Speaker 1: Something's going to happen. What's going to happen? What? On
Speaker 1: the occult rejects, you only bring in figures who force
Speaker 1: a rethink of the whole project, will make you question
Speaker 1: where science ends and the sacred begins. Jabier Ibin Hayen
Speaker 1: made the cut because he is that crossroads, an orphan
Speaker 1: turned court physician, a disciple of Jaafar al Sadik, who
Speaker 1: wrote like a philosopher and worked like a bench chemist.
Speaker 1: In his hands, the Olympic wasn't just glassware. It was
Speaker 1: a lens of creation. He stitched Greek reason to chite esotericism,
Speaker 1: and he treated experiment as devotion, arguing that the world
Speaker 1: is ruled by balance, number and hidden sympathies that the
Speaker 1: patient mind can weigh. That is why he is on
Speaker 1: the occult rejects. He embodies our core question, can occult
Speaker 1: knowledge sharpen not blur the edge of science? Today we'll
Speaker 1: walk his path from Yemen and Kufa to Obbosit Baghdad
Speaker 1: into labs, humming with furnaces and quiet prayer. We'll crack
Speaker 1: open the Great Book of the Mercy, the seventy and
Speaker 1: the one hundred and twelve, the books on the seven medals,
Speaker 1: then cross the threshold into Talismans specific properties, the veiled
Speaker 1: Book of the King and the shadowed rumor of a
Speaker 1: book of black magic. We'll watch mineral acids bite metal,
Speaker 1: trace why the number seventeen mattered in his science of balance,
Speaker 1: and follow his ideas as they jump languages, from Arabic
Speaker 1: manuscripts to the Latin Gerber who shapened European labs. If
Speaker 1: you ever wondered whether the philosopher's stone was a metaphor
Speaker 1: for a method or both, this is your episode. Jabir
Speaker 1: ibin Hayen Arabic often Latinized as Gerber geb r was
Speaker 1: an eighth century polymath renowned as the father of early chemistry.
Speaker 1: A deeply learned alchemist, pharmacist, astronomer, philosopher, and physician, Jabir
Speaker 1: lived in the cradle of the Islamic Golden Age and
Speaker 1: pioneered the experimental scientific method well before the modern era.
Speaker 1: Traditionally described as either Arab or Persian in origin, he
Speaker 1: grew up amid political turmoil and spiritual unrest. His legacy
Speaker 1: includes hundreds of writings on alchemy, mysticism, and science. The
Speaker 1: Tiberian Corpus, which influenced both the islomic world and medieval Europe.
Speaker 1: Jabier's life and work or for a vivid window into
Speaker 1: the world of eighth century science, where mystical philosophy and
Speaker 1: laboratory experiment when in hand. Jabir was born around seven
Speaker 1: to twenty one CE in the town of tuss And Khurasan,
Speaker 1: northeastern Persia and modern Iran. His father, Hyen al Asdi,
Speaker 1: was a pharmacist by trade and a member of the
Speaker 1: arab As tribe who had emigrated from Yemen to Kufa
Speaker 1: in Iraq during Umayad times, Hayad became involved in the
Speaker 1: revolutionary politics of the age. He supported the Abbosit revolt
Speaker 1: against the ruling Umayad Khalafate in the years leading up
Speaker 1: to the Abbasid's victory, which occurred in seven p fifty SE.
Speaker 1: Hayan was sent east to Kurisan to muster support for
Speaker 1: the cause. This risky mission ultimately questomed his life. He
Speaker 1: was discovered by Umayad authorities and executed around seven twenty
Speaker 1: five SE when Jabir was only a young child. With
Speaker 1: his father martyred for the Abbasid cause, Jabir's family fled
Speaker 1: for safety. According to a counts preserved by later writers,
Speaker 1: His mother took him back to Yemen, their ancestral land,
Speaker 1: after Hayan's death. In Yemen, the boy Jabir grew up
Speaker 1: in the guardianship of Harabi Alhemyare, a notable local scholar.
Speaker 1: Under Harabi's tutelage, Jabir studied the Quran, Arabic literature, mathematics,
Speaker 1: and perhaps the rudiments of natural sciences. This early education
Speaker 1: grounded him in the Islamic faith and the classical knowledge
Speaker 1: of the time. We can imagine the young Jabir in
Speaker 1: the lush highlands of Yemen, learning geometry and scripture by
Speaker 1: day and hearing tales of far off lands and hidden
Speaker 1: wisdom by night. These formative years gave him a thirst
Speaker 1: for knowledge and likely acquainted him with the ancient South
Speaker 1: Arabian tradition of alchemy in astrology, for Yemen had old
Speaker 1: connections to esoteric arts. When the Obbosite dynasty finally overthrew
Speaker 1: the Umayads in seven fifty se the political climate changed dramatically.
Speaker 1: The new Abish rulers were more sympathetic to Shiaite Muslims
Speaker 1: and to learned men like Jabeir's father. With the threat
Speaker 1: from the Umayads gone, Jabir now a young man, traveled
Speaker 1: to Iraq, the heart of the Abbasad realm, to pursue
Speaker 1: his fortunes. He settled in Kufah, a city that was
Speaker 1: the center of Islamic scholarship. Kufah at this time was
Speaker 1: bustling with scholars of theology, philosophy, and science. It was
Speaker 1: here that Jabir's life would truly take shape. In Kufa,
Speaker 1: Jabir sort out the finest teachers of the age. He
Speaker 1: himself later named his teachers in his writings, allowing us
Speaker 1: to identify some of them. One was an enimatic stage
Speaker 1: known only as Urhun Alhemar al Mantiki Donkey's Ear, the logician,
Speaker 1: perhaps a nickname, who said to be a student of
Speaker 1: Marinus of Neapolis, a Neoplatonic philosopher. Through such intermediaries, Jabir
Speaker 1: may have absorbed elements of Greek philosophy and Hermetic lore,
Speaker 1: including Pythagorean and Platonic ideas that would surface in his work. However,
Speaker 1: by far the most influential mentor in Jabir's life was
Speaker 1: the Imam Ja'afar al Sadik. Jaffar was a great grand
Speaker 1: set of Prophet Muhammad and the sixth Shi'ite Imam, renowned
Speaker 1: for his deep knowledge in religious and worldly sciences. Jabir
Speaker 1: likely met Jafar in the early seven sixties in Kufa,
Speaker 1: where the Imam spent some time. Kufa was a stronghold
Speaker 1: of the Imam's followers. In Jabir's writings, he reverently calls
Speaker 1: Ja'afar my master and the source of wisdom, crediting him
Speaker 1: as the original source of all the knowledge he expounds. Indeed,
Speaker 1: Jabir's entire intellectual system is often presented as esoteric teachings
Speaker 1: from Imam Jafar, conveyed through an unbroken chain of transmission.
Speaker 1: Under Jafar's guidance, Jabir delved into religious philosophy, alchemy, and
Speaker 1: the natural sciences, gaining a unique blend of spiritual scientific training.
Speaker 1: This apprenticeship not only honed Jabir's intellect, but also rooted
Speaker 1: him in Shiite Islamic thought, a key to understanding his
Speaker 1: later writings. Jabir's educational journey likely also included study of medicine.
Speaker 1: Some accounts say he went to the city of Medina
Speaker 1: at one point, perhaps accompanying Imam Ja'afar, and there learned
Speaker 1: medicine and pharmacy. A logical path, given his father's profession
Speaker 1: and his own later expertise in medicinal chemistry. Another tradition
Speaker 1: claims Jabir briefly studied with the Umayad prince Khalaid ibin
Speaker 1: Yazid sound familiar, who is reputed to be an alchemy
Speaker 1: enthusiast a generation earlier. Regardless, by the time he was
Speaker 1: an adult, Jabir ibin Hayen had acquired a formidable education
Speaker 1: for his era. He was well versed in Islamic theology, philosophy, languages,
Speaker 1: natural science, and alchemical lore, both Islamic and pre Islamic.
Speaker 1: Around the year seven fifty five, Tabir would have been
Speaker 1: in his mid thirties, ready to contribute to the Opposid
Speaker 1: intellectual renaissance. The Obbosids had shifted the empire's capital from
Speaker 1: Damascus to Baghdad, founded in seven sixty two, and although
Speaker 1: Kufa was close enough to benefit from Baghdad's rise, the
Speaker 1: real opportunities lay in the capital. Tabir's talent soon caught
Speaker 1: the attention of the opposite court. He began practicing as
Speaker 1: a physician in Kufa, treating the sick and perhaps preparing medicines,
Speaker 1: which gave him practical experience with chemicals and herbs, his
Speaker 1: reputation grew and he gained a powerful patron in the
Speaker 1: form of the Barbacid family. The Barbacans were a wealthy
Speaker 1: Persian descended clan who served as Grand Vizier's chief minister
Speaker 1: to the Caliph and were famous patrons of the sciences.
