CORPUS

ALCHEMICUM
ARABICUM
Edited by Theodor A bt and Wilferd Madelung

The Book of Pictures

Mushaf as-suwar
by Zosimos of Panopolis

HERITAGELIVINGHUMAN
 C o r p u s A l c h e m ic u m A r a b ic u m

Volume II. 1

(CALA II. 1)

Edited by Theodor Abt and Wilferd Madelung

L iv in g H u m a n H e r it a g e P u b l ic a t io n s , Z u r ic h

Studies from the

Research and Training Centre

for Depth Psychology
A c c o r d in g to C. G. Ju n g and M a r i e -L o u i s e von F ranz
 The Book of Pictures
Mushaf
• • as-suwar
• •

by
Zosimos of Panopolis

Facsimile with an Introduction

by Theodor Abt

L iv in g H u m a n H e r it a g e P u b l ic a t io n s , Z u r ic h
2007
The Arabic transcription follows the German standard
which is more precise than the English one.

First edition 2007

Living Human Heritage Publications
Münsterhof 16, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland
info @livinghumanheritage.org
www.livinghumanheritage.org

ISBN-10 3-9522608-5-1
ISBN-13 978-3-9522608-5-2
EAN 9783952260852

Copyright © 2007 by Theodor Abt

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction
in whole or in part, in any form.

L ayout: Tugba Ü nlü and Theodor Abt

P rinting and B inding:

M as M atbaacilik A.§ Î stanbul
 Contents

Foreword 9

Part I: Introduction
1. The Earliest Alchemical Texts 17

2. Arabic Texts as a Witness to Greek Alchemy, Especially to Zosimos 17

3. The Origin of the Mushaf as-suwar 21

4. New Insight into the Roots of Zosimos’ Teaching 27

5. A Testimony to the Basic Attitude of Zosimos 28

6. First Reflections on the Mushaf as-suwar 29

7. The Mushaf as-suwar and Its Relationship to the

Kitäb al-mafätlh fï as-sanca 46

8. Texts of Zosimos as the Main Source of the Kitäb al-hablb and

the Kitab Qirâtis 49

9. The Greek Origin of the Turba philosophorum? 52

10. The Mushaf as-suwar and the Rosarium philosophorum 59

11. The Mushaf as-suwar and One of the Mutus liber 64

12. Summary 68
Part II: Facsimile Edition of the Mushaf as-suwar
The red folio numbers given here refer to the red ones in the manuscript,
different from the numbers given in the contents page of the manuscript.

1. The 1“ Book of the Truth Folio 2a

2. The 2nd Book of Names Folio 38b (40)

3 The 3rd Book about the Weights Folio 63b (66)

4. The 4Ih Book about the First Composition Folio 70a (74)

5. The 5,h Book about the Magnesia Folio 85b (91)

6. The 6,h Book about the Nature

Which Is Known as the Book of Imuth Folio 127b (133)

7. The 7th Book about the Mercuries Folio 133b (139)

8. The 8th Book about the Operation Folio 170b (179)

9. The 9th Book about the Measures of the Fire Folio 190b (199)

10. The 10th Book about the Other Work Folio 195a (209)

11. The 11"1Book about the Other Composition

and Its Bodies and What Ameliorates It Folio 204a (213)

12. The 12th Book about the Last Operation Only

and Its Weight Folio 210a (219)

13. The 13th Book about Questions Concerning the

Last Composition Folio 2 14a (223)
 D e d ic a t e d to

F u a t Se z g in

in G r a t it u d e for all he has done

FOR THE
C o r p u s A l c h e m i c u m A r a b ic u m P r o j e c t
 9

Foreword

Scholars consider the Egyptian alchemist Zosimos of Panopolis as

the first historical figure of Greek alchemy.1 He most probably lived in the
3 rd/4 th century.2 Other authors praised him as one of the great authorities,

referring to him as e.g. «the crown of the sages», «the one whose language
has the depth of the ocean», «the old one», «the one inspired by the gods»,
«the divine Zosimos», «the friend of the truth» .3 Later on, in Arabic alchemy,
he was praised by Ibn Arfac Ra s as «the universal sage and the shining flame»
or «the head of the philosophers and the collector of the dispersed».4
Little is known about his outer life, except that he came from the
town Panopolis,5 as it was called in Greek. Panopolis is situated in Upper
Egypt on the East bank of the Nile, 200 km north of Luxor and about 70
km north of Nag HammädT where the famous Gnostic library was discov­
ered. Today the town is called AhmTm. The holy site of Abydos, also men­
tioned in the writings of Zosimos, with its enigmatic Osiris resurrection-
chapel, is only some 30 km south of AhmTm.6 Newly discovered Coptic
papyri give evidence that AhmTm was in very early Islamic times a place

1 He must not be confused with personalities of the same name that lived around that time
in Egypt. See M. Mertens, Les Alchimistes Grecs, Tome IV. 1, Zosime de Panopolis,
Mémoires authentiques, Collection des Universités de France, Paris 1995, p. XII f.
2 Zosimos quotes the encyclopaedist Julius Africanus, whose death is dated after 240, and
speaks in one of his authentic texts of the Serapeion that was destroyed in 391. Zosimos must
have lived in between these two dates. M. Mertens: Zosime de Panopolis, Mémoires authen­
tiques, 1. c., p. XVI f. Mertens is trying to date his life even more precisely and suggests on
p. LVII, note 148: «Selon moi c'est plutôt vers 300 qu'il faut situer l'époque de l'activité de
Zosimos». The mentioned dating of Zosimos’ life gets confirmed by a statement in the M ushaf
as-suwar, quoted in the introduction on p. 27.
3 See Mertens, 1. c., p. XI, who is quoting M. Berthelot and Ch.-E. Ruelle, Collection des
Anciens Alchimistes Grecs, 3 tomes. Paris 1888; reprint Osnabrück 1967, Vol. II. p. 83, line
21, then line 20, p. 140. line 17, p. 199, line 14, and p. 401, line 5.
4 M. Ullmann, Die Natur- und Geheimwissenschaften im Islam, Leiden 1972, p. 161.
5 In most of the extant Greek works, we find that Zosimos is called «the one from
Panopolis». See Mertens, p. XIII f.
6 Apido = Abydos; see M. Berthelot, R. Duval and O. Houdas, La Chimie au Moyen Age,
3 tomes, Paris, 1893. Reprints Osnabrück 1967 and Frankfurt am Main 2002, p. 226.
10 Foreword

where alchemy was practiced, not only theoretically but also with experi­
ments.7 The Pharonic temple of AhmTm was famous for the symbolic
images that were painted on the temple walls. Over this ancient temple «all
the Arab writers have enthused ... which was particularly famed owing to its
traditional association with Hermes Trismegistus».8 Ibn Gubair, who visited
AhmTm in the year 579/1183 even called the huge temple «one of the won­
ders of the world, beyond description or defining».9 In Arabic Alchemy
when the knowledge of the hieroglyphs was lost, these images were under­
stood as descriptions of the opus alchemicum. Muhammad ibn Umail (10th
century) recommends in his ad-Durra an-naqTya that one has to go to the
temple of AhmTm to study the relief on the walls,10 and his commentary to
his al-Qasida an-ntiniya is an alchemical interpretation of Pharaonic
images on temple walls. According to the Suda, the Byzantine lexicon from
the 10th century, Zosimos is from Alexandria, where he probably moved at a
later time.11 According to an Arabic text he lived for 70 years as a learning
child, and for 40 years as a teacher.12The age of 110 years was considered in
Pharaonic times to be the ideal lifespan. It is remarkable to find this Ancient
Egyptian ideal preserved into the Middle Ages.
The time of Zosimos was characterized by great transitions, trans­
forming people’s perception of the invisible world. The Bible was trans­
lated into Upper Egyptian Coptic in the 3rd century. To become a Christian
required a person to renounce all gods and goddesses previously revered.
Those became demons, hostile spirits «contending against the One God of
goodness and justice ... ,»13This increasing polarisation and «moralisation

7 These Coptic papyri are being prepared for publication by Tonio Sebastian Richter,
University of Leipzig.
» See Encyclopaedia o f Islam, s.v. Akhmlm; contrary to this quoted article which states
that of this temple ‘no trace now remains’, it has always been there in ruins. Recent new exca­
vations have exposed, among other things, a huge statue of Meritamun, the daughter and later
wife of Ramses II. The temple was destroyed in the 8th/14th century. See also M.T. Derchain-
Urtel. Thot at Akhmim, in Hommages à François Damnas, Montpellier 1986. p. 173-180.
9 The Travels o f Ibn Jubayr, translated from the original Arabic by R.J.C. Broadhurst,
London 1951, p 55. See also the two Arabic Hermetica connected to the temple of Akhmim
mentioned in M. Ullmann, Natur- und Geheimwiss., 1. c., p. 167 f.
10 Ms Äsafiya library Hyderabad, 1410, fol. 17.
11 The Suda calls him: «Zosimos, the Alexandrian, the philosopher» (s.v. Zuioiiroc).
io Gotha, 85.14, fol. 105b 3 ff. See for that M. Ullmann, Natur- und Geheimwiss., 1. c., p. 160.
b Quoted from E. Pagels, The Origin o f Satan, New York 1996, p. XVI.
 Foreword 11

of the universe» (Martin Buber) led also to the growing popularity of the
anchorites (S. Antonius Eremita passed away in 356). At the same time
Gnostic-Hermetic thoughts were spreading in Egypt becoming, like
Christianity, a serious rival to ancient Pharaonic temple-knowledge.
Christanity became the state-religion of Rome in 313 with the emperor
Constantine.
It is evident from his teachings that Zosimos was close to the
Gnostic-Hermetic worldview, which worshipped the inner God-man.14 In a
Syriac text translated by R. Duval we read: «One could even say that it is
the principle of the principles, the son of God, the word, that one whose
thoughts and feelings come also from the Holy Spirit. This, my lady, is the
explanation of the mirror. When a man looks at it, and sees himself, he will
turn away from all that is called gods and demons, and by relating to the
Holy Spirit, he becomes the perfect man; he sees God who is inside him
thanks to the mediating Holy Spirit.»15 As we will see later, this statement
also expressed the essence of the teaching in the M ushaf as-suwar, wherein
the author Zosimos collected the teachings of past alchemists, connecting it
with his own experience. He thus consolidated the knowledge of this art in his
time, its theoretical and its experimental side.
The realisation of this facsimile of the M ushaf as-suwar goes back
to 1988 when—while returning from India with a collection of Arabic
alchemy manuscripts from Indian libraries—a stopover in Frankfurt gave
me the opportunity to meet Professor Fuat Sezgin for the first time. I
showed him my collection and expressed the intention of Marie-Louise
von Franz and myself to further deepen our study of Arabic alchemy. After
a long discussion he showed me this M ushaf as-suwar, and before I left
Frankfurt he allowed me to make a copy of the entire manuscript. Of course,
I was most excited, especially about the pictures. The art of picture inter­

