Medieval Recipes from Abulcasis for the Treatment of Anxiety and Depression

Citation: Prof. Luisa Maria Arvide Cambra, "Medieval Recipes from Abulcasis for the Treatment of Anxiety and Depression", Universal Library of Arts and Humanities, Volume 02, Issue 03.

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

The Kitab al-Tasrif (Book of medical arrangement) is the masterpiece of the well-known Cordovan physician Abulcasis Al-Zahrawi (c.936-c.1013). This author was also an eminent surgeon, the first of Medieval Islam, and his influence reached as far as Renaissance Europe. The 9th treatise of his work is an interesting medieval treatise of cardiology and neurology as well as medical specialties equivalent to the current psychiatry and psychology, including the correct treatment of some of their most common ailments and diseases. It contains recipes of great value to the fields of pharmacology, cardiology, neurology. psychiatry and psychology. This paper is an approach to this treatise, and includes the translation to English from some of its fragments referring to recipes of remedies that are beneficial for the treatment of anxiety and depression, according to the 502nd Arabic manuscript of the Süleymaniye Umumi Kütüphanesi from Istanbul, and the 137th manuscript of the Tibb Taymur collection from the Egyptian National Library and Archives (Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya) in Cairo.

Keywords: Abulcasis Al-Zahrawi, Medieval Arab Medicine, Medieval Arab Pharmacology, Medieval Arab Psychiatry, Medieval Arab Psychology, Kitab al-Tasrif.

https://doi.org/10.70315/uloap.ulahu.2025.0203003