burnett --the astrologers assay of the alchemist.pdf

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AMBIX,Vol. 39, Part 3, November 1992

THE ASTROLOGER'S ASSAY OF THE ALCHEMIST: EARLY REFERENCES

TO ALCHEMY IN ARABIC AND LATIN TEXTS

By CHARLESBURNETT*

THE early history of Arabic alchemy and the means by which it was transmitted to the West

are topics as elusive as the Philosopher's Stone itself, and as passionately pursued. It is not

the purpose of the present note to add fuel to the controversies.l Rather, I would like to

introduce some references to the term "alchemy" in Arabic and Latin texts which historians

of alchemy seem to have overlooked up to now, but which would seem to have a bearing on

the introduction of alchemy both into the Islamic and into the Christian world.

The term al-kimiyiP can be found in a text belonging to the earliest period of scientific

prose writing in Arabic, and, as alkimia, was in turn introduced to Latin readers in a

translation of this text made before I151. The text in question is cUmar ibn al-Farrukhan al-

Tabarl's k. al-masii)il ("book of questions") in 138 chapters. cUmar ibn al-Farrukhan al-

Tabar1 was one of the astrologers who participated in casting the horoscope for the

foundation of Baghdad in 762.2 He was responsible for translating important astrological

texts from Persian into Arabic, including Ptolemy's Tetrahihlos, Dorotheus of Sidon's

Astrolog ica l Poem and a work on questions of law and ritual purity (the k. al-maIJiisin).3 His

k. al-masii)il belongs to the astrological genre of "interrogations", in which the astrologer, on

being questioned by his client concerning a particular topic, indicates what will happen or

reveals what is hidden by looking at the state of the heavens (the horoscope) at the time of the

question. After the first few introductory chapters, each of the chapters of the k. al-masii) itisdevoted to a different question. Following chapters related to marriage and before others

referring to the weather, there is a chapter on whether to trust the alchemist or not. It may be

translated as follows:4

Chapter 79. On the knowledge of alchemy (Ii macarifat amr al-kimiya).When you wish to know concerning a man whether he knows the science ( C ilm) ofalchemy or not, assign the ascendent and its lord to the querent, and the seventh andits lord to the man enquired about by the querent. And the house of the knowledge ofthe man is the ninth from the seventh sign. And see whether this is fortunate orunfortunate, East or West, cadent or in a cardine or withdrawing from a cardine, andwhether it is in aspect to the lord of the seventh. And if it is aspecting it and it is

fortunate, it indicates that in his hands is a true knowledge (Cilman ~a!Ji!Jan),especiallyif the aspect is trine or sextile and there is application and reception between them.But if the aspect is quartile or from opposition, it indicates that there is in his handssomething powerful (shay) an qawiyyan) and that he attains it with much seeking,labour and exertion, and this is the case when benefics are aspecting it. And ifmalefics are aspecting it, it indicates that there is labour (taCh) in it, and he does notobtain anything from it.

Since the k. at-masa) il is commonly referred to by the number of its chapters and chapter

79 is a complete chapter in itself, it is unlikely that it is a later addition. Given that cUmar's

family is Persian, and that all the translations we know by him are from Persian, it is possible

that the material in the k. al-masii)il comes from Persian sources.5

However, at the time he

* Warburg Institute, Woburn Square, London WCIH oAB.


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104 CHARLES BURNETT

was writing, other astrologers were using Greek and Syriac materials; in fact the writings of

one of them, the Syrian Christian Theophilus ofEdessa (d. 785), survive both in Greek and

in citations by his Arabic colleagues.6 Since the term al-kfmiyii) is apparently derived from a

Syriac rendering of the Greek XU~E(~ or X'Yl!lE(~, then (Vmar's source may have beenGreek.7 In any case, the reference to al-kfmiyii) gives no indication that the term was not

familiar to his readers. This is understandable if alchemy was p:r;actisedin the Arabic world

even before theoretical texts on the art were written, which is plausible. Whether this

chapter can be regarded as the earliest written record of alchemy in the Islamic world

depends on what historical value can be placed on the writings attributed to the Vmayyad

prince Khalid ibn Yazid (late seventh century) and the Shi(a imam] a (far al-~adiq (ca.699-

765). In any case (Vmar's dates would be almost the same as those traditionally assigned to

]abir ibn I:Iayyan (721-815), and the chapter from his al-kfmiyii) would be an independent

testimony to the lively interest in alchemy at that time.