Speaker 1: Sometime in the seven seventies, he moved his base to Baghdad,
Speaker 1: the glittering city of Peace, to work more closely with
Speaker 1: the court. There, the Barbacands provided him with the resources
Speaker 1: to conduct research. It said that Jabir had a well
Speaker 1: equipped laboratory in which he could carry out experiments in
Speaker 1: alchemy and chemistry. He also had access to the House
Speaker 1: of Wisdom and other libraries, where Greek and Syriac manuscripts
Speaker 1: were being translated into Arabic at the Callous Behest. In fact,
Speaker 1: later Lare claims that Caliph Hurran al Rashid commissioned the
Speaker 1: translation of Greek scientific works at Shabir's suggestion to aid
Speaker 1: in Jabir's research. While this cannot be verified, it underscores
Speaker 1: Jabir's perceived importance at court. By seven to seventy six CE,
Speaker 1: Jabir was reportedly already renowned enough in Kufa that historical
Speaker 1: notes indicate he was engaged in alchemy there at the time.
Speaker 1: This suggests that even before moving fully to Baghdad, Jabir
Speaker 1: was conducting experiments and perhaps writing down some of his
Speaker 1: early treaties. We might picture Jabir during this period as
Speaker 1: a dynamic figure, during the day serving as a court
Speaker 1: physician and healer, maybe even treating the callous family or
Speaker 1: the nobility, and by night retreating to his workshop to
Speaker 1: heat and distill substances in pursuit of al chemical transformations.
Speaker 1: He was one of the first to apply an experimental
Speaker 1: methodical approach to these investigations, in contrast to the more
Speaker 1: recipe and ritual based alchemy of predecessors. Jabier's life, however,
Speaker 1: was not destined to remain in royal favor permanently. His
Speaker 1: fortunes were tied to the Barbicans, and this family's fate
Speaker 1: took a sharp turn in aight o three CE, Caliph
Speaker 1: Haran fell prey to court intrigues and abruptly disgraced and
Speaker 1: destroyed the Barbacans, an event that shocked the empire. The
Speaker 1: Vizier Ja'afar al Barmaque was executed and his relatives imprisoned
Speaker 1: or exiled. With his powerful patrons gone, Jabier's position became uncertain.
Speaker 1: Sources indicate that he was placed under house arrest in
Speaker 1: Kufa around the Sad time. The reasons are not entirely clear.
Speaker 1: Possibly the callous officials feared that Jabir, with his esoteric
Speaker 1: knowledge and Barbacut connection, could be dangerous or disloyal. It
Speaker 1: is testament to Jabir's stature that he wasn't executed outright
Speaker 1: as some Barbacad associates were, but rather confined. Thus, in
Speaker 1: his later years, Jabir lived in relatively obscurity back in Cufa,
Speaker 1: reportedly under surveillance, yet seemingly still devoted to scholarship. Despite
Speaker 1: these setbacks, Jabir continued writing and teaching until the end
Speaker 1: of his life. He died in Kufa circa eight fifteen CE,
Speaker 1: during the reign of Caliph al Mamun. He would have
Speaker 1: been in his nineties, a remarkably long life for that epoch,
Speaker 1: which adds a legendary ore to his story. By the
Speaker 1: time of his death, Jabir ibin Hayen had already slipped
Speaker 1: partly into the realm of legend. Interestingly, no contemporary biography
Speaker 1: of Jabir were written while he lived. The first biographical
Speaker 1: notes about him appear in the tenth century, well after
Speaker 1: his death. This has led some historians, both medieval and modern,
Speaker 1: to question aspects of his life. Nonetheless, the hundreds of
Speaker 1: treaties bearing his name began to circulate widely, ensuring that
Speaker 1: Jaber the Schala would be remembered for centuries. Medieval bibliographers
Speaker 1: like Abin al Nadim cataloged Jabier's work and noted the
Speaker 1: astonishing range of subjects they covered. A few skeptics in
Speaker 1: the tenth century even whispered that Jabier might never have existed,
Speaker 1: that the name was a pseudonym, but Ibin al Nadim
Speaker 1: and others rejected this, insisting that such a scholar did
Speaker 1: walk the earth. Indeed, Jabir's contemporaries may have overlooked him,
Speaker 1: but history would not. Whether penn by one man or
Speaker 1: compiled by a school of followers, the writings attributed to
Speaker 1: Jabir formed the most desensive alchemical literature of the Islamic world.
Speaker 1: In later Islamic references, Jabir was said to have authored
Speaker 1: hundreds of books, by one count over three thousand treatises,
Speaker 1: while modern scholars doubt that one individual could have written
Speaker 1: so many. About two hundred and fifteen works still survive
Speaker 1: under Jabir's name, indicating a massive corpus, even in distilled form.
Speaker 1: These works, often called the Jiberian Corpus, cover not only
Speaker 1: alchemy and chemistry, but also magic, astrology, medicine, philosophy, and
Speaker 1: even grammar. It is as if Jabir aimed to encapsulate
Speaker 1: all knowledge of his time within a grand encyclopedia of
Speaker 1: esoteric wisdom. Within the corpus, several major collections of texts
Speaker 1: can be distinguished, each with its own focus and flavor.
Speaker 1: Here we will cover some of Jabir's most important works
Speaker 1: and collections with the brief overview of their content. The
Speaker 1: Great Book of Mercy. This was considered by the scholar
Speaker 1: Paul Krauss to be the oldest work in Jabiir's corpus.
Speaker 1: It is a comprehensive alchemical manual and perhaps Jabiir's foundational text.
Speaker 1: The title Book of Mercy reflects Jabier's stated motivation for
Speaker 1: writing it. In the introduction, he expresses pity for those
Speaker 1: alchemists who seek to make gold by fraudulent shortcuts or ignorance.
Speaker 1: I've seen people giving themselves over to the search for
Speaker 1: the art of transmuting gold and silver in ignorance. They
Speaker 1: are of two classes, the deceivers and the deceived. I
Speaker 1: am filled with the feelings of mercy and compassion for them,
Speaker 1: because they waste their money which God has given them,
Speaker 1: and wary their bodies in a fruitless search, he writes.
Speaker 1: Jabiir explains that out of rama compassion, he decided to
Speaker 1: lay out the alchemical art clearly so the sincere seekers
Speaker 1: would not be fooled by Charlatan's Fittingly, this work gives
Speaker 1: relatively straightforward descriptions of materials and processes. It was significant
Speaker 1: enough that the great chemist al Razi later wrote a
Speaker 1: commentary on it, now lost, and it was one of
Speaker 1: the Jiberian works translating into Latin in the thirteenth century.
Speaker 1: That Katib al Rama thus stands as an early cornerstone
Speaker 1: of Jabir's legacy, a text intended to guide and save
Speaker 1: aspiring alchemists from folly. Then we have the one hundred
Speaker 1: and twelve Books. This is a collection of one hundred
Speaker 1: and twelve short treatises that function like chapters in a
Speaker 1: large handbook. Each treatise deals with a different practical aspect
Speaker 1: of alchemy, often framed as an explanation of the symbolic
Speaker 1: riddles left by ancient sages. A prominent theme across these
Speaker 1: is the use of organic materials in alchemy, plant and
Speaker 1: animal substances, not just minerals. For example, one treatise might
Speaker 1: explain how to derive a certain elixir from herbs, another
Speaker 1: from blood or hair. The theoretical underpinning here is similar
Speaker 1: to the classical four element theory. Jabir reduces bodies to
Speaker 1: the elements fire, air, water, earth, and those to the
Speaker 1: four elementary natures hot, cold, moist, and dry. However, in
Speaker 1: the one hundred and twelve books the exposition is less
Speaker 1: systematic and more expository than in Jaber's later works. The
Speaker 1: instructions read as practical recipes with measured quantities and step
Speaker 1: by step guidance, more cookbook and less philosophizing, indicating these
Speaker 1: texts were meant to teach experimentation. Interestingly, the collection opens
Speaker 1: with the Book of the Element of the Foundation, a
Speaker 1: treatise which even continues an Arabic version of the legendary
Speaker 1: emerald tablet of Hermes, bridging hermetic law with Hbir's own teachings.
Speaker 1: All in all, the one hundred and twelve books portray
Speaker 1: an alchemist busy in the laboratory, deciphering ancient secrets and
Speaker 1: trying mirrored techniques. Then we have the seventy books. The
Speaker 1: Book of seventy is perhaps Jiber's most famous set of writings.
Speaker 1: Unlike the one hundred and twelve books, the seventy books are
Speaker 1: highly organized into a single opus. They are divided into
Speaker 1: seven parts, each containing ten treaties, hence seventy in total.
Speaker 1: The structure covers the full spectrum of Giberian alchemy. The
Speaker 1: first three parts deal with preparing the alchemical Electir from
Speaker 1: each of the three kingdoms of nature, one part on
Speaker 1: animal derived ingredients, one on vegetable, one on mineral. Two
Speaker 1: parts are devoted to the classical four elements, one theoretical,
Speaker 1: one practical. The remaining two parts focus on detailed techniques
Speaker 1: for using specific animal substances in specific mineral metal substances
Speaker 1: in the art. Together, the seventy books present a systematic
Speaker 1: exposition of Jabir's alchemical theory, with each treatise building on
Speaker 1: the previous. This collection was highly regarded in later centuries.
Speaker 1: It was translated into Latin by Gerard of Kremona in
Speaker 1: the twelfth century, bringing Jabir's ideas to European scholars. Medieval
Speaker 1: Latin alchemists quoted the Book of seventy extensively. Even the
Speaker 1: thirteenth century pseudo Gerber, who wrote his own influential alchemical
Speaker 1: text under Jabir's name, was familiar with the mutilated Latin version.
