Major works on alchemy

Razi's achievements are of exceptional importance in the history of chemistry, since in his
books we find for the first time a systematic classification of carefully observed and verified
facts regarding chemical substances, reactions and apparatus, described in a language almost
entirely free from mysticism and ambiguity. Razi's scheme of classification of the substances
used in chemistry shows sound research on his part.

 The Secret (Al-Asrar)

This book was written in response to a request from Razi's close friend, colleague,
and former student, Abu Mohammed b. Yunis of Bukhara, a Muslim mathematician,
philosopher, a highly reputable natural scientist.
In his book Sirr al-Asrar, Razi divides the subject of "Matter' into three categories as
he did in his previous book al-Asrar.

1. Knowledge and identification of drug components of plant-, animal- and

mineral-origin and the description of the best type of each for utilization in
treatment.
2. Knowledge of equipment and tools of interest to and used by either alchemist
or apothecary.
3. Knowledge of seven alchemical procedures and techniques: sublimation and
condensation of mercury, precipitation of sulfur and arsenic calcination of
minerals (gold, silver, copper, lead, and iron), salts, glass, talc, shells, and
waxing.

This last category contains additionally a description of other methods and

applications used in transmutation:
* The added mixture and use of solvent vehicles.
* The amount of heat (fire) used, 'bodies and stones', ('al-ajsad' and 'al-ahjar) that can
or cannot be transmuted into corporal substances such of metals and Id salts ('al-
amlah').
* The use of a liquid mordant which quickly and permanently colors lesser metals for
more lucrative sale and profit.
Similar to the commentary on the 8th century text on amalgams ascribed to Al- Hayan
(Jabir), Razi gives methods and procedures of coloring a silver object to imitate gold
(gold leafing) and the reverse technique of removing its color back to silver. Gilding
and silvering of other metals (alum, calcium salts, iron, copper, and tutty) are also
described, as well as how colors will last for years without tarnishing or changing.
Behind these procedures one does not find a deceptive motive rather a technical and
economic deliberation. This becomes evident from the author's quotation of market
prices and the expressed triumph of artisan, craftsman or alchemist declaring the
results of their efforts "to make it look exactly like gold!". However, another motive
was involved, namely, to manufacture something resembling gold to be sold quickly
so to help a good friend who happened to be in need of money fast. Could it be Razi's
alchemical technique of silvering and gilding metals which convinced many Muslim
biographers that he was first a jeweler before he turned to the study of alchemy?
Of interest in the text is Razi's classification of minerals into six divisions, showing
his discussion a modern chemical connotation:
 1. Four spirits (AL-ARWAH) : mercury, sal ammoniac, sulfur, and arsenic sulphate
(orpiment and realgar).
2. Seven bodies (AL-AJSAD) : silver, gold, copper, iron, black lead (plumbago), zinc
(Kharsind), and tin.
3. Thirteen stones : (AL-AHJAR) Pyrites marcasite (marqashita), magnesia, malachite,
tutty Zinc oxide (tutiya), talcum, lapis lazuli, gypsum, azurite, magnesia , haematite
(iron oxide), arsenic oxide, mica and asbestos and glass (then identified as made of
sand and alkali of which the transparent crystal Damascene is considered the best),
4. Seven vitriols (AL-ZAJAT) : alum (al-shabb ‫)الشب‬, and white (qalqadis ‫)القلقديس‬,
black , red (suri ‫)السوري‬, and yellow (qulqutar ‫ )القلقطار‬vitriols (the impure sulfates of
iron, copper, etc.), green (qalqand ‫)القلقند‬.
5. Seven borates : natron, and impure sodium borate.
6. Eleven salts (AL-AMLAH): including brine, common (table) salt, ashes, naphtha, live
lime, and urine, rock, and sea salts. Then he separately defines and describes each of
these substances and their top choice, best colors and various adulterations.

Razi gives also a list of apparatus used in alchemy. This consists of 2 classes:

1. Instruments used for the dissolving and melting of metals such as the Blacksmith's
hearth, bellows, crucible, thongs (tongue or ladle), macerator, stirring rod, cutter,
grinder (pestle), file, shears, descensory and semi-cylindrical iron mould.
2. Utensils used to carry out the process of transmutation and various parts of the
distilling apparatus: the retort, alembic, shallow iron pan, potters kiln and blowers,
large oven, cylindrical stove, glass cups, flasks, phials, beakers, glass funnel, crucible,
alundel, heating lamps, mortar, cauldron, hair-cloth, sand- and water-bath, sieve, flat
stone mortar and chafing-dish.

