Bounties of the Gracious God — Page 42
42 of being flawed and inaccurate. And as far as physicians are con- cerned, they are not free from error even if they are imbibed with oceans of knowledge. This is particularly true of the inoculation since people fear the side effects of its poison. The assessment made by [the editor of al-Liw a ’ ] is also defective and beyond com- prehension. At times, the doctor has to hear from the heirs of the patient words such as, ‘You be damned for what you have done. You have taken a person’s life. ’ Sometimes the doctors commit a grave error inflicting such suffering upon the patient that he goes across the ocean of life like the ship that wades through the ocean. The patients then die one after the other. On such occasions, [the doctors] flee from the scene, saddle their horses and set them free. This is how they face troubles on their way and commit mistakes at each step. We hear such stories about every physician, whether he is ignorant or wise. Is there anyone who has never made a mis- take or has always possessed sound judgement? I have read many books on the science [of medicine] and my passion for it was like the craving of a person for food when he is hungry. I found it to be like a horse that only walks upon an even ground and not an excel- lent horse that can run upon it. And, at the time of a severe illness, I found its benefits less than desired. Thereafter, I was bestowed with a goodly provision from the sacred and sublime revelation of Allah, and compared to it I found the knowledge of medicine to be like an outhouse. And when I received the revelation in all its perfection and it dispelled the darkness with its glory, I hailed the arrival of my Lord’s revelation and addressing it exclaimed, ‘Welcome! May your vale become broader and may your presence find honour; you are the one that restores vision to the blind and bestows eloquence to the deaf, and revives the dead and shows