Abu Zayd al-Balkhi’s Sustenance of the Soul: The Cognitive Behavior Therapy of a Ninth Century Physician

Prof. Malik Badri

Al-BalkhÏ 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.

Entitled Masalih al-Abdan wa al-Anfus (Sustenance for Bodies and Souls) al-Balkhϑs manuscript is composed in two distinct parts. This work forms an English translation of the second (Sustenance of the Soul). The latter being perhaps of greater interest to readers given the worldwide increase in anxiety and mood disorders.