(Vmar's k. al-masii)il was translated into Latin by Hugo of Santalla probably between1141 and 1151, and possibly even before 114I. Hugo's translation is incorporated in a

collection of three works onjudicial astrology-the Liber trium iudicum-addressed in two out

of the three manuscripts in which it occurs to Michael, Bishop of Tara zona from II 19 until

I 151.8 All the translations of Hugo which have dedications are dedicated to this bishop, and

one of them, we are told, was made from an Arabic manuscript found in the library of the

Arabic kings of Zaragoza at Rueda de] al6n. 9 Since this stronghold fell to the Christians in

1141, it is possible that this and other Arabic manuscripts were part of the booty. On the

other hand the manuscript could have been acquired earlier through a friendly exchange.

Hugo's translation in the Liber trium iudicum is headed:

Here begins the book of (Vmar ibn al-Farrukhan ai-Tabar!, the translation of Hugoof Santalla, excerpted from the volumes of the Ancients, solving many kinds ofquestions as if being their principal starting-point (as due thought teaches us). This

book is divided into 138 chapters.lO

The wordiness of the title is typical of Hugo's style, but the translation of chapter 79 is

literal enough and makes good sense:

(Vmar, On alchemy.When the question has been asked whether the discipline of alchemy has been fixedfirmly and surely in a man, assign the ascendent and its lord to the querent, and the

seventh with its lord to the man about whom the question is asked. For the ninth signfrom the seventh one shows his knowledge. (See) whether it is fortunate or corrupt,East or West, or cadent, in a cardine or withdrawing from a cardine, whetr~r too theyaspect the lord of the seventh. For if they aspect the lord of the sevenf and theythemselves are fortunate, they indicate that he is skilled (peritum), especially in trine

or sextile (aspect), while their application does not lack reception. But (an aspect)from quartile or from opposition bears witness to the fact that he has acquired this(art) with difficulty and after many inconveniences of labour-that is, if the aspect of

benefics is not absent. For if the malefics aspect, even ifhe has studied with difficulty,

his efforts have been without effect.ll

Hugo's translation could be roughly contemporary with the date associated with the

earliest Latin alchemical text-the Liber Morieni translated by Robert of Chester in 1144.12

What is interesting is that the writer of the Liber Morieni presents 'alchymia' as a term


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THE ASTROLOGER'S ASSAY OF THE ALCHEMIST 105

unfamiliar to its Latin audience, and gives it a definition which would be more appropriate

to the Philosopher's Stone:

Since you Latins have not yet understood what alchymia is, I shall enlighten you in thepresent work ... Hermes the philosopher and others who came after him, defined theword in such a way: alchymia is a corporeal substance composed from the One andthrough the One, joining the most precious things together through relationship andeffect, and naturally converting the same things by a natural commixture and by thebest artifices (ingenia). 13

Hugo, on the other hand, uses alkimia in the more ordinary and proper sense, and gives

no indication that his audience might not understand the meaning of the term. We may

presume that alchemical techniques were practised in Western Europe before Arabic texts

on alchemy were translated into Latin. Robert Halleux and Paul Meyvaert have recently

shown that an artisan's textbook which included alchemical recipes from Greek sources

circulated in the early Middle Ages; this is the Mappae c lav icu la .14 However, the Mappae

clavicula does not use the term X U ~E C (X or its cognates and there is no datable evidence of its

use in Latin before the Liber Morieni and, now, Hugo's translation of


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106 CHARLES BURNETT

let this be done when the Moon is in a < two) -bodied sign, pure from malefics, and letthe ascendent be in such a position, and fix it. And if the dealing ((ilii}) is in gold, thenfrom the Sun, and fix it at the beginning of your (task).

