defend Islamic beliefs. Philosophers ( falasifa ) posed wider questions and provided fresh answers. Ibn Sina ( - ), a doctor by profession and a philosopher, did not believe in the resurrection of the body on the Day of Judgement. This was met with strong opposition from theologians.
His medical writings were widely read. The most influential was al-Qanun fil Tibb (Canon of Medicine) , a million-word manuscript that lists drugs sold by the pharmacists of his day and includes notes on his own experiments conducted in hospitals ( bimaristan ). The Canon points out the importance of dietetics (healing through dietary regulation), the influence of the climate and environment on health and the contagious nature of some diseases. The Canon was used as a textbook in Europe, where the author was known as Avicenna (see Theme ).
Just before his death, the scientist and poet Umar Khayyam was said to be reading the Canon . His gold toothpick was found between two pages of the chapter on metaphysics. In medieval Islamic societies, fine language and a creative imagination were among the most appreciated qualities in a person. These qualities raised a person’s communication to the level of adab , a term which implied literary and cultural refinement.
Adab forms of expressions included poetry ( nazm or orderly arrangement) and prose ( nathr or scattered words) which were meant to be memorised and used when the occasion arose. The most popular poetic composition of pre-Islamic origin was the ode ( qasida ), developed by poets of the Abbasid period to glorify the achievements of their patrons. Poets of Persian origin revitalised and reinvented Arabic poetry and challenged the cultural hegemony of the Arabs. Abu Nuwas (d.
), who was of Persian origin, broke new ground by composing classical poetry on new themes such as wine and male love with the intention of celebrating pleasures forbidden by Islam. After Abu Nuwas, the poets addressed the object of their passion in the masculine, even if the latter was a woman. Following the same tradition, the Sufis glorified the intoxication caused by the wine