Speaker 1: In a sense, the seventy books represent Jabir's magnum opus
Speaker 1: as an alchemical teacher, a complete course from fundamentals to
Speaker 1: advanced practice. Following the seventy, Jaberian lists mentioned an appendix
Speaker 1: of the Ten Books added to the seventy, and another
Speaker 1: separate set called the Ten Books of Rectifications. Only fragments
Speaker 1: of these survive. Surviving texts. The Book of Clarification critiques
Speaker 1: other philosophers for focusing only on minerals and neglecting plant
Speaker 1: and animal methods for the elixir. Another fragment, the Book
Speaker 1: of Rectification of Plato, is intriguing. It's written as if
Speaker 1: Plato's understanding of alchemy is being corrected, and it enumerates
Speaker 1: various multi step operations using mercury and other medicines. These
Speaker 1: Rectification books suggest Jabir engage in a bit of an
Speaker 1: intellectual game, retrospectively crediting Greek luminaries like Pythagoras, Socrates, Homer,
Speaker 1: and Aristotle with alchemical contributions, then adding his own improvements
Speaker 1: in their voice. It reflects his desire to link his
Speaker 1: science to a venerable ancient tradition, while still asserting that
Speaker 1: his knowledge surpassed that of the ancients. And next we
Speaker 1: have the Books of the Balances. This is a large
Speaker 1: collection of one hundred and forty four tree which mark
Speaker 1: a shift to a more philosophical and universal approach. Here
Speaker 1: Jabir applies his science of the balance to a vast
Speaker 1: array of topics. The extent Balance Treatises seventy nine are
Speaker 1: known by name forty four to five cover not just alchemy,
Speaker 1: but also cosmology, music, theory, medicine, logic, metaphysics, mathematics, astronomy, astrology,
Speaker 1: and grammar. In each domain, the idea is to reduce
Speaker 1: phenomena to a quantitative balance of fundamental properties. For example,
Speaker 1: a balanced treatise might attempt to quantify the temperament of
Speaker 1: humors in medicine, or the tuning of musical notes, or
Speaker 1: the grammatical properties of language, all using a unified scale
Speaker 1: of values. This was Jabir's grand philosophical vision that all
Speaker 1: existence is structured by measure, weight, and number, and almost
Speaker 1: Pythagorean or pro ro scientific outlook. Notably, in these treaties,
Speaker 1: Jabir also makes cryptic allusions to the appearance of two
Speaker 1: mysterious figures. He calls the two Brothers, a doctrine which
Speaker 1: later alchemists like Aben Yumal took up as allegory. The
Speaker 1: balances represent the theoretical culmination of Jabir's thought, tying together
Speaker 1: the worldly and the spiritual through the concept of balance.
Speaker 1: We also have the Five Hundred Books. This enormous collection
Speaker 1: of five hundred treatises is largely lost, but titles suggest
Speaker 1: it dealt with moral and religious allegories via alchemy. Jabir
Speaker 1: appears to have used these writings to expound schite eschatology
Speaker 1: and emmology, and an alchemical metaphorical framework. For instance, one
Speaker 1: extent fragment, the Book of Kingship, survives partly in Latin
Speaker 1: and likely used the notion of ruling kingship as an
Speaker 1: allegory from mastering nature. In these texts, the boundary between
Speaker 1: alchemy and theology blurs. Chemical symbols stand in for spiritual concepts. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: only fifteen of the five hundred or existence, so we
Speaker 1: can only glimpse the depth of Jabir's mystical allegories. Next,
Speaker 1: we have the books on the Seven Metals. True to
Speaker 1: the classical idea of seven planetary metals, Jabir devoted a
Speaker 1: set of seven treatises to the seven known metals of antiquity, gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, lead,
Speaker 1: and possibly zinc or an alloy resembling it. Each treatise
Speaker 1: in this group discusses one metal in detail, its properties,
Speaker 1: how it can be purified or transmuted, and its role
Speaker 1: in the overall al chemical scheme. Because Jabier linked metals
Speaker 1: to planetary influences, these treaties likely also touch on astrology
Speaker 1: and cosmology as they pertain to each metal. In one
Speaker 1: manuscript tradition, the metal treaties are followed by a three
Speaker 1: part book of Concision, which might summarize the seven in
Speaker 1: a unified theory. The focus on the individual metals shows
Speaker 1: Jabir's almost scientific thoroughness, examining each substance on its own terms,
Speaker 1: an approach that prefigures later metallurgical science. Beyond these collections,
Speaker 1: there are many standalone works attributed to Jabier on specific
Speaker 1: aspects of alchemy. Paul Kraus, in cataloging the Corpus, placed
Speaker 1: about two hundred treatises in a category of diverse alchemical works,
Speaker 1: which he cannot confidently assign to a particular collection. These
Speaker 1: likely include monographs on topics such as preparation of mercury,
Speaker 1: the various colors of sulfur, properties of particular compounds, and
Speaker 1: manuals on alchemical apparatuses. Some titles from this miscellaneous set
Speaker 1: are The Fire of the Stone, which suggests detailed treatises
Speaker 1: on components of the philosopher's stone operation. There are also
Speaker 1: texts named after legendary figures dialogues like Questions of Calid
Speaker 1: to Marianos the Monk, which tie Jabir's teachings to earlier
Speaker 1: alchemical legends. These diverse treatises indicate that Jabir's alchemical output
Speaker 1: was encyclopedic. If a topic or technique existed, he likely
Speaker 1: wrote about it. Many might have been instructional booklets for
Speaker 1: students in his circle, while others were theoretical musings. We
Speaker 1: do have writings on magic and the occult. Jabir's corpus
Speaker 1: also includes a subset of works that veer into magic, talismans,
Speaker 1: and hidden properties of things. These showed Jabir applying his
Speaker 1: knowledge to what we would call the occult sciences. We
Speaker 1: have the Book of the Search, also known as the
Speaker 1: Book of Extracts, and it is a long treatise laying
Speaker 1: out the philosophical basis of tali somatic magic, or the
Speaker 1: science of talismans. It reads like a learned discourse on
Speaker 1: how and why talisman's work, evoking the ideas of astral
Speaker 1: influences and sympathies. Fascinatingly, this work cites a wide range
Speaker 1: of Greek authorities by name Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, Archimedes, Gallant,
Speaker 1: and even mystical figures like Apollonius of Tyana. This demonstrates
Speaker 1: Jabir's broad understanding. He was linking his talisman theory to
Speaker 1: the legacy of Greek philosophy, perhaps to give it intellectual legitimacy.
Speaker 1: This book indicates that Jabir saw magic as a serious,
Speaker 1: quasi scientific discipline grounded in philosophy and nature's laws. Then
Speaker 1: we have the Book of Fifty. Only fragments of this
Speaker 1: work remain, but it's thought to be the great Book
Speaker 1: of talismans under another name from what survives we know
Speaker 1: it to say, discussed astrology, demonology, and specific occult properties.
Speaker 1: For example, it likely enumerated how different stars and constellations
Speaker 1: could be used in talisman making, or how certain incantations
Speaker 1: and symbolic figures might summon or repel spiritual entities, gins
Speaker 1: or demons. The inclusion of demonology shows Jabir ventured into
Speaker 1: areas we consider magical or supernatural. Yet he probably approached
Speaker 1: it systematically, attempting to categorize spiritual beings and their interactions
Speaker 1: with the material world. And we also have the Great
Speaker 1: Book on Specific Properties. This is Jabir's chief work on
Speaker 1: what we might term occult properties, the hidden powers inherent
Speaker 1: in minerals, plants, and animals. In antiquity, in the Middle Ages,
Speaker 1: it was believed that God plays secret virtues in natural objects.
Speaker 1: For instance, a certain stone might cure poison, a certain
Speaker 1: plant might bring good luck. Jabir compiled these secrets, effectively
Speaker 1: creating a tome of wonders and recipes. How to use
Speaker 1: a toad's bone to attract money, of which herb cures
Speaker 1: a fever when worn as an ambulant, and so on. Crucially,
Speaker 1: Jabir didn't treat this as a mere folklore. He intempted
Speaker 1: to analyze these properties with the same science of the
Speaker 1: balance approach he applied elsewhere. Parts of this book include
Speaker 1: chapters that apply numerical balancing to understanding why a plant
Speaker 1: has a particular effect, thus trying to rationalize the mysterious.
Speaker 1: This work demonstrates Jabbar's role as a bridge between science
Speaker 1: and magic. He collected empirical knowledge of art effects a
Speaker 1: proto science of pharmacology in a way, yet framed it
Speaker 1: in a theoretical construct. And next we have the Book
Speaker 1: of the King, a short text focusing on the efficacy
Speaker 1: of talismans. It may have been a succinct guide, perhaps
Speaker 1: dedicated to a patron the King, on how to effectively
Speaker 1: craft talismans for various purposes. It indicates Jabir could summarize
Speaker 1: his magical knowledge in digest form when needed, perhaps to
Speaker 1: advise a ruler or wealthy client on protective and beneficial charms.