14 Coll. Alch. Grecs, l.c., p. 262 f. See also R. Reitzenstein. Poimandres, Leipzig 1904,
p. 8 f., and Garth Fowden, The Egyptian Hermes; A Historical Approach to the Late Pagan
Mind, Princeton 19932, p. 120 f.
15 «A moins qu'on ne dise que c'est le principe des principes, le fils de Dieu, le Verbe,
celui dont les pensées et les sentiments procèdent aussi de l'Esprit-Saint. Telle est, o femme!
l'éxplication du mirroir. Lorsqu'un homme y regarde et s'y voit, il détourne sa face de tout ce
qui est appelé dieux et demons, et, s’attachant à l'Esprit-Saint, il devient un homme parfait; il
voit Dieu qui est en lui, par l'intermédiaire de l'Esprit-Saint.» La Chimie au Moyen Age, 1. c,
Vol. II, p. 263 (Editor’s translation from French into English).
12 Foreword

pretation has been one of my special fields of interest since 1977, when for
the first time I lectured on the interpretation of a series of alchemical pictures
at the C. G. Jung Institute in Zurich. Ever since then I have continued my
research in this field.
When I showed this manuscript to Marie-Louise von Franz (1915-
1998) she too was very excited and encouraged me to translate the entire
manuscript. Salwa Fuad in Cairo and I have worked on this text over many
years, because other ongoing obligations needed my attention as well.
Continuous studies of the history and the meaning of symbolic alchemy
have accompanied this translation work. Regular lectures on the art of pic­
ture interpretation and on alchemy—first at the C.G. Jung Institute in
Zurich and later at the Research and Training Centre for Depth Psychology
in Zurich (since 1995)—allowed for a growing understanding of the mean­
ing of this unique text of symbolic alchemy. The translation of other still
extant Arabic alchemical texts of Hermes, Zosimos, Maria, Agathodaimon,
Morienus, and Ibn Umail allowed the necessary familiarisation with the
vocabulary used by these authors. In this way the meaning of their symbols
became more and more visible to me; liber librum aparit—one book opens
the other—as the Latin alchemists used to say when recommending the
study of alchemy in their books. The result of this procedure was a gradual
improvement in the translation of the M ushaf as-suwar.
The first results of this effort to understand symbolic alchemy are
now available in the text edition of the Hûlf'ar-rumüz, written by
Muhammad ibn Umail (CALA I, published 2003), and the first commen­
tary to this text, written by Marie-Louise von Franz (CALA I A, published
2006). The translation of the M ushaf as-suwar is now being prepared for
publication as a companion volume to the CALA IL 1 facsimile of the
Istanbul manuscript, as CALA II.2. My psychological commentary on this
text, delivered as a series of lectures at the Research and Training Centre
for Depth Psychology, will follow as CALA II A.
It is the great merit of Fuat Sezgin to have discovered and copied
this unique manuscript from the Arkeoloji Miizesi (Nr. 1574) in Istanbul in
the year 1955.16 This volume is dedicated to him. This dedication is also a

Personai communication; see also his article «Das Problem des öäbir ibn Hayyän im
1-crte re_ gefundener Handschriften», Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen
: : vr" i V ! 964. p. 266. Fuat Sezgin has done extensive research especially in libraries
 Foreword 13

tribute to Fuat Sezgin’s own patient research and work on the history of
Arabic and Islamic science, which he has pursued with devotion and
humility for over 50 years, supported by his wife Ursula Sezgin and his co­
workers at the Institute of the Flistory of Arabic-Islamic Science at the
Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. This Institute
also published a reprint of a great number of relevant texts in the field of
Arabic alchemy that serve as a precious tool for researchers in this field.17
It will be up to future generations to appraise the value of the immense con­
tribution of Fuat Sezgin’s research work towards a better general recogni­
tion of what Western culture owes to the Arab world.
Since its early stages, Prof. Dr Fuat Sezgin has been a strong sup­
porter of our CALA project for which I express my deep gratitude. This fac­
simile came to print with his generous support as well as with the help of
Hava Koç, Director of the Library of the Arkeoloji Miizesi in Istanbul.
Mehmet Bora Akgiil from MAS Matbaacihk A.$. in Istanbul supervised in
a most careful way the whole process of creating this facsimile, Dr Peter
Starr in Ankara checked and ameliorated our English translation of the
M ushaf as-suwar making also valuable suggestions for the Introduction,
and Tugba Ünlü prepared the individual folios, for all of which I am very
grateful. A thank you for ameliorations regarding the introduction to this
facsimile also goes to Prof. Dr Erik Hornung and Prof. Dr Wilferd
Madelung. Furthermore I express my gratitude, for logistical help
during all the years of translation work to the Swiss Institute for
Archaeological and Architectural Research of Ancient Egypt in Cairo
(Director Dr H. Jaritz, since 2003 Dr C. von Pilgrim).
The Foundation of the Research and Training Centre for Depth
Psychology and the Marie-Louise von Franz Foundation generously sup­
ported this facsimile publication. Most grateful I am, of course, to the late
Dr Marie-Louise von Franz who continuously encouraged my research in
this field.
Zurich and Istanbul, Spring 2007 Theodor Abt

in the Middle East and in India, the fruits of which other orientalists were and will be able to
harvest.
17 Natural Sciences in Islam, Chemistry and Alchemy, Texts and Studies. Collected and
Reprinted by Fuat Sezgin (editor) in collaboration with Carl Ehring-Eggert, Eckhard
Neubauer and Farid Benfeghoul, Vol. 55-74, Frankfurt am Main 2001/02.
 Part I

Introduction
V
 17

1. The Earliest Alchemical Texts

The earliest texts on alchemy originated in Ancient Egypt and were
written in Greek. The Corpus Alchemicum Graecorum—as the sum of all
extant texts of Greek alchemy—dates back to the beginning of the 1sl mil­
lenium. It is to the great merit of Marcellin Berthelot to have made these
basic alchemical texts accessible.18
However, as these text editions are not quite up to modem scientific
standards, they are now on the way to being reedited as Les Alchimistes
Grecs.'9 We owe the carefully worked out and reliable new edition of the
«Mémoires Authentiques» (Authentic Notes) of Zosimos to Michèle
Mertens.20 In this edition we also find an overview of the different manu­
scripts extant in Greek that she used for her edition.21 From her list of
Zosimos’ work we can also see some of what has been lost.

2. Syriac and Arabic Texts as a Witness to

Greek Alchemy, Especially to Zosimos
Basic insights into the transmission of Greek alchemy to the Islamic
World we owe also to the devoted work of Marcellin Berthelot and his
translators Rubens Duval (for Syriac texts) and Octave Houdas (for Arabic
Texts). They made a great number of Syriac and Arabic alchemical texts
accessible to the scientific world, published under the title La Chimie au
Moyen Age.22 However, this collection gives only a very limited and arbi­
trary choice of such Syriac and Arabic texts. Moreover, like Berthelot’s
Greek collection, these edited texts are not according to modem scientific
standards and therefore not reliable.23 Thus La Chimie au Moyen Age is not
a solid basis for assessing the importance of Arabic alchemy.
is M. Berthelot and Ch.-E. Ruelle, Collection des Anciens Alchimistes Crees, 1. c.
i? Two volumes of this series appeared in: Collection des Universités de France, pub­
lished by Les Belles Lettres in Paris.
20 M. Mertens, Zosime de Panopolis, Mémoires authentiques, 1. c.; it is hard to understand
why such an excellent edition does not include a general index.
21 The Codex Marcianus 299, the Codex Parisianus 2325 and 2327, and the Laurentianus
graecus 86.16.
22 M. Berthelot, R. Duval and O. Houdas, La Chimie au Moyen Age, 1. c.
23 E. J. Holmyard comments on La Chimie au Moyen Age\ «... the whole is marred by the
circumstance that every fact has to be checked, every statement verified, every identification
18 Introduction

In Berthelot's La Chimie au Moyen Age we find a number of texts

written in Syriac that are ascribed to Zosimos.24 However, in the light of
the aforementioned statement, these texts need to be edited anew.
Meanwhile a number of carefully edited texts of Arabic alchemy
have appeared. But, in spite of this, a huge amount of such texts still needs
translation into a European language so that the contribution of Arabic
Alchemy to the development of consciousness can be better assessed.25
In the Kitäb al-ühhst (Book of the Catalogue) of Ibn Nadlm, written in
987, we find in the list of the books that circulated at that time in the market of
Baghdad four books of Zosimos, namely the Kitäb al-mqfatïh fias-sanca (The
Book of the Keys to the Art), a series of epistles known as As-saKüna risâla
(The 70 epistles), the Kitäb al-canäsir (Book of the Elements), and the Kitäb
ilä garni al-hukamä’fias-sanca (Book for All the Sages on the Art).26
The M ushaf as-suwar presented here is a collection of 13 books in
Arabic. The books can be considered chapters of a single book, some
books being much longer than others. They contain the teaching of
Zosimos to his student Theosebeia, written in the form of a dialogue with
all the human intermezzos, like the misunderstandings or feeble-minded­
ness of the student, the teacher’s impatience and outbursts, as well as lov­
ing feelings between them. Given this accurate description of a human dia­
logue with the emotional background included it is most probable that the
author was either Zosimos or Theosebeia. But we have to be aware that the
erotapokriseis or questions and answers genre was known in Greek antiq­
uity, and became very popular in the 4th century.27 It was widely, but not

investigated and every translated phrase compared with its original». See for that E. J.
Holmyard, «A critical examination of Berthelot's work upon Arabic chemistry», Isis
(Philadelphia) 6, 1924, p. 485.
24 L. c„ Vol. II, pp. 210-266 and 297-308.
25 See for that F. Sezgin Geschichte des Arabischen Schrifttums, Volume IV. 1. c.; see also
M. Ullmann, Die Natur- und Geheimwissenschaften im Islam, 1. c.
26 See J.W. Fück, «The Arabic Literature on Alchemy According to Ibn Nadlm. A
Translation of the Tenth Discourse of The Book of the Catalogue (Al-Fihrist) with Introduction
and Commentary», Ambix, 4 (1951), p. 91 ff. and further commentary by M. Mertens, 1. c.,
p. LXXVIII ff. ; the Kitäb al-m afötlhfias-san‘a will be included in the CALA series, based on
the Ms in the Cairo, Dar al-kutub 395, kîmiyâ’ 23. The Greek tradition also refers to a Book of
the Keys, see for that Collection des Anciens Alchimistes Grecs, Vol. II, 1. c., p. 277.
27 That form of dialogue may have its roots in the dialogue form of Plato, whose works
were known to and respected by Zosimos. See Mertens, Mém. auth. l.c., I, 1.76.
 Syriae and Arabie Texts 19

