al-Razi [Rhazes]

(Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya al-Razi; ar-Rayy, c .865-Baghdad ?, c .923) Persian physician, alchemist and philosopher.Known in medieval Europe by the name of Rhazes, he is considered, along with Avicenna, the most notable doctor in the Arabic language.Among the more than fifty works attributed to him, we must highlight Continens , a medical encyclopedia used in Europe until the 16th century, and On Smallpox and Scarlet fever .He also wrote more than forty works on philosophy (logic, metaphysics and theology), in which he revealed the influence of Plato and his belief in the impossibility of reconciling religion and philosophy.

Al-Razi or Rhazes

Born in the Persian town of ar-Rayy (from which he takes his name), the activity of this famous Arab doctor was not limited to the practice of medicine; his studies also covered alchemy, philosophy, mathematics and physics.Apparently, he was in Spain and lived in Córdoba for some time.His most important work is al-Hawi , "the book that comprises", called by Latin writers Continens and known in Spanish as The continent .It is an encyclopedia of the medical-surgical science of the Islamic world, and covers such matter from its origins to the first years of the 10th century.

The work (comprising a variable number of books depending on the edition in question, due to the confusing distribution of the matter) does not constitute a normal treatise, arranged according to a systematic plan, but is a set of observations (noteworthy from a practical point of view) that were probably not intended for publication, at least in the state in which they have arrived.In addition to the neglect of style, later writers' quotes from Razi raised doubts among modern critics about the authenticity of the work.Even admitting that The continent has come down to us in later elaborations, with alterations and additions, in it a fundamental nucleus can be distinguished, and this nucleus is attributed to the scientific genius of al-Razi.

The first part of the work deals with the particular affections of each organ, starting from the head until reaching the lower limbs; the second includes diseases that occur both in one region and another, and those that affect the entire organism.The most diffusely treated arguments are those related to general and special pathology, to physiology, surgery and therapeutics.Diseases are described without any order or classification in relation to their course or symptoms, without even outlining the picture of pathological alterations; Then comes therapy, which attaches great importance to dietetics.Among the most interesting books are those on disorders of the chest, intestines, heart, genitourinary system, and joints.

Al-Razi extends a lot when dealing with drugs, whose medical properties and applications he indicates; some of them were introduced into medicine by al-Razi himself, such as musk and camphor; he mentions for the first time the bezoar stone, considered the antivenom par excellence.It also describes numerous surgical disease processes, for example, kidney and bladder stones, hydrocele, hernia, trichinosis and uterine prolapse; His surgery comes from the Greek one, but it contains some new notions, such as the tracheostomy technique and the operation of the lacrimal fistula.

Rich in scholarly citations and original observations, The continent has great importance from the historical point of view due to the vast casuistry that it collects and for the numerous authors cited, especially Arab, Indians and Syrians, as well as Greeks and Latins, among whom Galen and Hippocrates occupy the first place, whose influence on the work is evident: al-Razi's pathology is Galenic; Hippocratic are dietetics and climatology.Inexhaustible medical archive, which later authors exploited for a long time, The continent , despite its imperfect state, enjoyed great esteem among the Orientals and even among the Latins, who studied it until the early Renaissance.

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