Sunan Ibn Majah
Chapters on Medicine
كتاب الطب
Chapter 25
الْكُحْلِ بِالإِثْمِدِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn Sulaymān narrated to us, from Ismāʿīl ibn Muslim, from Muḥammad ibn al-Munkadir, from Jābir, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah say, ‘Use ithmid at bedtime, for it clears the eyesight and makes the hair grow.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Ithmid is left transliterated as a named traditional substance; the text specifies its use at bedtime but does not state an application method.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us: Yaḥyā ibn Ādam narrated to us, from Sufyān, from Ibn Khuthaym, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The Messenger of Allah said, ‘The best of your kohl is ithmid: it clears the eyesight and makes the hair grow.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
أَكْحَالِكُم refers specifically to kohl/eye cosmetic; الإثمد (ithmid) is retained as the named substance.
قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " خَيْرُ أَكْحَالِكُمُ الإِثْمِدُ يَجْلُو الْبَصَرَ وَيُنْبِتُ الشَّعَرَ " .
أَكْحَالِكُم refers to kohl or an eye cosmetic, and the text names ithmid without specifying the precise composition of the historical substance.
Should the term be rendered simply as kohl, with ithmid retained as the product name?
Chapter 26
مَنِ اكْتَحَلَ وِتْرًا
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿUmar narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Malik ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ narrated to us, from Thawr ibn Yazīd, from Ḥuṣayn al-Ḥimyarī, from Abū Saʿd al-Khayr, from Abū Hurayrah, that the Prophet said: ‘Whoever applies kohl, let him do so an odd number of times. Whoever does so has done well, and whoever does not, there is no blame.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source commands an odd number but does not specify a number of applications; the second clause explicitly says there is no blame for not doing so.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us: Yazīd ibn Hārūn narrated to us, from ʿAbbād ibn Manṣūr, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The Prophet had a kohl container from which he applied kohl three times to each eye.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The number is three applications in each eye; the source does not specify an alternative total for both eyes combined.
Chapter 27
النَّهْىِ أَنْ يُتَدَاوَى بِالْخَمْرِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us: ʿAffān narrated to us: Ḥammād ibn Salamah narrated to us: Simāk ibn Ḥarb informed us, from ʿAlqamah ibn Wāʾil al-Ḥaḍramī, from Ṭāriq ibn Suwayd al-Ḥaḍramī, who said: I said, ‘Messenger of Allah, in our land there are grapes that we press and drink from.’ He said, ‘No.’ I asked him again, saying, ‘We use it as a remedy for the sick.’ He said, ‘That is not a remedy; rather, it is a disease.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source Arabic says only that the grapes are pressed and drunk; it does not explicitly say ‘to make wine’ in this sentence, so that addition in the English witness is not included.
قَالَ قُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنَّ بِأَرْضِنَا أَعْنَابًا نَعْتَصِرُهَا فَنَشْرَبُ مِنْهَا قَالَ " لاَ " .
The English witness adds ‘to make wine,’ while the Arabic states only that the grapes are pressed and drunk from; the beverage is not named in this clause.
Should the English witness’s explanatory identification as wine be omitted in a direct translation?
Chapter 28
الاِسْتِشْفَاءِ بِالْقُرْآنِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd ibn ʿUtbah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Kindī narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Thābit narrated to us: Saʿād ibn Sulaymān narrated to us, from Abū Isḥāq, from al-Ḥārith, from ʿAlī, who said: The Messenger of Allah said, ‘The best remedy is the Qur’an.’
Chapter 29
الْحِنَّاءِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us: Zayd ibn al-Ḥubāb narrated to us: Fāʾid, the client of ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Rāfiʿ, narrated to us: My client, ʿUbayd Allāh, narrated to me: My grandmother, Salmā Umm Rāfiʿ, the client of the Messenger of Allah, narrated to me. She said: Whenever the Prophet got a sore or was pricked by a thorn, he applied henna to it.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The construction لا يصيبه ... إلا conveys ‘whenever X happened, he did Y’ (literally, ‘no X befell him except that he did Y’). Both the sore and thorn-prick are included.
Chapter 30
أَبْوَالِ الإِبِلِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Naṣr ibn ʿAlī al-Jahḍamī narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb narrated to us: Ḥumayd narrated to us, from Anas: Some people from ʿUraynah came to the Messenger of Allah and found Medina’s climate unsuitable. He said, ‘Why don’t you go out to some of our camels and drink their milk and urine?’ They did so.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic gives the requested substances as camel milk and urine and says only that the visitors did as instructed; no further outcome appears in this unit. ذَوْد refers to a small herd/group of camels; the number is not specified here.
