al-kimya_ notes on arabic alchemy _ chemical heritage foundation

We Tell the Story of Chemistry

Detail from a miniature from Ibn Butlan's Risalat da`wat al-atibba. Courtesy of

the L.A. May er Museum for Islamic Art, Jerusalem.

Gabriele Ferrario

Note: Arabic words in this article are given in a simplified transliteration system:

no graphical distinction is made among long and short vowels and emphatic and

non-emphatic consonants. The expression “Arabic alchemy” refers to the vast

literature on alchemy written in the Arabic language. Among those defined as

“Arabic alchemists” we therefore find scholars of different ethnic origins—many

from Persia—who produced their works in the Arabic language.

According to the 10th-century scholar Ibn Al-Nadim, the philosopher

Muhammad ibn Zakariya Al-Razi (9th century) claimed that “the

study of philosophy could not be considered complete, and a learned

man could not be called a philosopher, until he has succeeded in

producing the alchemical transmutation.” For many years Western

scholars ignored Al-Razi’s praise for alchemy, seeing alchemy

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instead as a pseudoscience, false in its purposes and fundamentally

wrong in its methods, closer to magic and superstition than to the

“enlightened” sciences. Only in recent years have pioneering studies

conducted by historians of science, philologists, and historians of the

book demonstrated the importance of alchemical practices and

discoveries in creating the foundations of modern chemistry. A new

generation of scholarship is revealing not only the extent to which

early modern chemistry was based on alchemical practice but also

the depth to which European alchemists relied on Arabic sources. Yet

scholars are only beginning to scratch the surface of Arabic alchemy:

a general history based on direct sources still has to be written, and

an enormous number of Arabic alchemical manuscripts remain

unread and unedited—sometimes not even cataloged—in Middle

Eastern and European libraries. This brief survey is offered in hopes

of giving Chemical Heritage’s readers a glimpse into this fascinating

yet largely unexplored world.

The Origins of Arabic Alchemy

In the 7th century the Arabs started a process of territorial expansion that quickly

brought them empire and influence ranging from India to Andalusia. Fruitful

contacts with ancient cultural traditions were a natural consequence of this

territorial expansion, and Arabic culture proved ready to absorb and reinterpret

much of the technical and theoretical innovations of previous civilizations. This was

certainly the case with respect to alchemy, which had been practiced and studied in

ancient Greece and Hellenistic Egypt. The Arabs arrived in Egypt to find a

substantial alchemical tradition; early written documents testify that Egyptian

alchemists had developed advanced practical knowledge in the fields of

pharmacology and metal, stone, and glass working. The first translations of

alchemical treatises from Greek and Coptic sources into Arabic were reportedly

commissioned by Khalid ibn Yazid, who died around the beginning of the 8th

century. By the second part of that century Arabic knowledge of alchemy was already

far enough advanced to produce the Corpus Jabirianum— an impressively large

body of alchemical works attributed to Jabir ibn Hayyan. The Corpus, together with

the alchemical works of Al-Razi, marks the creative peak of Arabic alchemy.

As is typical in the chain of transmission of ancient knowledge, the origins of

alchemy are steeped in legend, and the links of this chain are either mythical or real



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authorities in the fields of ancient science and philosophy. The doctrines on which

Arabic alchemy relied derived from the multicultural milieu of Hellenistic Egypt and

included a mixture of local, Hebrew, Christian, Gnostic, ancient Greek, Indian, and

Mesopotamian influences.

The presence of the Arabic definite article al in alchemy is a clear indication of the

Arabic roots of the word. Hypotheses about the etymology of the Arabic term al-

kimiya hint at the possible sources for early alchemical knowledge in the Arab world.

One of the most plausible hypotheses traces the origin of the word back to the

Egyptian word kam-it or kem-it, which indicated the color black and, by extension,

the land of Egypt, known as the Black Land. Another hypothesis links kimiya to a

Syriac transliteration of the Greek word khumeia or khemeia, meaning the art of

melting metals and of producing alloys.






Gabriele Ferrario

A third interesting but far-fetched etymology suggests that the word al-kimiya

derives from the Hebrew kim Yah, meaning “divine science.” The idea of a

connection between the origins of alchemical knowledge and the Jews was

widespread among medieval Arabic alchemists, who saw in this etymology a possible

confirmation of their belief. These alchemists tended to attribute the mythical

origins of alchemy alternately to the angels who rose against God, to the patriarch

Enoch, to King Solomon, or to other biblical characters who taught humankind the

secrets of minerals and metals. This interpretive strategy dignified the origins of

alchemy and attributed alchemical books pseudepigraphically to authorities of the

past, providing a safe mechanism for spreading alchemical knowledge, which could

otherwise be persecuted for its proximity to magic.

