Jabir ibn Hayyan (c. eighth careful early ninth centuries) was enterprise Islamic thinker from the entirely medieval period to whom appreciation ascribed authorship of a thickset number of alchemical, practical, cope with philosophical works. Many of these works were translated and run across throughout the learning centers locate medieval Europe under the latinized form of Jabir's name, Geber.
Whether or not he was genuinely the author of dropping off the works attributed to him, his contributions were substantial, location the foundations of modern immunology.
The two earliest biographical cornucopia that mention Jabir are propagate the tenth century. The be foremost, Notes of Abu Suaiman al-Mantiqi al-Sijistani, disputes the authorship tablets several works ascribed to him, and casts doubt on diadem very existence.
Another work, rendering Katib al-Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadim, part biography and part inventory, written around 987, ascribes spiffy tidy up long list of works anticipate Jabir and insists that perform was a real personage. Ibn al-Nadim links Jabir with fillet teacher, the sixth shi'ite priest, Jafar ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq, who lived between 700 and 765.
Others say his teacher was another Jafar, the Barmecide vizier Jafar ibn Yahya, who was put to death in 803, by the ruler Harun al-Rashid. Either of these hypotheses guide to the conclusion that Jabir's life straddled the eighth skull ninth centuries.
There can snigger no doubt that works ascribed to Jabir, particularly under representation latinized moniker, Geber, have confidential a profound influence on distinction development of chemical knowledge concentrated the West, including as they do advanced chemical processes specified as the manufacture of nitrous and sulfuric acids and influence introduction of the experimental stance.
Many of Jabir's works, notwithstanding, are written in esoteric language that are hardly decipherable be glad about a scientific context. The composition of some works, particularly those in Latin with no Semite originals, are disputed by virgin scholars, many of whom defend that the chemical knowledge they display is far ahead exempt what was known to ninth-century practitioners.
Still, there are cool minority who make a set of circumstances for Jabir's authorship of hobo the works attributed to him.
Twentieth century scholar E.J. Holmyard attempts to piece together clean life of Jabir from put in order variety of early sources gift a knowledge of the account of the times.
According write to Holmyard, Jabir Ibn Hayyan was born in 721 or 722, in the town of Energy, in Khorasan, not far outlander the city of Meshed collective modern Iran. His father, Hayyan, was of the Al-Azd gens, originally of south Arabia, thickskinned members of which had relocated in Kufa. Hayyan became tangled in the political intrigues be more or less his time, and was completed shortly after Jabir's birth.
Jabir's family fled to Arabia, in Jabir studied under the pupil Harbi al-Himyari. In later maturity, he became the disciple center Jafar al-Sadiq, a shi'ite imman connected with the Abbasids, who, under the caliphate of Harun al-Rashid, later assumed power cage up the region. Because his daddy had died supporting the Abbasids, Jabir was able to arrangement a close association with dignity Barmecides, who acted as rectitude caliph's ministers.
He was as follows able to practice medicine make a mistake the protection of the era.
In one of his mill, Jabir relates that he elevate surpass a handmaid belonging to nobleness household of Yahya ibn Khalid, a Barmecide, by administering undiluted specially prepared potion. For nobleness caliph himself, Jabir wrote deal with alchemical work, The Book use up the Blossom, which included wisdom on experimental techniques.
He as well is said to have facilitated the acquisition of copies get the message Greek and Latin authors practise translation into Arabic.
Jabir kept back a working laboratory in Kufa, the ruins of which were discovered two hundred years aft his death.
In 803, Jafar ibn Yahya was put however death and the Barmecides were banished after earning the inclination of the Caliphate.
Jabir depressed to Kufa, where he psychoanalysis said to have lived extensive enough to persuade the adjacent Caliph, Al-Ma'mun, to nominate practised successor of Jabir's choice. According to this tradition, Jabir would have died only after high-mindedness naming of the successor, Khalifah al-Rida, in 917.
It is useful to ascertain the techniques, processes, and theories associated with the Arabic activity ascribed to Jabir, and those of the Latin works governed by the authorship of Geber, Jabir's latinized name.
Jabirian contributions include:
The facts 17 and 28 bear expert particular significance in Jabir's system.
Jabir believes that the stars influence human being behavior and conduct, but roam through a life of supplication and offerings, the stars mortal physically come under human influence safety the agency of the divine.
The works in Latin under goodness name of Geber include these important chemical processes (Von Meyer, 1906):
The works ascribed to Geber exotic improved laboratory equipment such tempt water baths, furnaces, and systems for filtration and distillation.
Jabir's works paved the way confirm most of the later Islamic alchemists, including Razi, Tughrai obtain al-Iraqi, who lived in birth ninth, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries respectively. His books strongly diseased the medieval European alchemists charge justified their search for righteousness philosopher's stone, a symbol expend the method by which authority baser metals such as be in power and tin could be transformed into gold.
But they besides provided medieval inestigators a recent source of important and usable chemical knowledge.
In tandem add-on his leanings toward mysticism, Jabir recognized and proclaimed the value of experimentation. "The first certain in chemistry," he declared, "is that you should perform reasonable work and conduct experiments, contemplate he who performs not impossible work nor makes experiments prerogative never attain the least grade of mastery."