Speaker 1: And finally we have the Book of Black Magic. This
Speaker 1: ominously titled treatise stands out Al Jafar in Islamic context
Speaker 1: refers to a mystical compendium of knowledge. According to Shiai tradition,
Speaker 1: Al Jafar was a secret book of imam Ali, full
Speaker 1: of esoteric lore, calling something the Black Jaffar suggests forbidden
Speaker 1: or dark knowledge. Little is known about this work beyond
Speaker 1: the title, and interestingly, no other Jiberian text references is it,
Speaker 1: implying it might have been particularly secret or even apocryphal.
Speaker 1: Its inclusion in Jabir's corpus hints that he or those
Speaker 1: writing under his name explored the furthest edges of the occult,
Speaker 1: perhaps dealing with black magic or apocalyptic prophecy. The very
Speaker 1: fact that Jabir's legend includes a black magic manual shows
Speaker 1: how he was later seen as a master of hidden arts,
Speaker 1: both light and dark. Beyond these, Jabiir was said to
Speaker 1: have written on virtually every subject known to scholars of
Speaker 1: his time. He reportedly composed on works on mechanical devices
Speaker 1: and engineering of military technology, and on medicine and toxicology.
Speaker 1: Most of these are lost. Notably, one extent text, the
Speaker 1: Book of Poison, survives, dealing with poisons in their remedies,
Speaker 1: showing Jabir's practical side in addressing public health and safety.
Speaker 1: Another partial text, the Book of Comprehensiveness, was preserved by
Speaker 1: a later alchemist in hints at Jabir's forays into pure philosophy.
Speaker 1: In summary, few figures in history have so many works
Speaker 1: attributed to them as Jabir i've bin Hyen. Wether or
Speaker 1: not he personally wrote every word. The breadth of topics,
Speaker 1: from mystical cosmology down to recipes for dying cloth reflects
Speaker 1: an ambition to unify all knowledge into a single, grand worldview.
Speaker 1: Jabier is often celebrated as the father of chemistry in
Speaker 1: the Islamic tradition, and looking at his work, it's easy
Speaker 1: to see why. He approached the study of substances in
Speaker 1: a rigorous empirical way, emphasizing experimentation and quantification over superstition.
Speaker 1: Alchemy in his hands began to morph into chemistry. He
Speaker 1: systematically classified materials, tested reactions, and recorded methods, moving the
Speaker 1: art beyond cryptic recipes to something more like a science.
Speaker 1: Jabir did much to free alchemy from superstition and turn
Speaker 1: it into a science. One historian notes he himself strongly
Speaker 1: advocated for hands on experimentation. The first essential in chemistry
Speaker 1: is that you should perform practical work and conduct experiments.
Speaker 1: For he who performs not practical work nor makes experiments
Speaker 1: will never attain to the least degree of Masteryjabier wrote,
Speaker 1: admonishing an imaginary student, But you, oh my son, do
Speaker 1: experiments so that you may acquire knowledge. Scientists delight not
Speaker 1: in abundance of material. They rejoice only in the excellence
Speaker 1: of their experimental methods. By insisting on empirical proof and
Speaker 1: reproducible results, Jabiir helped lay the groundwork for the scientific
Speaker 1: method long before the Renaissance. We've got several key theoretical
Speaker 1: contributions that could be attributed to Jabir. Jabiir expanded upon
Speaker 1: an idea from earlier Hellenistic alchemy that all metals are
Speaker 1: composed of two primal principles, often identified with sulfur and mercury.
Speaker 1: In Jibier's view, metals formed inside the earth by the
Speaker 1: union of a sulfurous principle, which gave combustibility and color,
Speaker 1: and a mercurial principle, which gave metallic luster and fusibility.
Speaker 1: The variability of metals lead verse iron, verse gold, etc.
Speaker 1: Was explained by differences in the purity and proportion of
Speaker 1: these two principles, as well as the influences of celestial
Speaker 1: bodies during their formation. For Jabeir, gold was the most
Speaker 1: perfect metal because it was the result of the ideal
Speaker 1: sulfur mercury ratio under the most favorable astrological influence. Hence
Speaker 1: it is pure, untarnishing and malleable. Base of metals either
Speaker 1: had an excess of sulfur, making them brittle or prone
Speaker 1: to rust, or an excess of mercury making them too
Speaker 1: soft or volatile, or they were tainted by impurities. This
Speaker 1: theory had tremendous longevity. It remained dominant in some form
Speaker 1: of to the seventeenth century. Jabir's particular innovation was to
Speaker 1: integrate this with quantitative thinking. He believed one could calculate
Speaker 1: the balance of hot, cold, dry, wet, the qualities tied
Speaker 1: to sulfur and mercury and he metal, and then rebalance
Speaker 1: them to effect a transmutation in a way. This was
Speaker 1: an early attempt to a chemical formula for metals. It's
Speaker 1: worth noting that in later European alchemy, a third principle, soul,
Speaker 1: was added to this theory, but that development post dates Jabir,
Speaker 1: though some credit Jabir's Latin persona Gerber for hints of it.
Speaker 1: Perhaps Jabier's most original contribution is what he called the
Speaker 1: science of the balance. He sought to reduce all qualitative
Speaker 1: phenomena to quantitative proportions. To do this, he employed arihithmology numerology,
Speaker 1: assigning numbers to the letters of substance names and then
Speaker 1: manipulating those numbers. For example, the Arabic word for a
Speaker 1: substance could be broken down into letters, each letter corresponding
Speaker 1: to a number using the Abjad system, where say alph
Speaker 1: equals one, Bah equals to, etc. He had rules by
Speaker 1: which these numbers would map onto the four elemental qualities.
Speaker 1: The total would yield a signature number, often aiming for
Speaker 1: seventeen or multiples of seventeen, which indicated the balance of
Speaker 1: the substance's nature. If the numbers didn't add up ideally,
Speaker 1: that meant the substance was out of balance and could
Speaker 1: perhaps be perfected by adding something with complementary numbers. This
Speaker 1: was an almost mystical mathematics of chemistry. For instance, if
Speaker 1: copper's hotness came out to a certain value and golds
Speaker 1: to another, one could deduce how much hot quality to
Speaker 1: add or subtract via mixing with other substances to push
Speaker 1: copper toward gold. Jabar's belief in a mathematically structured order
Speaker 1: of nature was prescient. In effect, he was groping towards
Speaker 1: the idea that properties of matter could be measured and
Speaker 1: predicted a cornerstone of modern science. Although the specifics of
Speaker 1: his numerology were fantastical, the underlying insight that chemistry is
Speaker 1: quantitative was spot on. In line with his sheied philosophical background,
Speaker 1: Jabier held that everything in creation has a hidden inner
Speaker 1: reality and an outward appearance. In practical terms, this means
Speaker 1: that observable properties like color or hardness are just the surface.
Speaker 1: Beneath them are hidden qualities and structures which the alchemists
Speaker 1: must infer. For example, lead and gold might look different,
Speaker 1: but inwardly they could share a similar mercurial core, differing
Speaker 1: only in the proportion of sulfur. This concept validated the
Speaker 1: idea that through the right processes, one could reveal the
Speaker 1: latent perfection in a base metal, essentially turn led into
Speaker 1: gold by drawing out its hidden nobility. The hidden manifest
Speaker 1: dichotomy also applied to medicine, the apparent symptoms verse the
Speaker 1: hidden cause of disease, and to just about everything. It
Speaker 1: gave Jabier a philosophical justification to pursue transformations. If you
Speaker 1: understand the hidden nature through the science of balance, you
Speaker 1: can change the outward form. This idea resonates with later
Speaker 1: alchemical and even mystical thought, the notion of an inner
Speaker 1: essence awaiting enlightenment or purification. Jabier was the first to
Speaker 1: present a systematic classification of materials in chemical terms. He
Speaker 1: divided all substances into three broad categories. First, we have spirits,
Speaker 1: substances that volatize completely in fire. They evaporate or sublime
Speaker 1: instead of melting. In Jabi's list, these include a compounds
Speaker 1: like sulfur, mercury, arsenic, and even camphor. These were considered
Speaker 1: to have a gaseous or spiritual nature. They easily escape
Speaker 1: and are thus hard to calcine. Jabier wrote that a
Speaker 1: very hot fire will drive these spirits off before it
Speaker 1: can affect them. Hence, special techniques like sublimation must be
Speaker 1: used to purify spirits. And Next, we have metals, substances
Speaker 1: that can melt and are malleable, capable of being hammered
Speaker 1: into shape, and usually possessing a metallic luster and sound.
Speaker 1: This category comprised the seven recognized metals gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, lead,
Speaker 1: and the semi legendary Carcini metals will characterized by a
Speaker 1: solid fixed nature. They do not evaporate in fire except mercury,
Speaker 1: but rather melt and can be cast. Jabier's entire sulfur mercury.
Speaker 1: They revolves around explaining the differences among these metal substances.
Speaker 1: And then we have stones or bodies, substances that are earthly,
Speaker 1: neither malleable nor completely volatile. These might crack or calcine
Speaker 1: and fire rather than melt or sublime. Essentially, this is
Speaker 1: the rest of the mineral world. Rocks, salts, minerals like
Speaker 1: malachite or lapis lazuli, which might be fusible or infusible,
Speaker 1: but generally are brittle and can be pulverized. Many of
Speaker 1: these stones were used in alchemy as sources of specific ingredients.
Speaker 1: They were seen as intermediate between pure metals and pure spirits,
Speaker 1: often containing mixtures of both. This tripartite classification was a
Speaker 1: major improvement over the ad hoc listings of earlier alchemical texts.
