اللَّهُمَّ إنِّي ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسي ظُلْماً كثيراً ولا يَغْفِر الذُّنُوبَ إلا أنْتَ فاغْفِر ْلي مَغْفِرةً مِنْ عِندِكَ وارْحَمْني إنَّك أنْتَ الغَفُورُ الرَّحيمُ

Hurf (Cress) ~Habb-al-Rashaad

حرف : قال أبو حنيفة الدينوري‏:‏ هذا هو الحب الذي يتداوى به، وهو الثفاء الذي جاء فيه الخبر عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم، ونباته يقال له‏:‏ الحرف، وتسميه العامة‏:‏ الرشاد، وقال أبو عبيد‏:‏ الثفاء‏:‏ هو الحرف‏.‏ قلت‏:‏ والحديث الذي أشار إليه، ما رواه أبو عبيد وغيره، من حديث ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما، عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال‏:‏ ‏(‏ماذا في الأمرين من الشفاء ‏؟‏ الصبر والثفاء‏) (حديث ضعيف)‏ رواه أبو داود في المراسيل‏.‏

Ibn al-Qayyim wrote about Al-Hurf (Cress): Abu Hanifah Al-Dinawari said: "This is the seed used for treatment, and it is the Ath-Thuffaa mentioned in the Hadith from the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ. Its plant is called Harf, and it is commonly known as Rashaad (garden cress)." Abu Ubaid also stated: " Ath-Thuffaa is Harf."

The Hadith referred to is what was narrated by Abu Ubaid and others, from Ibn Abbas Radi Allaho Anhum, that the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said: " What a cure do the two bitter remedies carry? Sebir~AloeVera and Ath-Thuffaa ~Cress." It was narrated by Abu Dawood.

Its potency is in heat and dryness, reaching the third degree. It heats, softens the bowels, expels worms and intestinal parasites, reduces swelling of the spleen, stimulates sexual desire, and treats festering scabies and ringworm. When used as a poultice mixed with honey, it reduces spleen swelling. When cooked with Henna, it helps expel excess substances from the chest. Drinking it is beneficial for bites and stings from venomous creatures. When burned in a place, it repels harmful insects. It prevents hair loss and, when mixed with barley flour and vinegar and applied as a poultice, it alleviates sciatica and reduces swelling in its final stages.

When applied with water and salt, it helps mature boils. It benefits muscle relaxation throughout the body, increases vitality, stimulates appetite, and alleviates asthma, shortness of breath, and spleen enlargement. It cleanses the lungs, promotes menstruation, and alleviates sciatica and hip pain caused by accumulated waste, whether taken orally or as an enema. It clears the chest and lungs of sticky phlegm.

If ground and consumed in a dose of five dirhams with warm water, cress seeds act as a laxative, dissolve gas, and are effective for colic caused by cold. When ground and consumed, it is beneficial for vitiligo. Applied with vinegar to vitiligo and white patches, it provides relief. It also helps with headaches caused by cold and phlegm. Roasted and consumed, it binds the bowels, especially if not ground, as roasting reduces its viscosity. Washing the head with its water cleanses it of dirt and sticky secretions.

Its properties are similar to mustard seeds, which is why it is used to warm hip pains known as sciatica, headaches, and all conditions requiring heating, just like mustard seeds. It is also mixed into remedies for asthma patients because it is known to strongly break down thick humors, just as mustard seeds do, as they are similar in all aspects."

Ibn al-Baytaar wrote about Garden Cress (Al-Hurf) : Cress seeds have a hot strength similar to mustard seeds. Therefore, they are used for warming pains like sciatica and headaches, and for other ailments requiring heat. They are also incorporated into medicines for asthma, as they effectively break down thick fluids, much like mustard seeds. Dried cress leaves have a potency similar to its seeds, but fresh leaves, due to their water content, are much weaker. The seeds are so pungent that they cannot be eaten alone and must be consumed with bread.

