Abu Zayd al-Balkhi’s

From Masalih al-Abdan wa al-Anfus (Sustenance for Bodies and Souls) Preserved in the Ayasofya Library in Istanbul is an astonishing manuscript. Written more than eleven centuries ago, by the ninth century CE polymath Abu Zayd al-Balkhi, it tackles mental and psychological disorders which seem commonplace to us today. Al-Balkhi explains symptoms and treatments giving advice on preventive measures and how to return the body and soul to their natural healthy state