Medicine · a Light

A drink of varying colours in which there is healing

Surah al-Nahl describes the bee taking from every fruit, and a drink of varying colours coming out of it, in which there is healing for people. Honey does vary in colour, from near white to almost black, according to the flowers worked. It is also genuinely hostile to bacteria: it is supersaturated with sugar so it pulls water out of cells, it is acidic, and bee enzymes make small amounts of hydrogen peroxide in it. Sterilised medical grade honey is licensed as a wound dressing and used in hospitals, with the best evidence in partial thickness burns. It is not a cure for everything, and it should never be given to a baby under one year, because of the risk of infant botulism.

Surah al-Nahl 16:69

Source · Qur'an 16:69