Editing Lawh-i-Tibb/Page1/Lambden2

[II]


[1]

Say:

O People! Eat not except after having hungered, and drink not after retiring to sleep (al-huju`).

[2]

How beneficial is exercise when one's stomach is empty for through it the limbs become strengthened;

and how dark a calamity is exercise when one's stomach is full!

[3]

Do not avoid medical treatment (al-`ilaj)  when thou hast need of it

but abandon it when thy constitution hath been restored (istiqamat).

[4]

Do not commence a meal except after full digestion [of the previous meal]

and swallow not save after the completion of chewing.

[5]

Treat an illness firstly with nutrients [or foods, aliments, aghdhiya)

and proceed not [immediately] unto medications (adwiyat).

[6]

If that which thou desire results from elemental nutrients (al-mufradat) refrain from

the compound treatments (al-murakkabat).

[7]

Abandon medication (al-dawa') when thou art healthy

but take hold of it when thou hast need thereof.

[8]

If foods of opposing disposition (didd an)  are available at table, do not mix them;

under such circumstances content thyself with but one of them.

[9]

Commence first with the light food (al-raqiq)  before moving on to the heavier one (al-ghaliz)

and with the liquid before the solid.

[10]

To intake one food which becomes superimposed upon another (idkhal al-ta`am `ala ta`am)

is dangerous; be warned of this matter.


[III]


[1]

When you would commence eating, begin by mentioning My Most Glorious Name (al-abhā)

and finish it with the Name of Thy Lord, the Possessor of the Throne above and of the earth below.

[2]

 And when you have finished eating, walk a little to settle thy meal.

[3]

 That [foodstuff] which is hard to chew, the same is forbidden unto those possessed of intelligence.

Thus does the Supreme Pen command thee.

[4]

Eat a little in the morning for this is as a lamp to the body.

[5]

Eschew harmful habits

[i.e. addictive substances al-i`ada al-mudirra ]

for they truly, are a calamity for created beings.

[6]

 Counter disease by utilizing established means (bi'l-asbab).

This utterance is the decisive command in this discourse.


[IV]


[1]

Most necessary to thy well-being is contentment (al-qana`at)  under all circumstances

for through it will the soul be saved from sloth and ill-being.

[2]

Eschew anxiety (al-hamma) and depression (al-ghamm)

for through both of these will transpire a darksome affliction

(bala' adham).


[V]


[1]

Say:

`Envy (al-hasad) consumeth the body and rage (or anger, wrath, al-ghayz)  burneth the liver:

avoid these two as ye would a fierce lion (al-asad).'

[2]

Purification of the bowels (tanqiyat al-fudul) constitutes a pillar [of health, al-`umdat]

when accomplished in the temperate seasons (al-fusul al-mu'tadila).

[3]

He whose eating hath been excessive, his malady will be heightened.

[4]

We, assuredly, have decreed a cause (sabab an ) for all things and vouchsafed everything with an effect (al-athar).

All of this is by virtue of the effulgence of My Name,

 the Efficacious (Producer of Effects, al-mu'aththir) upon existing things.

Verily, thy Lord is the One who exercises command over all that He wills.


[VI]


[1]

Say:

Through all that which We have expounded the [equilibrium of the] four humours (al-akhlat)

will not exceed their moderate balance (al-i`tidal); neither will their measures deviate from their mean conditions.

[2]

The [human constitutional] foundation will remain in its purity

and the "sixth part" and the "sixth of the sixth part" (wa'l-suds wa suds al-suds) in their stable condition.

[3]

The twin active forces (fa`ilan)  and the twin passive realities (munfa`ilan) will be rendered whole.

And upon God is all our trust.

There is no God but Him, the true Healer, the Omniscient, the One Whose succor is sought by all.

[4]

My Supreme Pen has not moved over such words as the above save out of My love for thee, that thou may  know that sorrows

have not overtaken the Ancient Beauty

and He is not saddened by that which hath befallen Him from the nations.

[5]

 Sorrow is for that one who loses a thing,

and from My Grasp is not lost all that is in the heavens and the earth.