MOSES  BEN  MAIMON 
(Maimonides) 
 
 
The Preservation of Youth 
 
Essays on Health 
 
 
 
Translated from the Original Arabic 
(Fi T ADBIR AS -SIHHA ) 
 
and with an Introduction by 
HIRSCH L. G ORDON , M.D., P H.D., D.H.L. PHILOSOPHICAL LIBRARY 
New York  
 
 
Copyright 1958 by Philosophical Library, Inc.  
15 East 40th Street, New York 16, N. Y. All rights reserved  
 
Printed in the United States of America  
Maimonides as Physician and Medical Author 
 
Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon) was one of the most 
colorful personalities of the twelfth century. He was an 
outstanding physician with a very extensive practice, 
holding, at the same time, important medical 
appointments in the royal court of Egypt. He was equally 
eminent as a commentator (Pirush Hamishnah), codifier 
(Yad), and philosopher (Guide of the Perplexed) . He was born in Cordova, Spain, in 1135, when it had a 
population of half a million and was at its height as a 
cultural and medical center. B ecause of the persecution of 
the fanatical Almohades, he had to leave his birthplace 
when thirteen, trying first to  find shelter in southern 
Spain, and from the age of twen ty-three to thirty in Fez, 
Morocco. While there, he studied medicine with such 
famous physicians as Ibn Zuhr (son of  famous Ibn Zuhr-
Avenzoar) and Abu Yusuf. Maimonides then, at the age 
of thirty, left for Egypt wher e he lived in great fame, and 
fatiguing medical and literary activities, for the remaining 
thirty-nine years of his life. He refused an offer made by 
the English king Richard th e Lion-Hearted, in 1193, to 
accompany him as a court physician to England. He composed ten medical works, all written in Arabic. He 
died in Cairo, December 13, 1204 at the age of sixty-nine, 
thus culminating a resplendent career. His Arabic medical works, of which The Preservation 
of Youth is the first to be rendered from Arabic into 
English, are: 
1. The Preservation of Youth  
2. The Extracts (Gleanings from Galen)  
3. Commentary on the Aphorisms of Hippocrates  
4. Medical Aphorisms  
5. On Hemorrhoids  
6. On Sexual Intercourse  
7. Discourse on Asthma  
8. On Poisons and the Protection Against Deadly 
          Remedies  
9. Discourse on the Explanation of Fits 
10. Glossary of Drug Names 
 
The works of Maimonides are based on authoritative 
Greek and Arabic sources, used with critical 
discrimination, and on his vast personal experience. They 
excel with their brevity, precision, clarity and rational 
approach. He used the language of the accepted ancient 
and medieval "hormone" pathology in vogue until a 
century ago and now making a partial and modified return in medicine. The pract ical application of those 
theories was sound. He gave preference to personal 
observation over traditions of  the past. He considered 
theoretical knowledge inseparable from practice, the 
ultimate aim being the fight against disease and the 
prolongation of life. His theology was not in conflict with medicine, but, on 
the contrary, supported it and le nt it prestige. He ridiculed 
the belief in the occult, demonology, exorcism, amulets 
and spells, as he did home remedies whose efficacy was 
not supported by experiment and practice. He considered 
that medical science held the key to morality  and  
godliness,  natural  processe s  being synonymous with the 
divine. He demanded the highest standard of ethics from 
the physician and took no remuneration from the 
indigent. Many physicians before Maimonides referred to 
emotional states of the patient, but Maimonides made the 
interaction of mind and body the cornerstone of his 
diagnosis and therapy, in true psychosomatic tradition. He dwelt at large on the impor tance of the measures to 
prevent disease, on the role of proper diet and on the 
contribution of constitutional disposition. The physician should always strive to strengthen the 
patient's own forces, utilizing also the forces of nature. He cautioned against over-medication, especially on a hit-
or-miss basis. When in doubt, he advised: leave it to 
nature. What affects us is not medication alone, but 
medication plus the forces of nature. He demanded of the physician detailed examination 
and close observation. One cannot learn medicine from 
books alone nor from experi ence alone. Practice is 
inseparable from knowledge and speculation. Every 
patient is a case by himsel f and demands an individual 
approach and care. The medical views of Maimonides as expressed in his 
medical writings, and also in  his philosophical and legal 
works, do not belong to the curiosa of the medieval 
healing art, but are an organi c part of what was best and 
enduring in the medical traditions of the past. H. L. G.   
 
Introduction 
 
The Preservation of Youth was composed in Arabic by 
Maimonides in 1198, six years before his demise. It was 
written in Egypt for the Sultan Al Afdal, son of Saladin, 
at his request. Like all the other medical works of 
Maimonides, it has never been translated into English 
until now. It was rendered into Hebrew by Moses Ibn 
Tibon in 1244, and republishe d recently with copious 
notes by Dr. Süssmann Muntner, Jerusalem, 1957. The 
Latin translation made by John di Capua, a converted 
Jew, in 1290, and used extensively in the medical schools 
of Europe, was based on the Hebrew translation. Six authorities are quoted in this work. Three of them 
are Greek: Hippocrates, "The Prince of Physicians" (460-
357 B.C. ); Aristotle (384-322 B.C); Galen (130-200); and 
three of them are Moslem  ( but not Arab):  Rhazes   
(Razi) 
(850-923) from Persia; Farabi  (870-950) from Turkey; 
and Ibn Zuhr (1113-1162) fr om Spain. Maimonides often 
introduces his own opinion as by "the author" or "the 
servant." The Sultan complained of poor digestion, chronic 
constipation and depressive moods. In his reply, 
Maimonides discusses the dangers of overeating, the three digestions and diets adju sted to the state of health, 
season and age. He schedul es physical exercises and 
evaluates various foods: cer eals, meats, milk, wine, 
vegetables and fruits. He prescribes a regimen for the healthy, the sick and the conva lescent, exto ls the power 
of nature and describes the types of physicians in his day. He further discusses mild and drastic remedies, compound and simple drugs, purgatives and emetics. He suggests music as a therapeutic measure and gives directions for various pharmaceutical preparations, such as digestives, sedatives a nd aphrodisiacs. In a special 
chapter he discusses the interrelationship between mind and body, also hypersensitivity, philosophy and theoretical morality, the even keel, imaginary good and evil, and the desirability of emotional stability and 
optimism. In the last chapter he comments on airs and waters, and on the ideas of Al  Farabi and Al Razi about 
patients and diseases. He cautions the reader on the pitfalls of erroneous approach es to medical science. The 
last topics of his work are concerned with sexual 
intercourse, the bath, discha rges from the nose, food deterioration and the advisability of avoiding sudden 
changes in the art of living. H. L. G.  
[ED. NOTE: 
The sub-titles are not in th e original Arabic text but 
were added by the English translator, Dr. Gordon.] Contents 
 