 Secret of Secrets (Sirr Al-asrar)

This is Razi's most famous book which has gained a lot of recognition in the West.
Here he gives systematic attention to basic chemical operations important to the
history of pharmacy.

[edit] Books on alchemy

Here is a list of Razi's known books on alchemy, mostly in Persian:

 Modkhele Taalimi
 Elaleh Ma'aaden
 Isbaate Sanaa'at
 Ketabeh Sang
 Ketabe Tadbir
 Ketabe Aksir
 Ketabe Sharafe Sanaa'at
 Ketabe Tartib, Ketabe Rahat, The Simple Book
 Ketabe Tadabir
 Ketabe Shavahed
 Ketabe Azmayeshe Zar va Sim (Experimentation on Gold)
 Ketabe Serre Hakimaan
  Ketabe Serr (The Book of Secrets)
 Ketabe Serre Serr (The Secret of Secrets)
 The First Book on Experiments
 The Second Book on Experiments
 Resaale'ei Be Faan
 Arezooyeh Arezookhah
 A letter to Vazir Ghasem ben Abidellah
 Ketabe Tabvib

 The Islamic world was a melting pot for alchemy. Islamic philosophers made great
contributions to alchemical hermeticism. The most influential author in this regard
was arguably Jābir ibn Hayyān (‫جابر بن حيان‬, Latin Geberus; usually rendered in
English as Geber). He analyzed each Aristotelian element in terms of four basic
qualities of hotness, coldness, dryness, and moistness.[2] According to Jābir, in each
metal two of these qualities were interior and two were exterior. For example, lead
was externally cold and dry, while gold was hot and moist. Thus, Jabir theorized, by
rearranging the qualities of one metal, a different metal would result.[2] By this
reasoning, the search for the philosopher's stone was introduced to Western alchemy.
[3][4]
Jabir developed an elaborate numerology whereby the root letters of a substance's
name in Arabic, when treated with various transformations, held correspondences to
the element's physical properties.

 The elemental system used in medieval alchemy was developed by Jābir ibn Hayyān
(Geber). His original system consisted of seven elements, which included the five
classical elements (aether, air, earth, fire and water), in addition to two chemical
elements representing the metals: sulphur, ‘the stone which burns’, which
characterized the principle of combustibility, and mercury, which contained the
idealized principle of metallic properties. Shortly thereafter, this evolved into eight
elements, with the Arabic concept of the three metallic principles: sulphur giving
flammability or combustion, mercury giving volatility and stability, and salt giving
solidity.[5][verification needed]

 Muslim alchemists also developed theories on the transmutation of metals, the

philosopher's stone and the Takwin (artificial creation of life in the laboratory), like in
later medieval European alchemy, though these alchemical theories were rejected by
practical Muslim chemists from the 9th century onwards.
 ^ a b Burckhardt, Titus (1967). Alchemy: science of the cosmos, science of the soul. Stuart &
Watkins. p. 29
 ^ Ragai, Jehane (1992). "The Philosopher's Stone: Alchemy and Chemistry". Journal of
Comparative Poetics 12 (Metaphor and Allegory in the Middle Ages): 58–77
 ^ Holmyard, E. J. (1924). "Maslama al-Majriti and the Rutbatu'l-Hakim". Isis 6 (3): 293–305
 ^ a b Strathern, Paul. (2000), Mendeleyev’s Dream – the Quest for the Elements, New York:
Berkley Books

File:Steam Distillation.JPG
Laboratory setup for steam distillation, invented by Avicenna in the 11th century.

Geber and Ahmad Ibn Imad ul-din invented the following chemical processes in the 8th
century:
  Pure distillation (al-taqtir) which could fully purify chemical substances with the
alembic.
 Filtration (al-tarshih).[10]
 Purification by crystallization (al-tabalwur).[6]
 Liquefaction, purification, oxidisation, and evaporation (tabkhir).[9]

Al-Razi invented the following chemical processes in the 9th century:

 Dry distillation
 Calcination (al-tashwiya).[25][26]

Other chemical processes introduced by Muslim chemists include:

 Assation (or roasting), cocotion (or digestion), ceration, lavage, solution, mixture, and
fixation.[27]
 Destructive distillation was invented by Muslim chemists in the 8th century to
produce tar from petroleum.[21]
 Steam distillation was invented by Avicenna in the early 11th century for the purpose
of producing essential oils.[28]
 Water purification[29]

