Qurs and Habb (Unani Tablets and Pills): Which Ones Carry a Kushta
Qurs means tablet and habb means pill: the two solid, counted forms of Unani medicine. A habb (Arabic for “grain”, plural huboob) is a hand-rolled ball of powdered drugs held together with gum or honey; a qurs (Arabic for “disc”, plural aqras) is the same powder pressed flat. Counting is what makes them easier to dose than a safoof, and what makes a tablet with a metal inside look deceptively ordinary.
Quick facts
- Habb: pill, rolled by hand, bound with gum acacia, tragacanth, isabgol mucilage or honey, dried in shade
- Qurs: tablet or lozenge, pressed by hand mould or machine, often with a starch binder
- Common names you’ll see: Qurs Mulayyan, Qurs Pudina, Qurs Alkali, Qurs Tinkar, Qurs Musakkin, Habb-e-Muqil, Habb-e-Suranjan, Habb-e-Kabid Naushadri
- Two red-flag groups: any qurs with “kushta” in its name, and “bandish khoon” tablets taken for heavy bleeding
- Amounts: set by the pack or a qualified hakeem, never by this page
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What is the difference between habb and qurs?
Both start as a safoof, a sieved powder. The difference is what happens next. For a habb, the powder is kneaded with a sticky binder (rabita) into a dough, rolled into a stick, cut, and each piece rounded between finger and thumb. A published standard operating procedure for Habbe Shifa, a classical polyherbal pill, describes exactly this: binder, mass, rolling, shade drying. Honey, gum acacia mucilage, tragacanth and isabgol mucilage are the traditional binders, and the pill’s size and weight depended on the hands that made it.
A qurs is pressed, not rolled. Classical aqras were shaped in a small mould and dried flat; modern ones come off a tablet press with starch as the binder and a glossy coat. The word also covers lozenges meant to dissolve in the mouth, like a pudina qurs after a meal.
Why did tablets take over? Uniform weight, a hard surface that resists damp, a stamp that identifies the maker, and a machine that makes thousands an hour. Nearly every “habb” from a large maker today is really a small compressed tablet with the old name kept for recognition. The sibling page on safoof covers the loose powder they are made from, and the pillar on Unani forms covers pastes, distillates and syrups.
How a habb was made in a hakeem’s shop
- Each ingredient dried in the shade and ground separately, then sieved through fine cloth.
- The powders weighed and mixed; a resin such as mastagi or guggul softened over warmth first.
- A binder worked in a little at a time: honey, gum water or isabgol mucilage, until the mass held without cracking.
- The dough rolled into a rope the thickness of a pencil and cut with a knife into equal lengths.
- Each piece rounded between the fingers, dusted with a little dry powder so it didn’t stick.
- Dried in shade for days, never in sun, then stored in a tin or glass jar.
Shade drying is the detail that matters. Sun dried pills lose their volatile oils and crack; damp pills grow mould. The same rule explains the storage tip below.
The strip check before you take any qurs or habb
Press one between finger and thumb. A tablet that crumbles to powder, has gone soft, shows spots, or has swollen in its blister has taken in moisture, which means the binder has let go and the surface has been open to mould and air for some time. Traditional huboob and aqras were shade dried precisely because moisture is their enemy. Keep strips in the box, in a dry cupboard and not the bathroom or the fridge door, and bin anything that fails the press.
The qurs shelf: digestive, laxative, cooling, pain
Qurs Mulayyan
Mulayyan means softening, and this is a laxative tablet. Its label lists senna, rhubarb root, turbud (nisoth), scammony, the three myrobalans and aloe: a stimulant laxative mix. It does what senna does, with the same rules: short courses, cramps and dependence with daily use, not for pregnancy or children. Our Itrifal Zamani and mulayyan jams post covers safer steps for qabz; this page won’t repeat them.
Qurs Pudina and Qurs Alkali
Qurs Pudina is a mint lozenge for gas and nausea after eating, the Unani cousin of a pudina hazma. Qurs Alkali pairs mint and digestive herbs with an alkaline salt, so it behaves like a mild antacid. Both are low risk; read the salt and sugar if you have blood pressure or diabetes.
