50 – Ibn Riḍwān, ʿAlī ibn Riḍwān ibn ʿAlī al-Miṣrī
The brilliant philosopher, Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Riḍwān ibn ʿAlī ibn Jaʿfar al-Miṣrī, was a prolific author. He owned a spacious house in Cairo that has since collapsed.
As a poor youth he supported himself through astrology, then turned to medicine, in which he outshone his peers. He mastered philosophy, the doctrines of the Ancients, and the refutation of their errors. He said, “I exerted myself in study; when I reached maturity I devoted myself to medicine and philosophy. I was destitute, but I became famous for medicine and acquired estates through it, and I am now in my sixties.”
I (the author) add: His father was a baker. When he distinguished himself, he served al-Ḥākim (1) as a physician, who appointed him chief of the physicians. He lived until the famine that occurred in 453 AH. An orphan girl he had raised (2) stole his valuables and fled, whereupon he stumbled and fell into confusion. He was rash in his disputations (3). He had no formal teacher; rather, he relied exclusively on books, even writing a work on mastering the craft from books and arguing that they are more reliable than instructors.
That is an error. He was a Muslim who affirmed divine oneness. Among his sayings is: “The best acts of devotion are to contemplate the dominion of the heavens and to glorify its Sovereign.”
He produced commentaries on several works of Galen and authored: a treatise on protecting bodies in Egypt from harm; an epistle on the treatment of elephantiasis; an epistle on paralysis; and an epistle on