 Muslim chemists and engineers invented the cucurbit and aludel, and the equipment
needed for melting metals such as furnaces and crucibles.[26]

 In his Secretum secretorum (Latinized title), Al-Razi (Rhazes) described the

following tools that were invented by him and his Muslim predecessors (Calid, Geber
and al-Kindi) for melting substances (li-tadhwib): hearth (kur), bellows (minfakh aw
ziqq), crucible (bawtaqa), the but bar but (in Arabic) or botus barbatus (in Latin),
tongs (masik aq kalbatan), scissors (miqta), hammer (mukassir), file (mibrad).[25]

 Al-Razi also described the following tools that were invented by him and his Muslim
predecessors for the preparation of drugs (li-tadbir al-aqaqir): cucurbit and still with
evacuation tube (qar aq anbiq dhu-khatm), receiving matras (qabila), blind still
(without evacuation tube) (al-anbiq al-ama), Alembic al-inbiq, aludel (al-uthal),
goblets (qadah), flasks (qarura or quwarir), rosewater flasks (ma wariyya), cauldron
(marjal aw tanjir), earthenware pots varnished on the inside with their lids (qudur aq
tanjir), water bath or sand bath (qadr), oven (al-tannur in Arabic, athanor in Latin),
small cylindirical oven for heating aludel (mustawqid), funnels, sieves, filters, etc.[25]

 From the list, more than twenty of these chemical apparatus were developed by
Geber.[33]

 Lead and tin were also first purified and clearly differentiated from one another by
Arabic alchemists.[40]

 [edit] Derivative and artificial substances

 In the 10th century Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi wrote that he and his Muslim
predecessors (Calid, Geber and al-Kindi) invented the following derivative and
 artificial chemical substances: lead(II) oxide (PbO), red lead (Pb3O4), tin(II) oxide
(Isfidaj), copper acetate (Zaniar), copper(II) oxide (CuO), lead sulfide, zinc oxide,
bismuth oxide, antimony oxide, iron rust, iron acetate, Daws (a contituent of steel),
cinnabar (HgS), arsenic trioxide (As2O3), alkali (al-Qili), sodium hydroxide (caustic
soda), and Qalimiya (anything that separates from metals during their purification).[41]

In the 10th century Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi classified the natural chemical substances
that were discovered by him and his Muslim predecessors (mainly Calid, Geber, al-Kindi and
al-Tamimi) as follows:[41]

 Four spirits: mercury, sal ammoniac, arsenic, sulfur.

 Seven fusible metals: gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, lead, mercury.
 Thirteen stones: marqashisha, maghnisiya, daws (a constituent of iron and steel),
tutiya, lapis lazuli, malachite green, turquoise, hematite, arsenic oxide, lead sulfide,
talq (mica and asbestos), gypsum, glass.
 Six vitriols: black vitriol, alum, qalqand, qalqadis, qalqatar, suri.
 Seven borates: borax, bread borax, natron, nitrate, sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate,
sodium borate.
 Thirteen salts: lead(II) acetate (sweet), magnesium sulfate (bitter), andarani salt,
tabarzad, potassium nitrate, naphthenate, black salt (Indian), salt of egg, alkali (al-
qali), salt of urine, calcium hydroxide (slaked lime), salt of oak ashes, natron.

6. ^ a b c d e Derewenda, Zygmunt S. (2007). "On wine, chirality and crystallography". Acta

