the father of CHEMISTRY : Jabir ibn Hayyan

Geber, another name for Jabir ibn Hayyan (Arabic: أبو موسى جابر بن حيّان ) 

was a well-known Arab polymath and alchemist who lived in the eighth and ninth century CE. He made major contributions to the fields of chemistry, pharmacology, and other sciences and is regarded as one of the leading figures in the subject of alchemy.

Background:

    Around the year 721 CE, Jabir ibn Hayyan was born in the Iranian city of Tus. His early years and family history are not well documented. He received training in a number of scientific fields, including alchemy, philosophy, and the natural sciences, and he rose to fame for his sharp mind and experimental approach to scientific research.

Alchemy and Chemistry: 

Jabir ibn Hayyan is frequently considered to as the father of alchemy because alchemy was his primary area of expertise.   Alchemy in Arabic.

He made significant contributions to the subject and is credited with bringing laboratory methods and rigorous experimentation to alchemical procedures.

In his complex theoretical framework for alchemy, Jabir divided substances into three groups: spirits, metals, and compounds.

He was interested in learning the mechanisms behind nature's transformations and had the belief that metals might be transformed and the elixir of life could be produced.

In contrast to the largely metaphysical nature of alchemy at the time, Jabir placed an emphasis on empirical observations and practical experiments.

He developed a variety of lab tools and procedures, including distillation, sublimation, and crystallization, which are still employed in chemistry today.

He paved the way for the creation of chemical processes by emphasizing exact measurements and controlled reactions. Jabir ibn Hayyan produced a number of works. many treatises on chemistry, alchemy, and related topics.

His writings included a variety of subjects, such as metallurgy, colors, medicine, cosmetics, and the creation of diverse chemical compounds. The "Book of the Composition of Alchemy," one of his most well-known writings, details his alchemical beliefs and experimental techniques.

He also wrote a lot about the characteristics of metals and how they might change. Legacy: Jabir ibn Hayyan made significant contributions to chemistry and alchemy.

He laid the groundwork for contemporary chemistry by emphasizing experimental techniques, lab procedures, and systematic observations.

His writings had a significant impact on later scholars, such as European alchemists of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

Despite the fact that some of his beliefs and ideas were founded on mystical and philosophical notions that are no longer regarded as scientifically sound, he made important contributions to laboratory methods and chemical processes.

Jabir's approach to alchemy helped chemistry develop as an area of study and his work provided the foundation for further developments in the subject. Overall, Jabir ibn Hayyan is one of the most significant individuals in the history of early chemistry because of his impact on alchemy and chemistry as well as his contribution to the creation of experimental techniques.

Alchemical writings

 The books added to the Seventy  (ʿasharat kutub muḍāfa ilā l-sabʿīn, Kr. #193–202): The only surviving treatise of this small collection (The Book of Explanation, Kitāb al-Īḍāḥ, Kr. #195) discusses briefly various methods of preparing elixirs and criticizes philosophers who were satisfied with the method of preparing z lixir sir, starting from mineral substances, excluding vegetable and animal substances.[53] 

   The Ten Books of Rectifications (al-Muṣaḥḥaḥāt al-ʿashara, Kr. Nos. 203-212): refers to the successive improvements ("corrections", muṣaḥḥaḥāt) introduced into the art by such "alchemists"; as "Pythagoras" (Kr. No. 203), "Socrates" (Kr.No. 204), "Plato" (Cr. No. 205), "Aristotle" (Cr. n.206), "Archigen" (Kr. No. 207–208), "Homer" (Kr. n. 209), 'Democritus' (kr.NEIN. 210), Ḥarbī al-Ḥimyarī (Kr. n. 211)[54] in sam Jabir  (Kr. n.212). The only surviving treatise in this small collection (Plato's Book of Corrections, Kitab Muṣaḥḥaḥāt Iflāḥāt Iflāṭun, Kr.  205) is divided into 90 chapters: 20 chapters on processes using only mercury, 10 chapters on processes using mercury and an additional “medicine”; (dawāʾ), 30 chapters on experiments with mercury and two other "drugs" and 30 chapters on experiments with mercury and three other "drugs". All  are preceded by an introduction describing the laboratory equipment mentioned in the paper.[55]   

The Twenty Books (al-Kutub al-ʿishrūn, Kr. 213-232): a single treatise (The Book of the Crystal, Kitāb al-Billawra, Kr.  220) and a long excerpt from another  (The Book of inner consciousness, Kitāb al-Ḍamir, Kr.NO. 230) survive.[56] The Book of  Inner Consciousness seems to deal with certain attributes (khawāṣṣ) and  talismans (ṭilasmāt).  

