A Muslim Doctor.

In 1120, a Muslim doctor was on his way to see his patient, the Almoravid ruler of Seville.By the side of the road he saw an emaciated man holding a water jug. The man's belly was swollen and he was in obvious distress.


"Are you sick?" the doctor asked.The man nodded.


"What have you been eating?"


"Only a few crusts of bread and the water from this jug."


"Bread won't hurt you," said the doctor. "It could be the water.where are you getting it from?"


"From the well in town."


The doctor pondered a moment. "The well is clean.It must be the jug.Break it and find a new one."


"I can't," whined the man, "This is my only jug."


"And that thing bulging out there," replied the doctor, pointing to the man's midsection," is it your only stomach.It is easier to find a new jug than a new stomach."
The man continued to protest, but one of the doctor's servants picked a stone and smashed the jug.A dead frog spilled out with the foul water.


"My friend" the doctor said to the patient, "look what you have been drinking. That frog would have taken you with him.Here, take this coin and go buy a new jug."
When the doctor passed by a few days later, he saw the same man sitting by the side of the road.His stomach had shrunk, he had gained weight, and his color was back.Seeing the doctor, the man heaped praise on him.


-Attributed to Ibn Abi Usaybi'a ,13th century


Taken from Young Muslim Digest.


A thought:Today in general, doctor's are concerned with their patient's purse instead of their pulse.