Hospitals in the Medieval Islamic World - Historians and Travellers Observations

by Meam Wye on June 8, 2009

The great medical historian, Ibn Abi Usaybi‘ah (1203-1270) on Al-Nuri Hospital,Damascus(built in 1154 by Nur ad-Din Zanqi):

"All patients were first examined in the external hall. Those who were not seriously ill were given medicines and sent home; those with more serious ailments were admitted to the hospital. They were bathed and given new clothes. Their old cloths were sent for storage.After being discharge, they were given new clothes and a certain amount of money.

The well known doctor and traveler ‘Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi (d.1238), who also taught at Damascus,narrates an amusing story of an intelligent Persian youth who was tempted by the excellent food and service of the Nuri hospital and pretended to be sick. A doctor examined him and at once came to know the real intention of the young man. He admitted him and gave him excellent food for three days, after which he said to him, “Arab hospitality lasts for three days; please go home now!”

The 12th century historian Al-Marrakushi (born 1185) was an eye witness to the construction of the great hospital built in Al-Marrakesh, Morocco by the Muwahhid ruler al-Mansur Yaqub b.Yusuf (1160-1199). According to him:

"The hospital was erected in a spacious area surrounded by fruit trees, flowers, herbs, and vegetables. Water was brought in aqueducts to all its sections, besides four pools in the center thereof, of which one was built of white marble."

Ibn al-Okhowa in his book 'Ma'alem al-Qurba fi Talab al-Hisba':

"The physician asks the patient about the cause of his illness and the pain he feels. He prepares for the patient syrups and other drugs, then he writes a copy of the prescription to the parents attending with the patient. Next day he re-examines the patient and looks at the drugs and asks him if he feels better or not, and he advises the patient according to his condition. This procedure is repeated on the third day and the fourth... till the patient is either cured or dead.

If the patient is cured, the physician is paid. If the patient dies, his parents go to the chief doctor, they present the prescriptions written by the physician. If the chief doctor judges that the physician has performed his job perfectly without negligence, he tells the parents that death was natural; if he judges otherwise, he tells them: take the blood money of your relative from the physician; he killed him by his bad performance and negligence. In this honorable way they were sure that medicine is practiced by experienced well trained persons."

Famous Historian S.P.Scott in his book 'History of the Moorish Empire in Europe (1904)':

"In the polished capitals of Damascus and Cairo number of splendidly appointed medical institutions colleges, hospitals, dispensaries, laboratories arose. The services of the most distinguished physicians were gratuitously rendered to the inmates of the hospitals. The hygienic arrangements of the latter were, in many respects, superior even to those dictated by the spirit of modern scientific progress. They were larger, better arranged, and more commodious. Purity of air was assured by a system of thorough ventilation. There were fountains everywhere, in the courts, in the halls, in the gardens.

Wards placed under the direction of competent specialists were appointed for the treatment and study of every disease. Insane patients were prescribed for like the others, and had their attendants, their baths, and their amusements. For them, as well as for the unfortunate victim of insomnia and the convalescent, there were the diverting mirth of the story-teller and the soothing powers of music. When a patient was discharged as cured from the Moristan of Cairo, founded in the tenth century, and the most luxuriously equipped hospital of ancient or modern times, where cooling waters rippled by the bedside of the sick, and their senses were refreshed by the sight and odors of beds of flowers, received five pieces of gold, to provide for his necessities until his strength was completely restored. These institutions were supported by the government, and placed under the supervision of the court physician, the head of his profession, who was held to a strict accountability for their proper management. "

Famous persian traveller Naser-e Khosraw describes in 1047 a hospital in Jeurusalem (major pilgrimage destination in the muslim world):

"Jerusalem has a fine, heavily endowed hospital. People are given potions and draughts, and the physicians who are there draw their salaries from the endowment. The hospital and Friday mosque are on the eastern side of the city."

A Jew traveller Benjamm of Tudela visited Baghdad in 1160 A.D. and found more than sixty medical institutions there. He writes:

"All are well provided from the king's stores with spices and other necessaries. Every patient who claims assistance is fed at the king's expense' until his cure is complete."