Explanation of Imam al-Māzarī’s Words on Medicine

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī ([2]) said in his book Fatḥ al-Bārī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī the following:

“Al-Māzarī said: There is no doubt that the science of medicine is among the sciences most in need of detailed explanation, to the point that something may be a remedy for a patient at one hour, then become a harm for him in the next hour due to an intervening factor that occurs to him—such as anger that heats his temperament—so his treatment changes, and there are many examples of this. Thus, if recovery is assumed for a person through something in a certain condition, it does not necessarily follow that recovery will occur through it for him or for someone else in all other conditions. Physicians are agreed that the treatment of one and the same illness varies according to age, time, habit, prior diet, customary influences, and the strength of one’s natural constitution.” End quote.

Al-Māzarī’s statement: “There is no doubt that the science of medicine is among the sciences most in need of detailed explanation.”

I say: This is because illnesses are many, and their natures differ according to their causes. A single illness may be hot, cold, wet, or dry, and every illness has signs indicating whether its cause is hot, cold, wet, or dry. Therefore, illnesses require many details in order to infer the causes and then prescribe the treatment.

His statement: “Something may be a remedy for a patient at one hour, then become a harm for him in the next hour due to an intervening factor… such as anger that heats his temperament… and there are many examples of this.”

I say: If a patient’s temperament is cold, then his remedy is hot. For example, if someone has a cold-type headache, a physician may prescribe bay laurel (al-ghār) because it is hot and treats a cold headache. But if an intervening factor occurs that temporarily heats the patient’s temperament—such as exposure to intense sun heat—so that his temperament shifts from coldness to hotness for a time, then giving him the hot laurel remedy prescribed for the cold headache becomes harmful in that situation, because it increases the temporary hotness in his temperament and may lead to serious harm.

Likewise, a chemical blood-thinning medication is known to be hot in nature because of its thinning effect—since hotness tends toward thinning, while cold tends toward thickening. If such a chemical blood thinner is given to a patient with blood clots to dissolve them, then the patient later becomes exposed at some point to intense sun, or fever, or anger that heats his temperament and increases the flow of his blood. In that case, taking the hot-natured chemical thinner becomes harmful, because, together with one of these intervening factors that heated his temperament, it may lead to bleeding in the blood vessels.

And his statement: “If recovery is assumed for a person through something in a certain condition, it does not necessarily follow that recovery will occur through it for him or for someone else in all other conditions.”

I say: The occurrence of recovery for a patient by means of a hot remedy while he is of a cold temperament does not entail that the same remedy will be a means of recovery for him in other circumstances in which the temperament has changed from coldness to hotness, nor for other people who possess hot temperaments; for a hot remedy is not a cure for them, rather it increases the hotness of their temperaments, which may lead them to harm.

And his statement: “Physicians are agreed that the treatment of one and the same illness varies according to age, time, habit, prior diet, customary influences, and the strength of one’s natural constitution.”

I say: The age of childhood is generally hot and wet; the age of one deeply immersed in youth is generally hot and dry; the age of middle life is generally cold and dry; and the age of old age is generally cold and dry.

As for time (season): among it is that which is hot and wet, namely spring; among it is that which is hot and dry, namely summer; among it is that which is cold and dry, namely autumn; and among it is that which is cold and wet, namely winter.

As for habit—meaning what one is accustomed to—among people are those whose habit is to eat once in one day and twice on the next day, or one who abandons exercise entirely and inclines toward ease and stillness; this habit should be taken into account because his body has become accustomed to it, and changing it should be gradual if there is a need.

As for food: among it is hot and wet, sanguine in temperament, generating blood; among it is cold and wet, phlegmatic in temperament, generating phlegm; among it is hot and dry, yellow bile-dominant in temperament, generating yellow bile; among it is cold and dry, black bile-dominant in temperament, generating black bile; and among it is what is moderated.

As for customary influence—meaning familiar external influences—such as being affected by the hotness of fire or the sun for one who is frequently exposed to them, for it is known from them that they render the body hot.