  Maimonides as Physician and Medical Author 
  Introduction 
  A Letter from Rabbi Moses ben Maimon to 
           the Sultan (Al Afdal, the Son of Saladin, 
           1198-1200)  
 I About the Care of Health in General, Fit for  
                       Every Man and Stated Briefly  
 II The Care of Patients in the Absence of a 
                       Physician or in the Presence of a Physician 
                       Who Is Not Adequate and Not Experienced 
                       in This Science 
 III The Care of My Lord in Particular, According  
                       to the Condition He Complains of 
 IV Helpful Hints in General, and in Particular, 
                       for the Healthy and for the Sick, in Every 
                       Place and in Every Season  
A L ETTER FROM RABBI MOSES BEN MAIMON  
TO THE SULTAN (AL AFDAL , THE SON OF SA- 
LADIN , 1198-1200) 
 
I, the insignificant servant,  Moses, the son of God's 
servant, the Israelite from Cordova, received a command 
from a messenger of the Honorable Chief, His Royal 
Highness, let God increase his Excellence. He ordered his 
servant to write down the regi men he should follow in the 
treatment of the diseases th at befell my lord. Let God 
keep illnesses far from him and may the state of health 
always accompany him. The messenger who brought the 
lord's command reported that my lord complains of 
chronic difficult bowel moveme nts that take place only 
after strenuous effort. He also reported occasional attacks 
of horror, melancholy and th e fear of death. This is 
accompanied by vomiting and poor digestion most of the 
time. That is what he reported. And I plan to divide this memorandum into four parts: 
About the care of health in general, fit for every man 
and expressed briefly; The car e of the sick in general, 
when there is no physician or when the physician is not 
perfect and experienced in wi sdom; The care of my lord 
in particular, according to the condition he complains of; As well as sections of help ful hints in general and in 
particular for the healthy and for the sick, for every place 
and for every period. And le t no one criticize us for 
finding in this chapter and in  the rest of our composition 
statements that were already mentioned in other articles 
that we have written before . Because every chapter was 
written as an answer to a special inquiry and not as a 
composition that aims to teach medicine to people. And from the Lord I ask for help and integrity. The Preservation of Youth 
 
