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Sleep paralysis in medieval Persia – the Hidayat of Akhawayni (?–983 AD)

S. Golzari, Kazem Khodadoust, Farid Alakbarli, K. Ghabili, Z. Islambulchilar, M. Shoja, M. Khalili, Feridoon Abbasnejad, Niloufar Sheikholeslamzadeh, Nasrollah Moghaddam Shahabi, Seyed Fazel Hosseini, K. Ansarin

Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment June 6, 2012 DOI: 10.2147/ndt.s28231 (opens in new tab)

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Key points Argues that Akhawayni's 10th-century Persian medical text provides insight into sleep paralysis during the Middle Ages in Persia and elsewhere.

Abstract

Among the first three manuscripts written in Persian, Akhawayni’s Hidayat al-muta’allemin fi al-tibb was the most significant work compiled in the 10th century. Along with the hundreds of chapters on hygiene, anatomy, physiology, symptoms and treatments of the diseases of various organs, there is a chapter on sleep paralysis (night-mare) prior to description and treatment of epilepsy. The present article is a review of the Akhawayni’s teachings on sleep paralysis and of descriptions and treatments of sleep paralysis by the Greek, medieval, and Renaissance scholars. Akhawayni’s descriptions along with other early writings provide insight into sleep paralysis during the Middle Ages in general and in Persia in particular.

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