As for the strength of the natural constitutions: the temperaments are four—hotness, coldness, wetness, and dryness. Among people are those whose hot nature is strong, and among them are those whose cold nature is strong, and so on.

And for further clarification of this medical legal ruling, I say: If there were two people, one an elderly man and the other a young man, both afflicted with the illness of the common cold (al-zukām), the physician would consider whether the elderly man’s cold and the young man’s cold is hot or cold, while also considering the season in which the illness occurred, each person’s habit, the temperament of the food each of them ate, the external influences affecting them such as cold or hot winds, and considering the strength of the heat and cold in both patients.

So if the elderly man’s cold were cold in a cold season, and his habit were ease and stillness, and his eaten food were cold, and he had been exposed to a cold wind, and the coldness of his nature were strong, then his medicines must be intensely hot in a manner that suits his age, the time, the habit, the prior diet, the customary influence, and the strength of the constitution.

And if the young man’s cold were hot in a hot season, and his habit were exercise that heats the body, and his eaten food were hot, and he had been exposed to a hot wind, and the hotness of his nature were strong, then his medicines must be intensely cold in a manner that suits his age, the time, the habit, the prior diet, the customary influence, and the strength of the constitution.

Even though the illness is one—namely the common cold—it differs between hot and cold. If the elderly man’s hot medicine were given to the young man, it would harm him; and if the young man’s cold medicine were given to the elderly man, it would harm him. Upon this the physicians have agreed.

All of this classification is taken into account by the physician when prescribing the medicine, which itself is not free of being either cold, hot, wet, or dry.

And to further show the precision of this medicine and its great benefit, I will explain in detail what the ancient physicians say regarding the types of the common cold:

Al-zukām is the pouring down of wet wastes from the two anterior ventricles of the brain ([3]) to the nostrils. The two ventricles were specified as anterior because from the posterior ventricle little is purified, due to its smallness, and because it is also located at the extremity; it was made an outlet for the spinal cord ([4]), and most of its wastes are dissolved from it, while some of the remainder is driven through a shared passage between the front part of the brain and its posterior part to a gland located between the tough membrane and the bone of the palate. As for the two anterior ventricles, at the shared boundary between them there is a passage by which waste is driven to it, then to the two appendages resembling the nipples of the breast, then to the ethmoid bone beneath them, then to the nasal cavity. Thus it becomes clear that what is driven of wastes to the nostrils is only from the anterior ventricles.

Its cause: either a hot dis-temperament that occurs to the brain due to external causes such as the heat of the sun, or applying hot oils to the head, and the like—such as the scent of musk and saffron ([5])—so the head becomes hot, and the wastes within it become thin, and wastes are drawn to it—meaning to the head—from the entire body due to its hotness; because heat dissolves and evacuates the wetnesses in the head, so replacement wetnesses are drawn to it from the body due to the necessity created by emptiness, just as oil is drawn toward fire; and some of it descends from the nostrils when the head becomes full and its wastes become thin.

Its sign: itching and stinging in the nose due to the sharpness of what flows to it and its acridity, and redness of the eyes.

Its treatment: evacuating the body if it is full—through venesection and purgation—so that materials do not ascend from it to the head; and bathing with lukewarm water because it cools by its effect and calms the itching and stinging through relaxation and softening, and it does not thicken the skin nor block the pores like cold water. For constriction and thickening after the brain has become loosened and the wastes have become thinned is supportive of the common cold. And cold oils are inhaled, such as violet oil, water-lily oil, and pumpkin oil ([6]) to calm the itching and cool the brain. And if the flow persists, it is prevented by fumigation with camphor ([7])—that a glass vessel is placed on embers and camphor is sprinkled on it—for it cools, dries the wetness, and congeals it due to excessive cooling; or by bran ([8]) soaked in vinegar ([9]), for it cools and dries the wetnesses. And one is given to drink decoction of violet ([10]) and poppy ([11]), and a thin gruel made from bran water, and chickpea flour, starch, and tragacanth ([12]), or sweet almond oil ([13]) and sugar ([14]).

