For other people known as Geber, see
Geber.
| Jābir ibn Hayyān |
15th-century European portrait of "Geber", Codici Ashburnhamiani 1166, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence |
| Title | Abu Musa Jābir ibn Hayyān |
| Born | 722 AD |
| Died | c. 804 AD |
| Ethnicity | Persian[1] or Arab[2][3] |
| School tradition | Shī‘ah[4][5] |
| Main interests | Alchemy and Chemistry, Astronomy, Astrology, Medicine and Pharmacy, Philosophy, Physics, philanthropist |
| Works | Kitab al-Kimya, Kitab al-Sab'een, Book of the Kingdom, Book of the Balances , Book of Eastern Mercury, etc. |
| Influences | Ja'far al-Sadiq, Alchemy, Harbi al-Himyari |
| Influenced | Al-Kindi, Alchemy, Chemistry |
Abu Mūsā Jābir ibn Hayyān (al-Azdi / al-Kufi / al-Tusi / al-Sufi), often known simply as
Geber, (
Persian: جابر بن حیان)(
Arabic:
جابر بن حیان) (born c. 721 in
Tus,
Persia; died c. 815 in
Kufa,
Iraq)
[6] was a prominent
polymath: a
chemist and alchemist,
astronomer and
astrologer,
engineer,
geographer,
philosopher,
physicist, and
pharmacist and physician. Born and educated in Tus, he later traveled to Kufa. Jābir is held to have been the first practical alchemist.
[7]As early as the tenth century, the identity and exact corpus of works of Jābir was in dispute in Islamic circles.
[8] His name was Latinized as "Geber" in the Christian West and in 13th century Europe an anonymous writer, usually referred to as
Pseudo-Geber, produced alchemical and metallurgical writings under the pen-name Geber.
Early references
In 987
Ibn al-Nadim compiled the
Kitab al-Fihrist which mentions Jabir as a spiritual leader and as a companion to
Jafar as-Sadiq (he is not listed among the students of Jafar as-Sadiq but many of the writings of the Jabirian corpus are dedicated to Jafar as-Sadiq). In another reference al-Nadim reports that a group of philosophers claimed Jabir was one of their own members. Another group, reported by al-Nadim, says only
The Large Book of Mercy is genuine and that the rest are pseudographical. Their assertions are rejected by al-Nadim.
[9] Joining al-Nadim in asserting a real Jabir;
Ibn-Wahshiyya ("Jaber ibn Hayyn al-Sufi ...book on poison is a great work..") Rejecting a real Jabir; (the philosopher c.970)
Abu Sulayman al-Mantiqi claims the real author is one
al-Hasan ibn al-Nakad al-Mawili. 14th century critic of Arabic literature,
Jamal al-Din ibn Nubata al-Misri declares all the writings attributed to Jabir doubtful.
[10]Life and background
Jabir was a
Natural Philosopher who lived mostly in the 8th century, he was born in
Tus,
Khorasan, in
Iran (
Persia),
[6] then ruled by the
Umayyad Caliphate. Jabir in the classical sources has been entitled differently as al-Azdi or al-Kufi or al-Tusi or al-Sufi.
[11] There is a difference of opinion
[11] as to whether he was an Arab from Kufa who lived in Khurasan or a Persian from Khorasan who later went to Kufa or whether he was, as some have suggested, of Syrian origin and later lived in Persia and Iraq.
[11] His ethnic background is not clear,
[11] and sources reference him as an Arab or a Persian.
[1] In some sources, he is reported to have been the son of Hayyan al-Azdi, a
pharmacist of the
Arabian Azd tribe who emigrated from
Yemen to
Kufa (in present-day
Iraq) during the
Umayyad Caliphate.
[12][13] while
Henry Corbin believes Geber seems to have been a client of the 'Azd tribe.
[14] Jābir became an alchemist at the court of
Caliph Harun al-Rashid, for whom he wrote the
Kitab al-Zuhra ("The Book of Venus", on "the noble art of alchemy").
[citation needed] Hayyan had supported the
Abbasid revolt against the Umayyads, and was sent by them to the province of
Khorasan (present day Afghanistan and Iran) to gather support for their cause. He was eventually caught by the Ummayads and executed. His family fled to Yemen,
[12][15] where Jābir grew up and studied the Quran, mathematics and other subjects.
[12] Jābir's father's profession may have contributed greatly to his interest in
alchemy.
