FIFTH CHAPTER · THIRD SECTION · Third Article
Third Article
It explains the six essential causes (conditions) that are among the principles of preserving and maintaining the health of the human body.
O dear one! It should be known that medical experts have said: There are six essential causes for the continuation of the created body:
The first cause is the air that surrounds us, which we inhale and draw inside, so that within the lungs (rīʾa), the waste products that are the vaporous smoke of the ruh (spirit) are expelled by exhalation, and so that change and improvement are brought to the ruh. This air, remaining pure and healthy (moderate) in its natural state, not mixed with foul odors and ugly smoke, is what ensures the continuation of the body and preserves its health. If the air is corrupted and changed by foul odors, smoke, and the like, its effect also changes.
[157/b]
Thus, each of the four seasons brings about illnesses appropriate to itself and removes their opposites. Indeed, the summer season increases bile (safra), causing diseases related to it, disturbs moistures, and by heating the qalb (heart), brings about thirst and heat.
Autumn changes night and day. With cold and heat, it increases diseases, and with the abundance and proliferation of fruits, it reduces blood and increases melancholy (sevda).
The winter season increases phlegm (balgam), causing illness, and by constricting the head region, brings about colds, influenza, and cough.
Spring stirs up the four fundamental humors (aḥlāt-i arbaʿa), causing throat swellings (tonsillitis). By increasing blood, it brings about various diseases. Yet, even so, this season is the best of the seasons. For life and health, it is the most suitable, subtle, and pleasant.
The second cause is bodily (jismānī) movement and stillness. Since this movement of the body varies in weakness and strength, in little and much, in slowness and swiftness, a movement that is little but at the same time swift and strong heats the body more than it harms it. The effect of a movement that is little but slow and weak is the exact opposite. Excessive movement and excessive stillness both bring coldness to the body. Balanced movement is a path to nourishment. Balanced stillness facilitates digestion.
The third cause is the movement and stillness of the nafs (the lower self). For this movement of the nafs (soul), movement of the ruh (spirit) and blood is necessary. Thus, the ruh may move outside the body all at once, as in the case of extreme anger. Or it may move gradually, little by little, as in times of sorrow and grief. Or the ruh may move into the body all at once, as in the case of fear and apprehension. Or it may move little by little, as in moments of sadness and anxiety. Or it may move back and forth between the outside and inside of the body, as in times of shyness.
In these movements of the ruh as described, the side of the body that is moved becomes warm, while the unmoved part becomes cold. For the warming of the body is due to the continuity of movement, and its cooling is due to the lack thereof. Excess of the aforementioned movements is harmful; excess of stillness is coldness and laziness.
The fourth cause is sleep and wakefulness, for sleep is akin to stillness, and wakefulness to movement. For in sleep, the ruh, with its own heat, turns inward to the body to digest food, so the exterior of the body remains cold. That is why, when the body is asleep, it needs more clothing and covering than when awake. Excessive sleep increases the body's moisture and coldness. If, during sleep, the ruh enters the body and finds food that can be digested, it digests it and warms the body. If it finds food or a mixture that cannot be digested, it spreads it by the movement of heat and cools the body.
Excessive sleeplessness at night weakens the brain and impairs digestion. By disrupting the constitution, it brings about hunger with natural moisture.
Daytime sleep is not approved and is dangerous. For daytime sleep spoils the complexion, harms the spleen, and brings sorrow. It is a cause of the weakening of the nafsānī (psychic) faculties and of grief. If daytime sleep becomes a habit and a second nature, it should not be abandoned all at once, but rather gradually. Hesitation and waiting between sleep and wakefulness is also bad. It causes confusion and distress.
The fifth cause is food and drink. These affect the body either purely by their quality, which is pure healing; or only by their substance, which is pure nourishment; or purely by their form, which, if its property is suitable to the temperament and life of the body, is included among antidotes (tiryaq). If it is not suitable, it is like a deadly poison. Or it may affect both by its substance and quality, which are foods that are also remedies. Or it may affect both by its quality and form, which are special-effect medicines, such as scammony [53]. [158/a] Or it may affect both by its substance and form, which is a food with special properties, like the apple.
Foods are either subtle (latīf), coarse (galīz, thick, hard), or intermediate between the two. Each of these nourishes the body either much or little. Pure water (māʾ-i muṭlaq), being simple, does not nourish the body. However, it is used to soften and cook those nutrients and to pass them through narrow passages.
The sixth cause is vomiting (istifrāgh, expulsion) and retention (ḥabs, holding in). Their being balanced is beneficial to the body and preserves health.
Excessive vomiting cools and empties the body. If the expelled matter is phlegm and melancholy (sevdā), which are cold and dry and prevail over blood and bile, then excessive vomiting increases the body's moisture. Excessive retention, on the other hand, causes the blood vessels to fill and become inflamed, brings about moisture, loss of appetite, and heaviness of the body. If cold water and rosewater are splashed on the face, they remove all heat, strengthen the natural heat, and prevent malaise and fainting. However, the one who is truly knowing (ʿārif) and aware attributes all to Allah the Exalted.
"Exalted is His station, His forgiveness and generosity are for all, there is no deity but Him."