It may also be caused by the hotness of the brain’s own temperament without it being struck by external hotness; and it may be accompanied by hotness of the whole body, so many vapors rise from it to the brain and fill it. And the wastes descending from the brain are most often sharp and bitter-bilious ([15]), as some have said, because the material reaching it for nourishment contains much bile so that it may ascend easily to the brain. The brain is nourished only by the cold wet parts of that material, while the bilious parts remain mixed with what remains as waste from its nourishment and are expelled with it.

Its sign: the previously mentioned signs of external hotness, along with the pulse changing toward greatness, speed, and frequency, and the urine flask changing toward yellowness.

Its treatment: venesection ([16]) if it is required, to lessen the material and divert it toward the opposite direction; and softening the belly likewise with decoction of violet, licorice root ([17]), marshmallow ([18]), sebesten ([19]), jujube ([20]), and khiyār shanbar ([21]), and giving barley water ([22]); and altering the temperament with irrigations (nṭūlāt) ([23]), and oils and aromatic snuffs (shumūmāt) ([24]) that are cold, and other things.

It may also be caused by a cold dis-temperament that occurs to the brain due to external causes, such as cold striking the head, so the skin becomes firm and the pores are blocked, and the vapors that used to dissolve away from the brain become trapped, accumulating within it and becoming wetnesses, and they turn back from it toward the nostrils. Also, the essence of the brain becomes cold and thickens, because due to its looseness the cold reaches its depth easily, and due to the softness and laxity of its structure it quickly tends toward congealing and thickening. At that point, what reaches it of nourishment is not digested due to its weakness, so it becomes waste and descends.

Its sign: that it occurs immediately following the external cooling causes.

Its treatment: applying hot compresses ([25]) with warmed cloths until the heat reaches the depth of the head, and entering the bath to open the pores and ripen the wastes; and cutting off the flow to the nose by fumigation with al-ʿūd (aloeswood), which warms the brain and opens the pores of blockages—such as labdanum ([26]), costus ([27]), and black seed ([28]) soaked in vinegar ([29]).

It may also be caused by the coldness of the brain’s temperament itself, for the cold brain does not ripen what reaches it of nourishment, nor does it dissolve what rises to it of vapors; rather it turns the nourishment into wastes due to lack of ripening, and vapors accumulate in it due to lack of dissolution, so it becomes cold and turns into wetnesses and descends to the nostrils because of their thickness, and catarrhs continue for it.

Its sign: dullness of the senses, laziness, and heaviness of the head without heat, and feeling relief with what warms the head, and the rest of the signs of coldness of the brain.

Its treatment: warming the head with compresses ([30]) and irrigations ([31]) such as decoction of chamomile ([32]), rosemary (iklīl) ([33]), and marjoram ([34]); and aromatic snuffs such as roasted black seed ([35]) and anise ([36]).

It may also be caused by a fullness occurring in the whole body and in the head, except that what is in the head is greater, and vapors also rise to it from the body increasing its fullness. This is of four types:

The first: that in its trapped vapors, yellow bile predominates.

Its sign: that the patient finds in what flows from his nostrils sharpness to the point that he feels his nostrils burning from it, and along with that he finds headache due to fullness of the brain from that sharp material, and burning and thirst ([37]); and he finds his uvula changing toward bitterness because some of that bilious material is driven from the middle ventricle to a gland placed between the tough membrane and the palate, then from it to the palate, so he finds the change and bitterness in his uvula. He also finds burning in his eyes because that stinging material, since it inclines toward the nostrils and the front of the face, some of it is driven to the eyes, causing tearing due to stinging and burning, and due to the movement of the material.

