Hakeem Haji Gulfaraz sits behind the counter at Islamabad’s oldest ‘Pansar’ shop, Murree Kiryana, in Aabpara Market. Behind him is a wall lined with hundreds of drawers, each labelled with a strange new name and containing a type of herb, root, raisin, berry or seed.

For over 50 years, anyone looking for a peculiar natural product, seldom found in a grocery store, such as Indian gooseberry, fuller’s earth or Ajwain seeds, has been directed towards Gulfaraz’s Murree Kiryana.

The old hakeem’s forehead is scrunched in concentration as he listens to his customers describing ailments. He nods and smiles as he figures out the medicinal concoction to be prescribed and resembling an alchemist of the ancient world, he hunches over the collection he has amassed from across the world, picking out odd-looking ingredients from the drawers.

Since 1960, Hakeem Gulfaraz has been practising the ancient science of Unani-tibb (Graeco-Arabic medicine) from this small shop in Aabpara Market. A native of Murree, Gulfaraz developed an interest in herbal medicine at a very young age.

“My mother was a mid-wife, who would treat the women in the village with herbal concoctions. We would often sit around the fire talking about medicinal properties of various herbs,” he said.

Gulfaraz received formal training in the ancient science from Hakeem Khalid Mehmood Abbasi.

“Initially, people in the village would come to me with their illnesses and I would study the Kitab-al-Mufradat, a database of medicinal herbs all night to find a cure,” he said.

He explained that suppliers of herbal products are spread across the world. “Most herbs in this shop come from India, where Ayurvedic medicine is practiced and people in remote areas gather a variety of medicinal herbs,” he said.

“Some ingredients are ordered from Iran, Afghanistan and Arabian countries,” he added.

When asked why some doctors consider herbal medicine to be quackery, he smiled and said: “They do not understand that modern medical science has its foundations in the ancient science of Unani-tibb.”

The question compels him to narrate the history of Unani-tibb.

“According to tradition, when Adam was sent down on earth, wherever he would put his feet, plants and shrubs would sprout. When his children fell sick and he would use the extracts of these plants to treat them,” the old hakeem explains.

His son, Shet, was an herbalist and Prophet Idrees also practiced Tibb, he said.

Later, all famous Greek philosophers such as Aristotle and Socrates practiced this form of medicine, experimenting with natural roots and herbs and studying their effects.

The tradition was formalised by Bu-ali Ibne Sina, who collected this knowledge in the form of a book called the Kuliyat-e-Qanoon, published 1,200 years ago. Until 1900, doctors were consulting this book and this knowledge laid the foundation of both physiology and anatomy, Hakeem Gulfaraz explains.

The request to see what his drawers contain gets Hakeem Gulfaraz excited.

“The curiosities in here won’t disappoint you,” he said, taking out a large plastic container from one of the drawers.

Inside the container are five or six lizard corpses. “This is a sandfish, found in the desserts of Arabia, it’s crushed to make a paste which increases libido and improves the functioning of the nervous system,” he said.

He takes out other samples, each with an interesting new chemical property. There is the snake-root, locally known as Chota Chandan, a root with psychotropic and sedative properties. It is used to treat high blood pressure, mania and even schizophrenia.

Another unappetising sample pulled out by the hakeem is Castoreum, locally called Jund-e-Badastar. It is collected from the castor sacs of an adult beaver. Castoreum has a calming effect and is used to treat anxiety, fever, hysteria, insomnia and menstrual disorders.

However, not all the herbs in Hakeem Gulfaraz’s collection are as bizarre. Some such as psyllium husk, camomile flower and camphor offer simple remedies to everyday ailments without the side-effects of chemical drugs.

Hakeem Gulfaraz explains that herbal cures are not as harmful as chemical drugs. “In Tibb, there are darjat or potency of medicines. Something like Jamal Ghota or Kuchra, which is poison, is given the darja of four, which is the highest. These medicines are the most effective, acting instantly but they are also the most harmful. According to us, all allopathic medicines, prescribed by doctors are darja four.”

Dr Mamuna Munir, a private practitioner, told Dawn that the reason why doctors often consider hikmat to be quackery is because the qualifications of hakeems can be dubious. Secondly, she said, governmental regulation is weak so there is no check on hakeems who use dangerous ingredients such as steroids. “Steroids are wonder drugs which work instantly but cause long term damage such as hormonal imbalances and mental retardation,” she said.

However, Dr Munir said that when hakeems are qualified their treatment may even be better than those offered by doctors. “People should only go to hakeems licensed by an institution such as Hamdard,” she said.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2015

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