ON ALCHEMICAL EQUIPMENT IN THE ELEVENTH CENTURY, A.D. 51 



II. Analysis of the ' Ainu- s- San* ah. 

 Introduction. 



The first three-and-a-half pages of the treatise are devoted to poetical and rhetorical 

 laments on the intellectual poverty of the age, but more especially on the ill-repute into 

 which Alchemy had fallen. This, Muhammad ibn 'Abdi-1-Malik finally concludes, must be 

 due to the repeated failure of unqualified experimenters. Such men, on discovering the 

 difficulties of the path, are apt to deny the truth of the Art, thus giving the common 

 people — who are always opposed to what they do not understand — an occasion to mock. 



The author continues : — 



" But if they had followed the right path and learned its inmost truths, they would not 

 have held it to be false, nor have belittled the intelligence of its followers. For this reason 

 I have composed the present work dealing with the subject, at Madinatu-s-Salam {i.e., 

 Baghdad) in the year 426 (= 1034 A.D.). 1 



It is divided into seven concise chapters. 



The First Chapter deals with the Names of Substances, |their Classification, and their 

 division into ' Spirits ' and ' Bodies.' 



The Second treats of their ' Qualities ' 2 and the characteristic properties of each of 

 them. 



The Third deals with the Proportions and Minimum Amounts of Substances to be 

 used in the Art. 



In the Fourth a distinction is drawn between those substances that are suitable for 

 ' the White ' and those for ' the Red.' 3 



The Fifth gives an account of the Instruments of the Art and describes the utensils 

 that are necessary for pursuing it. 



The Sixth is on the substitution of one substance for another whenever some 

 ingredient is unprocurable. 



The Seventh describes two Major Operations for the encouragement of those who 

 desire to benefit by the Art. Concise statements of easy processes in every useful branch 

 of the Art are also given. These I insert in order that the book may form a complete 

 whole. 



I have called it ' Ainu- s- San' 'ah wa l Aunu-s-Sana'ah (Essence of the Art and 

 Aid to the Workers), and I have included in it whatever I have personally verified by 

 experiments carried on at the cost of much bodily weariness. I have laboured at it all the 

 days of my life, hoping for the reward of God and the thanks of men, and in order to win 

 the approval of him for whose favors I am thankful [ Four lines of hyperbole 



1 I.e., two years before the death of Ibn Sfna. 



8 £> IxJs tabSV, i.e. whether they are hot and cold, dry or moist. 



8 I*., the elixirs by means of which gold and silver can be made. 



