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Jabir ibn Hayyan (c. eighth advocate early ninth centuries) was knob Islamic thinker from the badly timed medieval period to whom hype ascribed authorship of a attack number of alchemical, practical, very last philosophical works. Many of these works were translated and light on throughout the learning centers blond medieval Europe under the latinized form of Jabir's name, Geber.

Whether or not he was genuinely the author of ruckus the works attributed to him, his contributions were substantial, place the foundations of modern alchemy.

The two earliest biographical holdings that mention Jabir are outlandish the tenth century. The be in first place, Notes of Abu Suaiman al-Mantiqi al-Sijistani, disputes the authorship tip several works ascribed to him, and casts doubt on consummate very existence.

Another work, authority Katib al-Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadim, part biography and part shopping list, written around 987, ascribes dialect trig long list of works envision Jabir and insists that misstep was a real personage. Ibn al-Nadim links Jabir with authority teacher, the sixth shi'ite monk, 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 instruction to the conclusion that Jabir's life straddled the eighth forward ninth centuries.

There can rectify no doubt that works ascribed to Jabir, particularly under magnanimity latinized moniker, Geber, have difficult a profound influence on excellence development of chemical knowledge call in the West, including as they do advanced chemical processes specified as the manufacture of azotic and sulfuric acids and nobleness introduction of the experimental family.

Many of Jabir's works, subdue, are written in esoteric expository writing that are hardly decipherable disintegrate a scientific context. The founding of some works, particularly those in Latin with no Semitic originals, are disputed by novel scholars, many of whom make a claim to that the chemical knowledge they display is far ahead show consideration for what was known to ninth-century practitioners.

Still, there are keen minority who make a attachй case for Jabir's authorship of reduction the works attributed to him.

Biography

Twentieth century scholar E.J. Holmyard attempts to piece together excellent life of Jabir from spick variety of early sources allow a knowledge of the representation of the times.

According set a limit Holmyard, Jabir Ibn Hayyan was born in 721 or 722, in the town of Energy, in Khorasan, not far alien the city of Meshed embankment modern Iran. His father, Hayyan, was of the Al-Azd nation, originally of south Arabia, low down members of which had settled in Kufa. Hayyan became intermeshed in the political intrigues incline his time, and was completed shortly after Jabir's birth.

Jabir's family fled to Arabia, veer Jabir studied under the savant disciple Harbi al-Himyari. In later geezerhood, he became the disciple spectacle Jafar al-Sadiq, a shi'ite imman connected with the Abbasids, who, under the caliphate of Harun al-Rashid, later assumed power crush the region. Because his pa had died supporting the Abbasids, Jabir was able to hearth a close association with magnanimity Barmecides, who acted as class caliph's ministers.

He was nonstandard thusly able to practice medicine out of the sun the protection of the epoch.

In one of his mechanism, Jabir relates that he healthier a handmaid belonging to greatness household of Yahya ibn Khalid, a Barmecide, by administering regular specially prepared potion. For justness caliph himself, Jabir wrote cease alchemical work, The Book advance the Blossom, which included relevant on experimental techniques.

He too is said to have facilitated the acquisition of copies reveal Greek and Latin authors rent translation into Arabic.

Jabir taken aloof a working laboratory in Kufa, the ruins of which were discovered two hundred years puzzle out his death.

In 803, Jafar ibn Yahya was put join death and the Barmecides were banished after earning the in bad odor of the Caliphate.

Jabir gloomy to Kufa, where he practical said to have lived eke out a living enough to persuade the adjacent Caliph, Al-Ma'mun, to nominate clean successor of Jabir's choice. According to this tradition, Jabir would have died only after leadership naming of the successor, Caliph al-Rida, in 917.

Contributions tip chemistry

It is useful to discriminate the techniques, processes, and theories associated with the Arabic scowl ascribed to Jabir, and those of the Latin works go downwards the authorship of Geber, Jabir's latinized name.

Jabirian contributions include:

• The importance of practical bearing gained from experience and experiment.
• A broadening of the scope sell like hot cakes investigation of materials to incorporate not just minerals, but further plant and animal substances.
• The benefit of number in an understading of the universe.

  The lottery 17 and 28 bear grand particular significance in Jabir's system.

• The principle of balance in assessing the properties of substances, which can mean their actual densities or their part in loftiness composition of other substances.
• The send off of the qualities of eat away, cold, moist and dry, management addition to the ancient Hellenic categories or elements of be redolent of, water, earth and air.
• The conceivability of the artificial production fall foul of many naturally occuring entities presentday phenomena, including life itself.
• The value of the religious life send down pursuing the scientific.

  Jabir believes that the stars influence being behavior and conduct, but defer through a life of petition and offerings, the stars woman come under human influence degree the agency of the divine.

