BEŞİNCİ BÂB · ÜÇÜNCÜ FASIL · Dokuzuncu Madde
**Article Nine**
Concerning the names and rulings of commonly used foods and simple medicines, arranged according to the order of their letters.
O esteemed one! It is known that medical experts have said:
**Kaf**
*Kusā* (A type of cucumber): It is a variety of melon. It is long like a cucumber. It is moderately moist and cold. The ripe fruit is very good. It soothes heat and bile. However, its spoiled form emits an unpleasant odor and causes fever. Its ripened spoilage is quicker and more harmful. Inhaling it is beneficial for fainting; it quenches thirst. It is a medicine that benefits the bladder. *Kusā* possesses a greater coolness and gentleness than cucumber. It eliminates fiery fevers, and is very useful for inducing urination. Rarely, it alleviates stomach pains and flank pains. Salt, honey, or olive oil mitigate its harms.
*Karānfil* (Clove): It is moderately warm and dry. It benefits the liver, stomach, and brain.
**Re**
*Reyhan* (Oregano/Marjoram): It is hot and dry in the first degree. It strengthens the heart and alleviates hemorrhoids. Inhaling it induces sleep.
*Rāwend* (Alder tree): If two *dirhams* are taken internally for ten mornings on an empty stomach, it is very beneficial for wounds, scabies, bruises, blows, the liver, stomach, hernia, kidneys, and bladder.
*Rāziyane* (Caraway/Fennel): Its wild variety (*yabānī*) has heat and dryness in the third degree, while its garden-grown variety (*bostânî*) possesses heat and dryness in the second degree. It strengthens the eyes, opens blockages in the liver, and induces urination and menstruation. Cold water alleviates fainting and inflammation of the stomach.
*Reybās* (Purslane): It is cold and dry in the second degree. It is a blood thinner, bile cutter, and heat soother. Its juice used as eye drops benefits the eyes. It eliminates fevers and diarrhea caused by bile.
*Rūmān* (Pomegranate): The sweet pomegranate is cold and moist in the first degree. The sour variety is cold and dry in the second degree. Both cut bile. They prevent excesses from flowing into the intestines. A paste of the sour pomegranate seeds with honey benefits earaches. Its sourness has a strong diuretic effect. The bitterness of the pomegranate alleviates inflammation of the stomach. Its sourness hardens the throat and chest, while its sweetness strengthens and softens them; it prevents fiery coughs. It dispels all kinds of shortness of breath. The best is that which has juicy seeds.
**Shin**
*Sha‘īr* (Barley): It is cold and dry in the first degree. Its nutritional value is less than wheat. Barley water is more nourishing than roasted barley flour. The roasted barley is better for swellings. It does not benefit the stomach. Barley water mixed with flour is a suitable medicine for chest ailments, coughs, scabies, and spots on the face.
*Shūnīz* (Black Cumin): These are black seeds. They are hot and dry at the very end of the second degree. It is burning and polishing. It dissolves and expels gases, eliminates *behak* [72] and *bars’* [73]. It kills intestinal worms. If two *dirhams* of aged – oxidized and damaged – black cumin seeds are placed in a linen bag and applied to the forehead, it benefits colds and catarrh.
*Selcem* (Turnip): It is moist, warm, and softening. Its mixture is harsh. Continuous consumption benefits inflammations.
**Te**
*Temr-i Hindī* (Indian Date/Dried Fig): It is cold and dry in the second degree. It strengthens the stomach, increases bile. It soothes nausea and quenches thirst.
*Tüffah* (Apple): The sweet apple is close to moderation, tending towards heat. It also contains a cold moisture that causes swelling. Its sour variety is colder with less moisture. The bitter-tasting one (which forms black phlegm) causes inflammation and fever.
*Tīn* (Fig): Its fresh form is slightly moist and warm. It has much water and nourishment. It is digested quickly in the stomach. Dried figs are gentle and warm. They are more nourishing than all fruits. The ripened fig is of moderate consistency. Its flesh (the part between the kernel and the skin) matures and softens wounds and ulcers. It is clearly a milk-collecting and astringent substance. It soothes heat and is constricting; it freezes flowing blood, and makes frozen blood flow. It corrects color distorted by illness. Its paste matures large boils and brings forth their pus. It causes thirst in the hot constitution. It soothes fever from salty phlegm. It cures chronic coughs. It benefits the lungs and chest. It opens liver blockages and the spleen, kidneys, and bladder. Eating figs on an empty stomach has a remarkable effect in opening the digestive channels. Especially eating them with almonds or walnuts is very beneficial. However, it is not good to eat figs with heavy foods. Those who eat three fresh figs with vinegar water, fasting for three mornings, are freed from fever and bile.