exclusively, used by Christian writers, and it continued into Byzantine,

Syriac and Arabic literature. Some works ascribed to Hermes Trismegistus
are in this form.28 The genre lends itself to convenient compilations of a
teacher's knowledge for the benefit of disciples. As a pupil desiring a sum­
mary of her master’s teaching, Theosebeia might have asked Zosimos to
write the M ushaf as-suwar. Alternatively, it might be a compilation, not
made by Zosimos himself, but by a contemporary or near contemporary
pupil, using material derived from the teacher. In the next section I will
argue that our text is an important witness from a Greek source, whether
directly or indirectly from Zosimos' teaching.
In the M ushaf as-suwar Zosimos drew numerous pictures for
Theosebeia; our manuscript shows 42, of which 37 are given completely or
partly in colour. Six pictures have landscape format and are placed on two
folios, and two and a half pictures are described in the text but missing in
our manuscript. The description of the pictures sometimes also mentions
the colours. These references in the text give us an indication of how
authentic these colours are or which colours are missing. The colours given
only partially correspond to the instructions of the text. In one place, the
divine water is coloured in green instead of the sky-blue mentioned in the
text (see folio 172b, see also figure 3). This error could be explained by a
change of the colour blue into green over time. There are a number of
places where some colours mentioned in the text are missing in the picture.
Every one of the first 12 books starts with a picture. Only the pictures at
the beginning of the «1st Book of the Truth», the «3rd Book about the
Weights», and the «4"' Book about the First Composition» are missing, but
they are described in detail in the text. The «5th Book about the Magnesia»
and the «7th Book about the Mercuries» give a series of pictures.
In different places Zosimos advises Theosebeia to ponder the mean­
ing of his symbolic images, while also urging her to read repeatedly his
symbolic answers to her questions. Thus his images complement the dia­
logue and are intended to clarify the meaning of his teaching. In the same
way as in the Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife, e.g. the Amduat, we
have here a transmission of knowledge in the form of image and word.29

28 B. Copenhaver, Hermelica, Cambridge 1992, especially p. 1 ff. and p. 67 ff.

29 See e.g. The Egyptian Amduat, The Book o f the Hidden Chamber, translated by D.
Warburton, revised and edited by E. Homung and Th. Abt, Zurich 2007.
20 Introduction

Who Theosebeia was remains mysterious. The Suda mentions a

work called Cheirokmeta, manual skills, by the Alexandrian philosopher
Zosimos, consisting of 28 books addressed to his sister—probably in the
sense of his soror mystica—Theosebeia. Many of Zosimos' works, in
Syriac and Arabic as well as Greek, are addressed to her. It is in the M ushaf
as-suwar, and the Kitâb al-mafatïh to some extent, that she has a role
beyond that of the addressee. She comes to life, asking persistent ques­
tions, complaining if the answers do not satisfy, and thankful if they do.
Theosebeia is called in two works a queen (Kitâb al-mafatïh, e.g.
fol. 1 and Chimie au Moyen Age, II, p. 238), but as there were no queens
in Egypt at the time this must be seen in a symbolic sense as «queen of the
heart» of Zosimos. In a Syriac text of Zosimos we find Theosebeia being
called a priestess (Chimie au Moyen Age, II, p. 308). This might really indi­
cate something about her life, and would be supported by the fact that
Zosimos reports in one of his dreams (M ushaf as-suwar fol. 40b) that he
went to the tomb of Theosebeia which she had already prepared during her
lifetime, pointing to a noble-priestly woman who cared for her afterlife.
It is remarkable that here we have an almost complete manuscript
of the M ushaf as-suwar that is dated in the year 668 H/121130, especially
as it is relatively rare to find manuscripts on alchemy older than the
14th/15lh century. We have some fragments of the M ushaf as-suwar in dif­
ferent libraries, but they are too small to be of value if integrated into this
manuscript edition.31 Their collation with the text given here will be for fur­
ther detailed research.

30 On the contents page, which includes the Coptic numbers characteristic of Egyptian
manuscripts, we read: «This contents page is completed, with the exalted God's help, to him
be praise. It was written by the slave in need of the exalted God's help Yusuf ibn Muhammad
ibn Müsä al-Azhari, on whom and the Muslims be blessing, in 987.» This was the copyist of
the section up to folio 17b, where a note reads: «Collation with the source from which it was
taken reached here in 987.» The rest of the codex, from folio 18a, is older, and the nameless
colophon at the end (fol. 223a) gives the date: «18 Gumädä al-Ähira 668 AH, which is 19
Meshir in the year of Diocletian the King. As well as re-copying the first folios, Yusuf al-
Azhari has added corrections throughout the text.
31 See for these fragments F. Sezgin, Geschichte des Arabischen Schrifttum, Vol. 4, p. 75 f.
and M. Ullmann, Die Natur- und Geheimwiss., 1. c., p. 161.
 21

3. The Origin of the Mushaf as-suwar

We need now to find out whether the M ushaf as-suwar is really the
authentic teaching of Zosimos. For that we compare this text with those
writings of Zosimos found in Greek and Syriac manuscripts.
a. The first, simple argument in favour of the M ushaf as-suwar
being a translation of a Zosimos text is that Theosebeia is his addressee,
and in the Greek texts she is called ö gynai, «O woman»—or, for the noble
woman that she most probably was, better «my lady».32 The same form of
address is found in Syriac texts,33 and in the M ushaf as-suwar it is ayy-
atuhä a l-m a rf,34
b. The next argument for the authenticity of the text is found in the
fact that in both the Greek and SyriaC texts Zosimos warns Theosebeia
about her priest-friend Nilus.35 The same warning is also found more than
once in the Arabic texts, where Nilus became Fïlbis or BTlis.36 With his
warnings Zosimos emphasises among other things the uniting quality of
the symbol of the stone in contrast to the more materialistic and polythe­
istic magic attitude that prevailed at his time in the temple knowledge of
the priests in Egypt.
c. One fragment concerning mercury, extant in the Syriac language,37
speaks of the three mercuries. In an identical way we find these thoughts in
the 7th book of the M ushaf as-suwar named «The Book about the
Mercuries». We also find the parable of the fusion of tin and mercury in the
Syriac text38 in the M ushaf as-suwar on folio 161a.
d. References to the Book o f Imuth in our text provide a clear con­
nection with Zosimos or his school. A passage from a book of this title

32 M. Mertens, Mém. auth. 1.12 and VIII, 1, and often in M. Berthelot, Ane. Alch. Grecs.
33 M. Berthelot, La Chimie au Moyen Age, Vol. II, 1. c., e. g.: p. 213, 232, 238, 239, 260,
262, 263 etc.
34 In the M ushaf as-suwar we find this expression over 20 times. Also in the Kitdb al-
mafatlh f i as-san‘a we find this expression also over 20 times.
35 See for example M. Berthelot. Ane. Alch. Grecs, 1. c., Ill, XXVII, § 8, and La Chimie
au Moyen Age, Vol. II, 1. c., p. 228.
36 On folio 4a, 41a, 100b. Also in the Kitâb al-mafitîh f i as-saWa we find the priest Nilus
mentioned on fol. 41b and indirectly again on fol. 84a. (Ms, Dar al-kutub, Cairo. 395, kîmiyâ3).
37 La Chimie au Moyen Age, 1. c., Vol. II, p. 242 f.
38 L. c., p. 245.
22 Introduction

ascribed to Zosimos survives in a quotation in the Chronography of George

Syncellus.39 The quotation concerns the myth of the misalliance between
angels and the daughters of men, and the angels' gift of a book called
Chemeu, which brought the knowledge of alchemy to the first alchemists.
Likewise, in a Syriac manuscript translated by Rubens Duval, the Book o f
Imuth is mentioned as the name of one of the twenty-four parts of the mys­
terious, first alchemical book of the angels.40 The M ushaf as-suwar contains
the same myth, clarifying that every one of the twenty-four foundational
books was called the Book o f Imuth (Imuth is Imhotep). However, other pas­
sages in our text make clear that the Book o f Imuth was also the name of a
work by Zosimos. The relation between this Book o f Imuth of Zosimos and
the twenty-four foundational books with this title remains unclear.41 The
M ushaf as-suwar also shows that The Book o f Imuth was a symbolic name
for nature used in the alchemical work.42
e. In the M ushaf as-suwar we find on folio 136a f. books mentioned
that carry the letters of the alphabet, in the same way as they are mentioned
.» See Mertens, 1. c., p. XCIV. Note also the reference in Olympiodoros to a «separate
work about the fire» by Zosimos, who «writes about the fire in all his works, as do all the
ancients», see Berthelot Alch. Grecs II, p. 78, para. 16. It is possible that this is a reference to
the «9th Book about the Measures of the Fire» in the M ushaf as-suwar.
40 M. Berthelot, La Chimie au Moyen Age. Vol. II, 1. c.. p. 210-266.
41 Zosimos refers to his earlier Book o f Imuth: «I wrote about [the pounding and bleaching
of lead-copper] in the Book [Kitäb] of Imuth» (fol. 125a, line 14), and «I explained that [gold­
en stone] in the Book [Mushaf] of Imuth» (fol. 168a. line 19). There is a strong likelihood that
this book was Zosimos' account, perhaps as a commentary, of teachings ascribed to Imuth [=
Imhotep] himself, and presumably it claimed to transmit wisdom from the first sages' twenty-
four books: «[Theosebeia] said: "Tell me about where you say in The Book [Mushaf] of Imuth:
'There are many kinds [of silver], some are scattered, some mixed, and some cast.'" [Zosimos]
said: "Imuth spoke clearly and without jealousy ..." » (fol. 166a, lines 9-11). In the M ushaf as-
suwar Zosimos speaks of the granting of the first alchemical book as follows: «When the first
sages obtained this book, and recognized the benefits of its knowledge, they were jealous that
the masses might gain possession of it. So they wrote about it in twenty-four books, and they
named each one with its name [i.e. The Book of Imuth], They inserted things into it which were
not there before, by which they hid it from the people» (fol,129a, lines 16-19).
42 Although the 6th Book of the M ushaf as-suwar is entitled «The Book of the Nature which
is known as the Book [Mushaf] of Imuth». this section of our work (folios 127b- 133b) is not
identical with Zosimos' Book [Mushaf] o f Imuth. for the section refers neither to angels nor to
sayings of Imuth. Rather, it is clear that one name given to the nature at the basis of the alchem­
ical process is The Book o f Imuth: «[Theosebeia] said: "I would ask you to tell me of the single
nature which you informed me the sages call The Book o f Imuth out of jealousy and a desire to
keep it secret." He said: "I have told you that the support, key and basis of this work are in this
nature."» (fol. 127b. lines 6-8; the nature is called ‘gum’, fol. 129a. line 16).
 The Origin of the Mushaf as-suwar 23

in different places in the extant Greek and Syriac texts of Zosimos.