Ibn Masawaih: Cress is hot and dry, falling into the latter part of the third degree or the early fourth degree. Cress seeds are warming, pungent, and harsh on the stomach. They soften the bowels, expel worms, dissolve spleen swellings, kill fetuses, and stimulate sexual desire. They are similar to mustard, rocket, and carrot seeds. They cleanse ulcers and scabies and, when applied with honey, heal spleen swelling and cleanse ulcers. Cooked in soups, they expel excess fluids from the chest. Consumed, they benefit against insect stings and bites, and when burned as incense, they repel pests. They also prevent hair loss and treat fire burns. Cress has a power to open swellings. Mixed with flour and vinegar, it relieves sciatica and hot swellings. When applied with water and salt, it ripens boils. Cress leaves can also do this but are weaker in effect. Cress warms, cuts, and pulls down white phlegmatic fluids to the bladder when consumed in excess, sometimes causing frequent urination.

Salmawaih: It is beneficial for general body relaxation when consumed.

Al-Tabari: Cress strongly kills fetuses when consumed orally or as a vaginal suppository. However, it is harsh on the stomach due to its dryness. Its main property is the elimination of harmful substances from the body. Cress dries pus from within the body, increases sexual vigor, and stimulates appetite.

Al-Dimashqi: It is not good for the kidneys because it strongly cuts through thick fluids.

Isa Ibn Masa: When consumed with warm water, cress resolves colic, expels worms, and removes tapeworms. However, its leaves are harsh on the stomach.

Ibn Masawaih: When ground cress seeds are consumed with warm water, they relieve the bowels, dissolve intestinal gas, and alleviate colic pain. Roasted seeds, when consumed without grinding, help regulate the bowels due to the reduction in viscosity from roasting.

Hibish: Cress warms a cold liver, benefits cold kidneys that lack fat, and helps with sciatica when consumed unroasted. It removes sticky substances from the stomach, and when roasted, it regulates the bowels.

Ishaq ibn Imran: When roasted and consumed with constipating drinks, it prevents diarrhea caused by moisture. It cleanses old wounds when applied, and washing the head with its water clears dirt and sticky substances while preventing hair loss. Ground raw seeds, when consumed, treat vitiligo and, when applied with vinegar, help with white spots.

Experiments: Combined with laurel (Tezpat~ورق الغار) and applied, it relieves bladder pain caused by cold. Mixed with honey and licked, it treats cough caused by thick fluids. With honey or raw egg yolk, it alleviates chest muscle pain from injury or trauma. Roasted seeds mixed with starch, flour, rice, or yolk alleviate diarrhea and treat inflammation from phlegmatic fluids. Ground seeds, when mixed with honey or soap, exfoliate freckles. Applied to scorpion stings, it alleviates pain and swelling. Cress is highly versatile, offering benefits for digestion, respiratory conditions, ulcers, and skin issues, while also supporting hair growth and regulating the bowels.

Cress by Ibn-e-Sina: Its properties are similar to those of mustard and radish seeds, or a combination of mustard and rocket (Arugula) seeds. Its leaves, being moist, are less potent but, when dried, approach the strength of its seeds. Cress is hot and dry, reaching the third degree. It is warming, dissolving, and ripening while also softening. It dries up pus from scabies.

Cosmetic Uses: Cress prevents hair loss when consumed or applied topically.

Swelling and Boils: It is effective for phlegmatic swellings and, when mixed with salt water, serves as a poultice for boils.

Wounds and Ulcers: Cress is beneficial for ulcerated scabies, helps with ringworm when combined with honey, and removes the foul effects of fire burns.

Musculoskeletal System: Cress helps alleviate Sciatica when consumed or applied as a poultice mixed with vinegar and barley flour. It can also be used as an enema for sciatica. Additionally, it benefits all types of nerve relaxation.

Respiratory System: Cress clears the lungs, is beneficial for asthma, and is included in asthma remedies due to its cutting and lightening properties.

Digestive System: Cress warms the stomach and liver, & is helpful for an enlarged spleen, especially when used as a poultice with honey. However, it can be harsh on the stomach due to its pungency. It stimulates appetite and, when taken with oxymel (a mixture of vinegar and honey), induces vomiting and purges bile. A dose of three-fourths of a dirham is sufficient for this effect.

Reproductive and Excretory Systems: Cress enhances libido, expels worms, induces menstruation, and can cause abortion. The roasted seeds act as a binding agent, especially when not crushed, as crushing neutralizes their viscosity. Cress is also effective for colic and, when taken in doses of four to five dirhams powdered and mixed with hot water, relieves bowel obstruction and dispels intestinal gas.

Poisons: Cress counteracts venomous bites when consumed or applied as a poultice with honey. When burned as incense, it repels harmful creatures.