سورة النحل

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Licking a fingerful of honey is a cure for every pain. Allah the Mighty and Majestic has said: یَخْرُجُ مِنْ بُطُونِها شَرابٌ مُخْتَلِفٌ أَلْوانُهُ فِیهِ شِفاءٌ لِلنَّاسِ [There comes forth from within it a beverage of many colours, in which there is healing for men]. Honey, together with the recitation of the Quran and chewing frankincense, dissolves phlegm.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): One fingerful of honey is a cure for every pain.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Honey is a cure.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): No medicine cures a sick person like drinking honey does.

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): The Imam (peace be upon him) was asked about the fever that occurs every other day continuously. He said: "A little honey and black seed should be taken and three fingerfuls of it eaten; the fever will be uprooted, for both of these substances are blessed. Allah the Exalted has said concerning honey: یَخْرُجُ مِنْ بُطُونِها شَرابٌ مُخْتَلِفٌ أَلْوانُهُ فِیهِ شِفاءٌ لِلنَّاسِ [There comes forth from within it a beverage of many colours, in which there is healing for men]." And the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said concerning black seed: "It is a cure for every pain except al-Sam." It was said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), what is al-Sam?" He said: "Death." The Imam (peace be upon him) added: "These two are neither hot nor cold, nor do they possess any of the temperaments (phlegm, black bile, yellow bile, blood), and whatever they are used for, they cure."

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): Whoever gives you a drink of honey, do not turn it away.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Three things increase the memory and remove phlegm: recitation of the Quran, eating honey, and frankincense (kundur).

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said concerning the words of Allah the Exalted, فِیهِ شِفاءٌ لِلنَّاسِ [In it there is healing for people]: "That is, in knowledge there is healing for people; and by "people" (nas) the Shia are meant, and Allah knows best what the others are [that they were not addressed as "people"]. If it were as people imagine — that it meant the very honey that people eat — then every sick person who ate of it would have to be cured, because Allah says: فِیهِ شِفاءٌ لِلنَّاسِ [In it there is healing for people]; and Allah never breaks His promise. Rather, the healing is in the knowledge of the Quran."

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn Fudayl said: I asked Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) about this verse: ... فَاسْلُکی سُبُلَ رَبِّکِ ذُلُلاً [Then walk in the ways of your Lord submissively]. He said: "It means that path and way of religion which we are upon." I said: "What is فِیهِ شِفاءٌ لِلنَّاسِ [In it there is healing for people]?" He said: "It means those sciences which have issued from Amir al-Mu'minin Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), which are the healing and cure, just as Allah has said: and a healing for what is in the breasts. (Yunus/57)"

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): یَخْرُجُ مِن بُطُونِهَا شَرَابٌ مُّخْتَلِفٌ أَلْوَانُهُ [There comes forth from within them a drink of varying colours]; what is meant is our knowledge, which reaches you from us.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): Honey is a cure for every illness, and the Quran is a cure for whatever is in the hearts. So make use of these two cures, the Quran and honey.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): It is narrated from Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Black seed is a cure for every illness except death." The Imam (peace be upon him) says: "We also say that behind Kufa there is a grave to which no sick person takes refuge except that Allah the Exalted heals him." (What is meant is the holy grave of Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him).)

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): A man came to Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) and said: "O Ali (peace be upon him)! I have a stomach ache." Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) said: "Do you have a wife?" He said: "Yes." He said: "Ask her to give you, of her own free will [not under compulsion], a portion of her mahr; with that money buy honey and pour rainwater over it [and mix them together], then drink it. Indeed I have heard that Allah has said in the Quran: وَ نَزَّلْنا مِنَ السَّماءِ ماءً مُبارَکاً [And We sent down from the sky blessed water] (Qaf/9), and He has also said: یَخْرُجُ مِنْ بُطُونِها شَرابٌ مُخْتَلِفٌ أَلْوانُهُ فِیهِ شِفاءٌ لِلنَّاسِ [There comes forth from within them a drink of many colours in which there is healing for people], and [regarding the mahr] He said: فَإِنْ طِبْنَ لَکُمْ عَنْ شَیْءٍ مِنْهُ نَفْساً فَکُلُوهُ هَنِیئاً مَرِیئاً [And give the women their mahr [in full] as an obligatory gift; but if of their own good pleasure they remit any part of it to you, consume it with pleasure and enjoyment] (Nisa/4) — meaning that wealth which is in the possession of your wives as mahr."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Are you incapable of this — that when one of you falls ill, he asks his wife to give him one dirham of her mahr [of her own free will], and with it buys honey and drinks it with rainwater? Allah says regarding the mahr: فَإِنْ طِبْنَ لَکُمْ عَنْ شَیْءٍ مِنْهُ نَفْساً فَکُلُوهُ هَنِیئاً مَرِیئاً [And give the women their mahr [in full] as an obligatory gift; but if of their own good pleasure they remit any part of it to you, consume it with pleasure and enjoyment] (Nisa/4), and regarding honey He says: فِیهِ شِفاءٌ لِلنَّاسِ [In it there is healing for people], and regarding rain He says: وَ نَزَّلْنا مِنَ السَّماءِ ماءً مُبارَکاً [And We sent down from the sky blessed water] (Qaf/9).

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): If there is healing in anything, it is in the incision of the cupper or a draught of honey.