Know then that food is taken when required for the continuation of health. Signs of its requirement are the advent of a sense of smell, a deficiency of saliva in the mouth, a high colour of the urine with a marked
smell, and an increased desire for food. The opposite to these indicates that food is not required. Prolonged abstention from food is wearisome to the body and causes a drying up of it and a burning of itsconstitution. Similarly the taking of food when not required, engenders stupidity and sloth and is one of the causes of the generation of disease. Said al-Muwaffiq 'Abd-ul-Latif: It is the custom of Indians when they
want food, first to wash or put on a clean outer garment and then to sprinkle over themselves a pleasant scent and to remain quiet and to abstain from the sex act and only then to apply themselves to their food.
Later, if God will, there will come a chapter on what derives from this chapter. Let a man eat cold foods in summer and hot in winter. The partaking of one meal upon another isharmful. So is exercise after a meal. But exercise before a meal is best of all, just as when taken after it is the worst
of all. Hot food should be corrected with cold, sweet with sour, fat with salt, and astringent with fat. To have many kinds of food excites the constitution of a man. To eat with relish is the best of all. To have the same food several times and to eat with speed produces a loss of appetite and engenders laziness. A very sour food hurries on old age. The frequent eating of sweet food relaxes the sexual desires and makes the body feverish. Salt food dries up and emaciates the body. It is expedient to stop eating while you still have an appetite for more. But to keep on abstaining makes the body weak & thin. Nay rather,
abstention in health is like mixing many different foods in disease. Always choose the best food unless a bad habit has been formed. In this case it must be given up gradually. He who is accustomed to take improper food, let him not cease altogether, but let him avoid taking food that causes fermentation in the stomach and rotten fruit. To lick the dish helps digestion and increases sexual desires. The Prophet used to lick his fingers three times after meals. He used to say: To lick the platter is a request for pardon.Prophet forbade to have at the same meal milk & fish or vinegar & milk or fruit & milk or lettuce & fish or garlic & onions or dried meat & fresh meat or things sour & things acid or sumach & vinegar or vinegar &
rice or grapes & excessive eating of brinjals or pomegranites & meat pudding or two cold dishes or two hot dishes or two windproducing dishes. Folio ii It is expedient to eschew vinegar and fat if the vessel underneath is of copper. And in the same way cheese and roast meats and hot food if
wrapped in bread or in anything else. This is one of the reasons for the prohibition of eating anything found dead. Again, one should avoid uncovered food or uncovered water lest some
poisonous animal has fallen in and one be killed through eating or drinking it. The Prophet forbade this when he said: Cover your vessels and stop the mouths of the water-bottles. For verily in a night of the year there comes down a pestilence which will meet with no uncovered vessel without falling therein. And indeed in this prohibition of the Prophet physicians are agreeing. The reference to the heavens is reported by Muslim. Whoever eats onions for forty days, his face will become freckled. For this blame no one but yourself. Whoever of you being of moderate stature eats salt, he will be afflicted with vitiligo and scabies. And for this blame no one but yourself. Whoever eats fish & eggs together will become para- lysed, and for this blame no one but yourself. Whoever has a wet dream and does not wash before having intercourse, will generate an imbecile or an epileptic. And for this blame no one but yourself. Whoever eats to
satiety and then enters the hot bath, will become paralysed and for this blame no one but yourself. Whoever eats oranges by night, he will grow thin. And for this blame no one but yourself. Whoever gazes into a mirror by night will become afflicted with facial paralysis. And for this blame no
one but yourself. Anas reports of the Prophet that he said: The root of every disease is
coldness. And again, it is reported by Ibn Mas'ud that he said: Cold means
a bloody flux, for this cools even the heat of sexual desire. It is essential that a man confine himself to taking what is suitable and appetising, but without excess. Said the Prophet: The sons of Adam will
fill no vessel worse than they fill their own stomachs. Let the sons of Folio 12 Adam take mouthfulls which strengthen the loins. If possible one third of the stomach is for food, one third for drink, and one third for one- self. This saying is reported by al-Nasa'i and al-Tirmidhi and it is a fair and sound tradition.
The following section consists of further observations about Health. Said 'Ali ibn al-Hussayn ibn Wafid: God has collected all Medicine
See Quran 7.31 into half a verse when He said: Eat & drink but not to excess.
Said 'Umr: Avoid a pot-belly, for it spoils the body, breeds disease, and
renders prayer wearisome. Take to blood-letting for this rectifies the
body. And avoid all excess. For God hates a learned man who is fat. This is reported by Abu Nu'aim.