Its treatment: loosening the bowels and evacuating ([38]) the material with fruit waters ([39]) along with khiyār shanbar ([40]) and taranjabīn ([41]); and giving barley water ([42]); and restricting all food to it; and leaning over the waters of herbs such as violet ([43]), chamomile ([44]), marshmallow ([45]), lettuce leaves ([46]), and poppy peels ([47]) if ripening is difficult—meaning the ripening of the humor trapped in the brain—because the vapors rising from it to the brain, with the powers of the medicines within them, cool the brain, moisten it, calm the stinging of the material, remove its thinness, and adjust its consistency. And giving poppy syrup ([48]) if what descends is thin, until it thickens so it does not pour into the diaphragm and the membranes of the chest, nor penetrate the membrane of the nostrils or the eyes and thereby cause burning and stinging. If a blockage occurs in the sieve bone (al-maṣfاة) ([49]) and the humor does not flow to the nose, then fumigate with white sugar (ṭabarzad) ([50]), sesame (juljulān) ([51]), and ambergris ([52]); for fumigation with them opens the blockage, strengthens the brain, drives away the vapor, and does not heat excessively.

The second: that in its trapped vapors, blood vapors predominate.

Its sign: that along with the common cold he finds redness in his eyes and a state resembling blockages due to heaviness of the head, dullness of the senses, bewilderment, and confusion—because of the brain being filled with those thick vapors, their accumulation, and their weight upon it. Thus the spirit ([53]) and the innate heat ([54]) become trapped in it, so it becomes cold and numb. He feels the urge to sleep, because blood vapors—due to the abundance of their moisture—thicken the spirit and darken it, making it difficult for it to emerge outward. They also cause laxity and closing of the nerves. Yet he does not sleep, because due to their heat they expand the Rūḥ and move it outward, so deep sleep does not occur. He finds in his uvula, gums ([55]), ears, and face a sensation like tickling and itching, because those vapors—due to their thickness—become trapped under the skin and do not dissolve easily, so with their hotness they produce itching, stinging, and sharpness. And he finds in what he blows out—meaning what he expels from the nose—“tawrīd,” meaning a color like the color of a rose, and in his mouth sweetness and a change in taste due to some putrefaction ([56]) and change occurring in the trapped wastes in the brain.

Its treatment: bleeding the cephalic vein ([57]), loosening the bowels, and keeping to barley water ([58]) and jujube drink ([59]) and poppy ([60]). If a blockage occurs and the humor does not flow, fumigate with the previously mentioned fumigation in the bilious type, and add to it spikenard ([61]), sandarac ([62]), and aloeswood ([63]), because the material here is thicker and needs, for opening, something warmer. And lean over the waters of herbs such as chamomile ([64]), rosemary ([65]), and marjoram ([66]).

The third: that in the trapped vapors, wet phlegmatic vapors predominate—and this is the safest of the types, because an illness that suits the temperament of the organ is less dangerous than one that does not suit it; for an opposing illness occurs only when the acting cause is strong—otherwise it would not be able to overpower the temperament and dominate it.

Its sign: heaviness of the head due to fullness of the brain, weakness of strength in lifting the head, heaviness of the senses—meaning their dullness—due to thickness of the spirit, laxity of the nerves and their closing so the spirit does not pass through them in its natural course; and that his speech has severe change and nasal tone, because the nasal cavity is an instrument for refining and improving the voice, and if it is blocked by thick sticky phlegm, clear speech is not possible. He finds in his mouth “wateryness” due to what is drawn to it from the brain, and he finds no proper taste in what he eats or drinks due to dullness of the senses and due to the tongue being coated with foreign sticky moisture ([67]) because the nerves that bring sensation to it are full. And when he sleeps or eats something he bites his tongue: as for during sleep, it is because the moistures and vapors that dissolve during wakefulness gather in the jaw muscles and their nerves, and heaviness and some stretching occur; then nature moves them during sleep so those wastes dissolve, and with them the tongue moves by habit, just as it moves to turn food and place it between the teeth—so it is bitten. As for during eating, it is because the tongue is an instrument for turning the chewed food, gathering it, and returning it between the teeth; if it becomes large and thick, returning and moving it from between the teeth to the inside of the mouth becomes heavy, so it is bitten.