مِنْ عُرَيْنَةَ قَدِمُوا عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فَاجْتَوَوُا الْمَدِينَةَ فَقَالَ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " لَوْ خَرَجْتُمْ إِلَى ذَوْدٍ لَنَا فَشَرِبْتُمْ مِنْ أَلْبَانِهَا وَأَبْوَالِهَا " .
ذَوْد denotes a small group/herd of camels, but the source gives no exact count; the English witness uses ‘flock.’
Should ذود be translated as ‘a small herd of camels’ or left as a more general group?
Chapter 31
الذُّبَابِ يَقَعُ فِي الإِنَاءِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us: Yazīd ibn Hārūn narrated to us, from Ibn Abī Dhiʾb, from Saʿīd ibn Khālid, from Abū Salamah: Abū Saʿīd narrated to me that the Messenger of Allah said: ‘On one of a fly’s wings is poison, and on the other is a cure. If it falls into food, immerse it in it, for it brings the poison forward and delays the cure.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The verb فَامْقُلُوهُ means to dip or immerse it in the food. The report explicitly gives the instruction and its stated rationale; both are translated as transmitted.
أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ " فِي أَحَدِ جَنَاحَىِ الذُّبَابِ سُمٌّ وَفِي الآخَرِ شِفَاءٌ فَإِذَا وَقَعَ فِي الطَّعَامِ فَامْقُلُوهُ فِيهِ فَإِنَّهُ يُقَدِّمُ السُّمَّ وَيُؤَخِّرُ الشِّفَاءَ " .
فَامْقُلُوهُ is rendered as an instruction to dip/immerse the fly in the food; the following rationale says it brings forward the poison and delays the cure.
Is ‘immerse it in the food’ the intended force of فامقلوه?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Suwayd ibn Saʿīd narrated to us: Muslim ibn Khālid narrated to us, from ʿUtbah ibn Muslim, from ʿUbayd ibn Ḥunayn, from Abū Hurayrah, from the Prophet, who said: ‘If a fly falls into your drink, let him immerse it in it, then throw it away, for on one of its wings is a disease and on the other is a cure.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
This wording specifically says ‘drink,’ instructs the listener to immerse the fly and then discard it, and describes one wing as having disease and the other as having a cure.
عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ " إِذَا وَقَعَ الذُّبَابُ فِي شَرَابِكُمْ فَلْيَغْمِسْهُ فِيهِ ثُمَّ لْيَطْرَحْهُ فَإِنَّ فِي أَحَدِ جَنَاحَيْهِ دَاءً وَفِي الآخَرِ شِفَاءً " .
This variant says to immerse the fly and then discard it, and calls one wing disease and the other a cure, unlike the adjacent wording that speaks of poison and its remedy in food.
Should these wording differences remain explicit rather than be harmonized with the other version?
Chapter 32
الْعَيْنِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Numayr narrated to us: Muʿāwiyah ibn Hishām narrated to us: ʿAmmār ibn Ruzayq narrated to us, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿĪsā, from Umayyah ibn Hind, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿĀmir ibn Rabīʿah, from his father, from the Prophet, who said: ‘The evil eye is real.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The conventional English expression ‘evil eye’ renders العَيْن in this context; حَقٌّ means true/real.
عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ " الْعَيْنُ حَقٌّ " .
العين حق is a concise statement using the conventional concept of the evil eye; translated as ‘The evil eye is real.’
Should العَيْن here be rendered conventionally as ‘the evil eye’?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us: Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUlayyah narrated to us, from al-Jurayrī, from Muḍārib ibn Ḥazn, from Abū Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah said, ‘The evil eye is real.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The concise Arabic expression العَيْنُ حَقٌّ is rendered with the conventional English term ‘evil eye.’
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār narrated to us: Abū Hishām al-Makhzūmī narrated to us: Wuhayb narrated to us, from Abū Wāqid, from Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, from ʿĀʾishah, who said: The Messenger of Allah said, ‘Seek refuge in Allah, for the evil eye is real.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The imperative اسْتَعِيذُوا بِاللَّهِ is rendered as ‘Seek refuge in Allah’; الْعَيْنُ حَقٌّ as ‘the evil eye is real.’
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Hishām ibn ʿAmmār narrated to us: Sufyān narrated to us, from al-Zuhrī, from Abū Umāmah ibn Sahl ibn Ḥunayf, who said: ʿĀmir ibn Rabīʿah passed by Sahl ibn Ḥunayf while he was bathing and said, ‘I have never seen anything like today—not even the skin of a secluded young woman.’ Soon afterward, Sahl collapsed. He was brought to the Prophet, and it was said to him, ‘Attend to Sahl; he has fallen down.’ He asked, ‘Whom do you suspect in his case?’ They said, ‘ʿĀmir ibn Rabīʿah.’
