Journal of - International Society for the History of Islamic Medicine

The Relation between Times Progression
to Human Health in the Arabic Islamic Heritage
CHALHOUB Sami, OMRAN Taleb, ALI Rula
3. The Relation Between Time Progression and
Human Health in Arabic Heritage:
The astrological books that were related to Hippocrates
(5 th century BC.) gave him a reputation that he was an astrologer
even though he was a physician, he had acquired
both sciences as it could be understood from his speech
that was reported in the book “The Objective of the Wise
and the Best Result to be Introduced (Ghayet al-Hakeem
and ahaq al-natejateen in at-taqdeem) for Abu l-Qāsim al-
Maĝrīțī (338-398 H/950- 1007 AD), “ Hippocrates concise
words are: If Jupiter controlled the sun at the time of solar
year change (tahwil) the diseases are less and health is
plentiful in this year and pregnancy and child bearing is
recommended”.[4]
The most important that the Arabs had acquired from
Hippocrates books is the book of “Knowing the Seasons”,
that studies meteorology, al-anwā’, astronomy and astrology.
He explained in it the study of time change in knowing
the causes of illnesses, so it was an important source
for most of the Arab physicians. The wise Hippocrates said,
“The soul inside us was that attracts air to us, and wind
changed lives from an aspect to another and changed it
from cold into heat, and dryness into moisture, and from
happiness into sadness, they changed houses contents of
karn (2) , or asab (3) silver or drinks or honey or fats and so
they heated them once and cooled them once and solidified
them a third time because the sun and planets changed the
air by their movements and if the air changes, everything
would change consequently, and he who knew the times’
issues and their aspects knew the greatest cause of the illnesses
and causes of keeping Human health”.[5]
3.1. The relation between hours progression and Human
health:
Ibn Hibintā offered rare and distinguished lines that
link between hours and human life reported from Abi
Ma‛ šar who reported them from Hermes in the section
of Lords of days and hours in the Astrology (ahkam alnujum):
“Abi Ma‛ šar reported from Hermes that of their
confidential secrets was that they looked to the Lord of the
hour in which the infant was born that made his ascendant
(at-tali’) for the first year of his birth and inferred of
its aspects about his health and illness, and the Lord of the
second hour of it was for the treasury in origin and for the
body in the second year of the age, …etc.”.[3]
2
Smooth shiny stones that leave no traces.[6]
3
It was suggested that people take the nerves of some un prohibited
animals, cut them and change them into beads, and when they are dry,
they use it as ornaments.[6]
ISHIM 2011-2012
Ibn Hibintā discussed the issue of illness and health
within many issues of human life, so they were results for
linking the hours with horoscope and planets, and he said,
“who was born in Taurus, and it was at night in the hour of
the sun, and the moon was in Sagittarius he was feeble and
poor”.[3]
Ibn Hibintā reported from Indian scholars in the Astrology
(ahkam al-nujum), the way of judging on the health
status of the sick and prognosis. He said, “we found in some
of that was reported from Indian scholars when asking
about the prognosis of a patient, they set the ascending and
calculate from the Lord of the hour to the sum, take a grade
and shed three, if you had one or two emaining he would
heal by God’s will. If three remained he would not, and God
knows”.[3]
3.2. The relation between days progression and Human
health:
The Scholar and physician al-Hasan b. (al)-Bahlūl (lived
in the seconf half of the 4 th H. century/10 th AD.) had reported
in his important book “the Clues” (al-Daláèl) which is
the most comprehensive book about the clues ever known.
He reported physicians’ sayings such as Demokrit, Hippocrates,
Galen, Hunain b. Ishaq and other scholars about
al-anwā’, such as Ibn Qutaiba.
In the chapter about meteorology, there was a section
about the clues related to the lunar months in which
he dealt with the clues of illnesses of every day of the lunar
month which made it a reference for the clues of upper
traces and illnesses in addition to other benefits. He
said, “they mentioned the clues that know from the lunar
month, not any specific month, and a clue for ailments in
every day of the lunar month: the first night, if he became ill
and didn’t heal would stay ill the while month, the second
night, remains ill, the third night, he was worried about,
the fourth, he heals with the help of the physicians… the
twenty ninth he heals, and the thirtieth, if he didn’t heal, is
death was suspected”.[7]
Hunain b. Ishaq (194-260 H/ 809- 873 AD) worked
with astrology in addition to the upper traces, and in his
medical mathematical article “Tide and Ebb”, he identified
the effect of the moon in its different mansions on tide and
ebb and on the secular world and people’s health. Some of
this article was mentioned in “The Clues”(al-Daláèl). He
wrote, “you could know the prognosis of the sick from the
rise of the moon and its fall, because those who get sick at
the beginning of the month are able to resist illness, and
those who get sick by the end of the month are weak to
resist illness”.[7]
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