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'Ali ibn al-'Abbas al-Majusi (Persian:علی بن عباس مجوسی; died between 982 and 994), also known as Masoudi, orLatinized asHaly Abbas, was aPersian[1]physician andpsychologist from theIslamic Golden Age, most famous for theKitab al-Maliki orComplete Book of the Medical Art, his textbook onmedicine andpsychology.
He was born inAhvaz, southwesternPersia, to aPersian family[2] 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'Adud al-Daula Fana Khusraw of theBuwayhid dynasty, who ruled from 949 CE to 983 CE. The Emir was a great patron of medicine, and founded a hospital atShiraz in Persia, and in 981 theAl-Adudi Hospital inBaghdad, where al-Majusi worked. His ancestors wereZoroastrian (whence thenisba "al-Majusi"), but he himself was aMuslim. The name of his father was Abbas, and according to Iranica, is not the kind of name typically taken by a neophyte, a fact which suggests that conversion to Islam took place in the generation of his grandparents, if not earlier. He himself seems to have been lacking in Muslim zeal, since no mention is made of the prophetMoḥammad in his introductory remarks, while his argument for the excellence of medicine is based entirely on pragmatic reasoning without recourse to theQuran or the Sunna. Moreover, by calling himself "Ali b. Abbas Majusi", the author intentionally calls attention to his Zoroastrian background.[3]
Al-Majusi is best known for hisKitāb Kāmil aṣ-Ṣināʿa aṭ-Ṭibbiyya (كتاب كامل الصناعة الطبية "Complete Book of the Medical Art"), later calledThe Complete Art of Medicine, which he completedcirca 980. He dedicated the work to theEmir, and it became known as theKitāb al-Malaki (كتاب الملكي, "Royal Book", or in LatinLiber Regalis orRegalis Dispositio). The book is a more systematic and concise encyclopedia thanRazi'sHawi, and more practical thanAvicenna'sThe Canon of Medicine, by which it was superseded.[citation needed]
TheMaliki 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 aredietetics andmateria medica, a rudimentary conception of thecapillary system, interesting clinical observations, and proof of the motions of thewomb duringparturition (for example, the child does not come out, but is pushed out).
In Europe a partialLatin translation was adapted as theLiber Pantegni byConstantinus Africanus (c. 1087), which became a founding text of theSchola Medica Salernitana inSalerno. A complete and much better translation was made in 1127 byStephen of Antioch, and this was printed inVenice in 1492 and 1523. Haly's book of medicine is cited inChaucer'sCanterbury Tales.
The work emphasized the need for a healthy relationship between doctors and patients, and the importance ofmedical ethics. It also provided details on ascientific methodology that is similar to modernbiomedical research.
Neuroscience and psychology were discussed inThe Complete Art of Medicine. He described theneuroanatomy,neurobiology andneurophysiology of thebrain and first discussed variousmental disorders, includingsleeping sickness,memory loss,hypochondriasis,coma, hot and coldmeningitis,vertigoepilepsy,love sickness, andhemiplegia. He placed more emphasis on preservinghealth throughdiet and natural healing than he did onmedication ordrugs, which he considered a last resort.
Ali ibn Abbas al-Majusi was a pioneer inpsychophysiology andpsychosomatic medicine. He described how the physiological and psychological aspects of a patient can have an effect on one another in hisComplete 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."[4]
The greatest of these figures, who ushered in the golden age of Islamic medicine and who are discussed separately by E. G. Browne in his Arabian Medicine, are four Persian physicians: 'All b. Rabban al-Tabarl, Muhammad b. Zakariyya' al-Razl, 'All b. al-'Abbas al-Majusi and Ibn Sina.
He was a Zoroastrian, or at least came from a family of Zoroastrians, and was Persian by birth.
Hamarneh, Sami (2008) [1970-80]."Al-Majūsī, Abu'l-Ḥasan 'Alī Ibn 'Abbās".Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Encyclopedia.com.