  The Seventeen Books (Kr. No.233-249); three treatises added to seventeen books (Kr. nos. 250–252); thirty nameless books (Kr. nos. 253–282);  Four treatises and some related treatises (Kr.NO. 283-286, 287-292); Ten Books in the Opinion of Balīnās, the Master of Talismans (Kr. nos. 293–302): Of these, only three treatises seem to have survived, viz. H.,  Kitāb al-Mawāzīn (Kr. Nr. 242),  Kitāb al-Istiqṣāʾ (Kr. Nr. 248) i Kitāb al-Kāmil (Kr.NO. 291).[58] 

   The Book of  Balances (Kutub al-Mawāzīn, Kr. n. 303–446): This collection appears to consist of 144 treatises of medium length,  of which 79 are known by name and 44  are  extant.Although they are relatively independent of each other and address a very wide range of subjects (cosmology, grammar, music theory, medicine, logic, metaphysics, mathematics, astronomy, astrology, etc.), they all approach their subject  from the perspective of "science of balance”; (ʿilm al-mīzān, a theory that aims to reduce all phenomena to a system of quantitative measures and  proportions).[59] The budgets are also a major source of Jabir's speculation about the appearance of the "two brothers"; (al-Akhawān),[60] a teaching that would later  become of great importance to the Egyptian alchemist Ibn Umayl (ca. 900–960). [61]   

  The Five Hundred Books  (al-Kutub al-Khamsumiʾa, Kr.NO. 447-946): Only 29 papers from this collection are known by name,  of which 15 have survived. Its content appears to have been primarily religious in nature, with moral admonitions and alchemical allegories predominating. Among the treatises that have survived is the Book of  Glorious Ones (Kitāb al-Majid, Kr. No.706) and the Book of Explanation (Kitāb al-Bayān, Kr. No. 785) are known to contain some of the earliest Shia eschatological, soteriological and imamological teachings. Dotted parts of the Book of Kingdom (Kitāb al-Mulk, Kr. No.454) exist in a Latin translation under the title Liber regni.[64]

   The Books of the Seven Metals (Kr. nos. 947–956): seven treatises  closely related to  the Weighing Books, each  dealing with one of the seven metals of Jabir (gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, lead and .kārsīnī or "Chinese metal"). They are followed in a manuscript by a corresponding three-part book (Kitāb al-Ījāz, Kr.NO. 954-956).[65]  

 

Various alchemical treatises (Kr.-Nr. 957-1149): Kraus assigned a large number of named treatises to this category, which he could not assign to any  of the alchemical corpus collections with certainty.According to Kraus, some of them may actually have been part of the £500.    

The Great Book of Mercy (Kitāb al-Raḥma al-kabīr, Kr. n. 5): Kraus considered it the oldest work in the corpus, from which it could be relatively independent. Some 10th-century skeptics believed it to be the only authentic work written by Jabir himself. Persian physician, alchemist, and philosopher Abu Bakr al-Rāzī (c.865-925) seems to have written a commentary on it (lost). It was translated into Latin in the 13th century under the title Liber Misericordiae.

Chemical philosophy

Elements and nature :

In Jabir's time, Aristotelian physics became Neoplatonic. Each of Aristotle's elements possessed these characteristics: fire was hot and dry, earth was cold and dry, water was cold and damp, and air was hot and damp. In the Jabirian corpus, these characteristics are referred to as "natures"; (ṭabāʾiʿ), and the elements are said to consist of these “natures” and their underlying “substance” (jawar). In metals, two of these "natures" were internal and two were external. For example, lead was cold and dry, gold was hot and wet.So Jabir theorized that changing the nature of one metal would produce another metal. Like Zosimus, Jabir believed that this would require a catalyst, al-ixir, the elusive elixir that would enable this transformation and is known in European alchemy as the Philosopher's Stone. The theory of metallic sulfur and mercury :

The theory of metallic sulfur and mercury, although first attested by Pseudo-Apollonius of Tyana. The Mystery of Creation (Sirr al-khalīqa, late 8th or early 9th century but based mainly on sources), [95] was also adopted by Jabyrian authors. According to the Jabirian version of this theory, metals are formed in the earth by mixing sulfur and mercury. Depending on the quality of the sulphur, different metals are formed, with gold forming the thinnest and most balanced sulphur.[96] This theory, ultimately based on ancient meteorological speculations such as those in Aristotle's Meteorology, formed the basis of all theories of metallic composition up until the 18th century. [97]