In contrast with the modern term alchemy, the word al-kimiya lacks abstract

meaning. Rather than designating the complex of practical and theoretical



knowledge we now refer to as alchemy, it was used to describe the substance

through which base metals could be transmuted into noble ones. In Arabic

alchemical books al-kimiya tended to be a synonym of al-iksir (elixir) and was

frequently used with the more general meaning of a “medium for obtaining

something.” Expressions like kimiya al-sa‘ada (the way of obtaining happiness),

kimiya al-ghana (the way of obtaining richness), and kimiya alqulub (the way of

touching hearts) testify to the broad meaning of this word. What we now call

alchemy was called by other words: san‘at al-kimiya or san‘at al-iksir (the art or

production of the elixir), ‘ilm al-sina‘a (the knowledge of the art or production), al-

hikma (the wisdom), al-‘amal al-a‘zam (the great work), or simply al-sana‘a. Arabic

alchemists called themselves kimawi, kimi, kimiya’i, san‘awi, or iksiri.

The contribution of Arabic alchemists to the history of alchemy is profound. They

excelled in the field of practical laboratory experience and offered the first

descriptions of some of the substances still used in modern chemistry. Muriatic

(hydrochloric) acid, sulfuric acid, and nitric acid are discoveries of Arabic

alchemists, as are soda (al-natrun) and potassium (al-qali). The words used in

Arabic alchemical books have left a deep mark on the language of chemistry: besides

the word alchemy itself, we see Arabic influence in alcohol (al-kohl), elixir (al-iksir),

and alembic (al-inbiq). Moreover, Arabic alchemists perfected the process of

distillation, equipping their distilling apparatuses with thermometers in order to

better regulate the heating during alchemical operations. Finally, the discovery of the

solvent later known as aqua regia—a mixture of nitric and muriatic acids—is

reported to be one of their most important contributions to later alchemy and

chemistry.

Arabic books on alchemy stimulated theoretical reflections on the power and the

limits of humans to change matter. Moreover, we have the Arabic alchemical

tradition to thank for transmitting the legacy of the ancient and Hellenistic worlds to

the Latin West.

Theoretical Assumptions

The alchemical authorities most often quoted as sources in Arabic alchemical texts

were Greek philosophers, such as Pythagoras, Archelaus, Socrates, and Plato. During

the Middle Ages, Aristotle himself was considered the authentic author of the fourth

book of Meteorologica, which deals extensively with the physical interactions of

earthly phenomena, and of one letter on alchemy addressed to his pupil Alexander

the Great. Arabic language sources also quoted Hermes, the supposed repository of

the knowledge God gave to man before the Deluge and to whom legend attributes the

famous Tabula smaragdina (Emerald Tablet); Agathodaimon; Ostanes, the Persian






magician; Mary the Jewess (probably 3rd century), for whom the bain marie (akin to

a double boiler) is named; and Zosimus of Panopolis (3rd–4th centuries), believed to

be the author of an alchemical encyclopedia in 28 books. Indeed, Zosimus is said to

have introduced religious and mystical elements into the alchemical discourse: his

books meld Egyptian magic, Greek philosophy, Neoplatonism, Babylonian astrology,

Christian theology, pagan mythology, and doctrines of Hebrew origin in a highly

symbolic writing full of allusions to the interior transformations of the alchemist’s

soul.






Gabriele Ferrario

Arabic alchemists largely worked from an Aristotelian theory of the formation of

matter in which the four elementary qualities (heat, coldness, dryness, and moisture)

generate first-degree compounds (hot, cold, dry, and moist), which, in turn, combine

in pairs, acquire matter, and generate the four elements: hot + dry + matter = fire;

hot + moist + matter = air; cold + moist + matter = water; cold + dry + matter =

earth. Everything on earth consists of varying proportions of these four elements. A

particularly clear explanation of how alchemists made sense of Aristotelian theory

can be found in the pseudo-Avicennian treatise De Anima in arte alchimiae (Basel,

1572), an alchemical work probably of Arabic origins that survives only in Latin

translation. According to this treatise, every existing body is a compound of the four

elements: if a body is defined as cold and dry, this means that the qualities of

coldness and dryness predominate, while heat and moisture occur in minor

proportions and thus remain concealed. An external cause—either natural or

artificial—could generate a change in the structure of the body, rebalancing the



natural proportion of its external and internal qualities, thereby changing its

appearance. The alchemist in his laboratory seeks to artificially overturn the balance

of qualities in the body he is trying to transmute by adding or removing heat,

coldness, dryness, or moisture.