Both these texts of Sahl were translated into Latin in Spain in the twelfth century. The

first appears in the same Liber trium iudicum as (Vmar's book on interrogations, and is in the

terse style distinctive of Hugo's associate Hermann of Carinthia, though no translator's

name appears at the beginning of the text, which is headed "Liber Zahel de iudiciis .lvi.

capitulis distinctus" ("The book of Sahl concerning judgements, divided into 56

chapters") :

Sahl, On alchemy.When investigating the truth concerning alchemy we consult the lord of theascendent and the Moon, which, if they are pure and free from the malefics, are an

indication of the truth (of the alchemy). If they are corrupted, the opposite.Therefore if it concerns gold, we accept the Sun as testimony; if silver, the Moon.26

In the larger collection of works of judicial astrology called the Liber novem iudicum the

phraseology sounds more like that of Hugo:

Sahl, On alchemy.If anyone should presume to profess the knowledge of alchemy, and if you wish todiscern whether a true discipline of this kind is obtainable at his hands, you will havea dependable indication of such an important matter from the lord of the ascendentand the Moon. For ifboth are pure and free from the malefics, it testifies that it is true

and not without benefit. The corruption of these insinuates that he is false and lying.And ifit is concerning gold, the testimonies of the Sun should be sought; for silver weconsult the Moon.27

The reverential language of the latter passage would seem to indicate that the translator or

reviser holds the practise of alchemy in high respect, were it not typical of Hugo's high-flown

style.

The Latin translation of Sahl's book on catarchic astrology is called De electionibus and is

by an anonymous translator, different from Hermann and Hugo:

And if you wish to practise alchemy or any work that you wish to keep repeating, letthis be done when the Moon is in bicorporeal signs, free from malefics, and let theascendent be similarly (placed). Then fix it. And if your work is in gold, strengthenthe Sun and fix it at the beginning of the work.28

From these translations of Arabic texts derive later Latin astrological works which

mention alchemy. For example Leopold of Austria's Compilacio de scientia astrorum (late

thirteenth century) clearly derives from the Liber novem iudicum version of Sahl's book on

interrogations,29 whilst Roger of Hereford's Liber de quatuor partibus astronomie (late twelfth

century) quotes Sahl's De electionibus verbatim.3o But we may end with a verbose late

thirteenth-century text on judicial astrology which is probably the Consilia of Bartholomew

ofParma.31 This pads out Sahl's skimpy passage on assaying the alchemist, and applies themethod to an y practical experiment:


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THE ASTROLOGER'S ASSAY OF THE ALCHEMIST 107

The question of whether any experiment is true or false:If one is asked of any experiment in the art of necromancy, medicine or alchemy,

whether it is true or not, look at the ascendent and its lord and the Moon for the

querent, (and) the eighth and tenth for the experiment, writing or instruction to bemade (?). For if each planet is well positioned in a cardine or nearly-e.g. in asuccedent near to the cardine-and free from malefics, while beingjoined to a beneficwith a good aspect, and stays for a long time in such a position and is improving itssituation and not making it worse by the removal of a good position or because it issoon joining the malefics which always and everywhere signify evil and destroy thegood, this is a sign that the experiment is true and hence gain can follow; and viceversa. And one should know that the Sun gives a testimony concerning gold andeverything of great value, but the Moon concerning silver and everything of small

and medium value.32

NOTES AND REFERENCES

I. Amongst the vast literature the most informative recent works are F. Sezgin, G eschichte des arabischen Schrifttums,IV (Leiden, 1971), pp. 1-299; lVt Ullmann, Die Natur und Geheimwissenschaften im Islam (Leiden, 1972), pp. 144-

270; idem, "al-kImiya>" in Encyclopedia of Islam, second edition, V (Leiden, 1986), pp. 110-15; idem, "al-kImiya"

in Worterbuch der klassischen arabischen Sprache, 1- (Wiesbaden, 1970-); and several articles in Z. R. W. M. von

Martels, Alchemy Revisited (Leiden, 1990). I am very grateful to Dr. F. W. Zimmermann and Hillary Wiesner for

advice on Arabic texts.