Speaker 1: It shows Jabir's drive to organize knowledge. In fact, this
Speaker 1: scheme persisted later. Islamic and European alchemists adopted similar classifications.
Speaker 1: Our modern terms mineral, vegetable, animal for categories of substances
Speaker 1: is somewhat analogous, though Jabir's system was more chemically orientated
Speaker 1: by identifying common behaviors volatile verse, fusible verse neither. Jabiir
Speaker 1: helped future chemists think in terms of categories like acids, metals, salts,
Speaker 1: and so on. The concept of spirits even prefigures the
Speaker 1: idea of volatile solvents or gases in chemistry. One of
Speaker 1: Jabir's great contributions was to document and possibly invent, many
Speaker 1: laboratory techniques still fundamental to chemistry. He either developed or
Speaker 1: refined methods of distillation, sublimation, calcination, crystallization, solution filtration, amalgamation,
Speaker 1: and evaporation. For example, Jabir described had to calcine metals
Speaker 1: heat them st only to make oxides, and also noted
Speaker 1: that spirits like sulfur and mercury cannot sustain calcination, but
Speaker 1: instead need gentler heating, which he identified as sublimation for
Speaker 1: mercury in similar substances. He gave step by step instructions
Speaker 1: on purifying chemicals, how to wash, filter, and decant solutions
Speaker 1: to remove impurities. He also carefully detailed the apparatus needed,
Speaker 1: designs of furnaces for achieving different temperatures, the use of
Speaker 1: closed vessels for controlled heating, and more. Jabier is often
Speaker 1: credited with either inventing or improving the Olympic. The classic
Speaker 1: distillation vessel consisting of a flask and a condensing head.
Speaker 1: The Arabic word al anbique from Greek AmbiX gives us
Speaker 1: the English Olympic. Jabier's writings include illustrations or descriptions of
Speaker 1: Olympics and elutles, sublimation pots, and he explained how to
Speaker 1: perform distal by descent, distilling substances that decomposed if heated
Speaker 1: directly by heating them in a top vessel so vapor's
Speaker 1: traveled downward. He even cautioned how to avoid breaking glassware
Speaker 1: by heating gently using hot ash bats for delicate distillations,
Speaker 1: showing a very practical understanding of apparatus. Furthermore, Jabir built
Speaker 1: a precise balance. Sources say his balance could weigh items
Speaker 1: as little as one six four hundred and eightieth of
Speaker 1: a kilogram, which is roughly zero point one five grams.
Speaker 1: This precision was unheard of in his time. In some
Speaker 1: Jabir established a repertoire of lab equipment, a kind of
Speaker 1: medieval lab manual that greatly influenced later Islamic laboratories in
Speaker 1: places like Baghdad and Cairo. Scholars like al Razie a
Speaker 1: century later follow Jabir's techniques almost verbatim, and through translation,
Speaker 1: these methods became standard in European alchemy. Also, Jabir's experimental
Speaker 1: genius is evident in the number of substances he isolated
Speaker 1: or identified for the first time. He is credited with
Speaker 1: discovering strong mineral acids by using chemical reactions. By mixing
Speaker 1: sulfates like iron sulfate with certain salts in heating, he
Speaker 1: produced sulfuric acid in a crude form, though medieval records
Speaker 1: are murky. Later Islamic sources like al raz new sulfuric
Speaker 1: acid as oil of vitril, possibly building on jer Bear's work.
Speaker 1: More clearly, Jabir devised ways to make hydraulic acid and
Speaker 1: nitric acid, the two other major mineral acids. He found
Speaker 1: that heating common salt sodium chloride with clay and vitriol
Speaker 1: released a pungent vapor HC one gas, which dissolved in
Speaker 1: water to give a strong acid. He also obtained nitric
Speaker 1: acid by heating saltpeter with vitriols or alum. Jabier might
Speaker 1: not have had names for these acids as we do,
Speaker 1: but he knew their properties. He famously combined the two
Speaker 1: to create Aqua regia, the fabled mixture that can dissolve gold.
Speaker 1: Aqua Regia, or royal water, was so named because it
Speaker 1: dissolved the king of metals, gold. Tiber's preparation of it
Speaker 1: was a milestone. Later alchemists considered Aqua regia a key
Speaker 1: tool in the quest for transmutation, and it's still used
Speaker 1: by modern alchemists to dissolve noble metals. Jaber also distilled
Speaker 1: vinegar to concentrate ascetic acid, essentially making a stronger vinegar
Speaker 1: for use as a solvent. He was familiar with citric
Speaker 1: acid from lemons and tartaric acid from grape residue, using
Speaker 1: them in recipes. Beyond acids, Jabir identified and purified many
Speaker 1: salts and metal compounds. He worked with ammonium chloride, using
Speaker 1: it to help volatize metals, a unique property that made
Speaker 1: it a secret key in alchemy. He clearly knew arsenic
Speaker 1: and its sulfide compounds, which he called zarnic and used
Speaker 1: them as colorants and regions. He mentions alkali distinguishing between
Speaker 1: sodium and potassium compounds and ashes, and knew how to
Speaker 1: make caustic soda by mixing alkali with lime. He also
Speaker 1: used manganese dioxide in glass making to remove color, a
Speaker 1: technique still in use. It makes glass clear. He was
Speaker 1: aware of the poisonous nature of arsenic and mercury compounds,
Speaker 1: spurring him to write about poisons and their antidotes in
Speaker 1: his toxicology texts. All these show that JABII systematically experimented
Speaker 1: with substances, observing their reactions. In doing so, he either
Speaker 1: discovered or rigorously documented compounds that would form the basis
Speaker 1: of practical chemistry in both the medieval and early modern periods.
Speaker 1: Unlike some purely theoretical alchemists, to Beer was very interested
Speaker 1: in the practical and industrial uses of chemistry. His writings
Speaker 1: contained recipes that would have been of great value to craftsmen.
Speaker 1: He describes how to produce better metals and alloys. For instance,
Speaker 1: he gives methods for refining metals and for preparing steel
Speaker 1: from iron, recognizing the importance of carbon and iron, even
Speaker 1: if he didn't name it. He knew different treatments gave
Speaker 1: harder or softer iron. He provided formulas for metal coatings
Speaker 1: and preservatives to beer, explained how to make varnishes to
Speaker 1: coat iron and protect it from rust, an early form
Speaker 1: of rustproofing. He also dealt with dying textiles and leather,
Speaker 1: giving chemical recipes to achieve long lasting colors. In fact,
Speaker 1: he mentions a substance to help dyes bind to cloth,
Speaker 1: essentially describing a mordant technique in glass making. Tabier wrote
Speaker 1: about adding manganese to glass to remove its greenish tint,
Speaker 1: a trick still used in glass manufacturing today. He also
Speaker 1: had a method for making transparent, nearly unbreakable glass, perhaps
Speaker 1: an early attempt at tempered glass or a commentary on
Speaker 1: something like the legendary flexible glass. He worked on inorganic
Speaker 1: pigments and inks. Jabier gives recipes for cheap illuminating ink
Speaker 1: for manuscripts, likely using soot or galena. He also experimented
Speaker 1: with paints and dyes, possibly identifying compounds like lead white
Speaker 1: of verdigrious for coloring in the realm of fire and explosives.
Speaker 1: While long before gunpowder's invention, Jabier did toy with combustible
Speaker 1: and reactive mixtures. Some suggest he understood aspects of nitrate
Speaker 1: based reactions, though there's no clear evidence he made in
Speaker 1: an explosive powder, but his knowledge of vigorous acid reactions
Speaker 1: and metal dissolution laid groundwork that later in the thirteenth
Speaker 1: century would lead to nitro compounds. Shabir's interest including improving
Speaker 1: practical products like waterproofing cloth and manufacturing hand eye and
Speaker 1: healing concoctions. Being a pharmacist son and a physician, he
Speaker 1: naturally integrated chemistry with medicine. Taken together, these achievements showed
Speaker 1: Jabir to be a figure of astonishing versatility. He was
Speaker 1: simultaneously a theorist devising grand unifying concepts like the balance,
Speaker 1: and an experimenter, discovering new substances and inventing useful products.
Speaker 1: It's worth noting that some of the accomplishments credited to
Speaker 1: Goebber and later European texts were long thought by Western
Speaker 1: historians to belong to a much later error, until closer
Speaker 1: study confirmed that Jabir's Arabic works indeed contained the seeds
Speaker 1: of those discoveries. For example, the preparation of Aqua regia
Speaker 1: was first clearly described in the Latin sumer perfectionists pseudo
Speaker 1: Gerber thirteenth century, but Jabir's own Arabic recipe from sis
Speaker 1: centuries earlier was eventually found. This continuity underscores a direct
Speaker 1: transmission of knowledge from Jaber's lab in eighth century Kufa
Speaker 1: to the Latin alchemists of thirteenth century Europe. One almost
Speaker 1: prophetic idea attributed to Jabir is his speculation about the
Speaker 1: immense energy locked and matters smallest parts. In one text,
Speaker 1: he writes, in the smallest part of matter, the invisible
Speaker 1: particle or atom, there is an intense power. It cannot
Speaker 1: be definitively said that this small particle cannot be divided. Further,
Speaker 1: it too can be split in what it is. Such
Speaker 1: a force is released that it could overturn the world.
