Geber: Encyclopedia - Geber

Geber

Jabir Ibn Hayyan (full name Abu Musa Jabir Ibn Hayyan Al-Azdi, أبو موسى جابر بن حيان الأزدي; ca.721, Tus, Iran – 815, Kufa, Iraq), known in Europe by the Latinized name Geber, was one of the most notable Islamic alchemists. His books strongly influenced European alchemists and justified their search for the philosopher's stone. He is credited with the invention of many types of now-basic chemical laboratory equipment, and with the discovery and description of many now-commonplace chemical substances and processes — such as the hydrochloric and nitric acids, distillation, and crystallization — that have become the foundation of today's chemistry and chemical engineering.

Jabir Ibn Hayyan and Geber were also pen names of an anonymous 14th century European alchemist, author of the treatise Summa Perfectione and several other books: see Pseudo-Geber.

Geber - Biography

Jabir Ibn Hayyan was born around 721 in the town of Tus in Khorasan, Persia (present-day Iran). His father, a druggist of the Azd tribe, was executed for conspiring to overthrow the Umayyad caliphate.

As a young man Jabir was sent to Kufa (present Iraq), to study the Qu'ran and mathematics. In Kufa he became a student of the celebrated Islamic teacher and sixth Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq. He lived for most of his life at Kufa, where he died in 815.

Geber - Contributions to chemistry

Jabir is often called "Father of Chemistry", because he was the first scholar to scientifically systematize that science, to whose theory and practice he made many noteworthy contributions.

In spite of his leanings toward mysticism (he was considered a Sufi) and superstition, he more clearly recognized and proclaimed the importance of experimentation. "The first essential in chemistry," he declared, "is that you should perform practical work and conduct experiments, for he who performs not practical work nor makes experiments will never attain the least degree of mastery."

Jabir wrote more than one hundred treatises on various subjects, of which twenty two are about alchemy. Firmly grounded on experimental observation, his books systematized the knowledge about the fundamental chemical processes of the alchemists — such as crystallization, distillation, calcination, sublimation and evaporation — thus making a great step in the evolution of chemistry from an occult art to a scientific discipline. In particular, Jabir emphasized that definite quantities of various substances are involved in a chemical reaction, thus anticipating by almost a thousand years the principles of quantitative chemistry and the law of definite proportions.

Jabir is also credited with the invention and development of several chemical instruments that are still used today, such as the alembic, which made distillation easy, safe, and efficient. By distilling various salts together with sulfuric acid, Jabir discovered hydrochloric acid (from salt) and nitric acid (from saltpeter). By combining the two, he invented aqua regia, one of the few substances that can dissolve gold. Besides its obvious applications to gold extraction and purification, this discovery would fuel the dreams and despair of alchemists for the next thousand years. He is also credited with the discovery of citric acid (the sour component of lemons and other unripe fruits), acetic acid (from vinegar), and tartaric acid (from wine-making residues).

Jabir applied his chemical knowledge to the improvement of many manufacturing processes, such as making steel and other metals, preventing rust, engraving gold, dyeing and waterproofing cloth, tanning leather, and the chemical analysis of pigments and other substances. He developed the use of manganese dioxide in glassmaking, to counteract the green tinge produced by iron — a process that is still used today. He noted that boiling wine released a flammable vapor, thus paving the way to Al-Razi's discovery of ethanol.

The seeds of the modern classification of elements into metals and non-metals could be seen in his chemical nomenclature. He proposed three categories: "spirits" which vaporize on heating, like camphor, arsenic and ammonium chloride; "metals", like gold, silver, lead, copper, iron; and "stones" that can be converted into powders.

In the Middle Ages, Jabir's treatises on chemistry were translated into Latin and became standard texts for European alchemists. These include the Kitab al-Kimya (titled Book of the Composition of Alchemy in Europe), translated by Robert of Chester (1144); and the Kitab al-Sab'een by Gerard of Cremona (before 1187). Berthelot translated some his books under the fanciful titles Book of the Kingdom, Book of the Balances, and Book of Eastern Mercury. Several technical terms introduced by Jabir, such as alkali, have found their way into various European languages and have become part of scientific vocabulary.

Jabir also made important contributions to medicine, astronomy, and other sciences. Only a few of his books have been edited and published, and fewer still are available in translation.

