Document Type : علمی- پژوهشی
Author
Department of persian language and literature, Payame Noor Unvierstiy, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Geophagia means the habit of consuming soil, mud, etc. It has a long history in many parts of the world. This phenomenon has also been reflected in Ancient Persian and Arabic texts in different ways, and various groups of people have tended to it. Many ascetics and Sufis, caliphs and kings and statesmen, poor people, women, children, madmen and the general public have been inclined towards it. In this research, we have investigated the reflection of geophagia in Persian and Arabic poetry and prose texts and we have tried to answer these questions: 1. How is geophagia reflected in ancient Persian and Arabic texts? 2. How is geophagia among different social spectrums? 3. How is geophasia in medical, religious, ethical and literary texts and in proverbs?
We have done this research in a descriptive-analytical method, and by identifying various sources in which geophagia is mentioned and referring to them, we have examined and analyzed the issue. According to the evidence of Ancient texts, geophagia in addition to madness, is often due to poverty, asceticism and piety, pleasure and addiction, or the longing of pregnant women. Various proverbs among Iranian tribes with the theme of geophagia have shown the prevalence of geophagia and also the difficulty of quitting it. Except for the early ascetics, who considered geophagia as a form of piousness and ascetic practices, insisting on halal eating and less annoying, poets and writers often had a negative attitude towards this issue and considered it one of the disgusting and sick habits. They have invited others to avoid it. In medical texts, geophagia has been recognized as a kind of disease and they offered solutions for its treatment. In moral texts, geophagia has been considered as one of the diseases of the soul, and sometimes mud eating addiction has been mentioned in parables. In Islamic religious texts, geophagia is also forbidden.
Highlights
Extended absract
Geophagia and its Reflection in Ancient Persian and Arabic texts
Introduction
Geophagia means the habit of consuming soil, mud, etc. It has a long history in many parts of the world. This phenomenon has also been reflected in Ancient Persian and Arabic texts in different ways, and various groups of people have tended to it, apart from the social class, including ascetics and Sufis, caliphs and kings and statesmen, the poor, women, children, madmen and the general public. In this research, we have investigated the reflection of geophagia in Persian and Arabic poetry and prose texts and we have tried to answer these questions: 1. How is geophagia reflected in ancient Persian and Arabic texts?; 2. How is geophagia among different social spectrums?; 3. How is geophasia in medical, religious, ethical and literary texts and in proverbs?
Research Methods
We have done this research in a descriptive-analytical method, and by identifying various sources in which geophagia is mentioned and referring to them, we have examined and analyzed the issue.
Conclusion
According to the evidence of Ancient texts, geophagia in addition to madness, is often due to poverty, asceticism and piety, pleasure and addiction, or the longing of pregnant women. Various proverbs among Iranian tribes with the theme of geophagia have shown the prevalence of geophagia and also the difficulty of quitting it. Except for the early ascetics, who considered geophagia as a form of piousness and ascetic practices, insisting on halal eating, poets and writers often had a negative attitude towards this issue and considered it one of the disgusting and sick habits. They have invited others to avoid it. In medical texts, geophagia has been recognized as a kind of disease and they offered solutions for its treatment. In moral texts, geophagia has been considered as one of the diseases of the soul, and sometimes mud eating addiction has been mentioned in parables. In Islamic religious texts, geophagia is also forbidden.
Problem Statement: Geophagia means the habit of consuming soil, mud, etc. It has a long history
in many parts of the world. This phenomenon has also been reflected in Ancient Persian and Arabic texts in different ways, and various groups of people have tended to it, apart from the social class, including ascetics and Sufis, caliphs and kings and statesmen, the poor, women, children, madmen and the general public. In this research, we have investigated the reflection of geophagia in Persian and Arabic poetry and prose texts and we have tried to answer these questions: 1. How is geophagia reflected in ancient Persian and Arabic texts?; 2. How is geophagia among different social spectrums?; 3. How is geophasia in medical, religious, ethical and literary texts and in proverbs?
Background of the research: Until now, there has been no independent research on geophagy in Persian and Arabic prose and poetry. Only in two articles authored by Mehdi Moghaq there are references to this issue. Other scattered research on geophagy is in the field of modern medicine.
Research Method: We have done this research in a descriptive-analytical method, and by identifying various sources in which geophagia is mentioned and referring to them, we have examined and analyzed the issue.
Discussion and analysis: There are examples of geophagy in the interpretations of the Qur'an (such as Al-Kashf and Al-Bayan authored by Abu Ishaq Thaalbi Neishabouri and Kashf al-Asrar authored by Rashid al-Din Abulfazl Meibdi) and the stories of the prophets (such as Qasas al-Anbiya authored by Abolhassan bin Haitham Boshanji Nabi). In these books, it is mentioned in the stories about Dawood (a.s.) that he ate bread with ashes, and in the stories about Suleiman (a.s.), it is said that he baked his bread from a mixture of barley flour and ashes. However, in the religion of Islam, various hadiths regarding avoiding geophagy have been narrated from the Prophet (pbuh) and Imams (pbuh). Therefore, geophagy is forbidden in Islam. Geophagy has existed among various social groups, ranging from kings to common people (ascetics, poor, pregnant women, children, insane).
In the first centuries of Islam, geophagy among the ascetics was due to the purpose of their asceticism and piety in order to find pure (=halal) food, and it was among their austerities; but geophagy was gradually recognized as a disgusting, morbid and reprehensible addiction. Philosophers, Poets and writers (such as Abu Ali Moskuya, Ibn Sina, Nasir al-Din Tusi, Nasser Khosro, Sanai and Molvi) have condemned geophagy. Numerous references to geophagy in Persian proverbs indicate its prevalence in different regions of Iran, especially among pregnant women, and the difficulty of quitting it.
Result / Finding: According to the evidence of Ancient texts, geophagia, in addition to madness, is often due to poverty, asceticism and piety, pleasure and addiction, or the longing of pregnant women. Geophagy has existed among various social groups, ranging from kings to common people (ascetics, poor, pregnant women, children, insane). Various proverbs among Iranian tribes with the theme of geophagia have shown the prevalence of geophagia and also the difficulty of quitting it. Except for the early ascetics, who considered geophagia as a form of piousness and ascetic practices, Insisting on halal eating, poets and writers often had a negative attitude towards this issue and considered it one of the disgusting and sick habits. They have invited others to avoid it. In medical texts, geophagia has been recognized as a kind of disease, and they offered solutions for its treatment. In moral texts, geophagia has been considered as one of the diseases of the soul, and sometimes mud eating addiction has been mentioned in parables. In Islamic religious texts, geophagia is also forbidden.
Keywords: Geophagia, eating mud, ancient Persian and Arabic texts
Refrences:
Abu al-fotuh Razi, H. (2010). Rauvz al-Jenan va Rauvh sal-Janan fi Tafsir-e Ghor`an. Edited by M. J. Yahaghghi & M. M. Sayyedi. Mashhad: Astan-e Ghods-e Razavi Publication. [in Persian]
Akhavayni Bokhari, A. (1992). Hedayat al-Mota`allemin fi al-Tebb. Edited by J. Matini. Mashhad: Ferdousi University of Mashhad Publication. [in Persian]
Al-Istakhri, A. (1927). Masalek al-Mamalek. Edited by M. J. de Goeje. Leyden: Brill. [in Arabic]
https://doi.org/10.22034/perlit.2024.58658.3577
Keywords
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