Essays on Health  
 
CHAPTER  I  
 
About the Care of Health in General 
Fit for Every Man and Stated Briefly 
 
 
It is our intention to relate in this chapter items that are 
easy to remember. Their applica tion is of great benefit in 
the care of health. They re present the consensus of the 
opinions of the greatest physicians. HIPPOCRATES : AVOID OVERSATIETY AND FATIGUE ! Among them is the dictum of Hippocrates: The 
preservation of health is th e abstaining from oversatiation 
and from the breakdown due to fatigue. And note that 
Hippocrates implied in the care of health two rules, and 
they are: to avoid oversatiety  and the fatigue that results 
from injurious excessive movements and exer cise. Satiety is the consumption of  food to the point of losing 
the appetite and this involves  the filling of the stomach 
and its distention. Every organ that becomes distended must expand its parts and weaken its strength, and 
therefore the stomach cannot di gest that food at all. It 
results in weakness, slowing up of movement and a 
feeling of heaviness. This is pa rticularly true if one drinks 
to excess after his meal to force digestion. For nature 
demands the absorption of water in order to soften the 
food and make it light for the stomach. This results in 
indigestion, which may be eith er serious causing death, or 
mild causing sickness. It may also cause dyspepsia and 
nausea. The results are change s that depend on changes in 
the types of food, temperaments  and the disposition of the 
organs to develop sicknesses. THE THREE DIGESTIONS  
If the digestion of the food in the stomach is poor, its 
second digestion, in the liver, is also poor and so is its 
third digestion, in the organs. And this causes most of the 
diseases. And Galen said as follows: Whoever wants 
never to become sick, shoul d avoid poor digestion and 
excessive movements after th e intake of food. And in 
order to avoid this great harm, the physicians warned 
against satiation and ordered that a man should cease 
eating while he still has desire  for food and thus avoid the distention of the stomach and its overfilling. And all 
physicians agree that to partak e a little of bad food is less 
harmful than eating a lot of good and healthy food. For 
when one eats bad food below the point of satiation it will 
be well digested and will nouris h the organs with what is 
useful in it, while the expe lling powers will increase and 
will evacuate the bad surpluses,  so that no injury will be 
caused by it or the injury  will be insignificant. INDIGESTION FROM AN OVERBURDENED STOMACH  
But the satiated, even th ough he partook of good bread 
and good meat, cannot digest it at all. And we have 
explained why. And in order to avoid satiety, the 
physicians warned against eati ng several courses and that 
one should be satisfied with one course per meal to avoid 
excessive food and to stop th e appetite before satiety. This will enable one to know the various digestibilities, 
for every victual is digested in a special way, according to 
its nature. As to the amount of food for one who wishes to care 
for his health, it is the advi ce of [your] servant to eat 
when the temperature is eve n, not to expand the stomach, 
not to overburden it and to enable it to produce a chyme 
with ease. And as soon as it is established what amount is proper, one should select foods tuff that agrees with him, 
namely, that it should not produ ce gas, or thirst, but give 
him pleasure, lightness, and a tendency to soft stools. This means good food, of which one should partake 
regularly. DIET IN WARM WEATHER  
The warmer the temperatur e, the less should be the 
quantity, because in summertim e the digestive processes 
are too weak to benefit from natural heat. When the 
temperature cools off one should increase the amount, 
because in wintertime the di gestive processes are strong 
enough to gather and hold th e natural heat. And when it 
gets cold the openings in the flesh close and do not 
prevent satiety. [Your] servant states: If a ma n would take care of his 
body as he takes care of the animal he rides on, he would 
be spared many serious ailments. For you will not find a 
man who would give too much hay to his animal, but he 
measures it according to its capacity. However, he 
himself will eat too much without measure and 
consideration. Man is very attentive to his animal's 
movement and fatigue in order that it should continue in a state of health and not get sic k, but he is not as attentive 
to his own body. EXERCISE FIGHTS ILLNESS  
One does not consider exerci se, though it is the main 
principle in keeping one's h ealth and in the repulsion of 
most illnesses. And Hippocrates has already said: The 
preservation of health is the avoidance of being broken 
down from fatigue. And ther e is nothing like excessive 
body movements and exercise. Because body movements 
and exercises will ignite natural heat and superfluities 
will be formed in the body, but they will be expelled 
however, when the body is at rest the natural heat is 
suppressed and the superfluities remain. And even when 
the food is of the best qualit y and of the right proportion, 
movement and exercise will destroy them. Exercise 
removes the harm caused by most bad habits which most 
people have. And no moveme nt is as beneficial, 
according to the physicians, as body movements and 
exercise. Exercise refers both to strong and weak 
movements provided it is a movement that is vigorous 
and affects breathing, increas ing it. Violent exercise 
causes fatigue and not ever yone can stand fatigue nor 
needs it. It is good for the preservation of health to shorten the exercises. It is  proper to do exercises only 
when the stomach is empty and the superfluities, urine 
and fecal matter are expelled. One must not exercise 
when it is very cold or very hot and the best time for it is 
the beginning of the day, when one awakens from his 
sleep and evacuates the superfluities which we 
mentioned. From the sayings of Galen about the care of 
health we learn: Just as body movement before partaking 
of food is always good, so afte r partaking of food it is 
always bad. BUT NOT AFTER MEALS  
And know that movement after partaking of food is 
very injurious, whether shaking, or sex, or a bath, because 
they are very damaging; especi ally great is the harm to 
those whose blood vessels are narrow and thin by nature. Yet it is desirable that one should exercise a little the 
length of his house, so that his food may descend to the 
lower part of the stomach and get warm in order that it 
should be boiled. And sleep will help the boiling and 
especially for one who has the habit of sleeping during 
the day. The care of health requ ires that one kind of food 
should not be brought in [the  body] over a previous food. And one should eat only when  justified by a feeling of hunger, when the stomach is clear and the mouth 
possesses sufficient saliva. Th en one is really hungry. A 
man must not drink water unles s he is truly justified by 
thirst. This means that if one feels hungry or thirsty he 
should wait a little, as occasiona lly one is led to feel so by 
a deceptive hunger and deceptive thirst. And the cause is 
a bad moisture that irritates the mouth or the stomach and 
when the irritation passes one should not partake of 
anything, unless the hunge r or thirst be st rong; then he is 
allowed to eat or drink. Drinki ng of water after a meal is 
bad, as it interferes with di gestion, unless one is used to 
it. DRINKING OF WATER WITH YOUR MEAL 
And it is not fit to drink, w ith your meal or after it 
when it is still in the st omach, anything besides cold 
water with no admixture. One of the good health habits is 
not to retain superfluitie s under any condition and to 
evacuate them in time of need. One should not partake of 
food and then enter a bath or  engage in sexual activities 
or go to sleep or do exerci ses unless he has examined 
himself previously and tried to eliminate the superfluities. And also after engaging in th ese five activities he should 
examine himself well. It is part of the care of health to investigate the quality 
of food and this is very useful. One must know the nature 
of all foods of every kin d. And the physicians have 
already written many detaile d books about it, and they 
were justified in doing so b ecause it is very necessary. We will therefore state helpful rules in the spirit of this 
chapter and according to the many foods that are accepted 
