Q. & A. 711 to 1707 with solved Papers css 1971 to date

Ali b. Sahl Rabban al-Tabari
an b. Sahl Rabban al-Tabari is regarded as one of the greatest physicians ever born in Persia. According to Manfred Ullmann, he was born about the year 810 A.D. in Merv to Rabban, a Christian scholar. As he himself explains at the beginning of the Firdaws al-Hikmah, Rabban was the title, not the name, of his father. Professor Browne says that Rabban means ’”Our master” or ”Our teacher”.
Ali belonged to a noble family of Tabaristan, reputed for learning. The members of his family served the rulers of Tabaristan and held high offices. His uncle, Yahya b. Nu’man, was well known for his knowledge of military science and scholarship throughout Khurasan and Iraq. His father Sahl had full command over mathematics. He was also known for his knowledge of literature, medicine and philosophy. He had solved some of the difficult problems of al-Majisti. Ali received his primary education from his father and showed his interest in Arabic, Synac. philosophy and medicine. He also acquired the basic knowledge of Hebrew. Greek and mathematics. After completing his studies, an went to Iraq whete he started practicing medicine. It was during his stay in Iraq that he studied the works of S\rian, Greek and Indian physicians on medicine.

864
Political and Cultural History of Islam
While he was engaged in his research in Iraq, al- Ma’inun (813-833 A.D.) appointed Mazyar b. Qaren as the governor of Tabaristan. Mazyar had great regard for ’Ali and his family. . Therefore, he gave up his practice in Iraq and went back to Tabaristan, where he was appointed as secretary to the governor. It is related that Mazyar made him responsible for maintaining law and order in Tabaristan. Ali enjoyed great respect among the people of Tabaristan. He was also a favourite of the Abbasid Caliph, and once he interceded between the caliph and the governor.
Mazyar was a professional rebel. When he rebelled for the third time against the caliph, he was arrested and executed at Baghdad. After the unsuccessful revolt and crucifixion of Mazyar, Ali went to Rayy, where he opened a clinic. It was during his stay in Ra>y that the famous physician Abu Bakr Zakariya Razi became his pupil. It was in fact a matter of pride for him that he was a teacher of Razi. The Abbasid Caliph al-Mu’tasim (833-842 A.D.) had great regard for physicians and a number of them enjoyed his patronage. When he came to know about the skill of Ali b. Sahl, he invited him to his court. On his arrival at Baghdad, he was appointed as secretary by the Caliph.
Al-Mutawakkil came to power in 847 A.D. He also had great regard for ph>sicians. It was through his efforts that Ali b. Sahl embraced Islam. The caliph honoured him by making him as one of his close companions. In the third year of al-Mutawakkil’s reign. Ali, after man> interruptions, succeeded in completing his work on ”Medicine and Natural Philosophy” on which he had long been engaged, and which he entitled Firdaws al-Hikmah. ”The Paradise of Wisdom”. He dedicated his work to al-Mutawwakkil.
Of his works, besides Firdaws al-Hakmah, the following are well known:
1. Kitab Arfaq al-Hayat
2. Kitab Hifzai-Sihat
3. A Book on Amulets
4. Kilab Tartib al-Aghdhiyah
5. Kitab Kinash al-Hazrat
6. Tuhfat al-Muluk
7. A Book on Cupping
8. Kitab Munafa’ al-Ata’ma’t wal. Ashribah wal Aqaqir
9. Kitab Fi’1-Riqqi
pF
Eminent Scholars of Medieval Islam
865
AI-Qifti had great regard for the Firdaws al-Hikmah and paid great tribute to this work in his Tarikh al-Hukaina. Yaqut alHamawi informs us that the illustrious historian al- Tabari used to read the Firdaws al-Hikmah during his last days. Al-Farabi (870 - 950 A.D.)
Farabi belonged to a Turkish family of a town in Turkestan called Farab--”Beyond the River” (Oxus). He went to Baghdad and. achieving mastery of the Arabic language, took courses in philosophy and medicine. His philosophical research and work became so famous that he was called Aristotle II. He was invited by Sayfud-Dawla, the prince of Aleppo, to join his court, and lived in Aleppo as a scholar, teaching many students in a beautiful garden which became his Academia. He died in 950 in Damascus.
Farabi’s work consists of books on logic, ethics, politics, mathematics, chemistry, and music. His celebrated work on politics, entitled, The Ideal City, was inspired by The Republic of Plato, and is as Utopian as the work of the Greek master, but it is original in its. consideration of the unique qualities of the Islamic world. Farabi conceived a perfect monarchic state, encompassing the entire world. In his conception, the public would have saintly qualities, and the rulers would be philosophers. He also postulated a body of governors in consideration of the improbability of an individual’s possessing all the required qualities of sovereign.