Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: John P. Halstead, Rebirth of a Nation: 

The Origins and Rise of Moroccan Nationalism (Cam-

bridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1967); Abdallah 

Laroui, The History of the Maghrib: An Interpretive Essay

(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1977).

alchemy

 

(Arabic: 

al-kimiya)

Alchemy is a combination of chemistry and magi-

cal knowledge that originated with the Greeks, 

developed in Islamicate lands, and was transmit-

ted from there to medieval Europe. The outward 

purpose of alchemy was to transform base metals 

such as lead into precious ones such as silver and 

gold. Alchemists engaged in a range of related 

efforts, such as trying to create life and search-

ing for a medicine to prolong it—an elixir of 

immortality. Their ideas recognized the ancient 

Greek division of the natural world into four ele-

ments (earth, fire, water, and air) plus four quali-

ties (hot, cold, moist, and dry). They believed 

in astrology, too, which meant that alchemists 

thought there was a correspondence between the 

heavenly world and the earthly world. All mat-

ter and spirit, though outwardly different, were 

really one in essence. Alchemy seeks to play upon 

this supposed inner unity to change or transform 

an imperfect or lesser phenomenon into a more 

perfect, purified one. Not only might lead be 

transformed into gold, but the human soul itself 

could be purified of worldly stain. In attempting 

this, alchemy merges with metaphysics. Muslim