After the Abbasids took power, Jābir went back to Kufa. He began his career practicing medicine, under the patronage of a
Vizir (from the noble Persian family
Barmakids) of Caliph
Harun al-Rashid. His connections to the Barmakid cost him dearly in the end. When that family fell from grace in 803, Jābir was placed under house arrest in Kufa, where he remained until his death.
It has been asserted that Jābir was a student of the sixth
Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq and
Harbi al-Himyari,
[5][8] however other scholars have questioned this theory.
[16]The Jabirian corpus
An illustration of the various experiments and instruments used by Jabir Ibn Hayyan.
In total, nearly 3,000 treatises and articles are credited to Jabir ibn Hayyan.
[17] Following the pioneering work of Paul Kraus, who demonstrated that a corpus of some several hundred works ascribed to Jābir were probably a medley from different hands,
[10][18] mostly dating to the late ninth and early tenth centuries, many scholars believe that many of these works consist of commentaries and additions by his followers,
[citation needed] particularly of an
Ismaili persuasion.
[19]The scope of the corpus is vast: cosmology, music, medicine, magic, biology, chemical technology, geometry, grammar, metaphysics, logic, artificial generation of living beings, along with astrological predictions, and symbolic Imâmî myths.
[10]- The 112 Books dedicated to the Barmakids, viziers of Caliph Harun al-Rashid. This group includes the Arabic version of the Emerald Tablet, an ancient work that proved a recurring foundation of and source for alchemical operations. In the Middle Ages it was translated into Latin (Tabula Smaragdina) and widely diffused among European alchemists.
- The Seventy Books, most of which were translated into Latin during the Middle Ages. This group includes the Kitab al-Zuhra ("Book of Venus") and the Kitab Al-Ahjar ("Book of Stones").
- The Ten Books on Rectification, containing descriptions of alchemists such as Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
- The Books on Balance; this group includes his most famous 'Theory of the balance in Nature'.
Jābir states in his
Book of Stones (4:12) that "The purpose is to baffle and lead into error everyone except those whom God loves and provides for". His works seem to have been deliberately written in highly esoteric code (see
steganography), so that only those who had been initiated into his alchemical school could understand them. It is therefore difficult at best for the modern reader to discern which aspects of Jābir's work are to be read as symbols (and what those symbols mean), and what is to be taken literally. Because his works rarely made overt sense, the term
gibberish is believed to have originally referred to his writings (Hauck, p. 19).
People
Jābir's interest in alchemy was probably inspired by his teacher
Ja'far as-Sadiq. When he used to talk about alchemy, he would say "my master Ja'far as-Sadiq taught me about calcium, evaporation, distillation and crystallization and everything I learned in alchemy was from my master Ja'far as-Sadiq." Imam Jafar was famed for his depth and breadth of knowldege. In addition to his knowledge of Islamic sciences, Imam Jafar was well educated in natural sciences, mathematics, philosophy , astronomy , anatomy , chemistry (alchemy), and other subjects. The foremost Islamic alchemist Jabir bin Hayyan (known in Europe as Geber) was his most prominent student. Other famous students of his were Imam Abu Hanifa and Imam Malik Ibn Anas, the founders of two Sunni schools of jurisprudence, and Wasil ibn Ata, the founder of the Mutazilite school of Islamic thought. Imam Jafar was known for his liberal views on learning, and was keen to debate with scholars of different faiths and of different beliefs. Imam Abu Hanifa is quoted by many souces as having said "My knowledge extends to only two years. The two I spent with Imam Jafar Sadiq", some Islamic scholars have gone so far as to call Imam Jafar Saddiq as the root of most of Islamic jurisprudence, having a massive influence on Hanafi, Maliki and Shia schools of thought extending well into mainstream Hanbali and Shafi'i thought. Imam Jafar also attained a surpassing knowledge in astronomy and in the science of medicine. it is said that he wrote more than five hundred books on health care which were compiled and annotated by another great scholar and scientist of Islam, Jabir bin Hayyan
Jābir professes to draw his inspiration from earlier writers, legendary and historic, on the subject.
[20] In his writings, Jābir pays tribute to Egyptian and Greek alchemists
Zosimos, Democritus,
Hermes Trismegistus,
Agathodaimon, but also
Plato,
Aristotle,
Galen,
Pythagoras, and
Socrates as well as the commentators
Alexander of Aphrodisias Simplicius,
Porphyry and others.
