AN ALCHEMICAL COMPILATION OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY, AT). 79 
processes (‘Gates’) for making the Red Elixir, according to the method of Moses 
and the rest of the Prophets as handed down by Ja'far As-Sadiq, the forefather of 
Mu‘izz. Dubais was successful in carrying out the operations both of the ‘ Small Gate,’ 
whereby an elixir was made capable of converting 500 times its own weight of base 
metal into gold, and those of the ‘Greater Gate,’ whereby an elixir was prepared, 
of which only 1 miljqal was required for the conversion of 3,000 milLqals of base 
metal. This success led to correspondence with a certain King of the Greeks at 
Constantinople, 1 2 in whose letter the Greek methods of alchemy were detailed and to 
whom Dubais replied stating the substance of what is given in the Ta‘widh , the 
letter being accompanied by the gift of a small quantity of the Elixir. Dubais states 
that copies of this correspondence, written in Hebrew, were made, and could be 
procured in Aleppo, and Shaizar, 4 another town of Syria. Three copies were also 
made, in Arabic, but Hebrew script, 3 of the Ta'wiih , one for his daughter, one for 
his son-in-law (a manumitted Greek slave), and the third for himself, to which copy 
alone the history of how the Ta‘wldh reached him was prefixed. 
(B). The Ta‘widhu-l-Hakim (Folio 104 v., 1 . 6, to f. 116 r., 1 . 6). 
Begins : “ This is the copy of the Ta‘widh of Al-Hakim, Ruler of Egypt, on the 
Sublime Art. 
“ In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate ! Vouchsafe Thy aid, O 
Gracious One ! In the name of God, the King, the Manifest Truth ! Praise be to God, 
the Lord of the Worlds, and blessings be on the servants He has chosen, especially on 
the Chief of the Prophets and the elect, Muhammad, and on his pure family. This 
copy Mu‘izz publishes on the authority of his noble ancestors and great forefathers 
as far back as the Commander of the Faithful and the Leader of Pious men, Ja‘far 
ibn Muhammad As-Sadiq. The blessings of God be upon them all! 
“ Know, O my son, that this Art is not from a fixed thing unaccompanied by a 
thing that flies, nor from something that flies, unaccompanied by the fixed, nor from 
a Male without a Female, nor from a Female without a Male, etc.” 
The writer proceeds to state that the Art consists of the combination of the 
three ‘ Pillars,’ ‘ Body,’ ‘ Soul’ and ‘Spirit,’ for in them are the four elements of which 
every created thing is formed. The following operations are described : 
(1) Calcining the ‘Body ’ (Gold is the ‘body’ chosen + ) by heating repeatedly a 
mixture of the amalgamated metal with the distillate of vitriol, alum, and sal-ammo- 
1 Cf. p. 73, note (2). Constantine IX reigned from 976 — 1028 A.D. and was followed bj^ Romanus III, who died 
in 1034 A.D. 
2 The ancient Larissa (founded by SeleucusNicator), two marches N.W. of Hims(Emessa) ; cf. Le Strange, Description 
of Syria by Mukaddasi (Palestine Pilgrims Text Soc.,i 896), p. 9. 
3 Cf. the British Museum alchemical MS. described by Duval (B., La Chimie, II, pp. XLIV-XLVI) which are in the 
Arabic language, but Syriac script. 
4 Cf. the ‘ Ainu- s- San' ah (Mem. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, I, 4, p. 59, note 3), of which the Ta'widhu-l-Hakim might well be 
regarded as the commentary. The processes adopted in the latter are evidently very similar to those followed by IbnSina, 
when working for Al-Barqi The use of gold and silver was probably introduced into Arabic alchemy by Jabir, who 
also states in the 31st of the “ Seventy Books ” the reason why they were used. “ Plerique dixeruut quod tinctura 
non est nisi ex auro et argento ; et aurum est ad faciendum rubeum et argentum ad faciendum album. Et hoc est 
corpus quod dicitur fermentum ’ ’ (Latin trans. quoted by B. in his Arch, et Hist, des Sciences, p. 341). 