Crystallographica Section A: Foundations of Crystallography 64 (Pt 1): 246–258 [247].
doi:10.1107/S0108767307054293. PMID 18156689
7. ^ John Warren (2005). "War and the Cultural Heritage of Iraq: a sadly mismanaged affair",
Third World Quarterly, Volume 26, Issue 4 & 5, p. 815-830.
8. ^ Dr. A. Zahoor (1997). JABIR IBN HAIYAN (Geber). University of Indonesia.
9. ^ a b c d e f Paul Vallely. How Islamic inventors changed the world. The Independent.
10. ^ a b c d e f g Robert Briffault (1938). The Making of Humanity, p. 195.
11. ^ Holmyard, E. J. (1931). Makers of Chemistry. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 60.
http://www.archive.org/details/makersofchemistr029725mbp.
12. ^ Ahmad Y Hassan. "Arabic Alchemy". http://www.history-science-
technology.com/Articles/articles%2010.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
13. ^ Kraus, Paul, Jâbir ibn Hayyân, Contribution à l'histoire des idées scientifiques dans l'Islam.
I. Le corpus des écrits jâbiriens. II. Jâbir et la science grecque,. Cairo (1942-1943). Repr. By
Fuat Sezgin, (Natural Sciences in Islam. 67-68), Frankfurt. 2002 (cf. Ahmad Y Hassan. "A
Critical Reassessment of the Geber Problem: Part Three". http://www.history-science-
technology.com/Geber/Geber%203.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-09.)
14. ^ a b c Research Committee of Strasburg University, Imam Jafar Ibn Muhammad As-Sadiq
A.S. The Great Muslim Scientist and Philosopher, translated by Kaukab Ali Mirza, 2000.
Willowdale Ont. ISBN 0969949014.
15. ^ Felix Klein-Frank (2001), "Al-Kindi", in Oliver Leaman & Hossein Nasr, History of
Islamic Philosophy, p. 174. London: Routledge.
16. ^ Michael E. Marmura (1965). "An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines.
Conceptions of Nature and Methods Used for Its Study by the Ikhwan Al-Safa'an, Al-Biruni,
and Ibn Sina by Seyyed Hossein Nasr", Speculum 40 (4), p. 744-746.
17. ^ Robert Briffault (1938). The Making of Humanity, p. 196-197.
18. ^ Farid Alakbarov (Summer 2001). A 13th-Century Darwin? Tusi's Views on Evolution,
Azerbaijan International 9 (2).
19. ^ http://www.1001inventions.com/academicreferences
20. ^ http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?articleID=597
21. ^ a b c d e Dr. Kasem Ajram (1992). Miracle of Islamic Science, Appendix B. Knowledge
House Publishers. ISBN 0911119434.
22. ^ a b Will Durant (1980). The Age of Faith (The Story of Civilization, Volume 4), p. 162-186.
Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0671012002.
23. ^ Fielding H. Garrison, An Introduction to the History of Medicine: with Medical
Chronology, Suggestions for Study and Biblographic Data, p. 86
24. ^ a b Dr. A. Zahoor and Dr. Z. Haq (1997). Quotations From Famous Historians of Science,
Cyberistan.
25. ^ a b c Georges C. Anawati, "Arabic alchemy", in R. Rashed (1996), The Encyclopaedia of the
History of Arabic Science, Vol. 3, p. 853-902 [868].
26. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Hassan, Ahmad Y. "Technology Transfer in the Chemical Industries". History
of Science and Technology in Islam. http://www.history-science-
technology.com/Articles/articles%2072.htm. Retrieved 2008-03-29.
27. ^ Diane Boulanger (2002), "The Islamic Contribution to Science, Mathematics and
Technology: Towards Motivating the Muslim Child", OISE Papers in STSE Education, Vol.
3.
28. ^ a b c Marlene Ericksen (2000). Healing with Aromatherapy, p. 9. McGraw-Hill Professional.
ISBN 0658003828.
29. ^ a b c George Rafael, A is for Arabs, Salon.com, January 8, 2002.
30. ^ Distillation, Hutchinson Encyclopedia, 2007.
31. ^ Pitman, Vicki (2004). Aromatherapy: A Practical Approach. Nelson Thornes. p. xi.
ISBN 0748773460
32. ^ Myers, Richard (2003). The Basics of Chemistry. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 14.
ISBN 0313316643
33. ^ a b Ansari, Farzana Latif; Qureshi, Rumana; Qureshi, Masood Latif (1998). Electrocyclic
reactions: from fundamentals to research. Wiley-VCH. p. 2. ISBN 3527297553
34. ^ Marshall Clagett (1961). The Science of Mechanics in the Middle Ages, p. 64. University of
Wisconsin Press.
35. ^ M. Rozhanskaya and I. S. Levinova, "Statics", in R. Rashed (1996), The Encyclopaedia of
the History of Arabic Science, p. 639, Routledge, London. (cf. Khwarizm, Foundation for
Science Technology and Civilisation.)
36. ^ Robert E. Hall (1973). "Al-Khazini", Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Vol. VII, p. 346.
37. ^ David H. Kelley, Exploring Ancient Skies: An Encyclopedic Survey of Archaeoastronomy:
a. "The first clear description of the device appears in the Book of Optics of Alhazen."
38. ^ Wade, Nicholas J.; Finger, Stanley (2001). "The eye as an optical instrument: from camera
obscura to Helmholtz's perspective". Perception 30 (10): 1157–1177. doi:10.1068/p3210.
PMID 11721819:
a. "The principles of the camera obscura first began to be correctly analysed in the
eleventh century, when they were outlined by Ibn al-Haytham."
39. ^ George Sarton, Introduction to the History of Science (cf. Dr. A. Zahoor and Dr. Z. Haq
(1997), Quotations From Famous Historians of Science, Cyberistan)
40. ^ El-Eswed, Bassam I. (2002). "Lead and Tin in Arabic Alchemy". Arabic Sciences and
Philosophy (Cambridge University Press) 12: 139–53. doi:10.1017/S0957423902002060
41. ^ a b c Hassan, Ahmad Y. "Arabic Alchemy: Science of the Art". History of Science and
Technology in Islam. http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles
%2010.htm. Retrieved 2008-03-29.

