Jesus In India — Page 90
80 JESUS IN INDIA Greek classics were also used as text books. Most certainly trans- lations of their works are still extant in Europe today. As Muslim rulers were keen patrons of medicine, they got the most excellent Greek books translated and Khilafat [successorship] remained vested for a long time in kings who happened to desire the expan- sion of knowledge more than the territorial extension of their dominions, that was why they not only had Greek books trans- lated into Arabic but also invited learned Pundits from India, and got them to translate medical and other books, rewarding them handsomely. One of the greatest debts that seekers of true knowl- edge owe to them, therefore, is that they got Latin and Greek medical classics translated into Arabic, which contained a men- tion of the 'Ointment of Jesus,' and which displays and records, almost as an epitaph, the fact that the ointment had been pre- pared for the treatment of the injuries of Jesus, may peace be on him. When the scholars of Islamic era, such as Thabit bin Qurrah and Hunain bin Isʼhaaq who, apart from medicine, other natural sciences, philosophy, etc. , were also well versed in Greek, trans- lated the Qarābādīn [Pharmacopoeia], which contains details about Marham-i-Isa, they were wise enough to retain the Greek term Shalikha,¹ which means 'twelve, without translating it into Arabic, as a reminder that the book was a translation from Greek. That is why the term Shalikha still figures in almost all the books. It is also worth noting that though old coins are very useful 1. According to Qanun of Avicenna (Al-Qānūn fi at-Tibb, by Abu Ali Ibn-e-Sina vol. 3 chapter 4 on ointments), the Ointment of Jesus has also been known as Marham Dashlikha, Marhamul-Hawariyyin, and Marham-ur-Rusol, and contains twelve ingredients corresponding to the twelve disciples. [Publisher]