Speaker 1: This statement, if indeed from Jabir, is ahead of its time,
Speaker 1: essentially imagining nuclear energy over a thousand years before its realization.
Speaker 1: Whether Jabir arrived at this through philosophical reasoning about infinite
Speaker 1: divisibility or through some experiment, perhaps observing the vigorous reaction of,
Speaker 1: say a tiny amount of powder causing a big effect,
Speaker 1: it speaks to his intuitive genius. It also aligns with
Speaker 1: his belief in hidden properties. Even the smallest speck of
Speaker 1: matter hides a potent secret within. Jabier was not only
Speaker 1: a man of science, but also a man of faith
Speaker 1: and mysticism. In the eighth century Islamic times, the divides
Speaker 1: we now draw between science, magic, and spirituality were much
Speaker 1: more fluid. Jabier's life and writings exemplify this fluidity. He
Speaker 1: was a devout Muslim, specifically aligned with Chiai Islam, and
Speaker 1: his scientific endeavors were often tinged with spiritual purpose. In
Speaker 1: many later sources, Jabir is honorifically called al Sufi the Mystic,
Speaker 1: suggesting he was associated with ascetic or Sufi practices. While
Speaker 1: Sufi could also mean simply wool wearer ascetic at the time,
Speaker 1: the implication is is that Jabir approached the world as
Speaker 1: a mystic scientist, seeking not just material outcomes but also enlightenment.
Speaker 1: Being a disciple of Imam Ja'afar al Sadiq deeply influenced
Speaker 1: Jabir's outlook. The Shiai view venerated the Imams as repositories
Speaker 1: of divine knowledge, including secret sciences. Jabir portrays himself as
Speaker 1: a transmitter of the Imam's wisdom indeed within the Jiberian corpus,
Speaker 1: or some of the earliest explicit Schai theological teachings outside
Speaker 1: of purely religious texts. For example, in Jabir's work Book
Speaker 1: of the Glorious and Book of Explication, we find discussions
Speaker 1: of resurrection, salvation, and the spiritual authority of the Imams,
Speaker 1: all done in allegorical form. One could read some of
Speaker 1: Jabir's alchemical metaphors as coded references to the Imams. For instance,
Speaker 1: the idea of a hidden perfect element that can transmute
Speaker 1: the world might parallel the hidden Imam, the Mahdi who
Speaker 1: will transform society. The correspondence is not accidental. It appears
Speaker 1: Jabir or the later compilers of his works intentionally wove
Speaker 1: Imami doctrines into the fabric of his science. This made
Speaker 1: his alchemy a kind of sacred science, part of a holistic,
Speaker 1: spiritual worldview. It also offered protection in an error when
Speaker 1: overt CHII teachings could be politically dangerous. Embedding them in
Speaker 1: an alchemical treatise was a way to preserve and transmit
Speaker 1: esoteric religious ideas under the radar. In this sense, Jabir
Speaker 1: can be seen as a proto Ismaali philosopher, blending Greek philosophy, alchemy,
Speaker 1: and Schiai theology, an approach that would fully blossom in
Speaker 1: the Asmali Fatimid circles a century or two later. Jabir's
Speaker 1: alchemy was never just about metals. It is about perfection
Speaker 1: and pure verification, concepts as much moral as physical. In
Speaker 1: the introduction to the Book of Mercy as We Saw,
Speaker 1: he speaks in ethical terms, decrying deceit and ignorance and
Speaker 1: championing knowledge and truth. This moral undertone runs through his works.
Speaker 1: Many alchemical texts of Jabir draw on an analogy between
Speaker 1: purifying base metals into gold and purifying the human soul.
Speaker 1: To transmute lad into gold, the alchemists himself must exhibit
Speaker 1: purity of intention, patience, and wisdom, essentially transmuting his own
Speaker 1: soul from baseness to nobility. Such ideas later became explicit
Speaker 1: in Sufi alchemical symbolism. Jabiir was a pioneer of this outlook.
Speaker 1: He often warns that only the worthy, those who submit
Speaker 1: to God's will and seek knowledge righteously, will grasp the
Speaker 1: ultimate secrets. He likely saw his work as a way
Speaker 1: of glorifying God by covering the marvels of creation, a
Speaker 1: sentiment consistent with the chronic encouragement to ponder Allah's signs
Speaker 1: in the world. In Jabier's time, what we call occultism
Speaker 1: was usually considered a legitimate branch of knowledge. Astrology, for example,
Speaker 1: was often studied alongside astronomy. The making of talismans was
Speaker 1: a craft akin to medicine. Jabir excelled in these areas.
Speaker 1: He did not draw a hard line between alchemy and magic. Instead,
Speaker 1: he considered magic as employing the hidden properties God placed
Speaker 1: in the universe. In the works like the Book of
Speaker 1: the Search and the Book of Fifty, he lays down
Speaker 1: principles for how symbols, planetary timings, and materials can be
Speaker 1: combined to channel cosmic forces. This is essentially theorgy working
Speaker 1: with divine quasi divine forces. Jabier's frequent references to the
Speaker 1: stars and to spiritual beings show he believed in an
Speaker 1: animated cosmos, the stars influenced the earth, Angels or spirits
Speaker 1: might mediate those influences, and through proper knowledge, a wise
Speaker 1: person could leverage these connections. Jabier's Book of Black Magic,
Speaker 1: although obscure, hints that he even explored what others shunned,
Speaker 1: possibly necromancy or dark sorcery. The title employs al Jafar, which,
Speaker 1: in Schiite lore, was a secret text of imam Ali
Speaker 1: containing apocalyptic and mystical knowledge. The black qualifier might mean
Speaker 1: forbidden knowledge. By contrast, some speak of a white chafar
Speaker 1: for permissible secrets and a black chaffar for forbidden ones.
Speaker 1: This aligns with Jabier's method for scattering knowledge and riddles.
Speaker 1: Perhaps the darkest secrets were only hinted at in this
Speaker 1: lost work. We don't know its contents, but later legends
Speaker 1: grew that Jabir could perform miraculous feats, turning aside the
Speaker 1: evil eye, summoning gin, or creating life in flasks. While
Speaker 1: these sound like fairy tales, they do echo experiments he
Speaker 1: actually discussed. One vivid anecdote. Illustrating Jaber's ethical stance on
Speaker 1: magic is his criticism of frauds who claim to transmute
Speaker 1: metals by superficial tricks. Both Jabir and later Islamic scholars
Speaker 1: wrote against dishonest alchemists who merely plated cheap metal to
Speaker 1: look like gold. Jabier's compassion for the deceived seekers suggests
Speaker 1: he saw misuse of alchemy and magic as morally reprehensible.
Speaker 1: He strove to distance himself from the image of the
Speaker 1: Charlatan sorcerer and present himself as a god fearing sage,
Speaker 1: unveiling the created secret for the benefit of humankind. Over time,
Speaker 1: many stories grew around Jabir that blur reality and legend,
Speaker 1: painting him as almost a wizard. One story claims that
Speaker 1: Jabir could create a humanculus, a tiny artificial life form,
Speaker 1: in his laboratory. While this sounds fantastical, it's based on
Speaker 1: a section of the Jabian Corpus that discusses the taquin,
Speaker 1: or artificial generation of living creatures. Another legend says that
Speaker 1: Jabier once saved his patron from an assassination by poisoning
Speaker 1: by having secretly coded the target's cup with an alchemical antidote,
Speaker 1: thus displaying his mastery over poisons. Whether true or not,
Speaker 1: it ties into the fact that he did write on
Speaker 1: poisons and cures. It is also said that after the
Speaker 1: Barbacans fell and Jabir was under house arrest, he fiend
Speaker 1: madness or incompetence to avoid suspicion, all while writing his
Speaker 1: most profound works in secret. For example, Ivan al Nadem
Speaker 1: relates that Jabiir wrote books on the order of reading
Speaker 1: my books now lost to guide his disciples through the
Speaker 1: labyrinth of knowledge. This suggests Jabier had a circle of
Speaker 1: students who carried on his teachings covertly. Indeed, some modern
Speaker 1: scholars propose that Jabiir might actually represent a whole school
Speaker 1: of alchemists who use Jabir as a pen name. In
Speaker 1: that scenario, the legend of Jabir's personal life could be
Speaker 1: allegories of a group working in secrecy. Notably, Jabiir's writings
Speaker 1: themselves acknowledged the deliberate use of obfuscation and cryptography. He
Speaker 1: famously describes a technique called dispersion of knowledge, where the
Speaker 1: author splits up a single discourse into separate parts across
Speaker 1: different chapters of books, so that no one piece reveals
Speaker 1: the full secret. This way, only a persistent and wise
Speaker 1: student who reads all and puts it together can grasp
Speaker 1: the truth, shielding it from the uninitiated. Jabiir employs this
Speaker 1: throughout his corpus. For instance, a crucial instruction for an
Speaker 1: elixir might be tucked into a treatise that appears to
Speaker 1: be about grammar. This scattering of the true was later
Speaker 1: admired and emulated by European occultists like Heinrich Agrippa in
Speaker 1: the Renaissance. The very fact Jabir emphasizes this shows his
Speaker 1: mystical mindset. Truth is a treasure to be protected, Revelations
Speaker 1: should be gradual, almost initiatory. It paints the picture of
Speaker 1: Jabir not just as a scientist, but as a master
Speaker 1: of wisdom, almost as secret society guru, guiding select disciples
Speaker 1: to enlightenment under layers of symbol in cipher. In summary,
Speaker 1: Jabir's identity as a scholar cannot be separated from his
Speaker 1: identity as a mystic and believer. He lived when seeking
Speaker 1: knowledge was a form of worship. Understanding God's creation was
Speaker 1: a way to appreciate God. His teacher, Ja'afar al Sadik,
Speaker 1: is said to have taught him the true knowledge him
Speaker 1: as an inner light that God grants to the sincere.
