Everything Old Is New Again: Exploring 1,000 Years of TAIM at Zulal Wellness Resort

This week at Zulal Wellness Resort, the past and present met in a celebration of Traditional Arabic and Islamic Medicine (TAIM), marking over a millennium of medical wisdom. The event, Hikma and Harmonay, offered clarity to curious minds, with TAIM Specialist Dr. Bibi Lockhat leading a thoughtful, interactive session on TAIM’s foundational philosophy.

At its core, TAIM promotes a holistic approach to health and wellness—a concept that feels strikingly modern but has its roots in ancient practices. A thousand years ago, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), born in what is now Uzbekistan, authored The Canon of Medicine, a text that shaped global medical thought for centuries. His teachings emphasized the integration of body, mind, spirit, lifestyle, and environment, concepts echoed today in whole-health or holistic care approaches.

TAIM views health as the balance of physical, emotional, and spiritual elements, tailored uniquely to the individual. Sound familiar? It’s the original personalized medicine, long before the term existed. A person’s temperament, or humors, guided treatment and lifestyle recommendations.

• Black bile (associated with earth): Representing melancholy or introspection, excess could manifest as depression or constipation.
  
• Yellow bile (fire): Produced by the liver, related to ambition and anger; imbalance could lead to inflammation or digestive issues.
  
• Phlegm (water): Connected to calm and lethargy; surplus might indicate sluggishness or respiratory issues.
  
• Blood (air): Symbolizing vitality and courage; too much could result in fever or hyperactivity.
  

In TAIM, health is achieved when these humors are balanced, a theory of learning about your mind and body by combining physical symptoms with emotional and behavioral cues.

Visiting Zulal Wellness Resort brings this tradition to life. Nestled along the Qatari coast, the resort combines luxurious hospitality with ancient healing principles. Guests walk fragrant herb-lined paths and engage in sessions guided by practitioners trained in both modern and traditional modalities.

While a full stay comes at a premium, day passes (QAR 750 for adults, QAR 250 for children) offer an accessible way to dip your toes in and see if it’s for you.

Just a bit more:

Answering your most pressing questions: The term “humour” (or “humor” in American English) originates from the Latin word umor, meaning “fluid” or “liquid.” This reflects the early medical belief that the human body contained four essential fluids, or humours, which determined a person’s health, temperament, and personality.Each was associated with specific elements, seasons, bodily functions, and emotional states. Health was believed to depend on the balance of these humours, while disease resulted from their imbalance.

This concept was part of a system of medicine developed by Hippocrates (c. 460–370 BCE) and later refined by Galen (129–c. 216 CE), and eventually deeply integrated into Islamic medicine by scholars like Ibn Sina (Avicenna).

Over time, the idea of humours influenced not only medicine but also language and psychology. For example, the word “humour” later came to mean mood or disposition, and eventually wit or comedy, especially in English, reflecting the belief that a person’s sense of humor was linked to their temperament.