by us. The good foods that are to be prepared by those 
who want good health are: wheat bread well prepared, the 
meat of a goat and a one-year lamb, the meat of a chicken 
and pheasant and pigeons and turtle doves, and the yolk 
of a chicken's egg. WHEAT IS GOOD FOR BREAD  
And by bread well prepared I mean that it should be 
made of wheat that is fully ripened, after its superfluous 
moistures become dry and it is not old enough to begin 
deterioration. The bread must  not be made of refined 
flour, but after it is sifted  in the sieve its sourness-
producing parts should be made visible and enough salt 
added to make it suitable. The bread should be made of 
rough grain unchafed and unpolished and its leavened 
part should become visible. Its dough should be plentiful 
while it is being kneaded in order to be baked in the oven. This is the improved bread of the physicians. And this is 
the best of food. BUT FOR NOTHING ELSE 
And it is important that you should know that 
everything prepared from wheat aside from this bread is 
by all means not a proper food. But the following dishes 
prepared from it are especially bad: unleavened bread, 
boiled dough, such as noodles, macaroni, dumplings and 
fried dough balls, fried pancakes covered with honey, and 
bread soaked in olive oil or in  other oils. All these are bad 
foods for every man. White bread or bread made of 
refined flour and boiled wheat are not good foods either. Only a stomach with great power to digest them can 
derive much nourishment and good from them. The types of meat which we  mentioned above are not 
all of one nature and are not  of equally good quality. But 
the best of quadruped meat is that of sheep in pasture one 
year old and castrated steer of  average fatness. The best 
part of their meat is in th e anterior of their bodies and 
what is connected to bone. FAT MEAT IS BAD 
Everything that is within the abdomen is bad and the 
fat parts are all bad; they sa tiate but they are hard to 
digest as they diminish th e appetite and produce white 
moisture. And the heads of cattle have more superfluities 
than the other organs, and the extremities of animals, i.e., 
their legs, lack superfluities  and their nourishment is not 
bad. And the sheep is full of s uperfluities; there is nothing 
good in it. But a suckling kid is good food and easily 
digestible. The meat of fowl is  in general lighter than the 
meat of cattle and is digested more rapidly. And the best 
of the fowl meat are those we mentioned. Milk, immediately after it is milked, is a good food, 
provided it does not become sour in the stomach. It does 
not absorb fumes and does not develop flatulence in the 
lower abdomen. And it should be  taken with a little honey 
and a grain of salt, as Galen suggested, in order that it 
should not congeal in the st omach. And the best of the 
milks and the most rarefied is the milk of a goat or a cow. This offers good nourishment. AVOID MILK PRODUCTS  
And any dairy product or additi ons to milk are bad; for 
example, when it is curdled or boiled or when it has 
something boiled in it, it is very bad. All types of cheese 
are very bad and heavy, but cheese one day old, which is 
white and sweet and not fat, is good. So states Galen who 
recommends it as good to eat. But everything resembling 
it is not good, especially old cheese with a lot of fat. Butter, raw or boiled, is not at all bad as human food. Honey is good nourishment for the old and bad for the 
young and especially for those whose temper is warm, 
because it turns rapidly into red bile. And fish are mostly bad nourishment, particularly for 
those who are phlegmatic and for the old, and especially 
large-bodied fish and the salt ed kind. Those that come out 
of polluted waters and the very fat are very bad and 
increase the fluids. But small fish whose flesh is white, 
hard and tasty and which come either from the sea or 
from large bodies of fresh water, such as the salmon, is 
not a bad food, but one should eat very little of it. WINE IS NUTRITIOUS  
It is well known among physicians that the best of the 
nourishing foods is one that the Moslem religion forbids, 
i.e., wine. It contains much  good and light nourishment. It 
is rapidly digested and helps to  digest other foods. It also 
removes the superfluities from the pores of the flesh and 
excretes urine and perspira tion. It has other virtues 
besides these and is very usef ul, as the physicians tell us. But this concerns something that we are not allowed to 
make [from the relig ious viewpoint], which makes talking 
of it superfluous and unnecessa ry, and therefore we will 
not mention the various kinds and how they could be used 
in the upkeep of health. CHOICE OF VEGETABLES  
But the vegetables that are bad for all men are garlic, 
onions, cress, horse-radish, cabbage, and mad-apples. All 
of these are poor food for one  who wants to be in good 
health, but cucumbers and green melons are not so bad. As to the yellow melon, if one  will eat it early in the day, 
when the stomach is empty and without a bad fluid, and 
the person is the possessor of a disposition that is not bad, 
it will be well digested, cool  off the body a little, increase the output of urine, purify the [blood] vessels and provide 
some nourishment that is not bad. We mention it, because 
it is extensively eaten by many people. Fresh fruits that grow on trees are bad nourishment for 
men in general. Some of them are worse than others. Among those that are bad ar e carob, nespole and sorb 
apple, and some are less ba d and almost good, like figs 
and grapes. GALEN ACCEPTS FIGS AND GRAPES — 
Galen said that figs and grap es are the princes of fruits 
and are less injurious. But the blood that is formed from 
those fruits is not good. And let people not mistake my 
statement that "all that  grows on trees has poor 
nourishment," for fruit honeys and their ripe wines, their 
juices and candies made from them help in special 
diseases, because their value as food is different from 
their value as medicaments. This is clearly known to 
those who are versed in pharmacology. Galen said that 
from the viewpoint of morality  and divine tr uth, it was his 
intention to warn people not to eat fruit. BUT DISFAVORS OTHER FRUITS — 
He further said that it was his habit to be smitten by 
fever once a year and when his father commanded him to 
abstain from eating fruit, he was protected from fever that 
year. From that time he made it a rule never to eat fruit 
and he swore that he never ha d fever after that, except for 
one day. And one can mention this as an item of truth 
because the moisture of fru it contains materials from 
which fevers are formed. And let it not seem strange to us 
that many people eat fruit w ithout developing fevers, for 
habits and regulations bri ng various results. If a Hindu 
should eat refined bread and sheep's meat he would surely 
get sick and if one of us s hould eat rice and fish, as the 
Hindus do always, he would doubtless also get sick. It is 
not the intention of this work to declare it a special cause 
[of sickness], but it is the intention to declare that fruits 
are generally not good to eat and one should eat little of 
them. One must never combine them with a meal, but one 
may eat pears, grapes and figs before meals as they soften 
and moisten the stool. One may eat after them, provided 
they have left the stomach. And the binding plants such 
as quince and plums should be  eaten sparingly and after a 
meal, in order that they should contract and close the 
opening of the stomach. PARTICULARLY PEACHES AND APRICOTS  
And just as grapes and figs are considered the best of 
all fruits, so are peaches a nd apricots considered the 
worst. And one should never come close to these two 
species because they produce moistures that mix with the 
blood and make it boil and this is the main cause for the 
formation of putrefied fluids and fevers. But dried fruits 
like raisins, dried figs, kernels of pistachio and hazelnuts 
are not bad, but it is best to us e them only as relishes with 
food, especially raisins and pi stachio nuts, because they 
are very good for the liver. Gale n said also: The health of 
the liver is our life. The part aking of some sweets after a 
meal is very good, because it gives the stomach the power 
to retain the food and to digest  it. This is all that I have 
found proper to mention in this chapter and that is all we 
intended. CHAPTER II  
 