Arabic natural philosophy similarly accepted the classical theory of the formation of

minerals in mines. This explanation held that two different movements take place in

the depths of caves as the caverns are heated by the sun: particles of water (cold and

moist) rise to the surface and generate vapors (bukhar) when they make contact with

air (hot and moist); particles of earth (cold and dry), however, rise to the surface and

generate fumes (duhan). The meeting of vapors and fumes creates quicksilver, if the

vapors predominate, or sulfur, if the fumes predominate. Gold is generated when

quicksilver and sulfur are pure and in a balanced proportion, and the soil and astral

conditions are positive. Imperfections in any of these conditions create metals of

progressively lesser value. An impressive description of the formation of metals in

caves can be read in Epistle 19, on mineralogy, of the Rasa’il Ikhwan al-safa’

(Epistles of the Brethrens of Purity), a 10th-century encyclopedia of science, religion,

and ethics attributed to a group of philosophers influenced by Neoplatonism and

Pythagorism.

The alchemist’s goal, to be achieved through study and practical expertise in the

laboratory, was to reproduce these natural processes in a shorter period or to

interfere somehow with the natural processes to produce “natural accidents.” The

alchemist’s knowledge was, therefore, often compared to the creative power of God

(for instance, in the 10th-century treatise Rutbat al-hakim, by Al-Majriti) and

represented the highest level of knowledge attainable by humans. Yet Arabic

alchemists were, for the most part, able to harmonize alchemical doctrines with

Islam. The belief in a pure and absolute version of monotheism led Islamic theology

to assume the existence of a single creator: according to classical Islamic philosophy,

God is the creator of everything that exists and is the direct cause of every action that

takes place in the sublunary world. Since only God can create a change—a fasl

(differentia specifica, substantial difference)—alchemy, with its aim of changing the

internal nature of metals and stones, could have been considered religiously

unacceptable. In the 12th century, however, the alchemist Al-Tughra’i proposed an

intriguing solution: since nothing can be created unless God wants it to be so, the

alchemist simply prepares matter to receive the fasl God will bestow.

Perhaps because of alchemy’s association with divine knowledge, Arabic alchemical

treatises persistently appeal to secrecy: alchemists should avoid the transmission of

recipes to greedy people whose main aim is to obtain riches rather than wisdom. As

would their European followers several centuries later, Arabic alchemists used

rhetorical tricks to conceal the secrets of the art from the uninitiated. In the






introductory essay to his translation of the first 10 books of Jabir ibn Hayyan’s Kitab

al-sab‘in (The Book of the Seventy), Pierre Lory underlines the author’s habit of

“scattering knowledge” (tabdid al-‘ilm) by intentionally presenting alchemical

procedures out of order so that only the initiated could understand how to read the

text. Alchemical authors used a highly enigmatic language, marked by abundant

metaphors and technical and allusive terminology, to describe their processes and

ingredients. Like the Hellenistic alchemists before them, the Arabic alchemists

referred to a metal by the name of the planet that was thought to exert influence over

it, so that recipes included Moon for silver, Mercury for quicksilver, Venus for

copper, Sun for gold, Mars for iron, Jupiter for tin, and Saturn for lead. Modern

readers must bear in mind that even when the names of the alchemical ingredients

appear identical to those used in modern chemistry, they rarely designate the same

substance.






Gabriele Ferrario

Arabic Alchemists

Our knowledge of Arabic alchemists has been largely mediated through the voices of

their Latin translators, whose works are more likely to have survived to the present

day. Scholarly research in this field is still in the preliminary stages, and every new

discovery, every new edition of a manuscript, can lead to substantial changes in our

perception of the history of Arabic alchemy. Even so, two philosophers have emerged

as leading figures.

Jabir ibn Hayyan was born in Tus (in present-day Iran) in 721/2. Besides his Islamic

studies, he was well educated in mathematics and science. After settling in the city of

Kufa, he became the court alchemist of the Abbasid caliph Harun Al-Rashid (786–

809) and was reportedly a close friend of the sixth imam, Ja‘far AlSadiq. He

probably died in 803. Given the enormous number of alchemical books that have



been attributed to him (more than 300) and the fact that the word jabir can mean

“the one who rectifies things,” some scholars have suggested that the Corpus

Jabirianum should be seen as the work of a group of anonymous alchemists. Some

of the most famous books traditionally attributed to Jabir include Mi’a wa-ithna

‘ashara kitaban (The One Hundred and Twelve Books), which explains how to

produce the elixir from vegetables and animals and was supposedly based on Ja‘far

Al-Sadiq’s teachings; Kitab al-sab’in (The Book of the Seventy), a rich source for

studying the operations and the equipment of medieval Arabic alchemy; Kutub al-

tashih (The Books on Rectification), a survey of the progress of earlier alchemists;

and Kitab al-mizan (The Book of the Balance), in which Jabir clearly outlines the

double aim of his alchemical practice as both the transmutation of bodies in the

laboratory and the transformation of his own soul. Jabir’s importance is not limited

to the history of Arabic alchemy: numerous translations of his works appeared in

Latin, and an abundant pseudo-Jabirian literature was transmitted under the name

of Geber.