Its treatment: loosening the bowels with decoction of hyssop ([68]), licorice root ([69]), and dried figs ([70]) with taranjabīn ([71]); and restricting food to soups made from mung beans ([72]) and almond kernel ([73]) without sugar ([74]) or with a little of it, and using julāb ([75]) instead of water, because water increases the material, slows ripening, and increases phlegm. And leaning over hot herb waters such as dill ([76]), chamomile ([77]), yarrow ([78]), thyme ([79]), and rosemary ([80]) if needed for ripening. And fumigate for blockage if it occurs with red sugar ([81]), spikenard ([82]), harmal ([83]), and sandarac ([84]).

The fourth: that in the trapped vapors, black bile-dominant vapors predominate, and it occurs least often due to their scarcity in the body, and because the occurrence of black bile-dominant illnesses in the brain—due to the opposition of the temperament of black bile to its temperament—does not happen except because of a strong cause, and that is rare.

Its sign: that he finds dryness in his eyes along with what he finds in his head of heaviness and headache, and he finds in his mouth the taste of something burnt because some of the burnt material ([85]) is drawn to the palate. And if he smells something, he smells the odor of smoke and stench, due to some of that material being driven to the nasal cavity and the sieve and settling there, so all smelled odors take on that quality.

Its treatment: giving barley water ([86]) cooked with poppy ([87]), and a porridge made from starch ([88]), sugar ([89]), and sweet almond oil ([90]); and leaning over wet herb waters such as violet ([91]), marshmallow ([92]), lettuce leaves ([93]), poppy ([94]), and gourd ([95]); and applying such irrigation to the front of the head.

Conclusion

Indeed, the words of the scholars regarding medicine are clear and evident to whoever knows Humoral Medicine, and they are principles they have laid down so that they may be followed and so that one may be alert through them to the legal rulings related to medicine. I have presented as an example the common cold (al-zukām), this simple ailment that was easy to treat for the early physicians, with the aim of showing the precision, sweetness, and beauty of this medicine which has been established in Islamic law as a communal obligation (farḍ kifāyah). I wrote about it in detail so that one would be mindful not to issue legal opinions without knowledge, even in such a simple ailment—so how about the rest of the ailments and diseases that are more severe and more difficult? For all ailments, which are around eight hundred ailments, are divided with this precision and this beauty into hot, cold, wet, and dry. Humoral Medicine is a medicine with foundations and branches; whoever wishes to study it needs many long years—from five years to fifteen years—until he becomes a skilled physician, due to the abundance of precise and beneficial medical information related to knowing the causes, signs, and treatment of diseases. Therefore, one must beware of those who prescribe medicinal herbs to others while they do not know their temperament, nor the temperaments of diseases, nor the conditions established by the physicians. How many of these there are in the Ummah in this time! These people overstep the Sacred Law and prescribe medicines for themselves or others without knowledge of medicine; in truth, they are sinful and bear wrongdoing.

([1]) Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad al-Tamīmī al-Māzarī, a Mālikī jurist, was the leading Mālikī scholar of his time. It is said he was born in 453 AH and died in 536 AH. He lived in Tunisia, received his religious education there, and also studied medicine until he became among those who issued legal verdicts in it just as he did in jurisprudence.

([2]) Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī al-ʿAsqalānī, known as al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, was born in 773 AH and died in 852 AH.

([3]) In the terminology of physicians, the ventricles of the brain are cavities within it filled with vapor, which physicians call the “psychic Rūḥ"

([4]) In medical terminology, the spinal cord is a white cord within the hollow of the neck bone extending to the back. Linguistically it may be pronounced with fatḥ or ḍamm. It has three membranes: one touching it, which is of the thin membrane; the second above it, which is thick; and the third above them, ligament-like, from the two processes of the skull.

([5]) Musk and saffron are hot and dry.

([6]) These oils are cold and wet.

([7]) Camphor is cold and dry.

([8]) Bran is hot and dry.

