Abu Bakr Muhammad al-Razi’s, a Distinguished Physician in Point of Knowledge and Experience, About the Cases That Happened to Him

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to show the medical experience and practices in the third chapter of titled “About the Cases that happened to Razi” of the book titled Abubetri Rhazae Maomethi scientia peritiaque insignis medici in libros Aphorismorum, sive secretorum medicinalium Gerardo Toletano Cremonensi Interprete/The Knowledge and Experience of the Distinguished Physician’s in the Book of Aphorisms or The Secrets of Medicine of Abu Bakr Muhammad Razi Interpreted by Gerard of Cremona From Toledo which is situated in pages 517-546 of his book titled Abubetri Rhazae Maomethi, ob usum experientiamque multiplicem, et ob certissimas ex demostrationibus logicis indicationes, ad omnes praeter naturam affectus, atque etiam propter remediorum uberrimam materiam…quibus nihil utilius ad actus practicos extat, omnia enim penitus quae habet aut obscuriora, aut Galenus fusiora, fidellissime doctissimeque exponit, & in lucem profert of which contains the works of Abu Bakr Muhammad Zakariyya al-Razi’s translated into Latin.

Methods: Based on the 1544 Basel edition of the mentioned work, the relevant section was translated from Western Medieval Latin into Turkish. Then translated into English on the basis of the Turkish text. In the light of the data obtained, Razi’s approaches to case narratives were evaluated with the approaches of his predecessors, Hippocrates and Galen, and the case narratives in his own works. During the discussion, basic sources of medical history, the works of his predecessors Hippocrates and Galen, Razi’s own works and modern sources have been used.

Results: As a result of the evaluation, in the cases narrated by Razi, there are people from different social groups such as Razi himself, the ruler, his friend and the slave. Findings such as the diseases that caused the case narratives, the treatment methods applied for these diseases, the presence of a negative opinion towards the physician, the feeling of trust between the physician and the patient, instant clinical observations and the duration of treatment have been obtained.

Conclusion: In Razi’s case narratives, it has seen that he was influenced by the theoretical knowledge and practices of his predecessors, Hippocrates and Galen. In the case narratives presented by Razi, it has been noticed that while the patient group consisted of different people, some cases based on complaints such as paralysis, swelling, heat stroke, discharge, stomach pain and burning were repeated. In these narratives, it can be said that Razi’s style is dominated by clarity, comprehensibility and simplicity.