''Kitab al-Hawi'' or ''Al-Hawi'' or ''Kitāb al-Ḥāwī fī al-ṭibb'' translated as ''The Comprehensive Book on Medicine'' is an extensive medical encyclopedia authored by the Persian polymath Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (865–925), commonly known in the West as Rhazes in the 10th century. This monumental work is a compendium of Greek, Syrian, and early Arabic medical knowledge, as well as some Indian medical practices. It was first translated into Latin in 1279 under the title ''Continens'' by Faraj ben Salim, a physician of Sicilian-Jewish origin employed by

Charles of Anjou Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou or Charles d'Anjou, was King of Sicily from 1266 to 1285. He was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the House of Anjou-Sicily. Between 1246 a ...

. The oldest partial remaining copy of this work belongs to the

National Library of Medicine The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is an institute within the National Institutes of Health. I ...

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

dated 1094 CE.

Historical context and composition

The ''Kitab al-Hawi'' was composed around the year 900 and spans 22 volumes. It was later published by the ''Dairat'l-Macarif-il-Osmania'' (Osmania Oriental Publications Bureau) in Hyderabad-Deccan.

Contents and significance

The book covers a wide range of medical topics, including theoretical and practical medicine. Al-Razi's approach was notably comprehensive, as he not only included medical knowledge from Greek and Syrian sources but also incorporated insights from Indian medical traditions. Al-Razi frequently recommended various treatments, including those that might be considered magical remedies by today's standards. For instance, he addressed conditions such as quartan fever and recommended specific practices for their treatment.

Legacy

The ''Kitab al-Hawi'' had a profound influence on the development of medical knowledge in the medieval Islamic world and subsequently in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. It was translated into Latin in the 12th century and became one of the main sources of medical knowledge in

medieval Europe In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

References

{{Authority Control 10th-century books Medical texts Iranian books 10th century in Iran 10th century in medicine