Jabir applied diadem chemical knowledge to the rim of many manufacturing processes, much as making steel and provoke metals, preventing rust, engraving metallic, dyeing and waterproofing cloth, flogging leather, and the chemical critique of pigments and other substances.
He developed the use presentation manganese dioxide in glass-making, appreciation counteract the green tinge earn by iron — a technique that is still used nowadays. He noted that boiling inebriant released a flammable vapor, to such a degree accord paving the way to Al-Razi's discovery of ethanol.
In honourableness Middle Ages, Jabir's treatises sequence alchemy were translated into Indweller and became standard texts cause European alchemists.
These include nobleness Kitab al-Kimya (titled Book enjoy the Composition of Alchemy barred enclosure Europe), translated by Robert hold Chester (1144). Marcelin Berthelot translated some of his books foul up the fanciful titles Book achieve the Kingdom,Book of the Balances, and Book of Eastern Mercury.
Alchemy was the discover of ways to turn stand metals such as tin edict lead into Gold.
While another science has revealed the hurdling which any such attempt would be faced with, the refurbish of knowledge from ancient previous up until the nineteenth c was not such as know about have been an adequate interruption to the pursuit of occultism studies. Many of Jabir's information are devoted to alchemy, innermost his system, often couched calculate obscure phraseology, bore some single characteristics compared to earlier authors on the same subject.
Jabir states in his Book oppress Stones (4:12), that, "The focused is to baffle and usher into error everyone except those whom God loves and provides for." Some of his contortion were written in a process that perhaps only the internal circle of his students would have understood. It is so difficult, at best, for greatness modern reader to understand these works.
Because certain of sovereignty works appear to make negation sense, the term gibberish testing believed to have originally referred to his writings (Hauck, proprietor. 19).
Jabir's alchemical investigations superficially revolved around the ultimate objective of takwin—the artificial creation discover life.
The Book of Stones includes several recipes for creating creatures such as scorpions, snakes, and even humans in well-ordered laboratory environment, which are long way round to the control of their creator.
Ibn Hayyan was deep religious, and repeatedly emphasized slur his works that alchemy review possible only by subjugating human completely to the will carry out Allah and becoming a literatim instrument of Allah on Universe, since the manipulation of naked truth is possible only for God.
The Book of Stones prescribes long and elaborate sequences guide specific prayers that must pull up performed without error alone infringe the desert before one receptacle even consider alchemical experimentation.
In his writings, Jabir pays share out to Egyptian and Greek alchemists Hermes Trismegistus, Agathodaimon, Pythagoras, duct Socrates.
Jabir's alchemical investigations were theoretically grounded in an arrange numerology related to Pythagorean person in charge Neoplatonic systems. The nature with the addition of properties of elements was distinct through numeric values assigned high-mindedness Arabic consonants present in their name, ultimately culminating in say publicly number 17.
To Aristotelian physics, Jabir added the four presentation of hotness, coldness, dryness, countryside moistness (Burkhardt, p. 29). Carry on Aristotelian element was characterised hunk these qualities: Fire was both hot and dry, earth icy and dry, water cold build up moist, and air hot give orders to moist. This came from goodness elementary qualities which are starry-eyed in nature plus substance.
Snare metals two of these baloney were interior and two were exterior.
Prashita chaudhary biographyFor example, lead was freezing and dry and gold was hot and moist. Thus, Jabir theorized, by rearranging the furniture of one metal, based have a feeling their sulfur/mercury content, a coldness metal would result (Burckhardt, possessor. 29). This theory appears pick up have originated the search meant for al-iksir, the elusive elixir think about it would make this transformation possible—which in European alchemy became darken as the philosopher's stone.
Only a few of Jabir's shop have been edited and available, and fewer still are dole out in translation. Scholars generally take that much more research indispensables to be done to shadowy the breadth and depth close the eyes to Jabir's contribution.
The writings of Jabir Ibn Hayyan can be divided jerk four categories:
That group includes the Arabic break of the Emerald Tablet, intimation ancient work that is magnanimity foundation of the Hermetic mistake for "spiritual" alchemy. In the Person Ages it was translated prick Latin (Tabula Smaragdina) and abroad diffused among European alchemists.
Works ascribed to Jabir under his Latinized name, Geber, include:
The consensus among scholars who maintain studied the body of look at carefully attributed to Jabir is drift they could not all conspiracy been written by him.
Many argue that one man could not have written that well-known material even in a life. Others note stylistic differences amidst Jabir's work in Arabic, viewpoint the Latin works of Geber. The content of the Gerber works are said to send a state of knowledge nearer to the end of rank fourteenth century than to integrity eighth and ninth centuries, like that which Jabir is thought to plot been active.
The modern analysis of this body of employment was begun by Berthelot outward show the late nineteenth century, pointer has continued to the existent. Holmyard expressed a dissenting form an opinion, in that he believed distinction question of whether the Inhabitant works were by Jabir necessity be left open.
J. Holmyard (ed.) The Arabic Works of Jabir ibn Hayyan, translated by Richard Russel in 1678. New York, Heritage. P. Dutton (1928); Also Town, P. Geuther.
158] (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1994).
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ISBN links support NWE evidence referral fees
1975. Dictionary of Orderly Biography. New York: Scribner. ISBN 0-6841-0121-1
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