Arabic alchemy was derived from Greek Alexandrian thinking. However, most of
the practical matter of Arabic chemistry came from Mesopotamia.
The accounts of
KHALID IBN YAZID
(ca. 665-704 A.D.) and
JABIR IBN HAYAN
(fl. 760 A.D.) have been shown to be incorrect; the writings of the former
were not concerned with alchemy, and those of the latter were compilations of a
Muslim sect known as the Isma'iliya and were composed by a number of different
authors. The first important and authentic writings appeared in the tenth
century. Prior to that a number of mystical works of alchemical content
appeared. The "BOOK OF KRATES" was typical of this period. The "SILVERY
WATER AND STARRY EARTH" of
MUHAMMID IBN UMAIL
(ca. 900-960 A.D.) was a collection of alchemical writings that served as a
basis for others. The "TURBA PHILOSOPHORUM" was another. However, although
rational, these writings were quite different from, if not the opposite of
JABIR's
CORPUS which was clear and free of any mysticism and allegory. They
encompass a large number of works dealing with alchemy, cosmology, mysticism,
astrology, etc., and their basic ideas were Greek in origin.
AL-KINDI
(ca. 800-870 A.D.) wrote a large number of works that were based on the
science and philosophy of the Greeks (including 36 on technology and chemistry.
Probably the first Muslim to doubt the concept of transmutation.
AL-RAZI
(RHAZES)
(860-925 A.D.) Although most of his writings were medical, he wrote a number
of chemical works, the best known of which were the "BOOK OF SECRET OF SECRETS"
and the "COMPENDIUM OF TWELVE TREATISES." Dispite his opposition to
AL-KINDI
on transmutation, his ideas were practical, scientific in their approach and
as with JABIR, devoid of mysticism and ambiguity.
IBN SINA
(AVICENNA)
(980-1037 A.D.) contributed to almost every branch of science. His "BOOK OF
THE REMEDY" included many chemical observations; the ideas were basically
Aristotelian.
IBN SINA
followed
AL-KINDI'S
skepticism of transmutation.
The greatest contribution of the Arabs was in the transmittal of the
Hellenistic ideas; but they also explicitly formulated the sulfur-mercury
theory, clarified the elixir doctrine, the philosopher's stone, etc., as well
as making a number of important practical discoveries.