Muhammad ibn Zakariya Al-Razi was born around 864 in the city of Rayy (in

present-day Iran). A versatile mind, he was well learned in mathematics, astronomy,

astrology, music, and medicine. In this last field Latin translations of his works—

together with Avicenna’s Canon—became the basis of the cursus studiorum for

European students of medicine. Tradition holds that he lost his sight as a

consequence of one of his alchemical experiments, but in spite of his blindness he

was appointed head of the Baghdad hospital, where he remained in charge until his

death in 925. His most important and influential alchemical book is the Sirr al-

Asrar (the Latin Secretum secretorum, Secret of Secrets), in which he explains

alchemical operations in detail and describes the equipment and ingredients needed

in a medieval alchemical laboratory in a plain and clear style.

Historians of science would do well to look to the works of Al-Razi rather than Jabir’s

highly complex and symbolic Corpus for evidence on how to reconstruct a medieval

alchemical laboratory. Al-Razi mentions two groups of instruments: those used for

melting metals and those used for preparing other substances. In the first group he

lists the furnace (kur), bellows (minfakh), crucible (bawtaqa), double crucible (but

bar but, known as botus barbatus to Latin alchemists), spoon (mighrafa), tweezers

(masik), scissors (miqta‘), hammer (mukassir), and file (mibrad). In the second

group we find the cucurbit (qar’), alembic with evacuation tube (anbiq dhu khatm),

receiving matrass (qabila), blind alembic (al-anibiq al-a‘ma), vessel for liquids

(qadah), cauldron (marjal or tanjir), and oven (al-tannur), as well as a cylindrical

pot used for heating the matrass (mustawqid), different kinds of vessels (qarura),

funnels, sieves, filters, and so on. Al-Razi’s clear descriptions of operations have

made it possible to identify some of the alchemical procedures referred to in Arabic

texts: tadbir is the word used in general for defining the treatment of bodies; sahq






indicates grinding, decomposing, and the production of amalgams; hall or tahlil is

solution; iqama is the procedure for solidifying; sabk is the fusion of metals; and

taqtir means distillation and filtering.

As with the works attributed to Geber, many of the books attributed to Al-Razi— or

the Latin author Rhazes—are pseudepigraphical. Given Al-Razi’s wide fame and the

general medieval trend to fake the attribution of alchemical books, this should not

come as a surprise.






Al-Kimya: Notes on Arabic AlchemyGabriele Ferrario

The Legacy of Arabic Alchemy

Today no one doubts that Latin alchemy is mainly based on Arabic heritage. Before

the first infiltrations of Arabic alchemical texts, the Latin West knew only a few

translations of Greek books of recipes, largely out of context. The history of the

influence of Arabic alchemy in the West faces some major problems directly

connected with its sources: not all the Latin translations from Arabic are cataloged or

identified, their handwritten tradition is scarcely known, and translators’ names are

rarely specified.

Translations of complete Arabic alchemical treatises started to appear with

regularity in the first half of the 12th century. Robert of Chester, Hugo of Santalla,






Arnold of Villanove, Albert the Great, Gerard of Cremona, and Raymond of Marseille

dedicated their efforts to the translation of Arabic alchemical treatises by Jabir, Al-

Razi, and other known or anonymous Arabic alchemists. By the first decades of the

13th century, Arabic-language alchemical knowledge seems to have been completely

absorbed by Latin authors who started to produce original works on alchemy

strongly influenced by what they could read in previous translations. Alchemical

passages in the works of Albert the Great, Roger Bacon, Michael Scot, and Hermann

of Caryntia testify to the degree of assimilation of Arabic-language alchemical

doctrines in the West. It was only in the Renaissance that Latin authors, in search of

closer contacts with the ancients, started to recreate a line of tradition that reached

back directly to the Greeks, skipping over the Islamic world altogether.

Gabriele Ferrario recently obtained a Ph.D. in Oriental studies at Ca’ Foscari

University in Venice. He is currently Frances A. Yates Fellow at the Warburg

Institute (London) and has been awarded a Neville Fellowship at CHF for early

2008.



al-kimya_ notes on arabic alchemy _ chemical heritage foundation

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