Tibb ar-Reza or Imam Reza’s medical treatise

Salaam dear listeners, today the 23rd of the sacred month of Zi’l-Qa’dah, according to a narration is the day of martyrdom of Imam Reza (AS) in the year 203 AH (corresponding to 819 AD), although as per other accounts, deemed more reliable, he attained martyrdom either on Safar 17 or the last day of Safar, which is a public holiday in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Anyway, since the faithful, who earlier this month celebrated his blessed birthday at his holy shrine in Mashhad, Khorasan, and continue to stream to his mausoleum throughout the years, especially on days associated with the blessed Ahl al-Bayt, we present you a special feature on the 8^th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).

The title is “Imam Reza’s Medical Treatise” which is indeed a treasure trove of cures, therapies, dietary habits, and exercises for the health of the body, along with spiritual effect of prayers on the human body. We invite you to ponder on the wonderful description of some important organs that was given by the Imam over a millennium and two centuries ago, to the amazement of the people of his age, including his assassin, the crafty Abbasid caliph, Mamoun.

In the words of Imam Reza (AS): As for the heart, it is one of Allah's marvelous signs in the human body, for it pumps the blood to all parts of the body, and the blood conveys food and oxygen in order to distribute them among all places of the body, and then it conveys the waste products in order to rid the body of them. The heart pumps the blood to the lungs in order that they may take adequate supply of oxygen from the air which man breathes. In the lungs, the blood gets rid of some waste products which it gathers from the parts of the blood and which take form of a gas called carbon dioxide. The heart also pumps the blood to the kidneys.

As for the regulation of the heartbeat, it is one of the secrets of creation and origination; the average of the beats of the heart is seventy times per minute. So their average amounts to one hundred thousand times a day, forty million times a year, and over two thousand millions in middle age. Therefore, we must think of this great glorification which never ceases nor flags by night or day. We must think of this marvelous sign in the body, which is the organization of heat. There is something like thermometer in the body.

When sensory news comes from the skin and tells about the external surroundings and degree of their heat, this area which is in the brain stem and what is on it hurries to the circulatory system and urges it to protect the external boundaries and orders it to play the role of the sincere worker during this crisis, and the flexible circulatory system responds to it, and quickly the contraction of the blood vessels occur, and the heart pumps adequate supply of blood to the skin. If the skin is cold, the flow of blood which conveys heat increases in order to remove the coldness and vice versa.

Surely, the heart is the source of man's and animal's life; therefore, it is the king of the body, and all human organs are its soldiers and helpers.

The 8^th Imam says: As for the nerves, they are the sinew of life; and it is they which control the body; and they play an important role during anger, fear, the rest of the emotions, match, sexual work, and the like. Some nerves are called voluntary, and they control a group of muscles in the body which are called the striated muscles. In this connection some important physiological researches have been mentioned; therefore, the nerves are proof of the All-Wise Creator's Might.

As for the brain, it is the greatest of all Allah's creatures; it dominates the whole body, controls all movements of it; and drives it to wherever it desires; and by it man is distinguished from the rest of animals. Allah has singled out the brain for man, and through it He has ennobled man over all His creatures.

Surely, the brain is a world of wonders. No creature can match it in greatness, for it contains stores which never are full and it preserves whatever knowledge is deposited in it. If we want to mention the wonders of the brain, then we have to write a full book about them. Glory belongs to Him who has originated and created the brain!

Among the amazing organs in the human body are the hands, which helps human beings accomplish their own needs, such as preparing food and drink, and which help perform wonderful works, such as writing, gold-smithing, building, and etc. The hand carries out all these works according to signals and guidance it receives from the brain, for it is as a worker in the factory of the brain; likewise, the leg helps man walk and accomplish his own needs. Were it not for the hand and the leg, man would do nothing. So glory belongs to Allah, the All-Wise!

Another of the marvelous organs in the human body is the ear, which contains the following: A. The Outer Ear: It is the lobe of the outer ear along with the cannel which leads to the eardrum.  B. The Middle Ear: It has three bones just as the tools of a blacksmith: the hammer and the anvil, the stirrup, and the two muscles of the hammer and the stirrup; there is a lobe which connects the middle ear to the pharynx. C. The Inner Ear: It contains something like snail and three semicircular canals, and these parts are connected with each other and interlocked. Membranous canals like bags are in the semicircular canals. It is the inner ear which receives sounds. As for the middle and the outer ears, they convey sounds. Sound results from the vibration of the molecules of a matter. So it does not travel unless there is a material means such as liquid air, gases, solid bodies, and the like. Medical books have mentioned important researches regarding sound, which reveals the All-Wise Creator's Might.

As for the eye, it is among Allah's greatest signs, for through it man receives light, knows external surroundings, realizes forms and colors. It is the most marvelous room of art photography; for it is a dark room and closed by three walls which are from outward to inward: the sclera which gives the white color to the eye; the choroid which irrigates the eye through its veins; the retina which conveys the sensitive elements; cones and rods which receive light. In the front there is a thin crystal called the cornea which let the light coming to the eye enter.

Then the light, after the cornea, passes through the transparent liquid which refracts light; it is the aqueous humor which lies between the cornea and the iris; and it is the iris which gives the familiar color to the eyes, in the middle of it there is a special opening receiving light and is like the lens of a photographer; it is called the pupil.

When light enters the pupil, it faces a crystal of a new kind; it is the crystal body (the lens); it is the most marvelous crystal in existence, for it expands and contracts to the extent that the forms of its convexity are very different; therefore, the eye harmonizes with the views before it.

If the visible distance is near, it expands and changes in order to fit the condition, and vice-versa; therefore, it is the sane, motive crystal. After the crystal body, light enters a new, transparent humor refracting light; it is the vitreous humor. When light ends passing through it, it reaches the retina where the rods and the cones receive and move it as a nervous stream to the occipital lobe.

The eye is marvelous in creation and protection, for Allah, the Most High, has placed it in a low, facial area surrounded by three high hills, which are: the eye-brow, nasal pyramid, and the bony prominence of the forehead as well as it is covered by lids which opens and shuts very quickly. Besides, Allah has surrounded it by tears in order to purify and moisten it. So glory belongs to the Creator, the Originator, the Almighty!

Imam Reza (AS) has mentioned several organs and shown their characteristics and their functions (anatomy). Now, let us move to another part of his Medical Treatise, in which he has said: “And speech is not good unless it is repeated through the nose, for the nose adorn speech as blowing adorns the flute; likewise, the nostrils are the two openings of the nose and they bring good air to the person. If they bring bad, displeasing air to the person, he uses hands to be a curtain between him and that bad air.

There will be a reward and punishment for every person, because of this. The punishment is severer than that of the powerful kings in the world, while his reward is much better than theirs. As for punishment, it is sadness; and as for reward, it is happiness. The origin of sadness is in the spleen, and the origin of happiness is in the kidneys and the ribs, and from there they reach the face. Thus, from the face happiness and sadness arise, with clear signs on the face.

Imam Reza (AS) has described the mode of expression, which is a wonder in itself, for speech comes out harmoniously and equally balanced, and it aims at a certain (thing); and it is among the unique, wonderful phenomena which are proof of the Almighty Creator's Majesty. He, the Most High, created the human being as the best of creation, and taught the mode of expression, so whenever a person wants to say something, the message arises in the brain, which in turn inspires the tongue to express it, and this is indeed a wonderful operation that proves God’s Majesty.

Those interested in details and other wonderful descriptions of the human body, can read the whole text of Tibb-ar-Reza, which has been translated into English and other major world languages.

AS/SS