Qurs Tinkar
Tinkar is borax (sohaga). Traditional use is for sore throat, mouth ulcers and as a digestive. Borax taken by mouth has no modern safety approval, and regular use is not a good idea; occasional lozenge use is a different risk from a daily tablet. Not for children.
Qurs Musakkin
Musakkin means pain relieving. These vary wildly by maker, and this is the group where undeclared painkillers and steroids have turned up in “herbal” joint remedies, as our hidden steroids post explains. A tablet that stops joint pain within an hour is doing something a herb does not do.
The habb shelf: muqil, suranjan, kabid
Habb-e-Muqil is the pill version of the guggul-and-myrobalan piles formula; the Majoon Muqil vs Itrifal Muqil page owns that comparison and the red flags for rectal bleeding.
Habb-e-Kabid Naushadri carries ammonium chloride for the liver; the naushadar post explains who must avoid it.
Habb-e-Suranjan deserves its own paragraph. Suranjan shirin is Colchicum luteum, a plant whose active chemical, colchicine, is a real gout medicine with a famously narrow safety margin. Published toxicology reviews describe colchicine poisoning as hard to reverse and sometimes fatal, with vomiting and diarrhoea first and organ failure later, and there is no antidote. The formulary pill also contains turbud and aloe, both laxatives, so loose stools are built in and can mask early poisoning. The Majoon Suranjan post has the colchicum detail; the point here is that a hand-rolled or pressed habb gives you no way to know how much colchicine each piece holds. Grapefruit, kidney or liver disease and several common medicines raise the risk further.
Qurs kushta: when a tablet carries a metal
Read the name, not the shape
“Qurs Kushta Qalai” means a kushta of tin pressed into a tablet; “Qurs Kushta Faulad” is a kushta of iron. The label on the branded tin tablet says exactly that: calx of tin plus starch. Pressing a calcined metal into a neat white disc does not make the metal safer, more precise or more modern. Treat any qurs with “kushta” in its name exactly as you would loose kushta, which our kushta page explains in full. The same goes for tablets whose ingredient list hides a kushta further down, such as “kushta basud” (calcined coral) in some bleeding tablets.
The branded tin tablets are sold for spermatorrhoea and “timing”, which puts them in the same sexual-health category as the adulterated powders. The CDC has documented a dozen adults in five US states poisoned by lead from traditional South Asian medicines between 2000 and 2003, several of them taking the products for arthritis or fertility. The tablet shape is not a guarantee of anything.
Qurs Bandish Khoon: why a bleeding tablet can cost you a diagnosis
Bandish khoon means stopping blood. These tablets are a mix of astringents, typically babool gum, alum, oak galls, lac, dragon’s blood resin and red ochre, and they are bought for heavy periods, piles bleeding and nosebleeds. The danger is not the alum. It’s the month lost. Heavy periods are defined by needing to change protection every one to two hours, bleeding more than seven days, or passing large clots, and the causes range from fibroids to a bleeding disorder to the thyroid. An astringent tablet that seems to help delays the scan and the blood count that would find the cause. Our Sharbat Anjbar post sets out exactly what to check first; the same rule applies to the tablet.
Never take a qurs or habb without a maker’s name, ingredient list and enlistment number, and never one with “kushta” in its name without understanding it contains a calcined metal. Habb-e-Suranjan (colchicum): not in pregnancy, kidney or liver disease, or with grapefruit; vomiting and diarrhoea after it mean stop and go to hospital with the pack. Laxative tablets: short use only, not for children, pregnancy or anyone with bowel disease. Bleeding tablets: black stools, blood in urine, bleeding between periods, or soaking through protection hourly need a doctor, not a tablet. Any tablet that works within an hour on pain, or dramatically on “stamina”, is suspect for hidden medicines. Tell your doctor every Unani tablet you take.
Questions people ask about qurs and habb
Qurs meaning in English?