([9]) Vinegar is cold and dry.

([10]) Violet is cold and wet.

([11]) Poppy is cold and dry.

([12]) Broad beans, starch, and tragacanth are cold and dry.

([13]) Sweet almond oil is moderate tending toward cold, with abundant westness.

([14]) Cane sugar is hot and wet.

([15]) In medical terminology, “marrā” refers to the waste humor from blood, yellow bile, and black bile. Know that physicians use the term “marrā” intending “bile”; most often they mean yellow bile, and black bile refers to burnt black bile.

([16]) In medical terminology, venesection (fasd) is an intentional separation of continuity in the veins by means of a lancet.

([17]) Licorice root is hot or moderate, wet or dry.

([18]) Marshmallow is cold and wet; it is also said to be moderately hot.

([19]) Sebesten is said to be cold, and it is also said to be hot and wet.

([20]) Jujube is absolutely moderate; it is also said to be wet.

([21]) Khiyār shanbar is moderate, or hot and wet, or cold.

([22]) Barley water is cold and wet.

([23]) In medical terminology, “nṭūlāt” are lukewarm waters in which certain herbs have been boiled. Patients use them by pouring them over their bodies, sitting in them, or leaning over their steam. Al-ʿAllāmah said this. Al-Jawharī said: “I applied nṭūl to the sick person’s head,” meaning that water boiled with medicines is carried in a jug and poured over his head little by little. Muḥammad al-Aqṣarāʾī said: Nṭūl is when medicines are boiled and their water poured lukewarm over the organ; it may also refer to wool dipped in boiled medicines placed upon the organ. There is little difference between it and “sukūb,” which is pouring little by little. It is among treatments specific to an organ and is divided into three types: resolvent (muḥallil), astringent (qābiḍ), and relaxing (murakhkhī). The resolvent is used to extract trapped material but may not be used until after cleansing and evacuating the body lest more material descend to the organ. The astringent is used to strengthen the organ to repel expected descending material; if material has already descended, it must not be used lest it trap it. The relaxing type is used to calm pain by preparing the organ for extension and helping the existing material to dissolve; it must not be used when fullness is present lest more material descend. If applied to an organ containing waste, the nṭūl must actually be hot; if no waste is present, it must be cold. The same applies to topical applications.

([24]) In medical terminology, “shumūm” refers to what is smelled from fragrant plants, oils, and the like; it applies whether moist or dry.

([25]) In medical terminology, “kamād” (compress) is anything heated by fire—such as cloth or bran—then placed upon an organ, like heated salt tied and placed upon the abdomen in wind colic. It refers to placing something hot, whether wet or dry, upon an organ; when it cools, it is reheated and reapplied.

([26]) Labdanum is hot and dry.

([27]) Costus is hot and dry.

([28]) Shūnīz (black seed) is hot and dry.

([29]) Vinegar is cold and dry.

([30]) (Same definition as [25]) Compress: anything heated and placed on an organ.

([31]) (Same extended definition as [23]) Nṭūl: medicinal lukewarm irrigation, as previously defined.

([32]) Chamomile is hot and dry.

([33]) Iklīl al-malik (rosemary) is hot and dry.

([34]) Marjoram is hot and dry.

([35]) Shūnīz (black seed) is hot and dry.

([36]) Anise is hot and dry.

([37]) In medical terminology, thirst is the body’s need for cold wetness in excess. Physicians use the term for excessive desire for water.

([38]) In medical terminology, evacuation (istifrāgh) is the expulsion of waste from the body, whether by treatment or without treatment, such as nosebleed, diarrhea, vomiting, sweating, and the like. It may be total (from the whole body) or partial (from a specific organ, such as nasal purgatives). It may refer to expelling all humors or a specific humor.

([39]) Meaning cold wet fruits such as sweet peach.

([40]) Khiyār shanbar: moderate, or hot and wet, or cold.

([41]) Taranjabīn: hot and wet, or moderate.

([42]) Barley water: cold and wet.

([43]) Violet: cold and wet.

