Abu' l-Qāsim al-'Irāqī / E.J. Holmyard.

  • Holmyard, Eric John, 1891-1959
Date:
[1926]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Abu' l-Qāsim al-'Irāqī / E.J. Holmyard. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ibn Yazid, then to Ja£far al-§adiq, then to Jabir, then to Al-RazI, then to Ibn Wahshiyya, then to Al-Tughra’I, then to Al-MajrTtT, then to Al-Mahdawi (10), then to Al-Andalusi (11), then to Al-Traqi, then to Al-Jildaki, then to certain of the moderns [in the margin is written « Al-Mukhtafi »] (12). Now, praise be to God, it is fully authentica¬ ted and the whole world points to its truth. Since that is so, it is necessary to strive after it, and, God willing, I will explain it with the greatest possible clearness and with no distracting enigmas. » The subject of the transmission of alchemy according to the Muslim authors 1 hope to treat more fully elsewhere; it throws a good deal of light upon many cultural problems of early Islam. Meanwhile we may now turn to the Book of the Seven Climes, which provides interesting details of the author’s other writings. f § The Book of the Seven Climes (13). — The full title is « The Book of the Seven Climes, upon the Science called The Art [of Alchemy], by the Shaikh, Imam, and Philosopher Abu’l-Qasim Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Si'mawI, known as Al-TraqI. May the Exalted God have mercy upon him! » (10) Possibly Abu’l ‘Abbas Ahmad ibn^ °Ammar al-Mahdawi al-Tammimi, who died about 1038. Cf. Brockelmann, i. 411. (11) See note 4. (12) Cf. H. Kh..III, p. 588, where mention is made of the the ‘ Siraj al-zulma’, « lucerna obscuritatis. Commentarius in opus Hikmet, auctore Sheikh Abu Amru Abd-el-kerim Ibn Abi’[lhasan] Yahya Ben Abi Amru Othman, vulgo Muhtefi dicto ». This work does not appear to be extant, and I know nothing of its author except that he is not infrequently mentioned by Al-Jildaki, and that Berthelot [La Chimie au moyen Age, tome m, p. 41) quoting from the preface of a work by Al-Masmudi written in 1489-1490, gives the titles of the 4 Siraj al-Zulma ’ and a second work called The Thirty Letters. H. Kh. reads Al-Muhtafi, but the author is invariably given by Al-Jildaki as Al-Mukhtafi. In MS. ‘ Kimiya’ 150’, a collectaneous volume of the Royal Library at Cairo, there is a commentary on the ‘ Risala’ of « Balamaguhs al-Maghribi. which he wrote for the Sultan Sulaiman the cUthmanI. It is embellished with figures and illustrations ». The same volume contains a work entitled « The Book of Theory and Practice, on the Divine Art, including ( ‘ wa huwa yashtamila ala ') the Book of the Seven Climes, by the Shaikh Abu’l-Qasim al-cIraqi. » (13) This book is mentioned by Hajji Khalifa, V. no. 9879 : « Kitab el- acalim el-seb’at, liber de septem climatibus. Compendium a Sheikh Abu’ lcasim Mohammed Ben Ahmed Simawi Ikacki libri ‘ Mukteseb ’ auctore conscrip- tum, quod ita incipit: Laus Deo rerum novarum creatori primo etc. Intelligit sub climatibus metalla«. The text of the opening words of the Cairo MS. agrees with that given by H. Kh.