Geber - Contributions to alchemy

Jabir became an alchemist at the court of Caliph Harun al-Rashid, for whom he wrote the Kitab al-Zuhra ("The Book of Venus", on "the noble art of alchemy").

Jabir's alchemical investigations revolved around the ultimate goal of takwin — the artificial creation of life. Alchemy had a long relationship with Shi'ite mysticism; according to the first Imam, Ali ibn Abi Talib, "alchemy is the sister of prophecy". Jabir's interest in alchemy was probably inspired by his teacher Ja'far al-Sadiq, and he was himself called "the Sufi", indicating that he followed the ascetic form of mysticism within Islam.

In his writings, Jabir pays tribute to Egyptian and Greek alchemists Hermes Trismegistus, Agathodaimon, Pythagoras, and Socrates. He emphasizes the long history of alchemy ...whose origin is Arius ... the first man who applied the first experiment on the [philosopher's] stone, ... and he declares that man posesses the ability to imitate the workings of Nature...." (Nasr, Seyyed Hossein, Science and Civilization of Islam).

Jabir states in his Book of Stones (4:12) that "The purpose is to baffle and lead into error everyone except those whom God loves and provides for!". His works were deliberately written in highly esoteric code, so that only those who had been initiated into his alchemical school could understand them. It is therefore difficult at best for the modern reader to discern which aspects of Jabir's work are to be read as symbols (and what those symbols mean), and what is to be taken literally. Because his works rarely made overt sense, the term gibberish is believed to have originally referred to his writings (Hauck, p. 19).

Jabir's alchemical investigations were theoretically grounded in an elaborate numerology related to Pythagorean and Neoplatonic systems. The nature and properties of elements was defined through numeric values assigned the Arabic consonants present in their name, ultimately culminating in the number 17.

To Aristotelian physics, Jabir added the four properties of hotness, coldness, dryness, and moistness (Burkhardt, p. 29). Each Aristotelian element was characterized by these qualities: Fire was both hot and dry, earth cold and dry, water cold and moist, and air hot and moist. This came from the elementary qualities which are theoretical in nature plus substance. In metals two of these qualities were interior and two were exterior. For example, lead was cold and dry and gold was hot and moist. Thus, Jabir theorized, by rearranging the qualities of one metal, based on their sulfur/mercury content, a different metal would result. (Burckhardt, p. 29) This theory appears to have originated the search for al-iksir, the elusive elixir that would make this transformation possible — which in European alchemy became known as the philosopher's stone.

Geber - Writings by Jabir

The writings of Jabir Ibn Hayyan can be divided into four categories:

1. The 112 Books dedicated to the Barmakids, viziers of Caliph Harun al-Rashid who were descended from Zoroastrian priests from Bactria. This group includes the Arabic version of the Emerald Tablet, an ancient work that is the foundation of the Hermetic or "spiritual" alchemy. In the Middle Ages it was translated into Latin (Tabula Smaragdina) and widely diffused among European alchemists.

2. The Seventy Books, most of which were translated into Latin during the Middle Ages. This group includes the Kitab al-Zuhra ("Book of Venus") and the Kitab Al-Ahjar ("Book of Stones").

3. The Ten Books on Rectification, containing descriptions of "alchemists" such as Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.

4. The Books on Balance; this group includes his most famous 'Theory of the balance in Nature'. It might be difficult to determine which of these were written by him and which by his students, but they all can be considered works of the 'Jabir' school of alchemy.

Geber - Translated work of Jabir

• Holmyard, E.J. (ed.) The Arabic Works of Jabir ibn Hayyan(red) , two Vol. (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 in the Philosophy of Science p. 158] (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1994).
  
• Donald R. Hill, 'The Literature of Arabic Alchemy' in Religion: Learning and Science in the Abbasid Period, ed. by M.J.L. Young, J.D. Latham and R.B. Serjeant (Cambridge University Press, 1990) pp. 328-341, esp. pp 333-5.
  
• William Newman, New Light on the Identity of Geber, Sudhoffs Archiv, 1985, Vol.69, pp. 76-90

See also

• List of Muslims
• Alchemy
• Chemistry

Categories: 721 births | 815 deaths | Arab chemists | Alchemists | Muslim scientists

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Geber", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki