Encyclopedia of Islam

alchemy

  

29  J

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alchemists accepted that God was the first creator 

of the cosmos, but they believed humans could 

also become creators if they could only unlock 

the secrets of the universe’s elements and qualities 

and learn how to transform them through their 

laboratory experimentation.

Although there is a substantial body of medi-

eval Arabic texts on alchemy, the subject is in 

need of more study before a definitive history 

can be written. It appears to have become an 

important topic in Islamicate lands during the 

ninth and 10th centuries, but some Muslim reli-

gious authorities refuted its doctrines because 

they deviated from what they believed to be true 

Islam. Early Arabic alchemical literature consisted 

of translations of Greek texts, especially those 

associated with Hermes Trismegistos, a mystical 

figure who was identified with the ancient Egyp-

tian god of writing and wisdom, Thoth. Indeed, 

e

gypt

 was thought to be the ancient homeland 

of the alchemical tradition. To give it a more 

Islamic stamp, authors constructed a genealogy of 

sources that included a curious variety of figures 

such as a

li

 

ibn

 a

bi

 t

alib

 (Muhammad’s cousin, d. 

661), Maria the Copt (one of Muhammad’s con-

cubines), Khalid ibn Yazid (an Umayyad prince, 

d. 683), J

aaFar

 

al

-s

adiq

 (the sixth Shii imam, d. 

765), and a number of Sufis. The grand master 

of the Islamic alchemical tradition was Jabir ibn 

Hayyan (d. 815), a shadowy historical figure 

with Sufi and Shii affinities who was said to have 

been a friend and disciple of Jaafar al-Sadiq in 

Baghdad. He was credited with authoring a huge 

body of alchemical literature, some of which 

was translated into Latin and transmitted from 

a

ndalUsia

 to Europe, where it helped inspire the 

Renaissance tradition of alchemy. Indeed, modern 

scholars have concluded that Arab alchemy, with 

its experimental undertakings and theoretical 

outlook, played a key role in the development of 

modern chemistry.