Speaker 1: Jabir's life work, from the pursuit of the elixir to
Speaker 1: the crafting of talismans, ultimately aimed at harnessing that light,
Speaker 1: both in the material world and within the self. As
Speaker 1: he once wrote, the purpose of our work is to
Speaker 1: remove darkness from the mind and bring forth light in
Speaker 1: this spirit. The archetype of Jabir in later law became
Speaker 1: a beacon of the marriage between science and spirituality, a
Speaker 1: tradition that profoundly influenced Islamic esoteric thought, and, through translation,
Speaker 1: even European alchemical mysticism. After the downfall of his patrons
Speaker 1: in aight three CE, Jabir lived quietly in Kufa, likely
Speaker 1: under the watchful eye of the authorities. Cut off from
Speaker 1: court life and worldly ambitions, Jabir devoted himself to organizing
Speaker 1: and recording his vast knowledge. It may have been during
Speaker 1: these final years at three to eight fifteen that he
Speaker 1: compiled many of the treaties we now have, revising earlier
Speaker 1: notes and in show during his legacy would survive. Some
Speaker 1: sources say he purposely hid copies of his works in
Speaker 1: various spots. There is a story that a copy of
Speaker 1: the Kitab al Rama was found hidden in a wall
Speaker 1: in Kufa generations later. This resonates with his covert style.
Speaker 1: He wanted the knowledge to outlast him, even if he
Speaker 1: wasn't there to teach it. Jabir died roughly ninety four
Speaker 1: years old around eight fifteen CE in Kufa. There is
Speaker 1: little fanfare regarded about his passing. Considering the tense politics,
Speaker 1: it might have been a quiet funeral. Perhaps a few
Speaker 1: devout students attended to bury their master, keeping his secrets
Speaker 1: even as they laid him to rest. There's no famous
Speaker 1: tomb or shrine for Jabir. In contrast to many luminaries
Speaker 1: of his time, he faded from public record at death.
Speaker 1: This low profile end befitted someone whom history remembers as
Speaker 1: somewhat enigmatic and hidden. Yet ironically, within a few decades
Speaker 1: after his death, Jabir's name rose to great prominence in
Speaker 1: intellectual circles. By the tenth century, scholars in Baghdad and
Speaker 1: elsewhere were avidly discussing Jabir's books. Some question whether these
Speaker 1: writings were truly by one man, or were too many
Speaker 1: and too varied to be authentic. As mentioned, a few
Speaker 1: skeptics even claimed Jabir iban Hayen was a fictitious figure
Speaker 1: concocted to house a body of allegorical writings. But the
Speaker 1: prevailing view among Islamic bibliophiles was that Jabir was real,
Speaker 1: a great savant of the past, though one whose life
Speaker 1: was deliberately obscured. This aura of a mystery only added
Speaker 1: to his allure in a sense, Jabir iban Hayen the
Speaker 1: legend was just beginning, as Jabir the Man ended. Over
Speaker 1: the next centuries, many would claim to be the heirs
Speaker 1: of Jabir's knowledge, and his name would travel far beyond
Speaker 1: the streets of Kufa. The impact of Jabiir on subsequent
Speaker 1: history is immense, spanning the domains of science, medicine, philosophy,
Speaker 1: and even culture. Here we will talk about some key
Speaker 1: aspects of his legacy. Jabier's most celebrated legacy is the
Speaker 1: founding figure of chemistry as a science. While modern chemistry
Speaker 1: evolved long after him, historians acknowledged Jabir's work as laying
Speaker 1: critical groundwork. The nineteenth century French chemist marcell and Berthelot
Speaker 1: remarked that Jabir ibin Hayen in chemistry is like Aristotle
Speaker 1: and logic, meaning that Jabir's writing systemaized the field in
Speaker 1: a way that became a reference point for centuries. Indeed,
Speaker 1: Jabir's texts contained the earliest known systematic classification of substances
Speaker 1: and reactions. He was among the first to emphasize quantitative experimentation,
Speaker 1: inspiring later scholars to follow suit. European historians like Eric
Speaker 1: John Hameyer and William R. Numan have credited Jabir with
Speaker 1: crucial innovations that helped transform alchemy into chemistry. It is
Speaker 1: no exaggeration that Francis Bacon, the seventeenth century English philosopher, wrote,
Speaker 1: Jabir ibin Hayen was the first who taught the world
Speaker 1: the art of chemistry. Thus he is the father of chemistry.
Speaker 1: Many modern references, textbooks, and encyclopedias echo this by dubbing
Speaker 1: him the father of Arab chemistry or simply the father
Speaker 1: of chemistry. While one can debate the exact moment chemistry
Speaker 1: was born, there is no doubt Jabir accelerated its maturation.
Speaker 1: His introduction of controlled experiment, precise apparatus, and clear documentation
Speaker 1: of outcomes is a legacy every chemist today is unknowingly
Speaker 1: indebted to. Within the Islamic Golden Age, Jaber's influence was profound.
Speaker 1: He became the master alchemist, whom later alchemist revered. In
Speaker 1: the ninth century, the renowned polymath al Razie built on
Speaker 1: Jabir's work. Rasi's own writings on alchemy and acid showed
Speaker 1: concepts and techniques pioneered by Jabir. Razi even referenced to
Speaker 1: Jabir as the teacher in his works and frequently cites him,
Speaker 1: indicating the continuity of the tradition. By the tenth century,
Speaker 1: al Farabi and others list alchemy among sciences and named
Speaker 1: Jabir as its chief exponent. The eleventh century Skalar Ibinsina,
Speaker 1: while skeptical of physical transmutation, nonetheless engaged with Shabir's ideas
Speaker 1: and felt the need to critique those who follow Jabir's
Speaker 1: quest for artificial gold. A sign of how widespread Jabir's
Speaker 1: influence was, Ibin Kalden, the great fourteenth century historian, noted
Speaker 1: that in his time, alchemy was called the science of Jabir,
Speaker 1: and that Jabir's seventy epistles on alchemy were well known
Speaker 1: but so cryptic that they had spawned countless commentaries. This
Speaker 1: is telling a medieval intellectual like abin Kalden, writing on
Speaker 1: the the History of Sciences, felt Jabir's contributions were so
Speaker 1: fundamental that the entire field was linked to him. Muslim
Speaker 1: alchemists up to the fifteenth century saw themselves as footnotes
Speaker 1: to Jabir, elaborating on his methods or trying to decode
Speaker 1: his puzzles. Jabir's work also influenced adjacent fields. For example,
Speaker 1: his classification of substances and emphasis on experimentations spilled over
Speaker 1: into medicine and pharmacology, pharmacists adopting chemical methods to prepare
Speaker 1: remedies following Jabir's demonstrations. Jabir's writings first reached Europe in
Speaker 1: translated Latin forms in the High Middle Ages. As mentioned,
Speaker 1: Gerard of Kremoda translated the Book of Seventy into Latin
Speaker 1: in the twelfth century. Translations of the Book of Mercy
Speaker 1: and some other treaties were also made into Latin. European
Speaker 1: scholars latched onto the Latinised name Geber Geper as the
Speaker 1: author of these works. Geber gained an old, most mythical
Speaker 1: authority among Western alchemists. He was often referred to as
Speaker 1: the wise Geber or the Master. In fact, the European
Speaker 1: alchemist so adored Geber that in the late thirteenth century,
Speaker 1: an enterprising and anonymous author wrote a set of influential
Speaker 1: alchemical texts in Latin and falsely attributed them to Geber
Speaker 1: to lend them credibility. The author is known today as
Speaker 1: Pseudo Geber, and his most famous work, The Sum of
Speaker 1: Perfection of the Magistry, was for centuries thought to be
Speaker 1: by the real Jabir. The Sum of Perfection, likely written
Speaker 1: by Poll of Toronto around twelve sixty to twelve seventy.
Speaker 1: The book built upon Jabier's sulfur mercury theory, but introduced
Speaker 1: new ideas like a corpuscular theory of matter in a
Speaker 1: clearer layer process for producing the philosopher's stone. The fact
Speaker 1: that pseudo Geber felt the need to attribute his work
Speaker 1: to Jabir's shows the esteem of Jaber's name. The fact
Speaker 1: that pseudo Geber felt the need to attribute his work
Speaker 1: to Jabia shows the esteem of Jabir's name. Through these
Speaker 1: Latin works, Jabir's influence permeated the Renaissance. Paracelsus knew of Geber.