[10] A huge pseudo-epigraphic literature of alchemical books was composed in Arabic, among which the names of
Persian authors also appear like
Jāmāsb,
Ostanes,
Mani, testifying that alchemy-like operations on metals and other substances were also practiced in
Persia. The great number of
Persian technical names (zaybaq = mercury, nošāder = sal-ammoniac) also corroborates the idea of an important Iranian root of medieval alchemy.
[21] Ibn al-Nadim reports a dialogue between
Aristotle and
Ostanes, the
Persian alchemist of
Achaemenid era, which is in Jabirian corpus under the title of Kitab Musahhaha Aristutalis.
[22] Ruska had suggested that the
Sasanian medical schools played an important role in the spread of interest in alchemy.
[21] He emphasizes the long history of alchemy, "whose origin is Arius ... the first man who applied the
first experiment on the [philosopher's] stone... and he declares that man possesses the ability to imitate the workings of Nature" (Nasr, Seyyed Hussein,
Science and Civilization of Islam).
Theories
Jābir's alchemical investigations ostensibly revolved around the ultimate goal of
takwin — the artificial creation of life. The
Book of Stones includes several recipes for creating creatures such as
scorpions,
snakes, and even
humans in a laboratory environment, which are subject to the control of their creator. What Jābir meant by these recipes is unknown.
Jābir's alchemical investigations were theoretically grounded in an elaborate
numerology related to
Pythagorean and
Neoplatonic systems. The nature and properties of elements was defined through numeric values assigned the
Arabic consonants present in their name, ultimately culminating in the
number 17.
By Jabirs' time
Aristotelian physics, had become
Neoplatonic. Each
Aristotelian element was composed of these qualities:
fire was both hot and dry,
earth, cold and dry,
water cold and moist, and
air, hot and moist. This came from the elementary qualities which are theoretical in nature plus substance. In metals two of these qualities were interior and two were exterior. For example, lead was cold and dry and gold was hot and moist. Thus, Jābir theorized, by rearranging the qualities of one metal, a different metal would result. Like
Zosimos, Jabir believed this would require a catalyst, an
al-iksir, the elusive
elixir that would make this transformation possible — which in European alchemy became known as the
philosopher's stone.
[10]According to Jabir's
mercury-sulfur theory, metals differ from each in so far as they contain different proportions of the sulfur and mercury. These are not the elements that we know by those names, but certain principles to which those elements are the closest approximation in nature.
[23] Based on Aristotle's "exhalation" theory the dry and moist exhalations become
sulfur and
mercury (sometimes called "sophic" or "philosophic" mercury and sulfur). The sulfur-mercury theory is first recorded in a 7th century work
Secret of Creation credited (falsely) to
Balinus (
Apollonius of Tyana). This view becomes wide spread.
[24] In the
Book of Explanation Jabir says
the metals are all, in essence, composed of mercury combined and coagulated with sulphur [that has risen to it in earthy, smoke-like vapors]. They differ from one another only because of the difference of their accidental qualities, and this difference is due to the difference of their sulphur, which again is caused by a variation in the soils and in their positions with respect to the heat of the sun
Holmyard says that Jabir proves by experiment that these are not ordinary sulfur and mercury.
[12]The seeds of the modern classification of elements into
metals and non-metals could be seen in his chemical nomenclature. He proposed three categories:
[25]- "Spirits" which vaporise on heating, like arsenic (realgar, orpiment), camphor, mercury, sulfur, sal ammoniac, and ammonium chloride.
- "Metals", like gold, silver, lead, tin, copper, iron, and khar-sini
- Non-malleable substances, that can be converted into powders, such as stones.
The origins of the idea of chemical
equivalents might be traced back to Jabir, in whose time it was recognized that "a certain quantity of acid is necessary in order to neutralize a given amount of base."
[26][verification needed] Jābir also made important contributions to
medicine,
astronomy/astrology, and other sciences. Only a few of his books have been edited and published, and fewer still are available in translation.
Laboratory equipment and material
Ambix, cucurbit and retort of
Zosimus, from
Marcelin Berthelot,
Collection of ancient greek alchemists (3 vol., Paris, 1887-1888).
Jabirian corpus is renowned for its contributions to
alchemy. It shows a clear recognition of the importance of
experimentation, "The first essential in chemistry is that thou shouldest perform practical work and conduct experiments, for he who performs not practical work nor makes experiments will never attain to the least degree of mastery."