2. See F. Sezgin, Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums, VII (Leiden, 1979), pp. II 1-13 (work no. 2) and D. Pingree,

"


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108 CHARLES BURNETT

D. Pingree, "Classical and Byzantine Astrology in Sassanian Persia", Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 43 (1989), 227-39

(227-8).

10 . MS Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 430, fol. 64v: "Incipit liber Aomaris Abin Farban Tyberiadis, Hugun

Satelliensis translatio, antiquorum voluminibus excerptus, questionum multimodas species, tamquam earum

prout existimatio docet principale exordium, absolvens. Hic autem .cxxxviii. capitulis est distinctus."

1I. Ibid. fo1. I19r-v: "Aomar, De alkimia: Alkimie vero disciplina[m] utrum apud qtlempiam firma atque certa

constiterit habita questione, oriens eiusqu~ dominum querenti, septimum cum eius domino ei de quo

ambigitur, constitue. Nonum enim signum a septimo eius demonstrat scienciam, felix pocius sit an corruptum,

orientale sive occidentale, vel cadens, in cardine quidem vel a cardine reductum, utrum etiam septimi

dominum respiciant. Si igitur septimi dominum respiciant et ipsi fortunati, peritum annuunt, de trigono

precipue aut exagono, dum eorum applicacio recepcione non careat. De tetragono autem aut opposicione,

difficulter et post multa laboris incommoda hoc assecutum fuisse testatur-si inquam fortunatarum non absit

respectus. Nam si infortunia (sinfortunia MS) respiciant, et si cum difficultate studuerit, labor cessit inefficax."

12. L. Stavenhagen inA Testament of Alchemy (Hanover, New Hampshire, 1974), p. 52, disputes the evi~ence of the

preface for Robert's authorship, but R. Lemay brings forward arguments to support the attribution in

"L'Authenticite de la preface de Robert de Chester a sa traduction du Morienus (1144)", ChrysoprEia,4 (1990).13.J. Ruska, "Zwei Bucher De compositione Alchemie und ihre Vorreden", Archiv f l ir Geschichte der Mathematik, der

Nat urw isse nsc haf l und der Tec hni k, 2 (1928), 28-37: "Quoniam quid sit alchymia nondum vestra cognovit

Latinitas, in presenti sermone elucidabo ... Hermes vero philosoph us, et alii qui post ipsum fuere, hocvocabulum diffiniunt: alchymia est substantia corporea ex uno et per unum composita preciosiora ad invicem

per cognationem et effectum conjungens et eadem naturali commixtione ingeniis melioribus naturaliter

convertens." The comparatives in the Latin may reflect the Arabic formation of the superlative.

14. "Les origines de la Mappae Clavicula", Archives d'histoire doctrinale et litleraire du moyen age, 54 (1987), 7-58. For

further evidence of early knowledge of alchemical techniques in Europe see A. Wallert, "Alchemy and

Mediaeval Art Technology" inAlchemy Revisited, op. cit. (I), pp. 154-61; cf. p. 155: "It now appears that when

the theory arrived the practice among craftsmen was already known."

15. Pseudo-Apollonios von Tyana, Buch tiber das Geheimnis der Schijpfung und die Darstellung der Natur, edited by U.

\\Teisser (Aleppo, 1979); see pp. 29-30. Hugo's translation, called De secretis naturae, survives in MS Paris,

Bibliotheque nationale, lat. 13951 and a Renaissance copy of it, ibid., lat. 13952.