The Care of Patients in the Absence of a 
Physician or in the Presence of a Physician Who 
Is Not Adequate and Not Experienced in This 
Science 
 
According to the prominent medical authorities, medical 
science is of extreme importance to man, because he is 
disposed to become sick from  most of the foods he eats, 
and sooner or later he will n eed the advice of a physician. Medical science is divi ded into three parts. THE HEALTHY , THE SICK AND THE CONVALESCENT  
The first and most important part: the behavior of the 
healthy, and that is the care of  health and its maintenance. The second part: the care of  the sick; ways and means 
of regaining of health that ha s been lost. This is known as 
medical advice. The third part: the care that Galen called "the 
restoration." This is the care of health in persons who are neither very well nor very sic k, such as those who are in a 
convalescent state or the aged. As has already been explained, a man needs the 
services of a physician in ev ery item of health and at 
every time, but his need of a physician during sickness is 
especially great and avoiding him is dangerous. Fools 
think that a man needs a physician during his sickness 
only and at no other time, but it  very often happens that a 
man gets sick while traveling or while in a small town 
where there is no physician or  only a physician on whose 
wisdom people do not rely. This is the place for the 
advice of your servant, indi cating what to do on such an 
occasion. THE ANCIENT GREEKS  
Galen has already explained to us that the ancient 
Greeks, when in doubt as to what to do in a certain 
disease, did nothing but left the patient to nature, which 
they considered suf ficient to cure all illnesses. And 
Hippocrates sang the praises of nature in many places at 
great length, considering natu re to be wise, clever and 
capable of doing what is necessary for the sick without 
resorting to medication. And it is true that the physician should help nature, support it and do nothing else but 
follow it. RAZI'S RULE 
And Razi said in one of hi s well-known chapters: If a 
disease is stronger than the pa tient, there is no hope that 
he will survive and no physician will help him; if the 
strength of the patient is gr eater than the strength of the 
disease, he will not need a physician, because nature will 
cure him; but if the strength of the patient and that of the 
disease are equal, then one needs a physician to increase 
the patient's strength. Th is can be done only by the 
perfect physician, who knows how to strengthen the 
patient and take care of him, so that he may overcome the 
hurdles of nature. However, most physicians commit 
many errors and, while they think they increase the 
patient's strength, they really  weaken him and interfere 
with his progress. ARISTOTLE HARSH ON PHYSICIANS  
And about this, Aristotle said, in his book De sensu et 
sensibili,- that many die from medication because of the 
ignorance of physicians in understanding nature. When the physicians say "nature," they mean the power that 
rules all living creatures,  whose presence and true 
function has been explained in the books of the ancient 
sages. For these reasons kings  invite many physicians and 
chose from them the most intelligent, wise and 
experienced. Through their concilium they may be saved 
from error. USE MILD REMEDIES  
From all that I have mentioned in my introduction, it 
becomes clear that it is proper to leave the patient to 
nature when there is no good physician. And the 
expression "leaving to nature" implies that one should not 
take a medication which healthy people are not used to 
taking and that one should not  forget to take the proper 
amount of his food. One should drink when he is thirsty, 
and one should eat when he is hungry, as one is 
accustomed to do. And one should eat the lightest of the 
foods that he is used to ea ting. And it is proper for a man 
to know that even if he has with him one or many 
prominent physicians, he should not permit himself to 
employ drastic medication, unle ss it is upon the advice of 
a very, very adequate and experienced physician whose 
wisdom has been put to th e test and whose experience cannot be doubted. Otherwis e one should prefer during 
illness light rather than strong medications. AND AVOID THE DRASTICS  
I will now explain the ch aracter of the strong 
medicaments and name them. They are: venesection with 
the loss of much blood, strong and prolonged purgatives 
such as colocynth, convolvulus scammonia and cleansing 
by strong emetics, like the two types of hellebore and nux 
vomica, and strong enemas that contain colocynth, 
sagapenum, castor oil and the like. Equally strong 
measures are abstaining from food entirely and the 
avoidance of drinking and the enduring of thirst. There 
are already many prepared medications for various 
conditions like the theriac, Th eodoric and Mithridatic and 
their like. All these medicaments are powerful and one 
should prepare them only upon the advice of a physician 
who excels in theory and pract ice. From these things, if 
they have a beneficial influence in their place, the patient 
will recuperate immediately or a short while afterward or 
will, at least, be saved from death. But if they fail, they 
will cause immediate death or  an illness that will 
ultimately cause the patient's death. And therefore it is 
proper to exercise care. THE LIGHT PROCEDURES  
The light medical procedures  are: the removal of blood 
through cupping and scarification on the thighs or on the 
upper part of the body, a purge with manna, pears, plums, 
cherries, violets and syrup of roses in a cold state. Emetics such as barley water, oxymel, horse-radish, 
atriplex littoralis seeds or melon roots and others. Also 
light enemas, like those of ba rley water, coarse bran 
water, honey water or oil and their like. Also  light  food,  such  as  nourishing  fluids mixed 
with sugar, bee honey, barley soup, toasted rusk, soaked 
twice, or thin biscuits as  prepared for sick people. We can also include here su ch medication as is also 
taken in good health, like th e drinks used by healthy 
people—oxymel, rose and lemon water, violets and the 
like—and the syrups that are of equal quality, such as 
rose sugar, violet sugar and myrobalan jam. THE COMPOUND DRUGS  
In the same fashion we must take the fluids 
compounded out of light and reliable drugs, such as 
licorice, coriander, oxtongue, endive seed, eryngo leaves, 
panicaut, asparagus root, rind of lettuce root, fennel root, celery, cucumber seed, portulaca, portulaca oleracea, 
sugar melon, althea wood and seed and their like. And 
other drinks that are compounded from the fruit, seeds 
and flowers that healthy pe ople take, and the tamarind 
drink. All these medicaments are light. When they reach 
the proper place they will re store the health of the 
debilitated patient and will cure the stronger one for a 
long time. Even if they miss their aim, they will cause no 
death or severe injury. Most  of the physicians rely on 
such a system, avoiding doubt in search for perfection. PURGATIVES  
The purgatives such as hiera picra, agaricon and 
operculina turpethum and their like, such as cassia fistula, 
are of medium quality, not t oo strong and not too weak. Cassia fistula, though it frequently causes tenesmus, has a 
sure effect. Agaric is al so a sure purgative, but 
occasionally it hurts with its sharpness and its 
dehydration, when we have to remove fluids from the 
entire body or from one orga n. Equally injurious to men 
with a warm constitution may be hiera picra and triphylla. They often produce too extensive a reaction. When we warned against indiscriminate medication 
with the theriac Mithridatic even when advised by an experienced physician, we had in mind the sick only. As 
to those of good health, it ha s already been mentioned as 
a good health rule to take the theriac every ten days. NOTHING ABSOLUTE IN MEDICINE  
The physicians have already mentioned that there is 
nothing absolute in medicine and that everything depends 
on specific conditions, as when they advise one to take 
the theriac every ten days for the health's sake. It is not proper for one who has a warm constitution to 
take [the theriac] or to take it in the summer or in a period 
of great heat or when the stomach has any trace of a bad 
moisture. EMETICS  
And when it is said that to vomit once or twice a 
month is good for the health, this is so provided a man 
has no weakness in his chest or fullness or pain in his 
head. Vomiting is of no help when it is very cold. And 
every time it is allowed, it is under the conditions we 
have mentioned. We have advised employing light medications and we 
mentioned some of the appe rtaining regulations. If one cannot find a very experienced physician, he may turn to 
any physician he can find, if  there is no alternative. Sometimes even a small amount of a medication will be 
injurious if the physician errs  and applies it to the wrong 
place. GALEN : WATER IS AMBIVALENT  
Galen has already explained to us that sometimes he 
tells a patient to drink wate r until saturation, in order to 
cause perspiration, soft stools, absence of fever and 
perfect health. And sometimes if one is allowed to drink 
water when it is improper for him, it can cause the 
patient's death or a chronic disease from which he can 
never be cured. And the conditions in which the drinking 
of water is allowed or prohibited have already been 
explained. And as with drinking water, [one must be careful one 
understands] how careful we have  to be in drinking other 
fluids. When it is time to drink and we do not know 
whether to permit the drinking of water or not, one may 
take the normal amount to which he is accustomed. In the 
same manner if we are not certain whether to give a 
patient food or prevent him from taking it, we should give 
him a small amount of it. When one cannot reach a very intelligent physician, 
one should follow the habits he is accustomed to when he 
is well, but take only a little of  what he usually takes. One 
must be careful always to pr eserve the strength of the 
patient while he is taking nour ishment. It is advisable to 
take light nourishment, if he is allowed to take any, such 
as chicken soup, meat broth, th e yolk of a soft-boiled egg 
and wine, or even a little heavier food, such as chicken 
meat. One must never forget to strengthen the physical 
powers with food and the em otional powers through the 
aroma of warm fragrant i ngredients, such as musk, 
amber, basilicon, and lignaloes for illnesses accompanied 
by a feeling of cold, and by co ld ingredients, like those 
prepared from roses, nilufa r, myrtle and violets, in 
illnesses accompanied by warmth. THE ROLE OF MUSIC 
And in order to strengthen the vital powers, one should 
employ musical instruments a nd tell patients gay stories 
which make the heart swell and narratives that will 
distract the mind and cause them and their friends to 
laugh. One should select as attendants and caretakers 
those who can cheer up the patient. This is a must in every illness. In the absence of a physician one must 
figure it out himself. The physicians have advised every physician that if he 
can manage to control the illness with diet alone, he 
should not employ medicaments, and if he cannot 
accomplish this without medical healing, he should 
employ ordinary medical means, such as a medical 
regimen and therapeutic foods . If this medical regimen 
does not help, one can try light medication: if it helps, it 
is good and if it does not help the patient, one may 
undertake stronger and stronger measures. COMPOUND DRUGS  
If one can manage well with one individual drug, one 
should not use a compound one; or one should use a 
medication which is compounded of the fewest possible 
ingredients. One should use medications compounded of 
multiple ingredients only when  compelled to do so. All 
these provisions are made when one is regulated by a 
good physician and this is even  more the case when there 
is no physician at all. One should be careful not to 
employ strong medications or many medicinal 
ingredients. It is best to be  satisfied with ordinary and mild care. This is the amount we found proper to write on 
this topic. CHAPTER III  
 