The Prophet said, ‘Why would one of you kill his brother? When one of you sees something in his brother that he admires, let him pray for blessing for him.’ Then he called for water and instructed ʿĀmir to perform ablution, washing his face, his hands up to the elbows, his knees, and the inside of his waist-wrapper. He instructed him to pour it over Sahl. Sufyān said: Maʿmar reported from al-Zuhrī that he instructed him to tip the vessel over him from behind.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
جلد مخبأة literally refers to the skin of a secluded woman; the remark praises Sahl’s appearance, but its precise comparison is compressed in the Arabic. لُبِطَ بِهِ describes Sahl being struck down/collapsing. The final sentence gives Maʿmar’s variant about pouring from behind.
قَالَ مَرَّ عَامِرُ بْنُ رَبِيعَةَ بِسَهْلِ بْنِ حُنَيْفٍ وَهُوَ يَغْتَسِلُ فَقَالَ لَمْ أَرَ كَالْيَوْمِ وَلاَ جِلْدَ مُخَبَّأَةٍ .
The phrase لَمْ أَرَ كَالْيَوْمِ وَلَا جِلْدَ مُخَبَّأَةٍ is an elliptical comparison involving the skin of a secluded woman; the precise force of the praise is compressed in the Arabic.
How should the comparison with the skin of a secluded woman be expressed in natural English while preserving its image?
فَمَا لَبِثَ أَنْ لُبِطَ بِهِ فَأُتِيَ بِهِ النَّبِيَّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فَقِيلَ لَهُ أَدْرِكْ سَهْلاً صَرِيعًا .
لُبِطَ بِهِ indicates that Sahl was struck down or collapsed; the text does not name a specific medical event.
Should this be rendered as ‘collapsed’ without specifying a seizure?
ثُمَّ دَعَا بِمَاءٍ فَأَمَرَ عَامِرًا أَنْ يَتَوَضَّأَ فَيَغْسِلَ وَجْهَهُ وَيَدَيْهِ إِلَى الْمِرْفَقَيْنِ وَرُكْبَتَيْهِ وَدَاخِلَةَ إِزَارِهِ وَأَمَرَهُ أَنْ يَصُبَّ عَلَيْهِ .
The text enumerates washing the face, hands to the elbows, knees, and the inside of the waist-wrapper; it does not describe a standard full ablution sequence here.
Should the body areas be preserved as explicitly listed, without filling in omitted ablution steps?
قَالَ سُفْيَانُ قَالَ مَعْمَرٌ عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ وَأَمَرَهُ أَنْ يَكْفَأَ الإِنَاءَ مِنْ خَلْفِهِ .
Maʿmar’s wording specifies tipping the vessel from behind, while the preceding wording simply says to pour the water over him.
Should Maʿmar’s procedural detail be retained as a separate variant note?
Chapter 33
مَنِ اسْتَرْقَى مِنَ الْعَيْنِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us: Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah narrated to us, from ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, from ʿUrwah ibn ʿĀmir, from ʿUbayd ibn Rifāʿah al-Zuraqī, who said: Asmāʾ said, ‘Messenger of Allah, the family of Jaʿfar are affected by the evil eye. Should I seek ruqyah for them?’ He said, ‘Yes. If anything could get ahead of the divine decree, the evil eye would get ahead of it.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The conditional wording is preserved: the report says ‘if anything could’ precede the decree, and does not state that the evil eye actually overrides it. Ruqyah is retained as the term for recited supplication/treatment.
قَالَ قَالَتْ أَسْمَاءُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنَّ بَنِي جَعْفَرٍ تُصِيبُهُمُ الْعَيْنُ فَأَسْتَرْقِي لَهُمْ قَالَ " نَعَمْ فَلَوْ كَانَ شَىْءٌ سَابَقَ الْقَدَرَ سَبَقَتْهُ الْعَيْنُ " .
The saying is explicitly counterfactual/conditional (فَلَوْ كَانَ شَىْءٌ ...); the wording does not say that the evil eye actually precedes or overrides divine decree.
Should the conditional force be kept explicit as ‘if anything could get ahead of the divine decree’?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us: Saʿīd ibn Sulaymān narrated to us, from ʿAbbād, from al-Jurayrī, from Abū Naḍrah, from Abū Saʿīd, who said: The Messenger of Allah used to seek refuge from the evil eye of the jinn and the eyes of human beings. When the two protective sūrahs (al-Muʿawwidhatayn) were revealed, he adopted them and left all else.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Al-Muʿawwidhatayn is the traditional name for the two Qur’anic sūrahs of seeking refuge. The source says he ‘took them’ and ‘left what was besides that’; it does not explicitly state ‘recited’ in this sentence.
