Kapronczay Károly szerk.: Orvostörténeti Közlemények 194-195. (Budapest, 2006)
TANULMÁNYOK — ARTICLES - KÁROLY, László: A Seventeenth-Century Chaghatay Treatise on Medicine
• yäti tar kök ip wa yäti tar aq ip alïb birgä qosub yäti tügün salmak käräk bar tügün salganda bu du'än'i oqumak käräk 'take seven thin blue yarns and seven thin white yarns, and put them together. Seven knots must be tied on it. When a knot is tied, this prayer must be read' (23r8-10) Subhân Qulï's work preserves two interesting stories about the Prophet's medicine. In one of them he writes that there is a universal remedy that restores a person to health from every sort of illness, except death. This panacea was sent to the Prophet from God by the Archangel Gabriel. It is the first recipe in Chapter 3 and, in comparison with the others, one of the most complex, containing 8 basic materials; however, the method of preparation is very simple. • hazrat-i paygambar sallä'llähu 'alayhi wa sallam ücün jabra'il 'alayhis-saläm tänri ta'älä-din hadiyya keltürüb bu ma'fûn-nï kim... 'The Archangel Gabriel, peace be upon him, brought a present from God the Most High for the Prophet Muhammad, may God commend and salute him! The medicine that...' (12r7-9) 4.3. The importance of the calendar If the patient takes the calendar into consideration, he can achieve a better result. The most important days in this respect are the Persian New Year's Day 14 and the period from 7 April to 8 May, 15 when even rainwater has a curative effect. • har kim osbu tört at-nï yupqa nälga nawrüz künidä bitib asasa... 'if a man writes these four names on a thin yellow reed and eats it on the Persian New Year's Day...' (23v4-5) • bu duäniay-n'ih ähir-i cahar-sanba künidä bitib masjidnin mihräbida köm-gil 'write this prayer on the last Wednesday of the month and bury it in the niche of a mosque' (40vl 1-12) 4.4. Folk medicaments Not only the divine panacea, but also folk medicine is of great importance in Subhân Qulï's medical system, and he uses these methods of treatment frequently. The most common method is the usage of urine. Another is the usage of animal products, such as excrement or the melted fat of a sheep's tail. Excrement, applied both externally and internally, may seem a very strange medicament, but it is very effective according to Subhân Qulï. The third method of restoring health is the smoking of the bones, hooves and horns of animals. 16 The author adds that the method of smoking was also used by Galen. 14 It is 21 March {nawrüz kuni). 15 According to the Islamic astrological system: nisân suyï-nï kim hamal-nïh on säkizinci künidin sawrnïn on säkizinci yagsa 'the water of April that rains from 18 Aries to 18 Taurus' (61 r 10-11). 16 It is also recommended that the sick person hangs the horn on his neck.