Said Hippocrates: The continuation of good health depends upon
moderate labour and the avoidance of a surfeit of eating & drinking. He also said: A little of what is harmful is better than a lot of what is good. Said al-Shahrastanl in his book entitled Al-Milal wa al-Nihal or The Book of Religions and Sects: Hippocrates is the founder of Medicine. And he added: Our ancestors and those who came later prefer him to all. A certain Greek king sent to him several qantars of gold and asked him to come & visit him. But he refused. He also used to refuse any fee for treating the poor or men of middle means. But he stipulated that he should take from the rich one of three things-a collar of gold of a diadem or golden bracelets. When asked what life is the best Hippocrates answered: Safety with
poverty is better than wealth with fear. He also said: Every man should be treated with herbals from his own country. When he was dying he said:
Folio 13 Recognise one who seeks learning from his much sleep, his mild nature, his soft skin, and his long life.
He also said: Had Man been created with a single constitution, he would never have suffered sickness. For then there would have been
nothing in opposition to cause disease. A physician once visited a sick man and said to him: You, thedisease and I are three. If by hearkening to me you help me, then we shall be two
against one and thus stronger. And when two come against one, they defeat it. Hippocrates was once asked: Why does a man when he is dead, weigh more than when he was alive ? He replied: Once he was made up of two parts, a light part lifting him up and a heavy part weighing him down.
When one of these went away, and it was the light part that does the lifting that went, then the heavy part weighs him down yet more. He once said to one of his students: Let your best means of treating
people be your love for them, your interest in their affairs, your knowledge of their condition, and your recognised attentiveness to them. He also said: All excess is against Nature. Let your food, your drink,
your sleep, and your sexual intercourse be all in moderation.
And he said: Any physician who administers a poison or procures an
abortion or prevents a pregnancy or prolongs the disease of a sick man, this physician is no colleague of mine. On this subject he composed a well-known oath which I shall discuss later, if God wills.
The books by Hippocrates on Medicine are many. Among them are the
Book of Aphorisms, the Book of Prognostics, and the Kitab Qubra Buqrat. This last book testifies to many wonders of wonders. When the tombs of several of the Greek kings were opened, this book was found
inside. Hairith bin Kalada, the physician of the Arabs, was once asked: What Folio 14 is the best medicine ? He replied: Necessity, that is Hunger. When asked: What is disease ? He replied: The entry of food upon food. Said Avicenna: Never take one meal until the one before is digested. Hot food is to be despised. The Prophet also forbade it. He also forbade eating while lying down. This was told by al-Bukhari. Abu ibn Ka'b
explained that this is because it was the custom of tyrants. It was not the custom of the Prophet to blow upon his food or his drink or to breathe into a vessel. Walking after dinner is beneficial. Prayer will replace it, for then food will rest in the pit of the stomach and digestion will be better. It is related that the Prophet said: Masticate your food with the name of God and with prayer. And go not to sleep immediately after food, for this will harden your bowels. This tradition is told by Abu Nu'aim. And take not violent exercise after food, for this does harm to it. Never omit to take your dinner, for this makes a man older. Anas reports the following apochryphal tradition: Eat some dinner, even if it is only a handful of
dry bread, for to omit the evening meal makes one grow old. This was
related by al-Tirmidhi. Similarly Jabir is reported to have said: Never
omit supper, even if it only a handful of dates, for its omission ages a man.
This was related by Ibn Maja. The hands should be washed clean of the smell of food. The Prophet used to say: If anyone goes to sleep with hands still smelling of food and
something happens to him, he has no one to blame but himself. The
Prophet used to say: To rinse the hands before food drives aways poverty and to rinse them after food drives away unhappiness. Be it known that eating to satiety is something bad which arose after
Folio 15 the first century of Islam. The Prophet used to say: The Believer puts food into a single stomach, the Unbeliever into seven. Wisdom will not go into a stomach filled with food. The less a man eats, the less will he drink. And the less he drinks, the less will he sleep. And the less he sleeps, the more blessed will behis old age. The more a man eats, the more will he drink. The more a man drinks, the heavier will he sleep. And he who sleeps heavily, loses the blessings of old age. If a man is satisfied before satiety, then the better nourished will his body be and the better will be the state of himself and of his heart. But the man who is filled with food, his body will be ill nourished, the state of himself will be bad, and his heart will grow hard. Avoid therefore excess of food, for it poisons the heart, slows the members of the body from the obedience due to God and closes the ears to His admonishments. Said Plato: One who exposes himself in the open before going to sleep, verily he will keep the beauty of his complexion. The Prophet indeed
commanded this according to the tradition of al-Barr bin 'Azib when he said: On going to your place of sleep perform an ablution the same as before prayer. This is a sound and fair tradition.
smell, and an increased desire for food. The opposite to these indicates that food is not required. Prolonged abstention from food is wearisome to the body and causes a drying up of it and a burning of itsconstitution. Similarly the taking of food when not required, engenders stupidity and sloth and is one of the causes of the generation of disease. Said al-Muwaffiq 'Abd-ul-Latif: It is the custom of Indians when they
want food, first to wash or put on a clean outer garment and then to sprinkle over themselves a pleasant scent and to remain quiet and to abstain from the sex act and only then to apply themselves to their food.
