Abū Zayd al-Balkhī''s Sustenance of the soul : the cognitive behavior therapy of a ninth century physician

by Ahmad ibn Sahl Balkhi

Paperback, 2013

Publication

Imprint: London : International Institute of Islamic Thought, ©2013. Responsibility: Abu Zayd al-Balkhi. Translated and annotated by Malik Badri. Physical: Text : 1 volume : vi, 71 pages ; 23 cm.

Call number

GT-I / Balkh

Barcode

BK-08601

ISBN

9781565645998

Collections

Your library, Adult Materials, The Great Traditions, New Arrivals Being Processed

CSS Library Notes

Description: Preserved in the Ayasofya Library in Istanbul is an astonishing manuscript. Written more than eleven centuries ago, by the ninth century CE polymath Abu Zayd al-Balkhi, it tackles mental and psychological disorders which seem commonplace to us today.

Al-Balkhi explains symptoms and treatments giving advice on preventive measures and how to return the body and soul to their natural healthy state.
In doing so he displays a keen understanding of the human condition and the medical nature of the human emotional state. An astonishing feat given that many of the conditions he discusses were left largely unknown and untreated for centuries before being clinically defined as such, only as relatively recently as the 20th century.

A genius, his insights on human psychopathology as well as diagnoses of psychological ailments including stress, depression, fear and anxiety, phobic and obsessive-compulsive disorders, together with their treatment by cognitive behavior therapy, relate to us in every way and are in sync with modern psychology. Importantly they also incorporate a greater dimension to include the soul and the worship of God. -- from publisher

FY2023 /

Physical description

vi, 71 p.; 23 cm

Description

Al-Balki explains symptoms and treatments giving advice on preventive measures and how to return the body and soul to their natural healthy state. In doing so he displays a keen understanding of the human condition and the medical nature of the human emotional state. An astonishing feat given that many of the conditions he discusses were left largely unknown and untreated for centuries before being clinically defined as such, only as relatively recently as the 20th century. A genius, his insights on human psychopathology as well as diagnoses of psychological ailments including stress, depression, fear and anxiety, phobic and obsessive-compulsive disorders, together with their treatment by cognitive behavior therapy, relate to us in every way and are in sync with modern psychology. Importantly, they also incorporate a greater dimension to include the soul and the worship of God.… (more)