Speaker 1: Roger Bacon cited Geber's findings, and some say Bacon obtains
Speaker 1: some recipes from Jabir's texts, and later alchemists like Robert
Speaker 1: Boyle in the seventeenth century still referenced Geber's theories. Even
Speaker 1: the terminology and chemistry owes Jabir. Words like alembic, alkali,
Speaker 1: and elixir came through Arabic into European languages due to
Speaker 1: Jabir's writings. Interestingly, the word Gibberish is speculated by some
Speaker 1: to derive from Geberish meaning the kind of unintelligible jargon
Speaker 1: people thought Geber's alchemical recipes sounded like whether true or not,
Speaker 1: it's a colorful testament to how famous an arcane Jabir
Speaker 1: and Geber's texts were considered. While Jabier himself wasn't a
Speaker 1: literary figure, his persona as the archetypal wise alchemists had
Speaker 1: seeped into cultural works over the ages. In the Islamic world,
Speaker 1: alchemy was often a theme in poetry and tales. For instance,
Speaker 1: some stories in the one thousand and one Knights the
Speaker 1: Arabian Nights occur in Haran al Rishid's court. One could
Speaker 1: imagine that among the backdrop characters might be an alchemist
Speaker 1: reminiscent of Jabir. Indeed, Jabir is sometimes name dropped in
Speaker 1: later Arabic stories as the sage who knew the secrets
Speaker 1: of alchemy. Sufi poets like Jala, Ludin Rumi and Hafiz
Speaker 1: used alchemical metaphors extensively, turning copy to gold as a
Speaker 1: symbol of inner transformation, the elixir as divine love, and
Speaker 1: while they don't mention Jabir explicitly, they inherit that language
Speaker 1: from the Islamic alchemical tradition he helped forge In Western culture,
Speaker 1: Jabir as Geber appeared in various alchemical treaties and was
Speaker 1: sometimes referenced in literature of the romantic error that had
Speaker 1: occult leanings. For example, in Washington Irving's Tale of the Alahambra,
Speaker 1: there are passing references to ancient alchemists and the quests
Speaker 1: for the Philosopher's Stone that hark back to Geber. In
Speaker 1: more recent times, Jabir has been explicitly portrayed in some
Speaker 1: historical novels and television series. A two thousand five Iranian
Speaker 1: TV miniseries titled Jabir ibin Hayen dramatized his life as
Speaker 1: a student of Imam Jafar, highlighting his scientific and spiritual endeavors.
Speaker 1: Educational programs and documentaries in the Middle East often include
Speaker 1: segments on Jabir when discussing the Golden Age of Islam.
Speaker 1: Even in fiction, the archetype of an alchemist named Geber
Speaker 1: pops up occasionally in fantasy novels or games as a
Speaker 1: nod to the historical Jabir. These cultural depictions sometimes take
Speaker 1: liberties like imbuing Jabir with magical powers, but they serve
Speaker 1: to keep his memory alive. Outside of academic contexts, Jabir
Speaker 1: has essentially become a symbol of the fusion of science
Speaker 1: and magic. The wizard outco chemists in his laboratory, a
Speaker 1: trope that has inspired countless fictional characters. Jabir's integration of
Speaker 1: spiritual ideas with science left a mark on religious thought
Speaker 1: as well. Within Chiaite Islam, Jabir is sometimes regarded as
Speaker 1: an example of how the Imam's knowledge extended to worldly sciences.
Speaker 1: There's a pride in Chiai narratives that a disciple of
Speaker 1: Imam Ja'afar contributed so much to human knowledge, reinforcing the
Speaker 1: belief that the Imams were true fonts of knowledge since
Speaker 1: they taught people like Jabir. Additionally, Jabir's approach influenced Islamic
Speaker 1: esoteric philosophies like those of the Brethren of Purity in
Speaker 1: the tenth century, who wrote an encyclopedia set of epistles
Speaker 1: combining science, neoplatonism, and Islamic theology. They likely knew of
Speaker 1: Jabir's works and adopted a similar holistic approach. In the
Speaker 1: isma Illi sect, there was an understanding that certain sciences
Speaker 1: had hidden truths. Jabir's balance and letter number mysticism tie
Speaker 1: into ismaili cosmological numerology. Moving forward, alchemy itself took on
Speaker 1: a spiritual dimension in many religious and occult traditions. European
Speaker 1: Rosicrusions and Freemasons in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries often
Speaker 1: looked back to figures like Hermestrismegistus, and Geber as heralds
Speaker 1: of ancient wisdom. The idea that material alchemy was a
Speaker 1: cover for spiritual alchemy, popular in both Sufi and Western
Speaker 1: esoteric thought, can in part be traced to Jabir's style
Speaker 1: of writing and thinking, where achieving gold was as much
Speaker 1: about enlightenment as it was about wealth. In modern New
Speaker 1: Age spirituality one finds references to Geber's alchemy and discussions
Speaker 1: of inner transformation. Thus, Jabir indirectly lives on as a
Speaker 1: saint of science in Islamic memory and as a legendary
Speaker 1: master in occult circles. In the modern era, Jabir has
Speaker 1: continued to fascinate research. One of the most important academic
Speaker 1: investigations was by Paul Kraus in the nineteen thirties. Kraus
Speaker 1: analyzed the Jiberian corpus linguistically and historically, and concluded that
Speaker 1: the bulk of it could not have been written in
Speaker 1: the eighth century, pointing instead to the ninth tenth century
Speaker 1: isma Illy times. Kraus suggested that Jaber might have been
Speaker 1: a pseudonym for entire esoteric fraternity. While this shock sum
Speaker 1: as it implied Jabir hiben Hyaena as traditionally conceived, might
Speaker 1: be a later construct, it has since gained ground that
Speaker 1: the corpus his heterogeneous, with layers from different times. Still,
Speaker 1: Kraus did not deny the existence of a historical Jabir.
Speaker 1: He believed an original core of works, perhaps including the
Speaker 1: Book of Mercy and a few others, could stem from
Speaker 1: the real Jabir, around which a school accredited more writings.
Speaker 1: Later scholars like E. G. Halmyard also wrote about Jabir,
Speaker 1: often in more reverend tones, crediting him personally. With many discoveries.
Speaker 1: Sayad Hasid Nassar and others highlighted Jabir's role in the
Speaker 1: Islamic scientific spirit. More recently, William R. Numan re examined
Speaker 1: Jabir's influence on the West, clarifying what was genuine and
Speaker 1: what was pseudo Geber, which helped restore proper credit to
Speaker 1: the historical Jabir for certain innovations. Academic interest also extends
Speaker 1: to the content analysis of Jabir's works. For example, scholars
Speaker 1: study his use of Arabic language and technical terms, his
Speaker 1: citation of earlier sources, and his impact on subsequent scientific
Speaker 1: vocabulary in the our world. Researchers published papers in Arabic
Speaker 1: and English reassessing Jabir's contributions, often with a tone of
Speaker 1: reclaiming a proud heritage, pointing out that Jabir understood the
Speaker 1: necessity of experimentation long before Francis Bacon formalized it. In
Speaker 1: some Jabir remains a subject of active scholarly explory, a
Speaker 1: bridge connecting the ancient, medieval, and modern scientific traditions. Jabir
Speaker 1: ibn Hayen's life and legacy form a rich tapestry. He
Speaker 1: lived in a time where knowledge was a grand adventure,
Speaker 1: when one could be a theologian, chemist, philosopher, and magician
Speaker 1: all at once. Through dedication and intellect, JABII became a
Speaker 1: figure larger than life, the poor orphan of tuss who
Speaker 1: might have learned in secret from an imam who healed
Speaker 1: the sick and kufa, and experimented under the patronage of
Speaker 1: a caliph who suffered political full but turned inward to
Speaker 1: write and opus of knowledge, and who after death was
Speaker 1: revered as the sage Gebber across the world. His biography,
Speaker 1: filled with both historical fact and mythical embellishment, captures the
Speaker 1: imagination and his work, from the practical recipes for acids
Speaker 1: to the mystical numerology of the balance symbolizes the union
Speaker 1: of mind and spirit characteristic of the golden age of
Speaker 1: Islamic civilization. Over a millennium later, whenever we mix chemicals
Speaker 1: in a lab or speak of elements of balance, or
Speaker 1: even muse about the spiritual metaphor of turning lead into gold,
Speaker 1: Jabir's echoes are with us. As the Imam Ja'afar is
Speaker 1: reported to have said to Jabir, knowledge is life's adornment
Speaker 1: and the key to all locked things he creed. Jabir
Speaker 1: i bin Hayen exemplified to the fullest by unlocking nature's
Speaker 1: secrets and adorning history with his knowledge. His legacy in
Speaker 1: science and mysticism continues to shine as pure and enduring
Speaker 1: as the gold he sought to create. If alchemy is
Speaker 1: the art of perfecting the imperfect, Jabir's life is it's
Speaker 1: at its plainest proof, he took base materials, loss, exile, suspicion,
Speaker 1: and refine them into a method where measurement meets meaning.
Speaker 1: Whether you meet him as a student physician or veiled
Speaker 1: master scattering truths across books, he keeps asking the same thing,
Speaker 1: will you weigh the unseen as carefully as you weigh
Speaker 1: the scene. That's why he belongs on the Occult rejects,
Speaker 1: not as a relic, but as a mirror. And I
Speaker 1: hope you all enjoyed this one, and until the next one,
Speaker 1: everybody be well Later