f. As an important further fact we find in the M ushaf as-suwar three
of Zosimos’ own dreams.43 In view of his important dreams, known from
his Greek texts, we find here a further confirmation of his relationship to
his dream-life. In the light of these new dreams reported in the M ushaf as-
suwar we recognize a consistent personality named Zosimos who continu­
ously nourished his inner God-man by paying attention to his dream-life
and wondering and pondering about its meaning.
Just to give one example of a dream, reported in the T‘ book of the
M ushaf as-suwar called «The Book of the Truth», there is his dream about
the man of copper that he told Theosebeia (end of folio 6b): «She said:
“Then tell me, O Zosimos, about your statement that all the sages (folio 7a)
wrote frequently about the cooking. Is all of this to deter people from this
science, and because of their jealousy?” He replied: “Concerning the peo­
ple of right attitude and wisdom, who desire it [the work], they did not do
anything like that to them. However, they made their operation inaccessi­
ble to the shameless, in order that they could not corrupt the world, and the
responsibility for those would be with whoever taught it to them.” She
said: “Then show me how they scattered it.” He said: “Did I not explain to
you in the great dream (ru:yâ) I saw, that the killed one was cut into pieces,
and that the two hands were cut up, and the fingers were cut up joint by
joint, and vein by vein, and that the bones and veins were pounded until it
became like very fine dust. What I am telling you about this dream corre­
sponds to the statement of Agathodaimon, who said: ‘Pound and cook, and
pound and cook, and repeat it, and do not be impatient, and repeat it.’ For
the work on these things at the beginning of the mixing, the cooking, the
soaking, the roasting, the heating, the whitening, the pounding, the roasting,
the vaporisation, the rusting and the dyeing are one. If Agathodaimon had
known that one pounding, one cooking and one soaking would be enough
for it, he would not have repeated what he said. However, he repeated the
statement ‘pound and cook', in order to cook it many times and not be impa­
tient, and in order to disguise it from those who did not know these names.
My lady, if I wanted to hold anything back from you, it would have been
enough for me to tell you that in my dream I had just found a killed man.
But I informed you that he had been killed and cut into pieces, and divided
and cut into fragments till he decayed.” She said: “Am I right in seeing that

43 See folio 7a, 41a, 82b. Also the Kitäb al-mafätlh mentions two dreams of Zosimos.
24 Introduction

this killed man is the copper body that you have ordered me to operate?” He
said: "Now you have understood what I said . . . .”» This human body of cop­
per or copper-man is well known from authentic Greek texts of Zosimos were
he speaks of the copper-man (kalkanthropos)44 whom he saw in his dream,
who turned into a man of silver and finally into a man of gold. The symbol
of the mutilated copper man is a parallel to the Pharaonic Osiris, the ruler
of the Netherworld, the de us absonditus who has to be extracted from the
bodily reality and then further worked upon, as Zosimos explains later,
based on another (or, more probably, the same) dream (fol. 40b f.).
g. A comparison of the authentic Greek texts of Zosimos with the
M ushaf as-suwar reveals that practically all key symbols such as lead-cop­
per, magnesia, pyrite, chrysocolla, alabaster, the divine water, the etesian
stone, the copper without shadow, etc. are also found in this Arabic text. In
the Kitäb al-mafatïh fia s-sa n ca of Zosimos, a book mentioned in the Greek
tradition and in the Kitäb al-fihrist (see footnote 26), Zosimos is speaking
in the same way of the same symbols in relation to his dreams, and he
describes the same aim of the work in the same style. This would confirm
Zosimos’ authorship of the M ushaf as-suwar. It is also notable that the
same authorities are quoted: Democritus, Maria, Agathodaimon, etc.
h. The earliest quotations from the M ushaf as-suwar seem to be in
the Kitäb al-habïb, a compilation of alchemical texts from old authorities.
The Kitäb al-habïb may itself have been translated from Greek. Fuat
Sezgin argues against Ruska’s view that the Arabic compilation works
(Kitäb al-habïb, Turba and Kitäb Qirätis) were made in Islamic times:
“Apart from the fact that it cannot be established historically, and that it
furthermore lacks credibility if one cites the stage of development of this
science in Egypt to explain why these writings lack the changes which took

44 See for example M. Mertens, l.c., part X, line 61, 70, 81 and 115. W e find a dream in
the Greek Authentic Notes which is also found in the M ushaf as-suwar. “He said: «Did I not
explain to you in the dream I saw. that the killed one was cut into pieces, and that the two
hands were cut up, and the fingers were cut up joint by joint, and vein by vein, and that the
bones and veins were pounded until it became like very fine dust.” (The verb habaä= to rise
in the air as dust, smoke; thus it could also mean: until it becomes like vapour.) Then comes
a summary of the alchemical process of cutting and then pounding etc. that follows in the
dream of the Greek text but is here put into the mouth of Agathodaimon. So we can say that
Zosimos refers her back to the same dream that is known form the Greek original that would
prove an internal relationship between the Arabic and the Greek texts.
 The Origin of the Mushaf as-suwar 25

place in the alchemy of the Arabs, the quotations and personal names cited
indicate the pre-Islamic composition date of these books, and therefore of
the Kitäb al-habïb.”45
k. Finally also the fact that we have pictures in the M ushaf as-
suwar points to its pre-Islamic origin. The representation of divine or
demonic figures, as we find it in figure 1 on page 30, would be unlikely in
an Islamic context. In Arabic alchemy we find in general only very few
pictures as pictures are generally forbidden, coming certainly also from a
fear of their magic power.46
An argument against our hypothesis that the M ushaf as-suwar is a
translation from a Greek text of Zosimos or his school, or indeed from any
Greek text can be found in a passage on folio 10a that reads: «She said:
“Then tell me about the statement of Maria from her father: ‘The nation in
which this science will appear will be at the end of the time.” ’ He said:
“Your questions to me were about what the sages had described.
Concerning what has been described about the nations, you are not in need
of it, and it is not a question for you.” She said: “I ask you why you told
me about this nation?” He said: “They are the sons of Ibrahim.” She said:
“The Jews?” He said: “No, but the sons of IsmâTl, after a hundred and
sixty years of their reigning [the science] will appear to them.’’And there is
no nation that was more disbelieving in the sages then them. After 140
years of their reigning, the number of seekers of this science will increase,
and they will feel enthusiasm for it [the science]. Then the great and the
exalted God will reveal it to them, after hopelessness about it, to increase
their desire for the other world rather than this world.» This passage is an
argument against a translation from a Greek original. It would rather point
to our text being an Islamic adaptation of the original text of Zosimos.

45 Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums, IV, p. 92: «Abgesehen davon, daß es historisch
nicht nachzuweisen und darüber hinaus gedanklich nicht nachzuvollziehen ist, wenn man die
in diesen Schriften fehlende Entwicklung, welche die Alchimie bei den Arabern erfuhr, mit
dem Stand dieses Wissensgebietes in Ägypten erklären will, weisen auch die zitierten Quellen
und Eigennamen auf die vorislamische Entstehungszeit dieser Bücher und damit auch des K.
al-Habtb hin.»
46 The copyist might just not have been aware of what he was doing. See for that also La
Chimie au Moyen Âge, 1. c., Vol. II, p. 228: «Les hommes étaient saisis de crainte à la vue des
images; ils pensait qu'elles étaient animée et qu'elles tenaient leurs couleurs de la nature
vivante; à tel point qu'ils n'osaient pas les regarder en face ... .»
26 Introduction

Prof. Wilferd Madelung informed me that such adaptations are well known
in the Arabic literature of the time. However, the text is best understood as
a translation with a certain amount of adaptation. The reference to the
Arabs here must be an interpolation in the original text.
The Arab alchemists, as we have seen, added a prophecy referring
to themselves. The adapter felt free, as Dr Peter Starr pointed out to me, to
add hadith quotations to the text. An Arabic idiom derived from hadith lit­
erature is found on folio 10a, lines 7-8: radltu ... bi-1-kafäf, lâ calaiya wa-
lä Ilya (“I would be happy ... if my deeds balance out”). This phrase is
found repeatedly in hadith literature. Caliph cUmar responds to a young
man’s praise in such words (Buhârî, 5, 57: 50). On folio 1la, line 18, there
is a direct quotation from an Arabic proverb, which is also a weak hadith:
“The best of all things is the most central and moderate.” As a hadith,
attributed to the Prophet, we only find this in Qurtubï’s Tafsïr.
To sum up these reflections on the origin, one comes to the follow­
ing conclusion: The comparison of the content of the M ushaf as-suwar
with the extant Greek and Syriac writings of Zosimos shows that the orig­
inal text is most probably a text of Zosimos or of one of his disciples. The
entire content of the M ushaf as-suwar confirms that our text corresponds
to the teachings of Zosimos as known from his Greek texts.
Assuming that this conclusion is corrobated by later research, the
text presented here would be the oldest extant illustrated and coloured text
of religious-symbolic alchemy. The fact that the M ushaf as-suwar is com­
plete makes it possible to gain a more comprehensive overview of what
Zosimos may have intended to impart through his teaching and the reason
why he treasured the alchemical work above all else in this world.
 27

4. New Insight into the Roots of Zosimos’ Teaching

The M ushaf as-suwar offers us some remarkable new insights into
the basic foundation of Zosimos’ teaching. This will need to be studied in
detail on the basis of all the extant Arabic translations in relationship to the
already known texts of Zosimos. I can give here only one example. On
folio 106a line 1-8 we read: «He [Zosimos] said: “My lady, understand the
statement of my sage. You have no understanding. I did not desire anything
from the sages except to become one of their students. However, I partic­
ularly selected Democritus for this, and I became a student of his, although
there are 660 years between us. This is because he spoke the truth, making
it clear, and striving for sincerity. He spoke it clearly for those who knew
its meanings, with knowledge the generality of sages protected. Also [I
selected him] because Ostanes the great preferred him, for Ostanes ordered
each of the sages to write an illuminating, difficult, and enigmatic book
about this work. Maria was with them at that time. Then he told them that
the best for illumination, revealing and hiding the truth, and [protecting]
the knowledge, was Democritus, who has the crown.»
This passage shows that Zosimos considered Democritus to be his
inner teacher, something that is still known today in India, where some
people speak of an inner guru. It is charcteristic for mystical writers to have
a vivid relationship with an authority of the past.
If we deduct 660 years from the time that Zosimos was living
(3 rd/4 th century) we come just about to the period when Democritus of
Abdera lived (460-370). This is further confirmation of the dating of the
life of Zosimos in the 3rd/4th century.
The statement given above also shows that Democritus was for
Zosimos the main source of inspiration. Looking at the Greek and Syriac
texts of Zosimos we find some remarkable internal correlations as in these
texts Democritus is also respectfully quoted.47 Especially in the text Peri
aretes Democritus is praised as the «my most exellent one» by Zosimos.