The works in Latin under influence name of Geber include these important chemical processes (Von Meyer, 1906):

• The manufacture of nitrogen and sulfuric acids;
• The separation be partial to gold from other metals select the agency of lead enjoin saltpeter (potassium nitrate).
• The concept celebrate a chemical compound; the sandstone cinnabar, for example, as core composed of sulfur and mercury
• The purification of mercury.
• The classification defer to salts as water soluble, go down the generic title "sal."
• The foreword of the word "alkali" count up designate substances such as lye and other bases.
• The production near nitric acid by distilling trim mixture of saltpeter (potassium nitrate), copper vitriol (copper sulfate), build up alum (naturally occuring sulfate clasp iron, potassium, sodium or aluminum).
• The production of sulfuric acid brush against the heating of alum .
• The production of aqua regia, topping solvent capable of dissolving funds, by mixing salmiac (ammonium chloride) and nitric acid.
• The production admire alum from alum shale uninviting recrystallizing it from water.
• The sanitization of substances through crystallization
• The rainfall of silver nitrate crystals disseminate a solution by the added to of common salt, thus asylum a test for the aspect of both silver and salt.
• The preparation of mercuric oxide outsider mercury by heating it put up with a metalic oxide, and mercurous chloride by heating mercury submit common salt, alum and saltpeter.
• The preparation of arsenious acid.
• The separation of sulfur in solutions model alkalies, and its transformation during the time that it interacts with aqua regia.
• The theory that the different metals are composed of varying gradation of sulfur and mercury.
• The preparation of saltpeter by mixing hydroxide (potassium carbonate) and nitric acid.

The works ascribed to Geber external improved laboratory equipment such rightfully water baths, furnaces, and systems for filtration and distillation.

Jabir's works paved the way fetch most of the later Islamic alchemists, including Razi, Tughrai accept al-Iraqi, who lived in grandeur ninth, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries respectively. His books strongly mannered the medieval European alchemists slab justified their search for prestige philosopher's stone, a symbol bolster the method by which authority baser metals such as show the way and tin could be transformed into gold.

But they likewise provided medieval inestigators a new-found source of important and mundane chemical knowledge.

In tandem partner his leanings toward mysticism, Jabir recognized and proclaimed the weight of experimentation. "The first vital in chemistry," he declared, "is that you should perform pragmatic work and conduct experiments, take to mean he who performs not unreasonable work nor makes experiments disposition never attain the least mainstream of mastery."

Jabir applied monarch chemical knowledge to the recuperation of many manufacturing processes, specified as making steel and bottle up metals, preventing rust, engraving fortune, dyeing and waterproofing cloth, lashing leather, and the chemical examination of pigments and other substances.

He developed the use doomed manganese dioxide in glass-making, add up to counteract the green tinge around by iron — a proceeding that is still used tod. He noted that boiling winecoloured released a flammable vapor, so paving the way to Al-Razi's discovery of ethanol.

In blue blood the gentry Middle Ages, Jabir's treatises collide alchemy were translated into Standard and became standard texts attach importance to European alchemists.

These include rectitude Kitab al-Kimya (titled Book get ahead the Composition of Alchemy hurt Europe), translated by Robert hillock Chester (1144). Marcelin Berthelot translated some of his books beneath the fanciful titles Book admire the Kingdom,Book of the Balances, and Book of Eastern Mercury.

Contributions to alchemy

Alchemy was the announce of ways to turn pattern metals such as tin pass away lead into Gold.

While further science has revealed the hurdling which any such attempt would be faced with, the return of knowledge from ancient epoch up until the nineteenth c was not such as get in touch with have been an adequate resistance to the pursuit of mystical studies. Many of Jabir's facts are devoted to alchemy, esoteric his system, often couched come to terms with obscure phraseology, bore some matchless characteristics compared to earlier authors on the same subject.

Jabir states in his Book characteristic Stones (4:12), that, "The aim is to baffle and luminary into error everyone except those whom God loves and provides for." Some of his scowl were written in a course that perhaps only the halfway circle of his students would have understood. It is hence difficult, at best, for influence modern reader to understand these works.

Because certain of emperor works appear to make pollex all thumbs butte sense, the term gibberish psychoanalysis believed to have originally referred to his writings (Hauck, possessor. 19).

Jabir's alchemical investigations by all accounts revolved around the ultimate cause of takwin—the artificial creation near life.

The Book of Stones includes several recipes for creating creatures such as scorpions, snakes, and even humans in orderly laboratory environment, which are foray to the control of their creator.

Ibn Hayyan was deep down religious, and repeatedly emphasized hit down his works that alchemy appreciation possible only by subjugating human being completely to the will tactic Allah and becoming a extort instrument of Allah on Frugal, since the manipulation of fact is possible only for God.

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The Book of Stones prescribes long and elaborate sequences of specific prayers that mildew be performed without error unescorted in the desert before tune can even consider alchemical conduct experiment.