Later, if God will, there will come a chapter on what derives from this chapter. Let a man eat cold foods in summer and hot in winter. The partaking of one meal upon another isharmful. So is exercise after a meal. But exercise before a meal is best of all, just as when taken after it is the worst
of all. Hot food should be corrected with cold, sweet with sour, fat with salt, and astringent with fat. To have many kinds of food excites the constitution of a man. To eat with relish is the best of all. To have the same food several times and to eat with speed produces a loss of appetite and engenders laziness. A very sour food hurries on old age. The frequent eating of sweet food relaxes the sexual desires and makes the body feverish. Salt food dries up and emaciates the body. It is expedient to stop eating while you still have an appetite for more. But to keep on abstaining makes the body weak & thin. Nay rather,
abstention in health is like mixing many different foods in disease. Always choose the best food unless a bad habit has been formed. In this case it must be given up gradually. He who is accustomed to take improper food, let him not cease altogether, but let him avoid taking food that causes fermentation in the stomach and rotten fruit. To lick the dish helps digestion and increases sexual desires. The Prophet used to lick his fingers three times after meals. He used to say: To lick the platter is a request for pardon.Prophet forbade to have at the same meal milk & fish or vinegar & milk or fruit & milk or lettuce & fish or garlic & onions or dried meat & fresh meat or things sour & things acid or sumach & vinegar or vinegar &
rice or grapes & excessive eating of brinjals or pomegranites & meat pudding or two cold dishes or two hot dishes or two windproducing dishes. Folio ii It is expedient to eschew vinegar and fat if the vessel underneath is of copper. And in the same way cheese and roast meats and hot food if
wrapped in bread or in anything else. This is one of the reasons for the prohibition of eating anything found dead. Again, one should avoid uncovered food or uncovered water lest some
poisonous animal has fallen in and one be killed through eating or drinking it. The Prophet forbade this when he said: Cover your vessels and stop the mouths of the water-bottles. For verily in a night of the year there comes down a pestilence which will meet with no uncovered vessel without falling therein. And indeed in this prohibition of the Prophet physicians are agreeing. The reference to the heavens is reported by Muslim. Whoever eats onions for forty days, his face will become freckled. For this blame no one but yourself. Whoever of you being of moderate stature eats salt, he will be afflicted with vitiligo and scabies. And for this blame no one but yourself. Whoever eats fish & eggs together will become para- lysed, and for this blame no one but yourself. Whoever has a wet dream and does not wash before having intercourse, will generate an imbecile or an epileptic. And for this blame no one but yourself. Whoever eats to
satiety and then enters the hot bath, will become paralysed and for this blame no one but yourself. Whoever eats oranges by night, he will grow thin. And for this blame no one but yourself. Whoever gazes into a mirror by night will become afflicted with facial paralysis. And for this blame no
one but yourself. Anas reports of the Prophet that he said: The root of every disease is
coldness. And again, it is reported by Ibn Mas'ud that he said: Cold means
a bloody flux, for this cools even the heat of sexual desire. It is essential that a man confine himself to taking what is suitable and appetising, but without excess. Said the Prophet: The sons of Adam will
fill no vessel worse than they fill their own stomachs. Let the sons of Folio 12 Adam take mouthfulls which strengthen the loins. If possible one third of the stomach is for food, one third for drink, and one third for one- self. This saying is reported by al-Nasa'i and al-Tirmidhi and it is a fair and sound tradition.
The following section consists of further observations about Health. Said 'Ali ibn al-Hussayn ibn Wafid: God has collected all Medicine
See Quran 7.31 into half a verse when He said: Eat & drink but not to excess.
Said 'Umr: Avoid a pot-belly, for it spoils the body, breeds disease, and
renders prayer wearisome. Take to blood-letting for this rectifies the
body. And avoid all excess. For God hates a learned man who is fat. This is reported by Abu Nu'aim.