47 See for that the list of quotes of Democritus and Le Philosophe in M. Mertens, l.c.,
p. 269 and M. Berthelot, Coll, des Alch. Grecs, l.c., III.VI., 6: 6 AiipdKptToc ècclvoc 6 èpot
dya0wTciToc. Also in the Syiac text we find two quotes of Democritus: See M. Berthelot and
R. Duval, in La Chimie au Moyen Age, Vol. II, l.c., p. 214 and p. 260. The same can be said
28

5. A Testimony to the Basic Attitude of Zosimos

In the M ushaf as-suwar Jesus is mentioned on two occasions. On

folio 194a we read: «She said: “Then tell me about the statement of
Aläsärdus: T warn you students of the strength of the fire in the operation,
because its enemy is the water, until peace comes to them both.’” He said:
“As Christ, peace be upon him, said to those who came to test his knowl­
edge by their science, addressing them before they started speaking: ‘How
amazing of you, O community of sages, that you reconciled fire and water
so they lived together in the operation.’ They were astonished when he
knew them by their science.” [Zosimos] continued: “In the same way I
warn you about the fire, and I tell you that if you reconcile fire and water
your work will be good, by God’s will.”».48 This quotation shows that
Zosimos knew of Christ as a teacher. It also shows that he revered him to
the extent that Jesus was assimilated to the alchemical tradition.49 Zosimos
of our M ushaf as-suwar would have recognized a certain one-sidedness of
the Christ-image, stressing himself the importance of the reconciliation o f
the opposites o f the blessed water and hellish fire, the upper light and good
God and the lower rejected dark-evil Satan.
Zosimos’ teaching presents the aim of the alchemical work as being
to turn to the despised and rejected matter. On folio 160a we read: «She
said: “Then your things which enter your work are things which people
rejected?” He said: “If it were not like that, this science would be clear.”

about Kitäb al-majatïh f i as-san 'a, the other main Ms. of Zosimos extant in Arabic. This lat­
ter text is a commentary to the Ten Keys o f Democritus, who is quoted quite frequently.
Detailed research will be needed to verify the hypothesis of an internal correlation of the dif­
ferent texts, assumed to originate from Zosimos' teaching.
48 On folio 42a we read a similar passage: «Zosimos speaks and says: "I warn you about
the fire in the operation, for its enemy is the water because of their opposition and mutual
hatred, until peace comes to the water and the fire and they are reconciled. As Jesus Christ,
peace be upon him, said: ‘How amazing of you, O community of sages, that you reconciled
water and fire, so they dwelt together in the operation.' The sages were astonished that he
knew them by their science. Know that if you reconcile water and fire your work will be good,
by God's will, be he magnified and glorified.”»
49 E. von Lippmann points out in his Entstehung und Ausbreitung der Alchemie, 2 Vols..
1919-1954. Vol. 1. p.75 that at the time of Zosimos there was quite a considerable community
of Christians in Upper Egypt.
 Testimony to the Basic Attitude of Zosimos 29

She said: “Why is that so?” He said: “The exalted God in his omnipotence
knows that the greatest thing in people’s eyes is gold. So he wanted to
teach them that it is made from the most inferior and cheapest things, in
order to teach us his omnipotence in creating whatever he wants.”»
Zosimos’ main aim was to reconcile the opposites of high and low,
of fire and water, of male and female.

6. First Reflections on the Mushaf as-suwar

Zosimos lived in Egypt at a time when Pharaonic temple-culture was
still alive. But at the same time, owing to Hellenistic influences, there was
the incipient struggle to overcome the bodily urges and, in a Platonic way,
to establish a firm conscious attitude separate from the body. Christianity
too was bringing these new values, with its praise of the ascetic lifestyle,
and the rejection of all «devilish bodily urges».
In the M ushaf as-suwar Zosimos teaches Theosebeia— who was
also his beloved—about the meaning of consciously accepting the suffering
of a passionate love relationship that cannot be simply lived out concretely.
To give an idea how image and word are to be seen together in this M ushaf
as-suwar we have a look at the 2nd book that is called «The Book of the
Names». On folio 38b we read: «She said: “I have obtained all I wished to
from the education. So tell me about the things which the sages named with
other than their true names. Make them no longer obscure to me, and there­
by complete your favour to me.” He said: “What I have presented is enough
for you, namely, what I spoke to you about in person, my depictions of you
and me concerning it, and I made a picture of what you need to know, and
that satisfies you. I have no other choice than to complete the best of what
you want, because of your goodness and my relationship with you. So ask
me whatever you want concerning these names. I will tell you about it to
the extent of my knowledge, regarding what you were not able to under­
stand. Look again at the pictures at the beginning of the book, I mean «The
Book of the Names», and think about what I have presented for you [in the
pictures], because I did not put into them anything except as an analogy for
the things you need.»
This statement of Zosimos makes clear that we need to see what is
happening to Zosimos and Theosebeia and what is gripping them, in whose
30 Introduction

hands they are. As we have no detailed description of this picture in «The

Book of the Names»—Zosimos obviously drew the picture for her—it must
be meant that it has simply to be pondered upon (see fig. 1). We know from

Figure 1: (fol. 38a) Zosimos, with the sun on his head, and Theosebeia, with the
moon on her head, in the hand of a three-headed being that is much larger than
these two. Text and image show aspects of the psychological process that Zosimos
experienced in his relationship with Theosebeia.
 First Reflections on the Mushaf as-suwar 31

much later alchemical books a similar procedure, e.g. the famous two books
called Mutus liber (Book without Words), dating from the 17th century. As
we have no interpretation given in the text, there is no other way to under­
stand this picture than out o f itself, with the help of tools developed for the
art of picture interpretation.50
In the centre and dominating the whole picture we see a big three­
headed figure. This figure grips with his left hand Zosimos, who has a sun
on his head. The three-headed figure is about three times bigger than
Zosimos whose hands are outspread, as if in despair or in a gesture for sur­
render. At the side of Zosimos we see Theosebeia, with a moon on her
head. She clings onto the body of Zosimos, holding him around his chest.
Both figures give the impression of being lifted up into the air, and both
figures are represented, from the knee downwards, with uncovered legs.
With his right hand the three-headed figure holds a human-shaped
being with animal tail and paws but with a human head and eyes. That fig­
ure is strongly coloured, mainly black and red. The hands are put together
in an almost human way. Beside this figure there is a second figure with
similar features who seems to be connected to the arm of the three-headed
figure. These two figures are like enlarged shadow figures of Zosimos and
Theosebeia, depicting their activated animal or bodily nature. Thus both,
the couple on the right and the couple on the left, are Zosimos and
Theosebeia.
This triune figure is Hermes-Mercurius, as becomes evident from
the pictures of the «7lh Book about the Mercuries». He is obviously able to
handle on the one hand the light and uncoloured spiritual-humans and on
the other hand the dark black-red animal-humans. Hermes symbolizes a
spiritual entity that goes beyond Christ, who was—as he declared—not of
this world and had nothing to do with what Christianity labeled evil. Our
figure here is clearly a representation of the guide of alchemy, the one that
can separate and hold together the light and the dark side, the lower animal
realm and the upper divine aspect of the human existence. He is the eva­
sive spirit of the unconscious with different appearances uterius capax,
capable of both. He is not only good but can also be evil: «He is good with
the good and evil with the evil» as some alchemists said, depending on the

so See for that the method developed in Th. Abt, Introduction to Picture Interpretation, l.c.
 Introduction

attitude of the humans.51 He is a representation of the anthropos, that symbol

of the entire human, including also his or her dark bodily side. But here this
figure is experienced first in its hideous aspect, depicting a real possession
by the archetype of the daemonic or divine greater human.
The picture represents the beginning state of the work, where
Zosimos and Theosebeia are seen hopelessly gripped by a force much
greater than they are. The two, Zosimos and Theosebeia, are now kept in
suspension; they cannot move freely and are at the mercy of this divine or
demonic spirit who reminds us, e.g., of the three-headed Shiva in Hindu
mythology. It is not the devil but rather a figure like Lucifer-Prometheus.52
This anthropos-figure that starts the process is what we would call today
with C. G. Jung the principium individuationis. We have in this figure a
symbol of the greater inner human that is still unconscious.
The fact that Zosimos and Theosebeia in the left hand are repre­
sented with a sun and a moon on their heads shows that the archetype of
the male and the female, symbolized by sun and moon, has entered the
realm of the two humans, while the animal shape of the body of the two to
the left (in the right hand of the Hermes figure) shows that the dark or
unconscious bodily instincts are activated as well. This is what we experi­
ence today in an overwhelming «falling in love». C. G. Jung once wrote to
Aniela Jaffé: «The coniunctio of the male and the female half of the self
wants to overwhelm the individual and force it to represent it physically in
this world. You would like to illuminate the world as Luna (and I as Sol).
Every archetype, however, before being integrated consciously wants to be
represented concretely, forcing the subject in its form. The self (i.e. the
archetype) is unconscious about its divine nature. It can only become con­
scious within the frame of our consciousness. And this is only possible if
the ego is able to hold it. It (the self) must become so small, smaller than
the ego in spite of being the ocean of the divine. [...] In the vessel the
hierosgamos takes place. You are not the goddess, nor I the god, on prin­
ciple. otherwise we would no more be humans and god would not have
been bom. We can only hold our hands and know about the inner human.

