in full Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyāʾ al-Rāzī Latin Rhazes
born с 865, Rayy, Persia
died 925 or 935, Rayy
Persian alchemist and philosopher.
He saw himself as the Islamic heir of Socrates in philosophy and of Hippocrates in medicine. In The Comprehensive Book , he surveyed Greek, Syrian, early Arabic, and some Indian medical knowledge, adding his own comments. A number of his works were translated into Latin and other languages. One such, The Spiritual Physick of Rhazes , is a popular ethical treatise and major alchemical study. He called himself a follower of Plato but disagreed with Arabic interpreters of Plato. His theory of the composition of matter is similar to that of Democritus . He was considered one of the greatest physicians of the early Islamic world.