BEŞİNCİ BÂB · ÜÇÜNCÜ FASIL · Altıncı Madde
**Article Six**
Concerning the easiest of habitual practices for elimination during times of health—namely, sexual intercourse and bathing—it indicates balance.
O esteemed one! Know that medical experts have said: The easiest and most beneficial method of elimination when healthy is to engage in sexual intercourse and bathe. The most beneficial sexual intercourse is that which occurs after the first digestion, when the body is in its normal state of heat, coldness, moisture, dryness, fullness, and emptiness. If a person engages in intercourse while deviating from these normal states due to error, the harm of intercourse performed during a state of heat, moisture, and fullness is less and easier than that of intercourse performed during a state of coldness, dryness, and emptiness. One should not initiate intercourse unless a strong desire for it arises, as this is a harmful game and a futile endeavor for the body’s health. The signs of beneficial intercourse are: After intercourse, one experiences lightness, vigor, sleepiness, or an appetite for food, because excesses have been expelled.
Normal intercourse removes natural heat, relaxes the body, and prepares it for eating and nourishment. It weakens inflammation, dispels harmful suggestions and thoughts arising from black bile (melancholy), and alleviates many diseases originating from phlegm. Often, it happens that the noxious vapors rising from the withholding of sexual intercourse reach the brain, causing ailments such as dizziness and blurred vision. The vapor of secretions that are not normally expelled becomes trapped within the body, filling the vessels and afflicting the person, creating a feeling of heaviness. However, upon resuming intercourse, one quickly finds relief and healing. Excessive sexual intercourse relaxes the body, making it flabby; it diminishes strength and weakens eyesight. Tremors and paralysis afflict those who become addicted to it, depleting their nervous energy. It is necessary to avoid intercourse with elderly women and sick women, as well as widows.
For these individuals draw away strength, disperse moisture, and cause sorrow, bringing about old age and regret. For a man to engage in sexual intercourse with another man (sodomy) is contrary to nature [161/a] and harmful to the body.
[A Muslim’s relationship with his wife should be according to the Prophet's venerable sunnah. If possible, he should approach her in a state of ritual purity and with the invocation "In the name of God." Muslims should adhere to the manners and customs described in family manuals. God the Exalted has created male and female—like two halves of a single date—to complement each other in every respect. Therefore, these human affairs, too, should be included within Islamic upbringing, taught and practiced with proper timing and etiquette. It is most fitting for humankind to satisfy this natural need through lawful and permissible means.]
Prolonged abstinence from sexual intercourse may cause the soul to forget it, as the soul avoids expelling that excess. However, engaging in "istimna" [self-stimulation] causes sorrow and distress. The heat and moisture within the skin of one who cannot expel these secretions through intercourse will generate a rash, causing pallor and disrupting sleep. Its remedy is to pay attention to the cleanliness of the body and clothing, then bathe with salty water and fresh water, and finally wear silk garments to complete the process.
The best bathhouse has an old building, a spacious courtyard, sweet water, and normal temperature. Its first chamber should be cool and moist; its second, warm and humid; and its third, warm and dry. Therefore, those who wish to preserve their bodily health and open their vessels should enter the bathhouse’s warm third chamber gradually. Upon exiting, they should also exit gradually. Prolonged staying in the bathhouse can cause faintness, sadness, suffering, dryness, and palpitations.
Those with a dry constitution should use water more than air. Therefore, they are in need of moisture, so they should even lie on a wet floor. To increase humid vapors, one should pour water onto the bathhouse’s floor and retain it. Those with a moist constitution should use air more than water, as they are in need of dryness and should sweat profusely before using water.
Those who preserve their health do not excessively perspire while their skin is moist and flushed in the bathhouse [161/b]. When the body dries out and excessive discomfort begins, one should exit. After leaving the bathhouse, one should cover themselves with the upper towel over the lower towel in each section, as the body transitions to air that is colder than the bathhouse’s atmosphere.
Since the body draws a portion of water from the bathhouse, the heat quickly departs, and the coldness of the water, now perceived as cold, increases the body's coldness. If one bathes after eating, it contributes to obesity. However, if they consume a mixture of honey and vinegar (sekincebin), they will not suffer from constipation. If one eats after bathing [59], they will be freed from constipation and have an obese but moderate physique. If one bathes after digestion has occurred, they will again be free from obesity and constipation. Bathing with an empty stomach dries out the body, as it retains both the body's natural heat and the heat subsequently acquired. Those who do not move their bodies much should use a steam bath frequently, so that accumulated excesses are expelled through sweat and dirt, along with physical exercise. Through this release, the body attains balance and its normal constitution. Cold water bathing strengthens young people. Washing with cold water during the middle of summer days is healthful for those with a hot temperament and a normal build. However, it is unsuitable for the elderly.
The use of sulfurous springs—that is, water flowing from a sulfur mine—cleanses the body of excesses. It serves as medicine for tremors and paralysis. It cures itching and scabies. It has also been experienced to be beneficial for hip bone pains. All mineral waters are a remedy for all odors in the body, and a balm for wounds. The full extent of these springs’ benefits to the body is best known to God.