Ibn Al-Qayyim wrote this some seven centuries ago, and it reads as though it were written for the present moment. Health, diet and natural remedies now occupy a large part of how people think about their lives — and a work that approaches all three from the Qur'an and the Sunnah has become, unexpectedly, one of the most timely books in the Islamic library.
The Reasoning Behind It
Ibn Al-Qayyim's argument is simple. The Qur'an and the Sunnah are the sources a Muslim returns to for how to live. There is no reason to exclude health and the body from that. So he does what he does everywhere else — he sets out the verses and the statements of the Prophet ﷺ and builds on them.
What the Book Contains
The Prophet's ﷺ guidance across a wide range of health matters: the treatment of specific ailments, preventive practice, the etiquette of visiting the sick, and the outlook a Muslim should hold toward illness itself. Both halves are covered — treating what has gone wrong, and the habits that keep a body sound in the first place.
The closing chapters carry an extensive glossary of remedies: herbs, foods and natural substances mentioned in the texts, described individually with their properties and uses. For many readers this is the section they return to most.
Why the Colour Edition
This is the revised deluxe edition, printed in full colour on glossy paper with pictures and illustrations throughout. That matters more here than in most books — a glossary of herbs and plants is far more usable when you can see what is being described. It also makes the volume a genuine reference to keep out rather than shelve.
A Note on Reading It
This is a classical work of prophetic medicine, valued for its guidance and its scholarship. It is not a substitute for a qualified physician, and Ibn Al-Qayyim would not have suggested otherwise — the Prophet ﷺ instructed his Companions to seek treatment, and seeking competent medical care is itself the Sunnah.
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