See for details C. G. Jung, «The Spirit Mercurius», Coll. Works 13. § 239 ff. and §481.
See for that also Zosimos’ text on the letter Omega.
 First Reflections on the Mushaf as-suwar 33

The superhuman does not belong to us.»53 This corresponds precisely, and
in a nutshell, to the teaching of Zosimos to Theosebeia.
Here follows a summary of a part of the dialogue of Zosimos and
Theosebeia which illustrates the lively wrestling of two human beings, of
teacher and student, to make understandable and to understand the mean­
ing of alchemical symbolism. It reveals that what Zosimos explains to
Theosebeia is definitely not just outer chemistry but the description of a
psychological transformation described and explained with the help of
chemical symbols and analogies.
In the «S"1Book about the Magnesia» that contains a whole picture
series Zosimos explains to Theosebeia: (fol. 98a ) «He said: “I will illus­
trate the two of us in several different pictures, not just one, in this book of
mine. In it I want to give you what is your right, at every level of this work
until I reach its end. So know what you asked me about. Ask me what you
want, as long as my picture is appropriate to your picture.” She said: “Do
you want my picture to separate from your picture?” He said: “Yes, my
picture must separate from your picture.” She said: “Of whom will I ask
questions then?” He said: “You will ask my spirit.” She said: “Will the
spirit be appropriate to me?” He said: “No, it will not be appropriate, but
from my spirit colours will appear what your eyes never saw before.” She
said: “How will I ask questions of your spirit, O Zosimos, once it has sep­
arated from your body? You are burdening me and taking me to the diffi­
cult things which I complained to you were too obscure for me in my igno­
rance. Has anybody before me seen a spirit which the onlooker imagines
separate from its body?” He said: “Yes indeed. If my spirit separates from
my body, it must conceal itself in your spirit and and be appropriate to you.
So accept this statement of mine. Know that your spirit will talk with my
spirit, and it [your spirit] will know what it asks it [my spirit] about. At this
time you will see the miracles of the exalted God's wisdom.”»
This passage shows that Zosimos tries to explain to Theosebeia
something that was later in Latin alchemy called imaginatio vera or collo­
quium cum aliquid qui non videtur. Today we would speak of an active
imagination, a method of an inner encounter with psychic contents that was
rediscovered by C. G. Jung. Our passage here is especially remarkable as

53 C. G. Jung, Letters. Vol. 1. Princeton 1992, Letter of 3rd November 1943.

34 Introduction

Figure 2: (fol. 99a) In an u p p e r r e g is te r we see Theosebeia, with the moon with a

face on her head. In the picture to her left is Zosimos, with the sun with a face on
his head. He holds on a lead a man with two wings. In the lo w e r r e g is te r we see
Theosebeia with a moon without face on her head. In front of her are two yellow
vessels, one of them with Zosimos (with a sun without face on his head) and his
white bull, the other one with just a green-white bull, as we read in the text. The
two levels, the upper spiritual and the lower human, are seen also in later Latin
alchemy (see figure 8).
 First Reflections on the Mushaf as-suwar 35

this is most probably the earliest document that explains in great detail the
process of how to achieve a conscious separation of the divine or spiritual
aspect from the concrete human person on whom this divine quality was
projected.
In the caption to the image on folio 99a (see figure 2) we read: «The
image of Theosebeia and Zosimos, and with Zosimos there is a man with
two wings who is pointing to him. And an image of Theosebeia who has
between her hands a yellow vessel in which Zosimos is placed together
with his bull, and another yellow vessel with a white-green bull on it.»
The two levels of the picture show the need for a simultaneous view
of the upper and lower reality: The little or human Theosebeia down below
(with a moon on her head, having no face) is confronted with the need for
a yellow vessel for the [probably her] white-green bull, like the little or
human Zosimos (with a sun on his head, having no face, showing his shin­
ing quality for her), who is contained in a yellow vessel with his bull. On
the upper level we see the great or divine Theosebeia (with a moon on her
head, having a face), together with the great or divine Zosimos (with a sun
on his head, having a face) together with his spirit that he holds by a lead.
This separation of the upper-archetypal and the lower-human level is also
found in two other pictures (on fol. 128b and fol. 191b), and it remained a
topic throughout the tradition of religious-symbolic alchemy as can be
seen, e.g., in figure 8 of this introduction. The colour yellow of the vessels
points to the quality of light or consciousness that characterizes them,
while the white-green colour of the bull points to the union of the colour of
life with the non-colour white. The bull can be understood as a symbol for
the divine-lifeproviding quality of the bull-energy (the Ka of Ancient
Egypt) that is, when entering consciousness, first experienced as over­
whelming bodily drivenness that then needs, with the help of the alchemi­
cal work, to be consciously contained in the yellow vessel.
Then follows a long dialogue between teacher and student about
this separation of the spirits of Zosimos and Theosebeia from their body.
This dialogue culminates in a most remarkable statement of Zosimos who
then explains: (fol. 100b) «He said: “Your spirit appears over my spirit.”
She said: “How can my spirit win over your spirit, when you are stronger,
wiser and more knowledgeable than me?” He said: “Your spirit is full of
weapons, and I have no power over you in any matter.” She said: “I have
36 Introduction

never seen a weak one win over a strong one.” He said: ‘‘Today you have
seen it.” She said: “Then what led my spirit to take your spirit?” He said:
“In order that by it you should be able to fight the enemies.” She said: “I
did not know I had an enemy.” He said: “Your enemy is very much pres­
ent!” She said: “I have not done any evil to anybody, and I am good natured
[have a clear conscience] towards people.” He said: “So what do you think
of the great sun which Hermes mentioned, but did name by its name?” She
said: “There is no deep-rooted hatred between me and the sun.” He said:
“It is your murderer, and it has been your enemy of old.”»
Here we have the document that explains what was really meant by
the famous «ascunia, murderess of her lover or her husband» that we find
so often in the M ushaf as-suwar. This story, that is known in literature as
«The Legend of the Giftmädchen (poison girl)», will be presented in detail
later in this introduction on page 54 f. What needs to be kept in mind here
is the fact that this image of Theosebeia who is full of weapons and win­
ning over Zosimos is explained clearly as a symbol for a transpersonal psy­
chological phenomenon. She is not simply a Decknamen (cover name) as
many historians of alchemy thought.
After the description of a picture the text continues: (fol. 102a) «She
said: “You have spoken much, O Zosimos, and you took a direction that I
had not asked you about. Tell me about yourself. What destroyed you and
separated your spirit from your body?” He said: “You took away my splen­
dour and you turned me into silver, after I had been gold before. You
dressed me in black, which is the lowest of all the colours, then you turned
me into ashes [...] Then I rise again. I am bound to be resurrected and come
to life and become better than I was before.”»
Then follows a picture described as: «The image of a man lying
dead on the ground, golden, with red stripes.» (See folio 103a) The text
then runs: «She asked: “What form is that?” He said: “It is the clothes of
the great king in purple colour, and the purple is woven with gold.” She
said: “What led you to this form?” He said: “Did I not tell you before not
to ask me.” She said: “I do ask you, because I am impatient about what I
hear.” He said: “They are my winding sheets.” She said: “Are the dead
wrapped in clothes of gold?” He said: “Yes, they are the winding sheets of
the sages, because the gold holds back and prevents the fire burning me
when I die, until I rise again to life.” She said: “What was it that killed you,
 First Reflections on the Mushaf as-suwar 37

O Zosimos?” He said: “You.” She said: “I am too weak for that.” He said:
“Keep yourself away from me.” She said: “Alas for you, O Zosimos, how
could I do to you what you describe?” He said: “If you are wrapped in the
silvery winding sheets.” She said: “So, O Zosimos, your death is near, and
on that day the colours of the rainbow will appear in you.” He said: “Woe
unto you, O Theosebeia, extinguish these colours [of the rainbow] with the
one whose inside is black. When it mixes with me it extinguishes my light
and your light, and it reveals your splendour and increases your brilliancy.”
She said: “I do not understand what you are saying, and your only interest
in me is to mock me. What you say is nonsense!” He said: “Die in your
grief! You have no intelligence. Look at the pictures of me and you at the
beginning of this book. Then ask me questions, as long as you see my pic­
ture, and I will answer you about what I promised you. Do not leave any­
thing you think you will need without asking me about it. I will reveal to
you what a father keeps back from his son. I think, O Theosebeia, that if
you understand what I say your soul will be filled with joy and you will
praise me much for it.”»
Then follows on folio 104a a further long dialogue where
Theosebeia wants to know also more about the vanishing of Zosimos’
light. He answers her that it is she, the silvery one, who did that and that
she made the statement of Agathodaimon become true who said: «Tum the
gold into silver!» She has further questions that Zosimos answers with
quotes from Democritus, ending: «I did not neglect to answer you about it,
but I began my answer to you with the difficult words of Democritus.
Concerning the body of magnesia, no sage has entered into this work
whose body God has not turned into gold, and his spirit into silver, and
what holds both of them together into a spiritual thing. Thus today I am the
golden Zosimos, and you are the silvery Theosebeia.» This shows clearly
that we have to understand the symbols of gold, silver, magnesia etc. not
as a description of some outer material that needs to be worked upon, but
rather as a symbol for an inner process of transformation.
This process of death and resurrection is obviously the consequence
of a problem of transference, as we would call it today. A later picture on
folio 172a (see fig. 3), illustrates how the great divine Theosebeia (with a
moon on her head that has a face), is holding in her arms the dead great
divine Zosimos (with a sun on his head whose face seems to be extin-
38 Introduction

Figure 3: The dead man, with the sun on his head (no longer with a face), is
Zosimos. The woman, with the moon on her head (and a face), who holds the dead
body is the great or divine Theosebeia. She holds the spirit that separated from the
dead body of Zosimos on a chain. Above the two there is a symbol of the stone of
the sages, described in the text as consisting of two parts. The lower is described as
sky blue, and the upper as yellow, and out of it pours the divine water (which also
should be blue). This is the divine water that revives the dead body (see complete
picture on fol. 171b and 172a).
 First Reflections on the Mushaf as-suwar 39

guished). This representation is similar to that of Isis and Osiris—or, for a

Christian, Mary and Jesus—well known from statues of that period. It
shows that the archetypes of sun and moon that have in previous times been
projected on trans-human god and goddess have entered the realm o f humans.
Zosimos tries to explain to Theosebeia in pictures, symbols and
analogies how this divine dimension of their relationship as sun-king and
moon-queen has first to be separated from the human reality and then
reunited again with the individual, giving him or her the feeling experience
of something divine and eternal im Weltinnenraum (Rilke), in the psyche.
To find a way to disidentify from the initial possession by the archetypes,
and then to establish a durable relationship with this archetypal world
becomes thus the centre of the alchemical work.
The sun and the moon symbolism was later on taken up and further
differentiated in Arabic alchemy, especially by Muhammad ibn Umail, and
in Persia by NizämT in his famous book called Laila and Magnün.
The M ushaf as-suwar contains the first complete explanation of the
process of projection and recollection of the anima, the inner unconscious
feminine side of a man. In chemical symbols and analogies that are con­
nected to the Ancient Egyptian embalming ritual Zosimos describes to his
beloved Theosebeia how he himself experienced this process as symbolic
death and resurrection. Then he explains the same process the other way
around, describing her relationship to him.
This is a topos already found in the Pharaonic Books o f the Afterlife.
In these texts the process was primarily projected onto the time after death,
although we read, e.g. repeatedly in the Amduat, that the knowledge of the
journey of the Sungod through the night-world is not only good and effec­
tive for the deceased but also for a person on earth, «a true remedy, a mil­
lion times proven».54 The aim of alchemy is that the adept learns during his
or her lifetime a way to relate to an inner centre or self within his or her own
psyche. This inner centre corresponds to the God-image of all religions. It
is symbolized by the stone of the sages or the anthropos that is first buried
in the unconscious, and only when the individual continously relates to it
and works on its images does it turn into a reliable inner psychopompos
(innerpsychic guide). This is what we would call today with C. G. Jung the
realisation of the self.