[27] He is credited with the use of over twenty types of now-basic chemical
laboratory equipment,
[28] such as the
alembic[29] and
retort, and with the description of many now-commonplace chemical processes – such as
crystallisation, various forms of alchemical "distilation", and substances
citric acid (the sour component of
lemons and other unripe fruits),
acetic acid (from vinegar) and
tartaric acid (from wine-making residues),
arsenic,
antimony and
bismuth,
sulfur, and
mercury[27][28] that have become the foundation of today's
chemistry.
[30]The works in Latin under the name of Geber include these important chemical processes (Von Meyer, 1906): The manufacture of nitric and sulfuric acids; The separation of gold from other metals through the agency of lead and saltpeter (potassium nitrate). The concept of a chemical compound; the mineral cinnabar, for example, as being composed of sulfur and mercury The purification of mercury. The classification of salts as water soluble, under the generic title "sal." The introduction of the word "alkali" to designate substances such as lye and other bases. The production of nitric acid by distilling a mixture of saltpeter (potassium nitrate), copper vitriol (copper sulfate), and alum (naturally occurring sulfate of iron, potassium, sodium or aluminum). The production of sulfuric acid through the heating of alum . The production of aqua regia, a solvent capable of dissolving gold, by mixing salmiac (ammonium chloride) and nitric acid. The production of alum from alum shale by recrystallizing it from water. The purification of substances through crystallization The precipitation of silver nitrate crystals from a solution by the addition of common salt, thus establishing a test for the presence of both silver and salt. The preparation of mercuric oxide from mercury by heating it with a metallic oxide, and mercuric chloride by heating mercury with common salt, alum and saltpeter. The preparation of arsenious acid. The dissolving of sulfur in solutions of alkalies, and its transformation when it interacts with aqua regia. The theory that the different metals are composed of varying degrees of sulfur and mercury. The production of saltpeter by mixing potash (potassium carbonate) and nitric acid. ,
[31]Asimov, Isaac. 1982. Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. New York: Doubleday.
ISBN 0-385-17771-2According to
Ismail al-Faruqi and
Lois Lamya al-Faruqi, "In response to
Jafar al-Sadik's wishes, [Jabir ibn Hayyan] invented a kind of
paper that
resisted fire, and an
ink that could be
read at night. He invented an additive which, when applied to an
iron surface, inhibited
rust and when applied to a
textile, would make it
water repellent."
[32]Alcohol and the mineral acids
According to Forbes "no proof was ever found that the Arabs knew alcohol or any mineral acid in a period before they were discovered in Italy, whatever the opinion of some modern authors may be on this point."
[33] Fractional
distillation of alcohol first occurs about 1100 probably in
Salerno. Magister Salernus (died 1167) provides one of the earliest direct recipes.
[33] Directions to make
sulfuric acid,
nitric acid and
aqua regis appear in
Liber Fornacum,
De inventione perfectionis, and the
Summa.
[33]Legacy
An artistic depiction of "Geber"
Whether there was a
real Jabir in the 8th century or not, his name would become the most famous in alchemy.
[16] He paved the way for most of the later alchemists, including
al-Kindi,
al-Razi,
al-Tughrai and
al-Iraqi, who lived in the 9th-13th centuries. His books strongly influenced the medieval European alchemists
[30] and justified their search for the
philosopher's stone.
[34][35] In the
Middle Ages, Jabir's treatises on alchemy were
translated into Latin and became standard texts for
European alchemists. These include the
Kitab al-Kimya (titled
Book of the Composition of Alchemy in Europe), translated by
Robert of Chester (1144); and the
Kitab al-Sab'een (
Book of Seventy) by
Gerard of Cremona (before
1187).
Marcelin Berthelot translated some of his books under the fanciful titles
Book of the Kingdom,
Book of the Balances, and
Book of Eastern Mercury. Several technical
Arabic terms introduced by Jabir, such as
alkali, have found their way into various European languages and have become part of scientific vocabulary.
Max Meyerhoff states the following on Jabir ibn Hayyan: "His influence may be traced throughout the whole historic course of European alchemy and chemistry."
[30]The historian of chemistry
Erick John Holmyard gives credit to Jābir for developing alchemy into an experimental science and he writes that Jābir's importance to the
history of chemistry is equal to that of
Robert Boyle and
Antoine Lavoisier. The historian Paul Kraus, who had studied most of Jābir's extant works in Arabic and Latin, summarized the importance of Jābir to the history of chemistry by comparing his experimental and systematic works in chemistry with that of the allegorical and unintelligible works of the
ancient Greek alchemists.
