Spiritual Medicine: ar-Razi on the Good Life

Today, health and virtue are considered noble — but separate — pursuits. But for the thinkers of the past, our moral status was considered a state of health no different than that of our body. So when they spoke of healing vices like jealousy, anger, or ignorance, they meant it literally, not metaphorically.

The Islamic physician ar-Razi was one of those thinkers. In his book Spiritual Medicine, he argues that vices are no different than medical symptoms, and recommends practices to eliminate them. By healing our souls in this way, he tells us, we can pursue the highest form of living available to humankind.

Here are some major points from ar-Razi’s work, and how we can apply them to our everyday lives to achieve not only physical, but spiritual health.

Discovering our Vices

Before we can work on ourselves, we have to know ourselves. ar-Razi reminds us that it’s important to recognize our faults, but also, that it can be hard to do so by ourselves. For that reason, he encourages us to find somebody who can serve as our “constant companion”, to gently point out what may lie in our blind spots.

Our attitude towards this companion, ar-Razi tells us, should be the following:

“When his adviser begins to inform him…