Indian and marine costus (al-qust al-hindi, al-qust al-bahri)

Indian and marine qust (costus) is among the drugs named in the reports. In al-Bukhari: 'hold to this Indian aloeswood, for in it are seven cures: it is used as a nasal drop for the throat ailment (udhra) and as an oral drop for pleurisy' ¹, and 'the best of what you treat yourselves with is cupping and the marine qust' ². Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya holds that the marine qust is the Indian ud, the white kind, and sweet ³; he distinguishes true pleurisy, a hot swelling, from false pleurisy arising from thick winds, and holds that the treatment in the report is for the second ⁴.

Umm Qays bint Mihsan (may God be pleased with her) reports that she heard the Prophet ﷺ say: 'hold to this Indian aloeswood, for in it are seven cures: it is used as a nasal drop for the throat ailment and as an oral drop for pleurisy' ¹ al-Bukhari 5692 Abu Dawud 3877. In another version she brought him a son of hers whose throat ailment she had treated by pressing, and he said 'why do you torment your children with this pressing? Hold to this Indian aloeswood', the narrator explaining the Indian ud as kust, that is qust ⁵ al-Bukhari 5715 al-Bukhari 5718. From Anas in al-Bukhari: 'the best of what you treat yourselves with is cupping and the marine qust', and 'do not torment your children by pressing for the throat ailment; hold to qust' ² al-Bukhari 5696. Ibn al-Qayyim relays from Jabir that the Prophet saw at 'A'isha's a boy whose nostrils were running with blood; he was told it was the throat ailment or a pain in the head, and he said: 'any woman whose child has the throat ailment or a pain in the head should take Indian qust, rub it with water and give it to him as a nasal drop'; this was done for the boy, and he recovered ³. He also reports Zayd ibn Arqam (may God be pleased with him)'s report 'treat pleurisy with marine qust and oil', noting through the editor that its chain is weak ⁶.

Ibn al-Qayyim says the marine qust named in the report is the Indian ud, the white kind, which is sweet and has many uses ³. In the place where he discusses pleurisy he says the marine qust, which is the Indian ud as other reports explain, is a kind of qust, and that if finely pounded, mixed with warmed oil and rubbed on the place of the wind, or licked, it is a fitting remedy for it, dissolving its matter, strengthening the inner organs and opening obstructions ⁴. He relays from al-Musabbihi that the ud is hot and dry and astringent, holds the bowels, strengthens the inner organs, drives off wind and opens obstructions, is good against pleurisy and good for the brain ⁴.

Ibn al-Qayyim says pleurisy is of two kinds among physicians: true, a hot swelling in the region of the side in the membrane lining the ribs, and untrue, a similar pain from thick, harmful winds trapped between the membranes, the pain in the second being extended and in the true one stabbing ⁶. True pleurisy brings five signs: fever, cough, stabbing pain, shortness of breath and a sawlike pulse ⁴. He holds that the treatment in the report is not for this kind but for the second, from thick wind, and relays that qust may also help true pleurisy when it arises from phlegmatic matter, especially as the illness declines ⁴. He counts pleurisy among the dangerous diseases ⁴.

Ibn al-Qayyim defines the udhra as an irritation of the throat from blood, or a sore that appears between the ear and the throat and mostly afflicts children ³. He explains the benefit of a nasal drop of scraped qust by saying its matter is blood overcome by phlegm and qust has a drying quality that tightens the uvula and lifts it back into place, though its benefit may be by a special property; he notes that the author of the Canon mentions qust with Yemeni alum for a fallen uvula ³. He says they used to treat their children by pressing the uvula and with the 'ilaq, something hung on children, and the Prophet forbade this and guided them to what was more beneficial and easier for children ³. The method of nasal and oral drops is treated in ladud and sa'ut; for the wider topic see prophetic medicine.

This page describes the reports and what Ibn al-Qayyim says of qust, pleurisy and the throat ailment; it gives no medical advice.