قَالَ كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يَتَعَوَّذُ مِنْ عَيْنِ الْجَانِّ وَأَعْيُنِ الإِنْسِ فَلَمَّا نَزَلَتِ الْمُعَوِّذَتَانِ أَخَذَهُمَا وَتَرَكَ مَا سِوَى ذَلِكَ .
The Arabic says أَخَذَهُمَا وَتَرَكَ مَا سِوَى ذَلِكَ (‘he took them and left what was besides that’); the English witness interprets this as reciting these sūrahs and stopping other recitations.
Should the direct wording be kept as ‘adopted them and left all else,’ without specifying recitation?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
ʿAlī ibn Abī al-Khaṣīb narrated to us: Wakīʿ narrated to us, from Sufyān and Misʿar, from Maʿbad ibn Khālid, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Shaddād, from ʿĀʾishah: The Prophet instructed her to seek ruqyah for the evil eye.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The text says that the Prophet ordered ʿĀʾishah to seek ruqyah; it does not give the words of the recitation in this report.
Chapter 34
مَا رُخِّصَ فِيهِ مِنَ الرُّقَى
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Numayr narrated to us: Isḥāq ibn Sulaymān narrated to us, from Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī, from Ḥuṣayn, from al-Shaʿbī, from Buraydah ibn al-Ḥuṣayb, who said: The Messenger of Allah said, ‘There is no ruqyah except for the evil eye or a venomous sting.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic names الحُمَة, a venomous sting; the source English witness specifies a scorpion, but the Arabic term is not limited to that species here.
قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " لاَ رُقْيَةَ إِلاَّ مِنْ عَيْنٍ أَوْ حُمَةٍ " .
حُمَة means a venomous sting and may be used particularly for a scorpion’s sting; the Arabic here does not name a species.
Should this remain the broader ‘venomous sting’ rather than the English witness’s ‘scorpion sting’?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Idrīs narrated to us, from Muḥammad ibn ʿUmārah, from Abū Bakr ibn Muḥammad: Khālidah bint Anas, the mother of Banū Ḥazm al-Sāʿidiyyah, came to the Prophet and presented him with the ruqyas. He instructed her to use them.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic has the plural الرُّقَى (ruqyas/protective recitations), while the English witness uses a singular. The text does not give their wording or explain their content.
جَاءَتْ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فَعَرَضَتْ عَلَيْهِ الرُّقَى فَأَمَرَهَا بِهَا .
الرُّقَى is plural and refers to ruqya recitations/remedies; the report does not identify their words or method.
Should this remain ‘the ruqyas/protective recitations’ rather than a single ruqya?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
ʿAlī ibn Abī al-Khaṣīb narrated to us: Yaḥyā ibn ʿĪsā narrated to us, from al-Aʿmash, from Abū Sufyān, from Jābir, who said: A household among the Anṣār, known as the family of ʿAmr ibn Ḥazm, used to perform ruqya for venomous stings. The Messenger of Allah had forbidden ruqyas, so they came to him and said, ‘Messenger of Allah, you have forbidden ruqyas, but we perform ruqya for venomous stings.’ He said to them, ‘Present it to me.’ They presented it to him, and he said, ‘There is no harm in this one; these are pledges.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The text reports a general prohibition followed by approval of this particular ruqya. The final phrase هذه مواثيق is rendered literally as ‘these are pledges’; its precise force is unclear from this short passage.
فَعَرَضُوهَا عَلَيْهِ فَقَالَ " لاَ بَأْسَ بِهَذِهِ هَذِهِ مَوَاثِيقُ " .
مَوَاثِيق is literally ‘covenants/pledges’; the English witness renders the phrase ‘this is confirmed,’ which is interpretive and does not preserve the Arabic plural noun.
What is intended by calling these ruqyas مَوَاثِيق (‘pledges/covenants’)?
قَالَ كَانَ أَهْلُ بَيْتٍ مِنَ الأَنْصَارِ يُقَالُ لَهُمْ آلُ عَمْرِو بْنِ حَزْمٍ يَرْقُونَ مِنَ الْحُمَةِ وَكَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَدْ نَهَى عَنِ الرُّقَى فَأَتَوْهُ فَقَالُوا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنَّكَ قَدْ نَهَيْتَ عَنِ الرُّقَى وَإِنَّا نَرْقِي مِنَ الْحُمَةِ .
The report first says the Prophet had forbidden ruqyas generally, then relates approval of this specific ruqya for venomous stings.
Should the general prohibition and specific approval both remain as separate statements?