*Tut* (Mulberry): The white variety resembles a fig but is less nourishing. It is harmful to the stomach. The red variety is moist and cold. It contains a constipating quality that prevents excesses from flowing to the organs. It alleviates throat swellings. In eating and drinking, it increases the desire for food. Mulberries quickly digest foods in the stomach and slowly pass them through the intestines. They induce urination.
**Se**
*Sūm* (Garlic): Its origin is warm and dry in the third degree. It is very beneficial for changing and corrupting fluids, as well as for toothache, chronic cough, and chest pain. It expels blood clots and intestinal worms. It induces urination and menstruation. It kills and disperses lice and their eggs. However, its excessive vapor causes headaches and harms the eyes.
*Selc* (Snow Water): Because of the heat from the trapped smoke within it, it causes thirst. It is harmful to the stomach and nerves. It alleviates fiery toothaches.
**Ha**
*Hashāsh* (Opium Poppy): It is cold and dry in the second degree. Its black variety, when taken internally or applied as a paste, is a third-degree cooler, narcotic (*muhaddir*) and soporific. Eating it prevents colds.
Huh (Peach); is of the first degree moist and at the end of the second degree cold. It has a property of quick decay and softening nature. The water of its cut branch and the water of its leaves, if used drop by drop, kill ear mites; applying and eating it as a salve to the navel kills intestinal worms. It is very nourishing, but its food is not good, harmful. Eating peach before meals is correct.
Vinegar (Sirke); is made up of heat and coldness. Its coldness is more dominant. It has been observed that when boiled, its coldness decreases. Vinegar thins the blood, eliminates bile, and prevents the formation of swellings. It is harmful to those of phlegmatic constitution, contrary to melancholy, aids digestion, and heals scabies. It is good for areas with ants and burning sensations. When gargled with rose oil, it cuts down toothache and bleeding gums.
Bread (Hubz); the best is clean wheat bread, whose flour is finely and beautifully sifted, its yeast salty, and its dough normal. Bread that is baked well on all sides is oven bread. After that comes loaf bread baked in an oven. No other bread baked elsewhere is good. The heat of bread is harmful, its coldness is beneficial. Simit, which is unleavened, has abundant food, but it is hard and dry, so its digestion is slow; it is difficult to assimilate. It is eaten with water to quickly fatten the body and preserve health.
Mustard; it is also called üzerlik. It is hot and dry in the third degree. It cuts phlegm. Its oil is more heating than radish oil. Insects flee from its smoke. Mustard relieves joint pain in the body. It is good for scabies. It resolves and straightens swellings. It is good for the moisture of the head. Its drop and oil relieve earache. When eaten with honey on an empty stomach, it removes hardness (chronic bronchitis) in the lungs' bronchi.
Chinese Cinnamon (Hıyâr-ı şenbih); is normal in heat and coldness and is moist. It dissolves and separates fiery swellings in the organs of the abdominal region. Its nature softens and easily purges bile and phlegm. For this reason, pregnant women are purged with it, as it does no harm but benefit to her baby.
Gold (Zeheb); is subtle and muted. Its powder enters into the composition of medicines used against melancholic diseases. Gold strengthens the heart, is beneficial for palpitations. Holding it in the mouth eliminates bad breath. Applying kohl made from gold with a mortar brightens the eyes and strengthens vision. It removes dust from the eye.
Damian (Fesleğen-reyhan); is of the reihan genus. It is also called fesleğen. It is moist and hot in the first degree. Its scent has benefit for the brain.
Zarûr; is hot and dry in the second degree. It draws out and cleanses wounds. Its best form is red orange.
Gâliye; is a precious fragrance. It softens hard swellings and is a remedy for many ailments. When inhaled, it relieves epilepsy and headaches caused by coldness. It brings refreshment to the heart and alleviates uterine pains.
It is certain that all medicines and foods have an effect with the permission of Allah. The reasons for what is mentioned here are based on conjecture, as evidenced by medical illnesses. Therefore, all causes and things which affect only the Müsebbibü’l-Esbâb exist, who in reality gives harm and benefit to everything.
Following the saying, "Knowledge is divided into two: one pertaining to medicine for bodies, and the other pertaining to jurisprudence for religion," a summary has been written here based on what is explained in relation to the science of medicine. The rest is known by medical experts.