277 – Harun ibn Sufyan narrated to us; al-Muʿayṭī Muhammad ibn ʿAmr narrated to us; Baqiyyah narrated to us; Arṭāʾah ibn al-Mundhir told me, from Ḍamrah ibn Ḥabīb, who said:

A group of physicians once gathered in the presence of a certain king. He asked them, “What is the foremost remedy for the stomach?” Each of them offered an answer, while one man kept silent. When they had all finished, the king turned to the silent one and said, “What do you say?” He replied,

“They have mentioned things that may each do some good, but the crux of the matter rests on three points: never eat anything unless you genuinely crave it; never eat meat until it has been thoroughly cooked; and never swallow a morsel until you have chewed it very well—so that the stomach is left with no burden from it.”