The Care of My Lord in Particular, According to 
the Condition He Complains of 
 
It has been the consensus of medical opinion that the 
foundation of health is that th e excrements should be soft 
and if they are hard one should make them soft. Their 
retention produces very bad fu mes that enter the heart and 
the brain and cause dehydrati on and confusion of the vital 
spirits. They produce bad t houghts, apprehensiveness and 
exhaustion and prevent the e limination of superfluities 
from digested materials. A special effort is needed to 
soften the stool. IBN ZUHR ON LAXATIVES  
Ibn Zuhr, let God remember him for good, said: The 
best way to soften the stool is by taking a fluid of rhubarb 
and tamarind. Your insignificant servant was told of my 
lord's disposition, that it is  good for him to soften his 
stool with amaranth prepared in a fat chicken with saffron seeds, sugar, lemon water and mangelwurzel, that were 
boiled with it, without dis carding the water. And he 
should make it a habit during a meal to eat first green 
leafy vegetables spiced with a sauce made of barley and 
good oil. After this my lord can eat whatever he wishes. And when he has finished his meal he should suck on 
quinces, pears, an apple or a pomegranate with its seeds. And the vegetables which my lord takes should be, first, 
beets, mountain spinach, spinach  or rape-wine, whichever 
he has, mixed in good olive oil and barley sauce. But if he has to soften his stool with medication, he 
should take a gram of good rhubarb and pound it, and an 
ounce of the tamarind fruit, pur ified and cut as thin as 
possible, and soak them overnig ht in a liter and a half of 
water, boiled well and simmered. In the morning it should 
be strained over three ounces of filtered syrup of roses. After he takes this he shoul d abstain from food until the 
completion of six hours from the rising of the sun. FOR CONSTIPATION  
If the stools have become very  hard it is best that he 
should take cassia fistula. A nd here is the mode of its 
preparation: oxtongue herb—f our drachmas; licorice, 
cleaned and shelled, herba fontis, barberry seeds—three drachmas of each; althea seeds—five drachmas; moist 
roses of seven petals, anethum—seven hearts. All should 
be soaked in one and a half  liters of warm water a day 
and a night, then it should be boiled and crushed and 
strained over twenty drachmas  of cassia fistula, twenty 
drachmas of almond oil and one ounce of sugar. He 
should take it and wait until it completes its action and its 
evacuation. He should then eat a boiled chicken. If it is 
not the proper time for finding moist roses he should 
place over it three ounces of st rained rose syrup. And I 
know that one who reads this paragraph will wonder, and 
say: It is not right to use barberry seeds, because they 
have the character of preven ting the softening of stools 
toward which you aim. One should know that barberry 
seed has the property of prev enting the injury caused by 
cassia fistula, of strengt hening the intestines and 
preventing tenesmus. This is what the old practitioners 
taught us. And the physicians also mention that oxymel of 
roses causes softening. It is proper that my lord should 
possess it also and should take it when it is very hot to 
soften the stool. Its mode of preparation: One should take a liter of very 
strong vinegar and throw into it one hundred moist rose 
leaves, which have been placed in the sun for one day. Next morning one should remove the roses and place other rose leaves in the vi negar, the same number as 
before. And one should not refrain from changing the 
rose petals every day for fo rty days. And one should take 
this vinegar and make of it a syrup, three pounds of sugar 
for every three ounces of vinegar. Ibn Zuhr compounded an oxymel syrup made of 
raisins and it was very good when made during the 
summertime. Its mode of preparation: The dark raisins 
should have their seeds remove d. In one liter of vinegar 
one should throw half a pound of raisins and soak them 
for two days. Afterward he should put them on the fire 
and boil them twice and purify them, making oxymel 
vinegar. And this compound is made with great care 
because the vinegar will withhold the white superfluity 
and will prevent the formation of malodorous moistures 
and nothing can be equal to it or  like it. It is of a very 
subtle substance and has a cooling effect on the 
temperament. The oxymel is of great help in all fevers. But the vinegar hurts the liver very much, it irritates it 
and shrinks it and causes its blood to become pale. THE LIVER'S ROLE IN HEALTH  
Galen has already explained that the preservation of 
man's health lies in the health  of the liver; it colors the blood and increases its moisture s, but it increa ses its heat, 
and if it does that too much, it may burn the blood. While 
vinegar weakens his strength, raisins, that are congenial 
to the liver, give it fats and nourishment. When the syrup 
is compounded of vinegar and raisins as the venerated 
[Ibn Zuhr] did, we get the bene fit of the vinegar and we 
prevent injury to the liver. We thus obtain the benefit of 
the raisins and we are saved from increased heat. This 
syrup is so wonderful and good that it should be prepared. Your servant has already compounded for his master 
two syrups and an electuary for the occasions which he 
mentioned. One of the syrups he should always take, 
every time. Its function is to purify the blood, remove its 
turbidity and cleanse it of the gases that come from the 
black bile. It will expand the spirit and gladden it. It will 
chase away evil thoughts and feelings. And this is the mode of pr eparation: One should take 
rose leaves—one pound; oxtongue —half a pound; 
lavender—two ounces; Sodom's apple, fumaterra seed 
and citron leaves—one ounce of each. He should soak all 
of these in six liters of warm water a day and a night. Then all of them should be boiled several times, crushed, 
cleansed and strained through a sieve. Place them in six 
liters of sorrel syrup and put over a small flame until they thicken into a syrup, perfuming it with a quarterweight of 
myrrh. TO STRENGTHEN THE HEART  
Your servant has not found any syrup equal to it, to 
gladden and strengthen the hear t and give it power. It is 
mild and neither raises nor lowers the temperature and 
therefore can be taken at any time. And the amount to be 
taken is from two to three ounces, in cold water in 
summertime and in warm water in wintertime. But the second syrup which your servant saw fit to 
compound will loosen the stool very much and will often 
cause a bowel movement twice or three times, depending 
upon the preparation. It strengthens the expelling force in 
the stomach and in the in testines and removes the 
moisture and the black and re d biles with ease, without 
harming the organs of digestion. As to the amount to be 
taken, that is from three to four ounces of warm water in 
which anise has been boiled until it is changed in 
appearance. One should not ta ke it constantly, but only 
when he needs it to expel the retained superfluities. When 
one has accustomed himself to taking it once a week, it 
will strengthen the intestines and remove the factor that causes dryness of the stools. The stools will become soft 
and return to their normalcy. Its preparation: One takes shelled polypody, pistachio, 
broken and crushed—two ounces; senna Mecca and 
oxtongue—one ounce of each; crushed licorice and 
crushed althea—half ounce of each; moist fennel—a 
handful; and moist roses—twenty flowers. He should 
soak all these in four liters  of warm water a day and a 
night. In the morning he shoul d boil it, crush it and strain 
it over thirty drachmas of ca ssia fistula, purified and 
mixed with half an ounce of almond oil, strained and put 
away separately. And he shoul d take myrobalan of Kabul 
in a polished form and amilegium myrobalanus emblici— 
ten drachmas of each. He should macerate the myrobalan 
and soak it in a liter and a half of warm water a day and a 
night. And in the morning he should squeeze the 
myrobalan very well and purify it and add to what he 
boiled, the cassia fistula which he prepared separately. He 
should mix the two fluids and throw into them four liters 
of violet syrup and place over a weak flame, and he 
should suspend over it a bundle of soft flaxen cloth or 
spikenard and mastic— two drachmas of each—and 
crushed rhubarb— three drachmas. And he should not 
forget to squeeze the bundle with his hand to bring out 
the powers of the ingredient s which it contains. And when the liquid assumes a syrupy thickness it should be 
removed from the fire and hidden in a clay vessel lined 
with lead. In time of need one should proceed as I 
mentioned. DIGESTIVES , APHRODISIACS , SEDATIVES  
The spice hinted by your serv ant is the great electuary 
which was prepared by his servant beforehand. It helps 
the triple digestion [in th e stomach, the liver and the 
organs] and strengthens all th e organs in general and the 
heart and brain in particular. It delays aging, liquefies the 
white fluid, prevents fumes from rising to the brain, 
strengthens the senses, rem oves their tension, helps sex 
life and expands the soul. And this is the mode of preparation: One takes 
myrobalan from Kabul and India and belilegium—one 
ounce of each; myrobalanus emblici —two ounces; citron 
rind, oxtongue, lavender flower, bitter costus root and 
aconite—one ounce of each; red rose flowers—one 
ounce; ash, cunilla, aspara gus seed, pistachio seed, 
hedge-mustard seed, white and red saw-leaved centaury 
anise, mastic, balsam bark—half an ounce of each; cubeb, 
cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, galingale, long pepper, 
ginger, musk, doronicum, aloe wood—one-eighth of an ounce each; the heart of pistachios—three ounces. The 
dry ingredients should be ground and sifted through a 
sieve until the drugs and the pistachios are thinned out. The myrobalan should be mixed with half a li ter of sweet 
almond oil or pistachio oil, several times. And all this 
should be mixed and kneaded in three liters of a syrup 
that is made of water and s ugar alone, and two liters of 
honey whose foam has been removed, and placed in a 
vessel lined with lead. And the amount that is taken from 
it is from four drachmas to half an ounce. Wintertime one 
should take it in hot water in which anise has been boiled. And in medium weather one s hould take it as thick as it 
comes. But when it is very hot, or in any climate, it 
should not be taken habitually, only once a week. These 
are the syrups and the electua ries which your servant felt 
should be found in the treasury of your honorable and 