Qurs means tablet, or lozenge when it is meant to dissolve in the mouth. The word is Arabic for “disc”, plural aqras. Habb means pill.
What is the difference between habb and qurs?
A habb is a pill rolled by hand from powder and a sticky binder like gum or honey; a qurs is a tablet pressed flat in a mould or machine. Today most branded “habbs” are also pressed, so the names mostly tell you the history of the formula.
Qurs mulayyan uses and side effects?
It is a stimulant laxative tablet containing senna, rhubarb, turbud, scammony, the three myrobalans and aloe. It relieves constipation in the short term; daily use brings cramps, dependence and a lazy bowel. Not for pregnancy or children.
Qurs alkali benefits?
It is a digestive tablet with mint and an alkaline salt, so it acts a little like an antacid after a heavy meal. Fair for occasional heartburn; persistent heartburn, difficulty swallowing or black stools need a doctor.
Qurs tinkar uses?
Tinkar is borax. The tablet is traditionally used for sore throat, mouth ulcers and indigestion. Borax by mouth has no modern safety approval, so occasional use at most, and never for children.
Qurs pudina ke fayde?
It is a mint lozenge for gas, nausea and a heavy feeling after meals. Low risk; it does the same job as chewing fennel or mint. Check sugar content if you have diabetes.
What is habb e muqil used for?
It is the pill form of the guggul-based piles formula. It is taken for bleeding and swollen piles alongside a fibre-rich diet. Rectal bleeding still needs a doctor’s examination once, because piles and more serious causes look the same from outside.
Habb e suranjan, is it safe for joints?
It contains colchicum, a genuine gout drug with a narrow safety margin, plus two laxatives. It is not a casual joint supplement. Only under a practitioner who knows your kidneys, liver and other medicines, and never in pregnancy. Vomiting and diarrhoea after it are a hospital matter.
Qurs kushta qalai side effects, why is kushta in a tablet?
The tablet is calcined tin and starch, pressed for convenience. The tablet form adds nothing to safety. Kushta preparations have been found to carry lead, mercury and arsenic, and this one is sold for sexual complaints that need a doctor anyway. Our kushta post covers the symptoms and the blood test.
Qurs bandish khoon for heavy periods, is it safe?
The astringent ingredients are mostly low risk, but the tablet delays finding out why you are bleeding. Fibroids, polyps, thyroid disease and bleeding disorders all cause heavy periods and all need a scan or a blood test, not alum.
How are habbs made traditionally?
Powdered drugs are kneaded with a binder (gum acacia, tragacanth, isabgol mucilage or honey), rolled into a rope, cut, rounded by hand and dried in the shade. A published SOP for Habbe Shifa documents the same steps.
Can I take a qurs with my regular medicines?
Ask the pharmacist first and bring the pack. Colchicum interacts with many common medicines; laxatives change how other tablets are absorbed; alkaline tablets can affect some antibiotics. Never stop a prescribed medicine to make room for a qurs.
How do I know a qurs is genuine?
A maker’s name, full ingredient list, batch number, expiry and a DRAP enlistment number in Pakistan, and a tablet that is hard, uniform and dry in its strip. Loose tablets from a jar with no label fail every one of those tests.
Bottom line
Habb and qurs are the counted forms of Unani medicine, and counting is better than pinching. The digestive and mint tablets are low-risk conveniences. The laxative ones follow senna’s rules. The colchicum pill is a real drug with a thin safety margin, kushta tablets are calcined metal in a tidy shape, and bleeding tablets can cost you a diagnosis. Read the name, read the list, and bring the pack to your doctor. The rest of the series lives in Unani & Herbal, Decoded.
Sources
- Tarannum et al., Development of standard operating procedures of Habbe Shifa, a polyherbal Unani formulation, Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, 2013
- Finkelstein et al., Colchicine poisoning: the dark side of an ancient drug, Clinical Toxicology, 2010
- MedlinePlus, Colchicine: uses, overdose and warnings
- NHS, Heavy periods: signs, causes and when to see a GP
- CDC MMWR, Lead poisoning associated with Ayurvedic medications, five states, 2000 to 2003