Introduction

Abū Zayd Aḥmad ibn Sahl al-Balkhī (236–322/850–934), the author of the book here presented, was one of the greatest scholars of his time. In the fields of philosophy, mathematics, history, geography, medicine, belles lettres, grammar, and others, he composed about sixty works, most of them non-existent.¹ From the few which have survived, however, we gather that Abū Zayd was a natural philosopher possessed of a vast fund of knowledge, a capacity for original thinking, and a concise literary style.² The Maṣāliḥ al-Abdān wa al-Anfus is perhaps Abū Zayd’s only contribution in the field of medicine. It seeks the