august kingdom. Let the Lord extend it together with the 
long life of its king. MIND OVER BODY 
My lord, let God prolong his days, should know that 
emotional experiences cause marked changes in the body 
which are clear and visible to all and bear witness in clear 
testimony. You see a man strongly built whose voice is powerful and pleasant a nd whose countenance is 
splendid. When he is affected  all of a sudden by a feeling 
of great disgust, his facial expression falls and loses its 
luster. The light of his count enance changes, his posture 
becomes low and his voice hoarse and weak. If he wants 
to raise his voice with all hi s power, he is unable to do so. His strength weakens, occas ionally he trembles from 
great debility, his pulsating [b lood] vessels become thin 
and powerless. The appearance of his eyes changes and 
his eyelids are too heavy to move. The surface of his 
body becomes cool and the desire for food is lost. The 
cause of all of these manifest ations is that the natural 
warmth and the blood en ter deep into the body. You see quite the reverse in a man whose body is 
weak, whose appearance is strange and whose voice is 
low. When something happens to him which causes him 
to rejoice greatly, you will see how his body becomes 
strong, his voice rises, his face brightens, his movements 
become rapid, his pulsating [blood] vessels become 
strong and wide, his body surface becomes warm and joy 
and gladness become manifest in his face and eyelids. His 
condition is clear, cannot be hidden and is recognizable 
without any effort. And the cause  of all these events is the 
spread of the natural heat and of the blood to the surface 
of the body. The reactions of all those who fear and hope and 
anticipate security and calm are well known, as are also 
the various reactions in th e thoughts of those who are 
desperate or successful. O ccasionally the man who is 
desperate and progresses from sadness to a feeling of 
misfortune cannot see ahead because of weakness and the 
turbulence of his foresight. But one who is successful 
increases the light in his eyes exceedingly, so that it 
seems that even the light around him increased and grew. And this is sufficiently cl ear and needs no elaboration. HYPERSENSITIVITY  
And therefore the physicia ns have commanded the 
observation of emotional changes and keeping them 
always under consideration, tr ying to equalize them in 
health or disease, without al lowing any other behavior to 
take precedence. The physician must keep in mind that 
the heart of every sick person is narrow and that every 
healthy person has an expande d soul and therefore the 
physician must remove emotional experiences that cause 
a shrinking of the spirit. In this way the health of the 
normal person will be extended and this is the law in the 
cure of a patient, especially if the illness is concentrated 
in the powers of the soul and its  parts, such as a disease of the diaphragm or the brain, causing turbulent thoughts 
and melancholy. Special care should be taken in the 
observation of the emotional movements. When one is 
overpowered by imagination, prolonged meditation and 
avoidance of social contact, which he never exhibited 
before, or when one avoids  pleasant experiences which 
were in him before, the physician should do nothing 
before he improves the s oul by removing the extreme 
emotions. PHILOSOPHY AND THEORETICAL MORALITY  
But the physician as such will neither explore nor 
condemn with his wisdom hyperemotionality. One can 
obtain this from philosophy and theoretical morality. Just 
as the philosophers have com posed books in the various 
sciences, so they composed many books on the 
improvement of conduct and the morality of the soul and 
the imparting of good habits from which only good 
actions can result. And they have warned against base 
habits and taught a way of removing from the soul every 
bad habit that contri butes to the causation of evil. And all 
the theoretical moral teachings, chastisements and 
precepts that are taken from the prophets, their preachings 
and character, or from later sages, as well as knowledge of their virtuous behavior, will help to improve the 
qualities of the soul until they reach such praiseworthy 
behavior that can produce  only good acts. And you will 
find that those exaggerated emotions can only produce 
changes in the ignoble masses, who possess no wisdom, 
no philosophical principles and no theoretical morality, 
like children, women and the stupid. All these timid souls 
are easily startled and terrifi ed and when injury befalls 
them or an inevitable misfortune occurs to them, you will 
find that their consternation in creases. They pine and cry 
and smite their faces and their chests. And it may happen 
that the feelings become so intense that an ordinary man 
will die from them, immediately or later, according to the 
grief and distress he experiences. And when goodness is 
bestowed upon those inferior  people by the favors of the 
world, their gladness increases  and they think, at the 
expense of their morality, th at they have obtained an 
exceeding benefit and will continue to crave and to boast, 
because of the pleasure they have had. They become 
excited, gay and happy above measure, so that some of 
them die from an overflow of happiness, as the spirit 
melts and dissolves, because of a sudden expansion 
outward, according to Galen. And this is caused by the 
softness of the soul and it s ignorance of realities. THE EVEN KEEL 
But those engaged in study and in absorbing 
philosophical habits and the moral teachings of the Torah, 
acquire strength for their soul s, and they are the true 
heroes, as their souls are not  subject to change and get 
very little excited. The more a man is disciplined, the less 
he is affected by both extremes, good times and bad, so 
that when he is favored by a great fortune in this world, 
called by the philosophers "imaginary goodness," he does 
not get excited nor appear pa rticularly great and good in 
his own eyes. And when great misfortune and tribulation 
befall him, like the many tribulations that occur in the 
world and which the philosophers call "imaginary evils," 
he is neither startled nor terrified, but tolerates them well. When one contemplates the true essence of things and the 
knowledge of the nature of reality, he attains a wisdom 
whereby he understands that  the greatest good in this 
world does not stay with a man all his days, because it is 
inferior in value, being perish able and destructible when a 
man reaches his end. For of what benefit is it to man, 
since he dies like other living cr eatures? And so it is with 
the greatest of the evils in the world. When he considers 
death from which he cannot es cape, every evil is less than 
the evil of death, undoubtedly. And therefore a change for the worse is less than a change for the worst, which one 
cannot escape. IMAGINARY GOOD AND EVIL 
And truly and justly did the philosophers call the good 
and the bad things of the world, imaginary good and 
imaginary bad things, because many things that one 
considers good are really ba d, and many things that one 
considers bad are really good. For example: Very often a 
man collects a great sum of  money and attains great 
prominence and power at the expense of his body and his 
soul through the acquisition of evil habits that shorten his 
days, thus removing himself far from God whose 
closeness is the true a nd the eternal good. How many 
times has a rich man been impoverished and a king lost 
his kingdom, resulting in the improvement of his body 
and in the perfecting of hi s soul with worthy habits, 
prolonging his days and bri nging him close to God his 
creator, which is the eternal good? However, your servant has to remark: Let his days be 
long or short, this is the opinion of the physicians, 
philosophers and some of the thinkers who antedated the 
Moslem religion. Generally it may be stated th at what people consider to 
be good is really bad and most  of the things that are 
considered to be bad are really good. And it is not the 
intention of this chapter to explain the truth of these 
things, to comment on them or to learn their ways, 
because at every time and in every nation works have 
been composed that enable you to look into the sciences 
of the intellect. EMOTIONAL STABILITY  
But your servant has hinted a ll this to stir up and to 
habituate the soul to accept l ittle things with a minimum 
of enthusiasm. He observes the books on virtue and the 
morality of the teachings, chastisements and regulations 
composed by the intellectual s, until his soul becomes 
strengthened and recognizes a nd knows the truth, that it is 
true, and the insignificant, that it is insignificant. The 
overexcitement in his soul will diminish and evil thought 
will be lacking. His seclusiv eness and his avoidance of 
society will cease and his soul will expand so that his 
spirit can remain in any di sposition. In this condition 
meditation alone can offer much help, as it decreases evil 
thoughts, sadness and woes. And there is a possibility 
that, considering everything with the eye of the intellect, the sad thoughts will vanish. For whatever a man thinks 
that hurts him while thinki ng it, and that brings him 
sadness, sighing and mourni ng, can only be one of two 
kinds: either he meditates upon what has been, as when 
he meditates upon money he has had and lost, or upon the 
death of a person his heart grieves for; or he meditates 
upon what is going to happen in the future and dreams of 
what is going to happen, as when he imagines that he may 
suffer a loss. And it is known through inte llectual observation that 
reflection over what has happened and come to pass will 
be of no avail in any resp ect, and that mourning and 
sorrow over things that have passed are the activities of 
those who lack intellect. And there is no difference 
between a man who laments over the loss of money and 
the like, and he who laments th e fact that he is a man and 
not an angel or a star or a nother of the things that are 
impossible. BE OPTIMISTIC  
And the thought that brings worry to the spirit over 
what is going to come or happen in the future lends itself 
to the following observation: Whatever a man fears may 
happen to him is only a matter of probability—either it will happen or it will not ha ppen. And just as it is 
possible that something painful, worrisome and fearful 
may happen, it is also possi ble that, because of his 
reliance on God, the reverse of what he feared may 
happen. Because both what he feared and its reverse are 
possible. This is all that your servant felt is needed in this 
chapter. CHAPTER IV  
 