16. Sezgin, op. cit. (2), pp. 125-8.

17. Sahl's book on interrogations is part of a work which goes under various titles, including Nawadir aI-qat/a>

(Sezgin, op. cit. [2], pp. 125-6). I have used MS Escorial 919, fo1. 34r.

w - o ~ ~ U ~ I J e: ' lk J l ~L o ull.,AiL; J .1 ~ j l ~ ~ I ~ ~ y~ ~ ~ ~ I.,

~ lS ~ IJ ~ I ~ L ,; ~ ~ ~ lS ~ U J 1 ~ ~ :JU L.,.u ~ IJ ~ w J L s ' o ~ U ~ ~ ,

~ L ; ~

18. Literally: "door" or "chapter".

19. Literally: "a truth".

20. This work has been edited with its medieval Latin translation and translated into English by C. M. Crofts,"Kitiib al-ifs..tiyiiriit


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THE ASTROLOGER'S ASSAY OF THE ALCHEMIST

23. MS Escorial, Real Biblioteca, ar. gIg, fol. 38r, ed. Crofts, p. g.

log

27

28.

30.

31.

32.

~ ~ I j c lJ ~ ~ IJ I . r4 4.Jt..jL::, ~

u11 :J.>A!. L , j ~ ~ j ~ ~ I ~ u :JJ ' 0 1 j~ ~ l J l ~ ~ ) w l 0 l5 ' 0 lJ ~ I j c l J . iS ' ~UaJI ~ J ~ ~ l ~ ~ o ~ 1

4 i 1 ~ 1 ~ ~ l - , ~ JLiterally: "the work of alchemy".

Literally: "its curing".

MS Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 430, fol. 119r: "Zahel, De alkimia: De alkimia vero veritatem

investigantes orientis dominum atque lunam consulimus, qui si infortuniis mundi sunt et liberi, veritatis est

indicium. Contra, si corrupti. Igitur si auri est, solem accipiInus testem; si argenti, lunam."

MS Vienna, Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, 2428, fol. 130r: "Zahel, De alkimia: Scienciam alkimie, si quis

presumat confiteri vole[nJsque discernere utrum aput ipsum vera huiusmodi habeatur disciplina, ab orientis

domino et luna certum tante rei habes indicium. Si enim uterque infortuniis mundus et liber extiterit, verum

esse non sine emolumento testatur. Horum corrupcio, falsum insinuat et mendacem. Que si de auro fuerit, solistestimonia requirenda, pro argento quidem, lunam conslllimus."

Croft's edition, op. cit . (20), p. 48: "Et si volueris operari alchimiam (v.I. alquimiam) vel opu~ quod volueris

iterare, fiat hoc et Luna in signis communi bus, ITIunda a malis, et sit ascendens similiter. Apta ergo eum. Et si

fuerit opus tuum in auro, conforta Solem et apta eum in inceptione eius."

MS Vatican City, Biblioteca apostolica, Vat. Pal.lat. 1354, fo1. 224V: "De alchimia utrum quis sciat per orientis

dominum et lunam scias. Si ~nini mundi "sint ab jnfortuniis, ipse scit, horum corrupcio mendacem significat, et

pro auro fortqnetur sol, pro a"rgento lun(i."

Oxford, Bodleian Library, Digby 149, fol. 199ra.

This attribution is suggested in my "Michael Scot and ~he Transmis~ion of Scientific Culture from Toledo to

Bologna via the Court of Frederick II Hohenstaufen," Proceedings of the Confe"renee 'Frederic I I et ies sauoirs ', Erice

September, /99 , forthcoming. .

MS Kues, Bibliothek des Hospitals, 209, fo1.22V: "Questio p~o p,liquo experimento utnlm sit verum vel falsum:

Si queratur de aliquo experimento artis nigromantie vel medicine vel alchimie utrum sit verum vel non, videascendentem et dominum eius ac Lunam pro querente, octavum etdecimum pro experimento, scripto et

ordinato fieri. Si enim uterque planeta fuerit pene dispositus ill angulo vel quasi ut in succedente prope

angulum liberque a malis cui fortuna iungatur aliquo bono aspectu diu stans in tali dispositione et meliorans

condicionem, et non peiorando per separacionem bone disposition i s vel quod cito iungeretur malis que semper

et ubique significant malum et bonum destruit, signum est quod experimentum est verum et inde potest

consequi profectus et econtrario. Et est sciendum quod Sol reddit testimonium de auro et de omni re magni

valoris, Luna vero de argento et de omni re parvi et mediocris valoris."

burnett --the astrologers assay of the alchemist.pdf

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