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DOI :10.26650/PB/AA08.2020.001.024   IUP :10.26650/PB/AA08.2020.001.024    Full Text (PDF)

The Psychosomatic Medicine of Abū Zaid al-Balḫi

Zahide Özkan Rashed

Maṣāliḥ al-abdān wa-l-anfus, Sustenance for the Body and Soul is the title of the manuscript written in Arabic by polymath Abū Zaid al-Balḫī (850–934) at the close of the 9th century. In the following, the second part (Maṣāliḥ al-anfus, Sustenance for the Soul) is presented, based on the German edition first published by Özkan-Rashed as a doctoral thesis under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin (1924–2018) in 1990. A new edition was released in 2016 and 2019, including a new preface and chapter. Al-Balḫi’s intention was to draw attention to the inseparability ̄ of body and soul, which was not respected because physicians (aṭibbā’) cared only for the body while philosophers (ḥukamā’) were in charge of psychological matters. As a consequence, the treatment of functional disorders or diseases was inadequate. According to the author, body and soul are equally important elements of a whole and are dynamically and functionally linked together. His medical system is divided into prophylaxis (for health preservation – Ḥifẓ aṣ-ṣiḥḥa) and therapy, each of which is subdivided into internal and external aspects. The goal is to maintain or restore the balance (al-iʿtidāl) among the soul forces – anger (ġaḍab), fear (ḫauf), sadness (ḥuzn), self-talk (aḥādit an-nafs ̄ ). As a result of exposure to excessive or enduring noxious agents, primarily physiological reactions can become pathological. The techniques presented by al-Balḫi involve aspects of the rational and cognitive therapy applied today. In his systematic and differentiated approach, some characteristic ̄ elements of neuroses and psychoses, as currently defined, are discernible.


DOI :10.26650/PB/AA08.2020.001.024   IUP :10.26650/PB/AA08.2020.001.024    Full Text (PDF)

Abū Zaid al-Balḫi´de Psikosomatik Tıp

Zahide Özkan Rashed

Meṣāliḥ el-ebdān we-l-enfus, Ruh ve Beden Sağlığı birçok bilim dalında faal olan alim Ebū Zeyd el-Belḫī’nin (850–934) IX. yüzyılda tıp alanında yazmış olduğu bir eserdir. Eserin ikinci makalesi (Meṣāliḥ el-enfus, Nefs Sağlığı) üzerine Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin’in (1924–2018) danışmanlığı altında Özkan-Rashed tarafından hazırlanan doktora tezi 1990 yılında yayınlanmış, 2016’da yeni bir önsözle ve 2019 ilave edilen bir bölümle tekrar basılmıştır. El-Belḫī´nin bu eserindeki temel gayesi, beden ile nefsin ayrılmazlığını göstermektir. Zira eleştirisine göre o devirde beden ile tabipler (eṭibbāʾ), nefsani sorunlarla ise filozoflar (ḥukemāʾ) ilgileniyor ve bu nedenle sıhhi bozukluklarda tedavi yetersiz kalıyordu. Ebū Zeyd el-Belḫī´ye göre beden ile nefs bir bütünün eşit parçalarıdır ve birbirlerine dinamik ve fonksyonel bir biçimde bağlıdırlar. Onun tıbbi sisteminde bir tarafta önleyici tedbirler (Ḥifẓ aṣ-ṣiḥḥa), öbür tarafta tedavi yer almaktadır. Bu iki bölümü el-Belḫī ayrıca iç ve dış unsurlara göre düzenlemektedir. Hedefi nefsani kuvvetlerin – ġaḍab (öfke), ḫauf (korku), ḥuzn (hüzün), eḥādīt en-nefs (içsel konuşmalar) – arasındaki dengeyi (eliʿtidāl) sağlamak ve kaybolan sağlığı geri kazanmaktır. Eğer zararlı faktörlerin etkisi çok şiddetli olur veya uzun sürerse nefsani kuvvetler dengeden çıkar ve patolojik bir boyut alır, hatta bedende çok ciddi hastalıklara sebep olabilir. Ebū Zeyd el-Belḫī sistematik ve detaylı sunumunda günümüzün tanımlamasına göre nöroz ve psikozu niteleyen bazı unsurları dile getirmektedir. Önerdiği tedavi prensipleri zamanımızda uygulanan düşünsel ve rasyonel psikoterapiyle bağdaşmaktadır.



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