The Treaty of Ibn Ḫalṣūn (XIII th century, writer and doctor from Andalusia) is a witness to a very present concern among Arab doctors: enable people to access the harmonious development of his physical and mental .The author's project is vast: it is first of all to study the human being himself in his organization and his vital functions, then to watch him live in his natural environment, that is to say say the company, to finally formulate, in a concrete, precise and practical way, the applicable prescriptions in everyday life.These relate to the hygiene of all parts of the body, from the hair system to the skin, including the intestines and testicles. There are also precepts concerning our daily activities (sleep, bath, coitus).But, on closer inspection, it is indeed food that plays a fundamental role in the theory of Ibn Ḫalṣūn, who endorses the precept of Hippocrates: "May your food be medicine for you ...". It establishes as a principle that the men must nourish themselves taking into account their temperament, the climate, the seasons and the accidents which can affect their health.The fifth part of the treatise, in which all the foods of the time in Muslim Spain are reviewed, also gives us valuable historical information. Vegetables, fruits, grains, condiments and spices: all of these help to enrich our representation of Western Islamic culture. |