Said Hippocrates: The continuation of good health depends upon
moderate labour and the avoidance of a surfeit of eating & drinking. He also said: A little of what is harmful is better than a lot of what is good. Said al-Shahrastanl in his book entitled Al-Milal wa al-Nihal or The Book of Religions and Sects: Hippocrates is the founder of Medicine. And he added: Our ancestors and those who came later prefer him to all. A certain Greek king sent to him several qantars of gold and asked him to come & visit him. But he refused. He also used to refuse any fee for treating the poor or men of middle means. But he stipulated that he should take from the rich one of three things-a collar of gold of a diadem or golden bracelets. When asked what life is the best Hippocrates answered: Safety with
poverty is better than wealth with fear. He also said: Every man should be treated with herbals from his own country. When he was dying he said:
Folio 13 Recognise one who seeks learning from his much sleep, his mild nature, his soft skin, and his long life.
He also said: Had Man been created with a single constitution, he would never have suffered sickness. For then there would have been
nothing in opposition to cause disease. A physician once visited a sick man and said to him: You, thedisease and I are three. If by hearkening to me you help me, then we shall be two
against one and thus stronger. And when two come against one, they defeat it. Hippocrates was once asked: Why does a man when he is dead, weigh more than when he was alive ? He replied: Once he was made up of two parts, a light part lifting him up and a heavy part weighing him down.
When one of these went away, and it was the light part that does the lifting that went, then the heavy part weighs him down yet more. He once said to one of his students: Let your best means of treating
people be your love for them, your interest in their affairs, your knowledge of their condition, and your recognised attentiveness to them. He also said: All excess is against Nature. Let your food, your drink,
your sleep, and your sexual intercourse be all in moderation.
And he said: Any physician who administers a poison or procures an
abortion or prevents a pregnancy or prolongs the disease of a sick man, this physician is no colleague of mine. On this subject he composed a well-known oath which I shall discuss later, if God wills.
The books by Hippocrates on Medicine are many. Among them are the
Book of Aphorisms, the Book of Prognostics, and the Kitab Qubra Buqrat. This last book testifies to many wonders of wonders. When the tombs of several of the Greek kings were opened, this book was found
inside. Hairith bin Kalada, the physician of the Arabs, was once asked: What Folio 14 is the best medicine ? He replied: Necessity, that is Hunger. When asked: What is disease ? He replied: The entry of food upon food. Said Avicenna: Never take one meal until the one before is digested. Hot food is to be despised. The Prophet also forbade it. He also forbade eating while lying down. This was told by al-Bukhari. Abu ibn Ka'b
explained that this is because it was the custom of tyrants. It was not the custom of the Prophet to blow upon his food or his drink or to breathe into a vessel. Walking after dinner is beneficial. Prayer will replace it, for then food will rest in the pit of the stomach and digestion will be better. It is related that the Prophet said: Masticate your food with the name of God and with prayer. And go not to sleep immediately after food, for this will harden your bowels. This tradition is told by Abu Nu'aim. And take not violent exercise after food, for this does harm to it. Never omit to take your dinner, for this makes a man older. Anas reports the following apochryphal tradition: Eat some dinner, even if it is only a handful of
dry bread, for to omit the evening meal makes one grow old. This was
related by al-Tirmidhi. Similarly Jabir is reported to have said: Never
omit supper, even if it only a handful of dates, for its omission ages a man.
This was related by Ibn Maja. The hands should be washed clean of the smell of food. The Prophet used to say: If anyone goes to sleep with hands still smelling of food and
something happens to him, he has no one to blame but himself. The
Prophet used to say: To rinse the hands before food drives aways poverty and to rinse them after food drives away unhappiness. Be it known that eating to satiety is something bad which arose after
Folio 15 the first century of Islam. The Prophet used to say: The Believer puts food into a single stomach, the Unbeliever into seven. Wisdom will not go into a stomach filled with food. The less a man eats, the less will he drink. And the less he drinks, the less will he sleep. And the less he sleeps, the more blessed will behis old age. The more a man eats, the more will he drink. The more a man drinks, the heavier will he sleep. And he who sleeps heavily, loses the blessings of old age. If a man is satisfied before satiety, then the better nourished will his body be and the better will be the state of himself and of his heart. But the man who is filled with food, his body will be ill nourished, the state of himself will be bad, and his heart will grow hard. Avoid therefore excess of food, for it poisons the heart, slows the members of the body from the obedience due to God and closes the ears to His admonishments. Said Plato: One who exposes himself in the open before going to sleep, verily he will keep the beauty of his complexion. The Prophet indeed
commanded this according to the tradition of al-Barr bin 'Azib when he said: On going to your place of sleep perform an ablution the same as before prayer. This is a sound and fair tradition.
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