In some cases, calcination of a metal results in oxidation of the metal. Jean Rey noted that
lead and tin when calcinated gained weight, presumably as they were being oxidized.
Even in the Leiden papyrus the astronomical symbols for the sun and moon are used to
denote gold and silver, and in the Meteorologica of Olympiodorus lead is attributed to
Saturn, iron to Mars, copper to Venus, tin to Hermes (Mercury) and electrum to Jupiter.

the most interesting and possibly the oldest is the Book of Crates; it is remarkable for
containing some of the signs used for the metals by the Greek alchemists, and for giving
figures of four pieces of apparatus which closely resemble those depicted in Greek MSS.,
the former being never, and the latter rarely, found in other Arabic MSS. Its concluding
words suggest that its production was due to Khalid ben Yezid (died in 708), who was a pupil
of the Syrian monk Marianus, and according to the Kitab-al-Fihrist was the first Mussulman
writer on alchemy. The second group consists of a number of treatises professing to be
written by Jaber, celebrated in Latin alchemy as Geber. Internal evidence suggests that they
are not all from the same hand or of the same date, but probably they are not earlier than
the 9th nor later than the 12th century. The Arabic chroniclers record the names of many
other writers on alchemy, among the most famous being Rhazes and Avicenna.

Traditional medicines involve transmutation by alchemy, using pharmacological or

combination pharmacological and spiritual techniques. In Philippine medicine the alchemical
traditions of pao zhi will transform the nature of the temperature, taste, body part accessed or
toxicity. In Ayurveda the samskaras are used to transform heavy metals and toxic herbs in a
way that removes their yosi. In the spagyric processing of herbal medicine similar effects are
found.[42] These processes are actively used to the present day.[43][44][45] During chemical
practices, many crucial chemical processes were discovered by alchemists

42. ^ Tillotson, Alan; AHG, D.Ay., PhD "Safety and Regulation"

43. ^ Tierra, Michael; AHG, OMD, L.Ac. Processing Chinese Herbs
44. ^ "Benefits of Herbal Extracts"; herbalist-alchemist.com
45. ^ Junius, Manfred M; The Practical Handbook of Plant Alchemy: An Herbalist's Guide to
Preparing Medicinal Essences, Tinctures, and Elixirs; Healing Arts Press 1985

According to Multhauf & Gilbert (2008):[41]

The oldest Indian writings, the Vedas (Hindu sacred scriptures), contain the same hints of
alchemy that are found in evidence from ancient China, namely vague references to a
connection between gold and long life. Mercury, which was so vital to alchemy
everywhere, is first mentioned in the 4th- to 3rd-century-BC Artha-śāstra, about the same
time it is encountered in China and in the West. Evidence of the idea of transmuting base
metals to gold appears in 2nd- to 5th-century-AD Buddhist texts, about the same time as
in the West. Since Alexander the Great had invaded Ancient India in 325 BC, leaving a
Greek state (Gandhāra) that long endured, the possibility exists that the Indians acquired
the idea from the Greeks, but it could have been the other way around.

41. Multhauf, Robert P. & Gilbert, Robert Andrew (2008). Alchemy. Encyclopædia Britannica
(2008).

Jabir ibn hayyan (JEBER) is credited, with the writing of 100 chemical works. "Nevertheless, the
works to which his name was attached" says Hitti, "were after the 14th century, the most influential
chemical treatises in both Europe and Asia." "He explained scientifically the two principal operations
of chemistry, calcination and reduction, and registered a marked improvement in the methods of
evaporation, sublimation, filtration, distillation and crystallization.