54 See The Amduat, Edited by E. Homung and Th. Abt, l.c., s.v. remedy.
40 Introduction

In his treatise Peri aretes Zosimos uses for the chemical process of
transformation the word taricheia, which means embalming.55 In the
M ushaf as-suwar he describes explicitly what happens psychologically
during the embalming of the corpse of Osiris—that is the copper-man or
the anthropos—until he resurrects.
In his Greek treatises Zosimos tells what happens to the copper-man
in the form of several dreams. These great dreams or so-called visions of
Zosimos were interpreted in depth by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav
Jung.56 In the M ushaf as-suwar we learn more about other dreams of
Zosimos and that he has further pondered over his dreams. By that he was
able to become more and more conscious of the meaning of this inner
process of death and resurrection. It is a symbolic representation of the
transformation of his soul that became by that process of pondering—or
distillation as it was called in alchemical language—more and more puri­
fied, ready for the union with God.57 That is the mysterium coniunctionis:
the ego of the alchemist is not identified with God, but becomes the wit­
ness of this union of his or her soul with the eternal. In the visions of
Zosimos, human beings are tortured by a priest figure who is also himself
dismembered until he becomes «the man of gold» which is the name for
the anthropos or the inner God-man in every individual. It is as if during
the embalming process the human side of the dead person and its divine
core are simultaneously and mutually tortured in order to produce the
immortal inner personality, i.e. the philosophers’ stone. The embalming
process which, until now, we knew only from its outer manipulations in
Ancient Egypt, is revealed by Zosimos to be a symbol for an inner process,
which is no longer projected onto the afterlife. It now takes place within
the psyche of the living alchemist when he works on the philosophers’
stone, i.e. on the creation of a solidified personality. Such an individual is
ready for the journey of continous rejuvenation in the Pharaonic Nun, as it
is described e.g. in the Amduat. The Nun is in today’s words in the collec­
tive unconscious.

55 M. Mertens, Mem. auth., X. 55. See for that also M.-L. von Franz. On Dreams and
Death. Chicago 19982, p.103.
56 C. G, Jung, «The Visons of Zosimos», Coll. Works, Vol. 13, p. 57 f.
57 See a similar document in Th.Abt. «The Great Vision of Muhammad ihn Umail»,
Supplement to Psychological Perspectives, Los Angeles 2003.
 First Reflections on the Mushaf as-suwar 41

The M ushaf as-suwar shows the process of a gradual disidentifica­

tion of Zosimos from being in the grip of the inner god-man Hermes, want­
ing to unite as Sol with Theosebeia in whom he saw Luna. In a later picture
(see fig. 4) we see the resurrected Zosimos with his inner «Other-One» who
came into consciousness gradually as a result of his constant relationship to
the dreamworld. This «Other-One» on the other side of the sprouting tree
points with his left hand to the earth and shows Zosimos with his right hand
what grows in between them. It seems to be a palm tree that can be under­
stood as being a symbol for Zosimos' tree of life.
In the last picture of the M ushaf as-suwar (see fig. 5) Theosebeia is
depicted in the left half of the picture with a moon on her head that has no
face. The woman in the right half of the picture has a remarkably larger
head than the one of Theosebeia and the moon on her head has a face. This
greater woman corresponds to the «Other-One» or the godman in the pic­
ture of Zosimos that we just saw before. We can understand her as the great
woman of Theosebeia or the female aspect of the self. The moon on her
head carries the same suffering face as the human face of Theosebeia. This
shows in an surprisingly clear way the mutual suffering of the human and
the divine: the humanization of the female aspect of the self and the con­
nection, yet not identification, of the human to this female side of the inner
centre, as result of this alchemical process.
At the end of the M ushaf as-suwar ( 13th book, fol. 220a) we find a
concise formulation of the goal of the work: «She said: “Then tell me what
you say about the alabaster.” He said: “It is the lime. When it became a
stone we named it alabaster. We named it alabaster because if its intense
whiteness. As for the lime, [we called it, our stone like this] because it con­
ceals fire in it, in the same way as fire is concealed in the lime of the peo­
ple.” [ ... ] She said: “Tell me more.” He said: “There is more to be said
about it than can be said in words.” She said: “In spite of that, tell me!” He
said: “The sage said: ‘It is a stone and it is not a stone. It is known and it
is not known, it is the honoured, cheap one, and it is the only thing that is
good for the dyeing. This is because when the heat of the fire hits this stone
(fol. 220b) it is destroyed, and it becomes a spirit. And it is unique [farlda]
in its working, and there is no other stone which does its work.’” She said:
“Why is that?” He said: “Because it is what makes the copper white, and
makes it red, and it is what turns it into a spirit.” She said: “Is it unique in
42 Introduction

i h t*

Figure 4: (fol. 157a) In the left part of the picture we see the resurrected Zosimos
while his «Other-One» is on the right side. This «Other-One» points with his left
hand toward the earth below. With his right hand he shows what grows between the
two of them. The tree with the three twigs or branches seems to be a palm tree that
can be understood as being a symbol for Zosimos" tree of life.
 First Reflections on the Mushaf as-suwar 43

Figure 5: (fol. 210b) On the left half of the picture we see Theosebeia, represented
with a h ilä l (a newmoon or moon crecent) on her head. On the right side we see a
woman with a larger head, carrying on her head a moon with a face. She can be
understood as the «Other-One» or the greater woman in Theosebeia. Between the two
something like a small tree is growing. Around the head of Theosebeia we see some
yellow colour, the same colour as on the robe of the greater woman. It is like a halo.
44 Introduction

its origin?” He said: “When it reached the stage that you asked me about
concerning its names, it is unique in its name because everything is united
in it. However, before that it was not unique, but multiple. But the dyes are
collected in it, and it became one, like a human being which has various
things in it.”» This makes it clear that the goal of the opus alchemicum—
the creation of the stone of the sages— is the creation of the unique, unified
personality by continuously nourishing, and thus at the same time being
nourished by, the inner God-figure.
The stone of the sages, symbol for the solidified personality, thus
reconciles the opposites of the divine water and the devilish fire that is then
concealed or contained inside the individual and no longer just suppressed,
rejected or, on the other hand, just lived out uncontained.
M. Ullmann summarized Jung’s view of alchemy, by writing «that
«for Carl Gustav Jung alchemy with all its symbols and processes is the
projection of the archetypes and the collective unconscious on matter. The
opus alchymicum is in fact the process of individuation by which one
becomes the self.»58 This is only partly correct. The fact is that Jung could
document in careful detail—on the basis of those texts that were available
to him—that the great work is a process of purification of the soul of the
adept that can then unite with the self, using chemical symbols for the
description of this innerpsychic process. This bold hypothesis, is now
clearly confirmed by the M ushaf as-suwar. But contrary to Ullmann, who
misunderstood Jung’s research, the goal of the alchemical work is precicely
not an identification of the adept with the self, but the coagulation of a
durable relationship of the soul of the adept with the self.
The self is a symbol for the experience of an inner-psychic centre
that is in itself light and dark, male and female, a union of the opposites.
The final union of soul and the two-one self is a again a rebis, a two-one -
ness, as innumerable symbols of the stone of the sages especially often
mentioned lead-copper confirm. The ego of the adept is then is the fourth
'pillar’ in this quaternio allowing the quinta essentia to come to life or to
become real. That would correspond to the divine child or the entirely new

5« M. Ullmann. Natur- und Geheimwiss, 1. c.. p. 146: «Für Carl Gustav Jung ist die
Alchemie, mit all ihren Symbolen und Prozessen, eine Projektion der Archetypen und des
kollektiven Unbewussten auf die Materie. Das opus alchymicum sei in Wirklichkeit der
Individuationsprozess, durch den man zum Selbst wird.» (Editor’s translation into English)
 First Reflections on the Mushaf as-suwar 45

attitude. It is a durable connection of the day- and the nightworld, of con­

sciousness and the unconscious, of the mortal and the immortal. This is the
crucial difference to a mystic like Hallâg who declared «I am the Truth».
To the best of my knowledge, the M ushaf as-suwar is the most
complete text that explains, in a dialectic way, the symbolic meaning of the
mystery of the union of inner opposites, the opus alchemicum. It confirms
the hypothesis of C. G. Jung that the aim of the alchemical work is indeed
the psychological development of the adept. Jung first worked out and for­
mulated this hypothesis in his book Psychology and Alchemy (first pub­
lished in German in 1944, now in the Collected Works Volume 12) then in
his book the Psychology o f the Transference and later in his Alchemical
Studies which culminated in his summa, the Mysterium coniunctionis.59

7. The Mushaf as-suwar and Its Relationship to the

Kitäb al-mafâtïh fï as-sanca

Our Mushaf as-suwar is closely related to the Kitäb al-mafâtïh f i as-

sanca (Book of keys to the work), a commentary on a ten-treatise work
ascribed to Democritus. The 10lh-century Arabic catalogue of Ibn Nadlm
knows the Kitäb al-mafâtïh f i as-sanca, which may also be the BißXoc
kXciSmv mentioned as a work of Zosimos by a Greek alchemist (Coll. Alch.
Grecs II, p. 277).
The Kitäb al-mafâtïh, like the M ushaf as-suwar, is written to «my
lady» Theosebeia. Much of the Kitâb al-mafâtïh is in dialogue form, with
Theosebeia repeatedly asking Zosimos to «complete your favours to me».
The content of both books is consistently similar. There is the same
emphasis on the fact that the operation is one (Kitäb al-mafâtïh, fol. 41b,
11; compare for example Mushaf as-suwar, fol. 6b, 2), and the same cen­
tral role for Democritus, “the head of the sages of his time” (fol. 48b, 10;
cf. fol. 106a, 2). The operation in both books centres on a composition of
vapours (fol. 44b, 8; cf. fol. 14b, 12). It has the same essential features of
extracting with ‘gentleness’ (fol. 44b, 5; cf. fol. 190a, 5), from all four na-
59 These books were published in Coll. Works', the Psychology o f the Transference in Vol.
16, first published in German in 1946, the Alchemical Studies were collected in Vol. 13, and
the Mysterium coniunctionis in Vol. 14 (first German edition 1956).
46 Introduction

tures (fol. 57a, 10; cf. fol. 9a, 3), the mixing of like with like (fol. 44a, 19;
cf. fol. 21b, 10), and the need to bind the fugitive spirit (fol. 45a, 14; cf. fol.
74b, 7). The books have analogies in common, for example that of copper
with the human being (fol. 59a, 21; cf. fol. 45b, 17).
In at least one passage the text of the two works is the same:

