Ibn Arfaʿ Raʾs es el autor de una colección famosa de poemas alquímicos titulada Šuḏūr al-ḏahab (Las Esquirlas de Oro). Además de Šuḏūr al-ḏahab compuso otras obras — en particular un comentario de las Šuḏūr que está descrito aquí por primera vez más detalladamente — así como poesía estrófica sobre alquimia. La atribución que se suele hacer de algunas obras a Ibn Arfaʿ Raʾs parece incorrecta, sobre todo en lo que se refiere a dos obras concretas sobre magia. Esta contribución (...) enfoca nuestros hallazgos sobre la identidad de Ibn Arfaʿ Raʾs y su vida, desafiando la identificación del alquimista Ibn Arfaʿ Raʾs con un erudito religioso Mālikī conocido como Ibn al-Naqirāt. Basado tanto en los manuscritos como en la literatura bio-bibliográfica, suponemos que dos personas diferentes, ambas del Marruecos del siglo VI/XII, probablemente han sido fusionadas en una en un período bastante temprano. Considerando todas las fuentes, sugerimos también que Ibn Arfaʿ Raʾs pueda haber dejado el Occidente Islámico y haber escrito por lo menos algunas de sus obras en Oriente, más específicamente en Egipto, lo que explicaría la recepción amplia de Šuḏūr al-ḏahab en todo el Mundo Islámico y especialmente en el Máshreq. (shrink)

Arabo-Islamic alchemy enjoyed considerable popularity until well into the 19th and 20th centuries. It can be considered both as a predecessor of modern chemistry and as a natural philosophy whose purpose is to explain the world. Yet one of the unresolved questions concerning alchemy is how one was supposed to learn it, since it was an art that was meant to be kept secret and only revealed to a few select individuals. While the practicalities of the learning experience remain obscure, (...) it is noteworthy that Arabic alchemical literature often makes use of the literary form of the dialogue, a genre strongly associated with teaching and learning. This paper focuses on three Arabic dialogues on alchemy; namely, Masāʼil Khālid li-Maryānus al-rāhib, Kitāb Mihrārīs al-ḥakīm and Risālat al-ḥakīm Qaydarūs, and discusses how the transfer of secret knowledge is represented. I will focus on the literary frames of these texts, their mise-enscéne, the master-disciple relation as represented within them, and the question of interaction between unequal partners. (shrink)

Alchemy is the art of transforming base metals into precious ones, usually silver and/or gold. The most important method conceived to reach this goal was the creation of the elixir, also called the philosophers’ stone, which, applied to the prime-matter, would lead to an accelerated process of ripening of metals, eventually ending in gold. How did Arabo-Islamic alchemists suppose that the transmutation worked? What were the conditions the adept had to fulfil in order to succeed? And what did they think (...) would happen when one finally has created the philosophers’ stone? Will the economy collapse because gold and silver will lose their validity? Will the alchemist simply lean back and enjoy? Or will the world end, because man has finally attained the knowledge that should be God’s only? (shrink)