Tārīkh-i pizishkī i.e., Medical History

Abstract

Iranians or Persians have contributed to ethics, particularly medical ethics from ancient times and this is a historical fact which can be noticed by studying history of medicine in Persian and Islamic world. Persians physicians have specific place in the history of medicine, and one of them is Seyed Hossein Hakim, who was a great physician in 13^th century.

Ayatollah Seyed Hossein Hakim; the son of Haj Seyed Ali Shooshtari, who was born and lived in Shooshtar, Khuzistan Province, Iran in 13 century. He went to advance studies in medicine and Shia in Islamic seminaries; he became an Ayatollah and returned to Shooshtar where lived for the rest of his life as a physician and a religious leader. He was in charge of local mosque, served the locals in many different ways.

He managed his patients according to Avicenna’s textbook “Canon in Medicine”. He was inquisitive and perspicacious. He was very talented and hardworking, and gradually he became a famous expert in medicine. After a while he earned a strong recommendation from Seyed Ali Tabib, one of the authorities in medicine in that region because of his personality and reliability, but also due to his impressive work ethics, and the citizens of Shooshtar asked from him to become the formal physician of their city.

He had special characters including mild manner and due was very humble. So his memories are still alive after so many years.

The purpose of this study is to introduce seyed Hossein Hakim as a physician who showed excellence and professionalism in medicine and medical ethics.