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Humours (al-akhlat)

الأخلاط

Ibn Sina treats humours in the fourth section of Book I, Fann 1, in two chapters; the first is on the nature of a humour and its kinds 1. The commendable humours are, he says, four: blood, which is the best, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile 1. Among the kinds of corrupt phlegm, by taste, he lists four: salty, sour, astringent and insipid 2. The second chapter explains how humours are formed: moderate heat makes blood, excess heat makes yellow bile, and cold makes phlegm 3 4.

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Overview

The humours are treated in the fourth lesson of the Canon's first book, in two chapters — the first on the humours' nature and kinds 1. For Ibn Sina the sound humoral moistures fall into four genera: blood (the best), phlegm, yellow bile and black bile 1; among the corrupt phlegms by taste: the salty, the sour, the astringent and the stale 2. The second chapter shows how the humours are generated — temperate heat makes blood, excessive heat yellow bile, cold phlegm 3 4.

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Medicine

People and things also explored

Anatomy· Disease (al-marad)· The four elements (al-arkan)· Health (al-sihha)· Medical treatment (al-mu'alaja)· Powers and actions (al-quwa wal-af'al)· Regimen of health (al-tadbir)· Symptoms and signs (al-a'rad wal-dala'il)

Sources

  1. The Canon of Medicine, vol. 1 (Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyya, Beirut, 1999) , p.28
  2. The Canon of Medicine, vol. 1 (Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyya, Beirut, 1999) , p.30
  3. The Canon of Medicine, vol. 1 (Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyya, Beirut, 1999) , p.33
  4. The Canon of Medicine, vol. 1 (Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyya, Beirut, 1999) , p.35
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islam.museum contributors. “Humours (al-akhlat)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/humours/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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In his commentary on the Canon's anatomy, Ibn al-Nafis says that religious restraint and compassion kept him from dissecting himself. He therefore relied on earlier practitioners, chiefly Galen, for the shapes of the inner organs, and on reasoned inquiry for their functions.