Helpful Hints in General, and in Particular, for 
the Healthy and for the Sick, in Every Place 
and in Every Season 
 
ON AIRS AND WATERS  
To begin with, let us discuss the improvement of the 
air and then the improvement of the water and then the 
improvement of food. What th e physicians call winds are 
delicate fumes that are f ound in living bodies. Their 
origin and main substance is derived from the air that is 
inhaled from outside. And the fume that is found in the 
blood of the liver and in the blood vessels that sprout out 
of it is called natural wind. And the fume which is found 
in the blood of the heart and in the pulsating vessels is 
called the vital wind, and the fume which is found in the 
ventricles of the brain and wh ich is spread in the vacuum 
of the nerves is called the wi nd of the soul. Their origin 
and their substance is derived from the air that is inhaled 
from the outside. And if this air is malodorous, ill-
smelling and turbid, the winds change and assume the opposite character of what th ey should have been. Said 
Galen: One must pay attention to the type of air that one 
inhales into his body, that it should be perfectly balanced 
and pure of everything that might contaminate it. Said the 
author: The lighter the wind, th e greater it is affected by 
changes in the air. The natural wind is thicker than the 
vital wind, and the vital wind is  thicker than the wind of 
the soul. With the slightest change in the air, there is a 
marked change in the soul. And this is why in many 
people the amount of loss in th eir soul's function is equal 
to the contamination of the air, i.e., they develop a 
constant fear and incapac ity of concentration and 
defective memory, even though their vital and natural 
functions suffer no perceptible change. SUNSHINE AND FRESH AIR 
The quality of urban air co mpared to the air in the 
deserts and forests is like  thick and turbulent water 
compared to pure and light water. And this is because in 
the cities with their tall buildings and narrow roads, the 
pollution that comes from their residents, their waste, 
cadavers, and offal from thei r cattle, and the stench of 
their adulterated food, makes their entire air malodorous, 
turbulent, reeking and th ick and the winds become accordingly so, although no one is aware of it. And since 
there is no way out, because we grew up in cities and 
became used to them, we can at least choose a city with 
an open horizon, especially on the northeast and toward 
high mountains with limited forestation and outside 
water. And if you have no choice and you cannot move 
out of the city, try at least to  live in a suburb situated to 
the northeast. Let the house be tall and the court wide 
enough to permit the northern wind and the sun to come 
through, because the sun thins out the pollution of the air 
and makes it light and pure. And one should place the 
privy as far as possible from his permanent residence and 
he should try to improve the air by drying it and 
perfuming it with balsam a nd fumigation to bring about a 
change. And this is most important in the care of the body 
and the soul. LEAVE IT TO NATURE  
In spite of your caution a nd carefulness, you will not 
be able to prevent minor things from developing in the 
human body. For example: Now th e stool will be soft and 
now hard, one day one may find a change in his digestion 
or experience a slight headach e or an ache in another part 
of his body, and many similar things. And be very careful not to begin treating it medi cally, rushing to take a 
medication that is supposed to remove this minor ailment. The Prince of Physicians [Hi ppocrates] warned us against 
it. Nature takes care of all th ese things and one does not 
have to have recourse to  medication, but should follow 
healthy and good behavior. B ecause if you undertake to 
medicate these minor conditions, there are two 
possibilities: Either your act  will be erroneous, the 
opposite of what nature intends, and you will lose and 
suffer injury, or your action will be correct and you will 
restore to nature its natural function, but at the same time 
train your body to lag behind and to do the normal only 
with outside help. This has b een compared to a beast of 
burden which has been trained to move with a bridle and 
so stands in its place until urged to go. You may likewise 
find that the stool become s soft without any other 
changes in behavior. This may persist for two or three 
days without any feeling of pain or weakness. You rush 
to dry it up and prevent dia rrhea and to regulate it with 
the help of medication. But it was all due to nature, 
impelled by the evacuating urge to expel what had to be 
expelled, making the stool soft for that purpose.
The_Preservation_of_Youth_by_Maimonides.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        MOSES  BEN  MAIMON 
(Maimonides) 
 
 
The Preservation of Youth 
 
Essays on Health 
 
 
 
Translated from the Original Arabic 
(Fi T ADBIR AS -SIHHA ) 
 
and with an Introduction by 
HIRSCH L. G ORDON, M. D. , P H.
Cordova, Spain
Where was Maimonides born?
He was a physician with a very extensive practice, holding important medical appointments in the royal court of Egypt.
What was Maimonides' profession and expertise?
The book provides advice on maintaining health and preventing disease, with a focus on the importance of natural processes and the role of the physician in supporting and not interfering with these processes.
What is the main idea of the book "The Preservation of Youth"?
The author believes that a physician should not interfere with the natural processes of the body, and instead should support and strengthen the body's natural functions.
What is the author's view on the role of the physician?
The author advises against the use of strong medication, and instead recommends leaving the body to its natural processes, as excessive medication can cause harm and lead to negative consequences.
What is the author's advice on the use of medication?