the first to explain that all vision

Ibn al-Haytham, born in 965 CE, was the first to explain that all vision was made possible because of refraction of light rays. The work of Ibn al-Haytham was repeated and expanded upon by the Persian mathematician Kamal al-Din l-Farisi (died 1320 CE) who observed the path of rays of light in the interior of a glass sphere in order to examine the refraction of sunlight in rain drops. This led him to an explanation of the genesis of primary and secondary rainbows.

“From 800-1300 C.E. the World of Islam produced not less than 60 renowned Eye Specialists or Occulists, authors of textbooks and producers of monographs in Ophthalmology. Meanwhile in Europe prior to the 12^th century an Occulist was unheard of.” Professor J. Hirschberg told this to an enthralled audience at the American Medical Association. It was not until the 18^th century that the method of removal of cataract by a hollow needle was employed in Europe.

The Muslims produced many original works on the anatomy of the eye. Their studies were, however, limited because they carried out their observations only on animal eyes. The dissection of any part of the human body was considered disrespectful in principle. These works give us the oldest pictures of the anatomy of the eye.

The original work of the Arabs includes the introduction of terms such as Eyeball, Conjunctiva, Cornea, Uvea and Retina. Muslims also did operations on diseases of the lids such as Trachoma, a hardening of the inside of the lid. Glaucoma (an increase in the intra-ocular pressure of the eye) under the name of “Headache of the pupil” was first described by an Arab. However, the greatest single contribution in ophthalmology by the Arabs was in the matter of cataracts.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (1935) there is, in the Vatican Library, a unique manuscript ascribed to Ibn Nafis (died in 1288 CE) entitled Kitâb al-Muhazzab fî Tibb al-‘Ayn (A Book of Corrections in the Medicine of the Eye). It contains a description of the eyes of animals and a discussion on the varieties and colours of the human eye.

In the 12^th century, Gerard of Cremona, the famous translator into Latin of scientific and medical Arabic works, spent 40 years of his life (1147-1187 CE) in Toledo (Spain) translating the work of Muslims including the works of Ar-Razi and Ibn Sina. This fact has been attributed on a Spanish postal stamp. Arab physicians have been in the forefront of the effort to prevent blindness since 1000 C.E, when Ar-Razi became the first doctor to describe the reflex action of the pupil. At about the same time, Ammar Bin Ali Al-Mosuli invented the technique of suction removal of cataracts by the use of a hollow needle [2].”

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