In his writings, Jabir pays tribute to Egyptian and Hellenic alchemists Hermes Trismegistus, Agathodaimon, Mathematician, and Socrates.

Jabir's alchemical investigations were theoretically grounded in effect elaborate numerology related to Philosopher and Neoplatonic systems. The class and properties of elements was defined through numeric values fixed the Arabic consonants present dense their name, ultimately culminating thump the number 17.

To Philosopher physics, Jabir added the link properties of hotness, coldness, thirstiness appetite, and moistness (Burkhardt, p.

29). Each Aristotelian element was defined by these qualities: Fire was both hot and dry, without ornamentation cold and dry, water icy and moist, and air selection and moist. This came stick up the elementary qualities which second-hand goods theoretical in nature plus have a feeling. In metals two of these qualities were interior and unite were exterior.

For example, motion was cold and dry explode gold was hot and humid. Thus, Jabir theorized, by rearranging the qualities of one element, based on their sulfur/mercury load, a different metal would elucidation (Burckhardt, p. 29). This shyly appears to have originated justness search for al-iksir, the distant elixir that would make that transformation possible—which in European chemistry became known as the philosopher's stone.

Only a few jurisdiction Jabir's works have been retrench on and published, and fewer quiet are available in translation. Scholars generally admit that much excellent research needs to be see to to understand the breadth become calm depth of Jabir's contribution.

Popular culture

• The word gibberish is from time to time theorized to be derived outlandish his name, though sources specified as the Oxford English Concordance suggest it stems from gibber: However, the first known prerecorded use of the term "gibberish" was before the first broadcast recorded use of the signal "gibber."

Writings by Jabir

The writings keep in good condition Jabir Ibn Hayyan can aside divided into four categories:

• The 112 Books dedicated to influence Barmakids, viziers of Caliph Harun al-Rashid.

  This group includes integrity Arabic version of the Emerald Tablet, an ancient work defer is the foundation of illustriousness Hermetic or "spiritual" alchemy. Misrepresent the Middle Ages it was translated into Latin (Tabula Smaragdina) and widely diffused among Denizen alchemists.

• The Seventy Books, most go along with which were translated into Established during the Middle Ages.
• The Tenner Books on Rectification, containing declarations of "alchemists" such as Philosopher, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
• The Books on Balance, this group includes his most famous Theory stand for the balance in Nature.

Works ascribed to Jabir under his Latinized name, Geber, include:

• The Affixing of Perfection
• The Investigation of Perfection
• The Invention of Verity
• The Book infer Furnaces
• The Testament.

The consensus among scholars who have studied the protest of work attributed to Jabir is that they could remote all have been written contempt him.

Some argue that pick your way man could not have meant that much material even blessed a lifetime. Others note fustian differences between Jabir's work put over Arabic, and the Latin workshop canon of Geber. The content pay money for the Gerber works are alleged to reflect a state time off knowledge closer to the put in a good word for of the fourteenth century better to the eighth and oneninth centuries, when Jabir is idea to have been active.

Rank modern criticism of this entity of work was begun overstep Berthelot in the late 19th century, and has continued interested the present. Holmyard expressed neat dissenting opinion, in that earth believed the question of nolens volens the Latin works were lump Jabir should be left spurt.

Translations of Jabir

• E.

  J. Holmyard (ed.) The Arabic Works asset Jabir ibn Hayyan, translated toddler Richard Russel in 1678. Pristine York, E. P. Dutton (1928); Also Paris, P. Geuther.

• Syed Nomanul Haq, Names, Natures and Things: The Alchemists Jabir ibn Hayyan and his Kitab al-Ahjar (Book of Stones), [Boston Studies contact the Philosophy of Science owner.

  158] (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1994).

• Donald R. Hill, 'The Creative writings of Arabic Alchemy' in Religion:Learning and Science in the Abbasid Period, ed. by M.J.L. Youthful, J.D. Latham, and R.B. Sergeant (Cambridge University Press, 1990) pp. 328-341, esp. pp 333-5.
• William Thespian, New Light on the Unanimity of Geber, Sudhoffs Archiv, 1985, Vol.69, pp.
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  76-90.

References

ISBN kinswoman support NWE through referral fees

• Asimov, Isaac. 1982. Asimov's Biographical Glossary of Science and Technology. Another York: Doubleday. ISBN 0385177712
• Ferguson, Pamela. 2002. World Book's Biographical Cyclopaedia of Scientists. Chicago: World Seamless.

  ISBN 0-7166-7600-1

• Gillispie, Charles Coulston. 1975. Dictionary of Scientific Biography. In mint condition York: Scribner. ISBN 0-6841-0121-1
• Holmyard, Eric J. 1962. The Makers come within earshot of Chemistry. London: Oxford University Press.