([44]) Chamomile: hot and dry.

([45]) Marshmallow: cold and wet, or moderately hot.

([46]) Lettuce: cold and wet.

([47]) Poppy peel: cold and dry.

([48]) Poppy syrup: its preparation is one hundred nearly uprooted poppy heads; their seeds are crushed and their husks bruised, boiled in ten times their amount of April rainwater until one-third remains; it is strained and thickened with an equal amount of sugar; rosewater and ambergris are added when balanced.

([49]) In medical terminology, al-maṣfāh is the ethmoid bone containing perforations beneath the two appendages resembling nipples, through which inhaled air is purified before reaching the brain; the nasal passages lead into it.

([50]) Ṭabarzad is refined white sugar.

([51]) Sesame is hot and wet.

([52]) Ambergris is hot and dry.

([53]) In medical terminology, “spirit” (rūḥ) is a subtle vaporous substance generated from the blood reaching the heart’s left ventricle; the right ventricle is occupied drawing blood from the liver. Physicians use this term to distinguish it from intestinal wind. As for the human soul, only Allah knows its reality.

([54]) In medical terminology, innate heat is a pleasant, airy hot substance without sharpness, stinging, burning, putrefaction, or corruption.

([55]) ʿUmūr refers to the flesh between the teeth (gums).

([56]) In medical terminology, putrefaction (ʿafan) is corruption and alteration of qualities; technically, it is a state in which foreign hotness acts gradually upon a wet body, causing decay—like manure gradually rotting.

([57]) The cephalic vein: a vein appearing at the outer side of the elbow; many of its branches connect to the veins of the brain.

([58]) Barley water: cold and wet.

([59]) Jujube drink: prepared from one ratl of jujube with lentil-sized coriander and chicory, one uqiyyah each.

([60]) Poppy syrup: prepared as previously described in [48].

([61]) Spikenard: hot and dry.

([62]) Sandarac: hot and dry.

([63]) Aloeswood: hot and dry.

([64]) Chamomile: hot and dry.

([65]) Iklīl al-malik: hot and dry.

([66]) Marjoram: hot and dry.

([67]) In medical terminology, innate wetness is a flowing wet substance whose relation to innate hotness is like oil to a lamp.

([68]) Decoction of hyssop: its preparation—fifteen raisins without seeds, ten figs, barley, four poppy heads, water-lily, violet, cucumber seed, purslane, coriander, well-water, iris, horehound, hyssop—three parts of each; boiled in ten times their amount of water until one quarter remains.

([69]) Licorice root: hot or moderate, wet or dry.

([70]) Dried figs: hot and wet.

([71]) Taranjabīn: hot and wet or moderate.

([72]) Mung beans: cold and dry.

([73]) Sweet almonds: hot and wet.

([74]) Sugar: hot and wet.

([75]) Julāb: sugar dissolved and thickened with its weight or more of rosewater.

([76]) Dill: hot and dry.

([77]) Chamomile: hot and dry.

([78]) Yarrow: hot and dry.

([79]) Thyme: hot and dry.

([80]) Iklīl al-malik: hot and dry.

([81]) Red sugar: hot and wet.

([82]) Spikenard: hot and dry.

([83]) Harmal (Syrian rue): hot and dry.

([84]) Sandarac: hot and dry.

([85]) In medical terminology, combustion (iḥtirāq) means heat fixing itself in something so that fiery vapors rise from it and it burns upon itself and becomes ash; similarly, when a humor remains long, it becomes burnt and turns to ash.

([86]) Barley water: cold and wet.

([87]) Poppy: cold and dry.

([88]) Starch: cold and dry.

([89]) Sugar: hot and wet.

([90]) Sweet almond oil: moderate tending toward cold, with abundant wetness.

([91]) Violet: cold and wet.

([92]) Marshmallow: cold and wet, or moderately hot.

([93]) Lettuce: cold and wet.

([94]) Poppy: cold and dry.

([95]) Pumpkin: cold and wet.

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