Al-Rāzī was very interested in medical ethics. In his History of Physicians, Ibn Abī Usaybiʿa attributes to him the saying that ‘the physician, even though he has his doubts, must always make the patient believe that he will recover, for the state of the body is linked to the state of the mind’ (ed. Müller 1882, vol. 1, 314, 28-9). In the Epistle to One of his Pupils, where he provides his advice to an apprentice court physician, he paints a picture of the noble physician as a man who lives in self-restraint, especially when he treats women, and who keeps the secrets of his patients. He insists that the art of the physician extends to the rich and to the poor. Indeed, his numerous case histories show his commitment to many patients from different social backgrounds. To be in the service of kings brings its own specific set of difficulties and duties. Rulers tend to be convinced that their physicians should know everything and never fail to treat them (preferably using treatments that suit their tastes). In order to be able to perform his art, the court physician needs to gain the king’s trust...
Right: The opening page of the Vesalius’ Abridgment of al-Rāzī’s Ninth Book for Al-Manṣūr (Paraphrasis in nonum librum Rhazae).