and drinking. The ruling accords with this rationale, and the Lawgiver’s words indicate that this attribute is relevant and has a causal effect. This prohibition does not apply to enemas, kohl, and the like.

If it is said: But kohl may descend into the stomach and be transformed into blood.

The answer is: The same could be said of vapour that rises through the nose to the brain and is transformed into blood, or of oil absorbed by the body. What is prohibited is only that which reaches the stomach, is transformed into blood, and is distributed throughout the body. We make this (a sixth argument: we draw an analogy between kohl, enemas, and similar things, on the one hand, and incense and oil, on the other. Their common attribute is that they are not substances that nourish the body and are transformed into blood in the stomach. This attribute is what entails that these things do not invalidate the fast, and it is also present in the disputed case. A case may lend itself to comparison with two precedents, being linked to each through the attributes in which it resembles it.

If it is said: This is digested by the stomach and transformed into blood through which the body grows, but it provides deficient nourishment. It is therefore like eating poison or some other harmful substance, and is comparable to the case of someone who