BEŞİNCİ BÂB · ÜÇÜNCÜ FASIL · Onuncu Madde
**Tenth Point**
Concerning the manners and rules of eating and drinking to preserve the health of the body,
and informing [the reader] about the virtues and benefits of certain foods and fruits.
O esteemed one! Know that the hadith scholars have said: The practices of the prophets
(peace be upon them) were a habit of constantly eating barley bread.
It was that bread which our beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) often ate, or he would eat barley bread mixed with wheat flour. He would not feel full from barley bread for three consecutive nights. Often his time passed with hunger and thirst. For this reason, he admonished and instructed people, saying: "It is wasteful and a cause of illness to eat and drink twice in the brightness of the day and twice in the darkness of the night." Continuing to eat meat and soup causes heaviness [75]. Persisting in eating meat and fatty foods for about forty days corrupts character and alters nature. Eating when not hungry and drinking when not thirsty is harmful to health. Just as laughing when there is nothing present makes one ashamed. Sleeping without wakefulness, night and day, is a disgrace to a person and gives him laziness.
He who wishes to preserve his health should not keep his stomach constantly full; rather, he should taste the pleasure of eating only as much as satisfies his hunger. Let him remain hungry as much as he can endure for the feast of Paradise (Firdevs). Thus, may his intellect be pure, his heart spacious, and his spirit illuminated. He should, as much as possible, have sustenance come to mind unexpectedly. Thus, may his body find health and his nature strength. He should not abandon the evening meal so that the organs of the body are safe from old age (decline). He should not eat many foods and drinks at once, but suffice with one type of food. Thus, may his body attain health and happiness, and his heart life and peace. For it has been experienced that every illness is caused by fullness, and the beginning of every cure is hunger. The body of he who eats only bread with propriety will be healthy and in good condition as long as he lives. Propriety is eating when hungry and leaving the table without being full.
Therefore, the lowest degree of little eating and drinking is to fill one-third of the stomach with food, one-third with drink, and one-third for breathing. The middle degree is to fill only half of the stomach with eating and drinking. The highest degree is that one’s eating be like that of a patient, and one’s sleeping be like that of someone about to drown. In this way, the taste of tranquility is attained. Avoiding eating when full is very necessary and important. For eating when full is not only forbidden and wasteful; it also causes melancholy and other illnesses, as well as old age and weakness in the body. A person should not disparage the food and drink placed before him. If he has an appetite, let him eat; if not, let him abstain, but let him say nothing about the food. The food of two people is sufficient for four, the food of four is sufficient for eight. There are hadith concerning the virtues and benefits of certain foods and fruits. Indeed, Gabriel (peace be upon him) indicated to our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he eat *keşkek* (herîse). Therefore, the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) ate *keşkek*, finding in his blessed body both material strength and the power to rise for night prayers. In the eyes of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), barley bread, lentil soup, and watermelon were the most beloved and beautiful of foods, because when he remembered God while eating them, his heart found lightness and pleasure from that remembrance. The brain, ears, eyes, and other organs gain strength from meat. The best meat is shoulder and back meat, which heals a sick heart and comforts a sorrowful heart.
Vinegar is the most beneficial condiment. Dates and grapes are of the fruit group and also belong to the condiment group. It has been narrated that eating grapes with bread is like tasting and smelling something fragrant and not rejecting it. Blessed honey, when eaten by one who is hungry in the morning, finds cure from every illness. Dates and melons were pleasing and delicious to the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) from all fruits and drinks [166/b]. When eating rice pilaf, prayers and blessings should be offered for the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him), because the light of rice originates from his noble essence. It is narrated in hadith: “Whoever eats beans with their husk will have that many illnesses removed.”
Black cumin, which is black seed, is a cure for every illness except death. Eating cheese and walnuts alone is an illness. But combining them together becomes a remedy.
Eating dried grapes (or dried figs; *zebîb*) beautifies a person’s scent, purifies his complexion, cuts phlegm, and strengthens the nerves. He who eats it should discard its seed, for its seed is harmful to the body. Eating grapes one by one is pleasurable and beautiful.
Quince (*sefercel*) polishes the heart, illuminates the soul, and is unparalleled in giving courage to the cowardly. Whoever eats it with rice pilaf will have a strong and beautiful child of his protector. Eating meat with oil disciplines the stomach. Eating figs protects against cramps and rheumatism and gives delicacy to the heart.
Blessed watermelon contains the water of Paradise and every flavor found in all food. Its flesh and juice, its seeds and rind, are beneficial to all organs and powers. Watermelon is both food, drink, and a fragrant perfume. It cleanses the stomach and bladder, it is a purifier. It brings fertility to the seed fluid, movement to desire. Its fragrance soothes headaches, cleanses and beautifies the skin, gives strength to sight, appetite for eating, and relieves thirst. It kills intestinal worms and provides great benefit to the body by removing seventy illnesses.
It is sunnah to eat cucumbers with salt and walnuts with sweetness. To increase fruits when things go well and decrease them when they do not go well is health to the body. Softening and decorating eggplant and eating it with the intention of healing…
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The most pleasing of vegetables is purslane, celery, and ribas. These are the foods of Khidr and Elias; they protect a person, dispel jinn and leprosy, and are beneficial to the brain, opening up nasal congestion. Like the black truffle, it is a kind of potent confection whose water is a cure for the eye, with the black being preferable.
When someone enters a land, let them eat its onion so that they may be safe from its contagious diseases. Cooked onions and garlic bring pleasure and strength. Raw onions and garlic should not be eaten, lest the angels are offended by their scent. One who eats mud is killing themselves, for eating mud causes bloating in the belly, yellows the complexion, and ruins the body.
It has been narrated in a hadith: "Three things bring joy and delight to the heart, and health to the body: smelling a pleasant fragrance, drinking honey, and wearing beautiful clothing."
The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) is truthful; he speaks the truth. For the saying, “Man is defined by his garment,” confirms this meaning. Thus, people are beautiful with their garments. But the garment of piety is more beautiful than all garments; it protects both body and soul.