[36] The word
gibberish is theorized to be derived from the Latinised version off Jābir's name,
[37] in reference to the incomprehensible technical
jargon often used by alchemists, the most famous of whom was Jābir.
[38] Other sources such as the
Oxford English Dictionary suggest the term stems from
gibber; however, the first known recorded use of the term "gibberish" was before the first known recorded use of the word "gibber" (see
Gibberish).
Quotation
- "My wealth let sons and brethren part. Some things they cannot share: my work well done, my noble heart — these are mine own to wear."[39]
The Geber problem
The identity of the author of works attributed to Jabir has long been discussed.
[8] According to a famous controversy,
[40] pseudo-Geber has been considered as the unknown author of several books in
Alchemy.
[41] This was first independently suggested, on textual and other grounds, by the nineteenth-century historians
Hermann Kopp and
Marcellin Berthelot.
[42] Jabir, by reputation the greatest
chemist of Islam, has long been familiar to western readers under the name of Geber, which is the medieval rendering of the Arabic Jabir, the Geber of the
Middle Ages.
[43] The works in Latin corpus were considered to be translations until the studies of Kopp, Hoefer, Berthelot, and Lippman. Although they reflect earlier Arabic alchemy they are not direct translations of "Jabir" but are the work of a 13th century Latin alchemist.
[44] Eric Holmyard says in his book Makers of Chemistry Clarendon press.(1931)
[1].
There are, however, certain other Latin works, entitled The Sum of Perfection, The Investigation of Perfection, The Invention of Verity, The Book of Furnaces, and The Testament, which pass under his name but of which no Arabic original is known. A problem which historians of chemistry have not yet succeeded in solving is whether these works are genuine or not.
However by 1957 AD when he (Holmyard) wrote Alchemy. Courier Dover Publications. p. 134.
ISBN 978-0-486-26298-7. Holmyard had abandoned the idea of an Arabic original. (although they are based on "Islamic" alchemical theories)
The question at once arises whether the Latin works are genuine translations from the Arabic, or written by a Latin author and, according to common practice, ascribed to Jabir in order to heighten their authority. That they are based on Muslim alchemical theory and practice is not questioned, but the same may be said of most Latin treatises on alchemy of that period; and from various turns of phrase it seems likely that their author could read Arabic. But the general style of the works is to clear and systematic to find a close parallel in any of the known writings of the Jabirian corpus, and we look in vain in them for any references to the characteristically Jabirian ideas of "balance" and the alphabetic numerology. Indeed for their age they have a remarkably matter of fact air about them, theory being stated with a minimum of prolixity and much precise practical detail being given. The general impression they convey is that they are the product of an occidental rather than an oriental mind, and a likely guess would be that they were written by a European scholar, possibly in Moorish Spain. Whatever their origin, they became the principal authorities in early Western alchemy and held that position for two or three centuries.
The question of Geber's identity, whether he is the original Jābir or a "pseudo-Geber" adopting his name, is still in dispute(1962).
[45]It is said that Geber, the Latinized form of "Jābir," was adopted presumably because of the great reputation of a supposed 8th-century alchemist by the name of Jābir ibn Hayyān.
[46] About this historical figure, however, there is considerable uncertainty(1910).
[47]This is sometimes called the "Geber-Jābir problem".
[48]It is possible that some of the facts mentioned in the Latin works, ascribed to Geber and dating from the twelfth century and later, must also be placed to Jabir's credit. It is important to consider that it is impossible to reach definite conclusions until all the Arabic writings ascribed to Jābir have been properly edited and discussed.
[43]The Pseudo-Geber corpus
The Latin corpus consists of books with an author named "Geber" for which researchers have failed to find a text in Arabic. Although these books are heavily influenced by Arabic books written by Jābir, the "real" Geber, and by
Al Razi and others, they were never written in Arabic. They are in Latin only, they date from about the year 1310, and their author is called
Pseudo-Geber:
- Summa perfectionis magisterii ("The Height of the Perfection of Mastery").[49]
- Liber fornacum ("Book of Stills"),
- De investigatione perfectionis ("On the Investigation of Perfection"), and
- De inventione veritatis ("On the Discovery of Truth").
- Testamentum gerberi
The 2nd, 3rd and 4th books listed above "are merely extracts from or summaries of the
Summa Perfectionis Magisterii with later additions."
[50]
