Untitled

1 which
'
AVICENNA CURES A MELANCHOLIC 93
'Ala'u'd-Dawla spoke to him to tWfs, effect, and he consented.
Then said he, '
Give good tidings to the patient, a-nd say, " the
"
butcher is coming to kill thee ! When the pati'ent was- told,
'
this, he rejoiced. Then* the minister mounted his horse, ajd
came with his usual retinue to the ga,te of the* patient's house,
he entered withtwo others.
t Taking a knife in his hand,
he said, 'Where is this cow, that I may kill it?' The patient
It is here.' The minister
made a noise like a cow, meaning, '
bade them bring him into the middle of the house, bind him
hayd and foot, and throw him down. When the patient heard
this, he ran forward into the middle of the house and ?ay down
on his right side, and they^ound his feet firmly. Then Abu 'All
came forward, rubbing the knives together, sat down, and placed
his hand on the patient's ribs, as is the custom of butchers.
' O what a lean cow !' said he; 'it is not fit to be killed: give it
fodder until it gets fat.' Then he rose up and came out, having
bidden them loose his hands and feet, and place food before him,
paying, 'Eat, so that thou mayst speedily grow fat.' They did as
Avifenna had directed and set food before him, and he ate.
After that they gave him whatever draughts and drugs Avicenna
prescribed, saying, '
Eat well, for this is a fine fattener for cows,'
hearing which he would eat, in the hope that he might grow fat
and they might kill him. So the physicians applied themselves
vigorously to treating him as the minister had indicated, and in
a month's time he completely recovered and was restored to
health."
All wise men will perceive (A*) that one cannot heal by such
methods of treatment save by virtue of extreme excellence,
perfect science, and unerring acumen 1 .
>
ANECDOTE XXXIX.
^In the reign t of Malikshah and during part of the reign of
Sanjar there was t Herat a philosopher named Adi'b Isma'fi,
a very great, learned and perfect man, who, however, derived his
income^and livelihood from his receipts as a physician 2 . By
o
**
him
many rare cures of this class we,re wrought.
One day he was passing through the sheep-slayers' market.
A butcher w*as skinning a sheep, and from time to time he
would thrust his hand 1
into the sheep's belly, take out some of
the warm fat, and eat it. Khwaja Isma'il, noticing this, said to a
1 This story also occurs in a versified form in Jami's Silsilatu'dh-Dhahab. The text
will be found in Note XXVI II at the end.
2 This story in substantially the same form is told of Thabit ibn Qurra in al-Qifti's
Ta'rikkttl-Hukamd (ed. Lippert), pp. 120-121, and in the Tabaqdtu 'l-Atibbd of
Ibn A.bf Usaybi'a (ed. Cairo), vol. i, pp. 216-217. From the account there given
Mirza Muhammad has restored (in brackets) a sentence which has fallen out in the
Chahdr Maqdla.