Kitab al-mqfatihfi a‫؛؛‬-sanca M ushaf cts-suwar

(fol. 71b, 4 -7 ):«‫ا‬ (fol. 38b, 10-149:61
«I said to him: “Then what did the «She said: “Then what did the
sages mean when they named the sages mean when they named the
composition etesios?" He said: “It composition the etesian stone?” He
is because according to them the said: “It is because the etesian stone
etesian is bom every year, and it has is born once every year. And it has
different colours that change ftom different colours and it is bom and
one colour to another every month. changes from one colour to another
That is why they named their com- every month. That is why they
position the etesian stone, because it named their composition the ete-
changes at every stage of the opera- sian stone, because it changes at
tion ftom one colour to another every stage of the operation from
every month.”» one colour to another.”»

Our dialogue was written after the Kitab al-mafatlh, in spite of the
introduction to the latter which says «it was the last one they wrote for her»
(fol. 41a, 3 4 ) . The Mushaf as-suwar refers back to The Keys: «Did I not
send you special letters, dedicating them especially to you? After them I

‫ ألف ا ﻳ ﻮ س ﻓﻴﻤﺎ زﻋﻌﻮ ا ﻳﻮﻟﺪ ﻓ ﻲ ﻛﻠﺊ ﺳﻨﺔ ووئ‬:‫ ﻓﻤﺎ ﺑﺎل اﻟ ﺤﻜﻌﺎه ﺳﻨ ﺖ اﻟﺘﺮﻛﻴ ﺐ ا ﻃﻌﺒﻮ س؟ ﻓﻘﺎل‬:‫ﻓﻘﻠ ﺖ ﻟﻪ‬60
‫ ألﻧﻪ ﻳﺘ ﺤﻮل ﻓ ﻲ ﻛﻞ‬،‫ ﻓﻠﺬﻟ ﻚ ﺳﻨﻮا ﺗﺮﻛﻴﺒﻬﻢ ﺣ ﺠﺮ اﻃﺴﻴﻮ س‬.‫ ن ﻟﻮن إﻟ ﻰ ﻟﻮن ﻓ ﻲ ﻛﻞ ﺷﻬﺮ‬٠ ‫ﻟﻪ أﻟﻮان ﻣﺨﺘﻠﻐﺔ ﻳﺘ ﺤﻮل‬
.‫درﺟﺔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺘﺪﺑﻴﺮ ﻣﻦ ﻟﻮن إﻟﻰ ﻟﻮن‬

‫ ألئ ﺣ ﺠﺮ اﻃﻴﺴﻴﻮ س ﻳﻮﻟﺪ ﻓ ﻲ ﻛ ﻞ ﺳﻨﺔ ﻣﺮة‬:‫ ﻓﻤﺎ ﺑﺎل اﻟﺤﻜﻤﺎﺀ ﺳﻨﻮا اﻟﺘﺮﻛﻴ ﺐ ﺑﺤﺠﺮ ا ﻳ ﻴ ﻮ ص ؟ ﻗﺎل‬:‫ ﻗﺎﻟﺖ‬61
‫ ألﻧﻪ‬،‫ ﻓﻠﺬﻟﻚ ﺳﻨﻮا ﺗﺮﻛﻴﺒﻬﻢ ﺣ ﺠ ﺮ اﻃﻴﺴﻴﻮ س‬.‫ ن ﻟﻮن إﻟ ﻰ ﻟﻮن ﻓ ﻲ ﻛ ﻞ ﺷﻬﺮ‬٠ ‫ وﻫﻮ ﻳﻮﻟﺪ وﻳﺘ ﺤﻮل‬،‫وﻟﻪ اﻟﻮان ﻣﺨﺘﻠﻐﺔ‬
.‫ﻟﻰ ﻟﻮن‬.‫ﻳﺘﺤﻮل ﻓﻲ ﻛﻞ درﺟﺔ ﻣﻦ ا ﻛ ﺒ ﻴ ﺮ ﻫﻦ ﻟﻮن ا‬
 The Kitab al-mafatîh fî as-saiTa 47

sent the Sartamitä, but it did not convince you. Then I sent you The Keys,
and other things, hoping that you would understand the flowers from the
books of the sages which I collected for you. But you said: “I do not need
them, I want the books of the sages themselves ...”» (fol. 90a, 5-8). (One
may note in passing that the Greek term ‘anthology’, a collection of flow­
ers, was retained in the translation into Arabic).
Some similar passages show how the Book o f Pictures makes use of
Kitâb al-rnafâtïh material. For example, Zosimos’ dream of the young man
fighting the dragon is in both books, and in the Mushaf as-suwar
Theosebeia refers back to the earlier account of the dream: «Tell me of your
dream about the young man you saw fighting the dragon ...» (fol. 82b, 2 f.).
The Kitâb al-mafâtïh account (fol. 74b) begins with Zosimos saying that
fellow alchemists confused him by saying that one gum had to be improved
with another, similar one. Zosimos fell into a troubled sleep, and dreamt
(now follows a summarized version) that he saw himself standing on a rock
on the east bank of the Nile. From there he saw on the other side of the river
a young man fighting a dragon: «The young man called to me for help, and
indicated that I should enter the river. In one jump I came to where he was.
I took a stick of iron, and jumped towards the dragon, ready to fight it. Then
the dragon turned towards me and blew at me once, throwing me back 28
cubits (1 cubit=58cm), but not killing me. I turned back and attacked a sec­
ond time ...».
The young man stops Zosimos and shows him how the dragon can
be defeated using water. Then he takes the dragon and squeezes it, so that
«out of it came the egg of a crocodile.» He then works the egg «in the way
the stomach cooks the food inside it, so some of the subtle part of that food
comes out with these four natures, the phlegm, the blood, and the two
biles.”»
The young man guides Zosimos to the etesian stone in which the
dragon and its wife can be seen. At first the dragon and his wife are old and
unable to move, but as a single dragon it is again rejuvenated and flees in
fear of Zosimos. The young man then shows Zosimos a shining lance.
Zosimos asks the young man about the right time to take the eyes of the
dragon, and is told that the wife’s eyes must also be taken. At this point the
young man begins the work on the dragon, cutting it with the lance to
reveal a series of colours. He then sorts the groups of colours; diamond
48 Introduction

coloured, pyrite-coloured, cinnabar-coloured, and others. Then «he went to

the egg of the crocodile and broke it. He separated the redness and the
white and the moisture, and purified the whiteness with the whiteness, and
the redness with the redness.»
However, while the young man is preoccupied with his work, the
dragon leaps up again and hisses. This time it is Zosimos who cuts off its
head by throwing water. The young man vows to make the dragon a
decayed corpse, and causes its finer matter to rise up into the air. He
squeezes out the dragon’s poison, being careful not to breathe it in. Finally,
the young man threatens Zosimos with death and adds that if Zosimos
reveals this secret of Hermes the dragon will return to life. Zosimos awakes
in terror.
The Mushaf as-suwar gives a briefer account of the same dream,
with a few new details, but without giving the circumstances of the dream.
It is reported in this way: «When the young man saw me, he called to me
for help against the enemy (feminine) of Memphis (Manf). [This could
point to Apophis, the enemy of the Pharonic Sungod]. Then I took a jump.
In this way I was with the enemy. I took a two-pointed iron in order to kill
the monster. Then it turned towards me and blew in my face and threw me
back 28 cubits, yet I did not fall down but remained upright. Then I jumped
at it again, but the young man whom I wanted to help said: “Stop!” Then
he took water and cut the head of the dragon with it, and went close to him,
saying: “Give me what you swallowed!” [This would confirm the relation­
ship with Apophis] He takes the crocodile’s egg, which Zosimos, thinking
it a dragon’s egg, feels to be unjust. The young man explains that it «“is a
crocodile egg, but it has not decomposed or become blood or poison (?)
yet. But take the food which has been cooked in the stomach, and divide it
into four exactly equal parts for the corners of the body. Then reunite it in
one pure thing, clean of ashes. Suspend it and raise it so that it is purified.»
The Mushaf as-suwar account ends here, mentioning only that the young
man «led me to the mountain and I found that I was by a rock like
alabaster», before Theosebeia asks Zosimos about another matter. These
passages would suggest that a characteristic of the M ushaf as-suwar is to
compile elements from previous works of Zosimos in summary form.
 49

8. Texts of Zosimos as the Main Source of the

Kitäb al-habïb and the Kitäb Qirätis

The Kitäb al-habïb is a compilation of quotations from Greek

alchemists. Many passages are from Zosimos, and so many of these are
from the M ushaf as-suwar that it is likely that the habïb (lover) is Zosimos,
the lover of Theosebeia. We can trace large sections of the text back to the
Mushaf as-suwar.
Two extracts presented here give evidence of this connection. They
will have to stand as witnesses to a much larger amount of material that
originates in the Mushaf as-suwar. Both quotations show that the text in
the Mushaf as-suwar has the longer answer, confirming that this text is the
original, while the Kitäb al-habïb tends to abbreviate.

Mushaf as-suwar Kitab al-habib

(fol. 189b, 10-14):« (p. 58, 2^1):«

«She said: “Tell me, why did the «She said: “Why did they name the
sages name the rust the poison of poison honey?”
honey?” He said: “When the water He said: “It is because when this
is cooked with the bodies it takes water mixes with the bodies it takes
their taste, in the same way as water their nature, in the same way as
takes the taste of honey when water takes the taste of honey when
mixed with it. Like that, the sages mixed with it.”»
extracted the dye from the bodies
with moisture. Then they added it
to whatever they wanted.”»

M ushaf as-suwar Kitab al-habib

(fol. 118a, 12-118b, 7):« (p. 66, 1-8):65

«She said: “I see that these things «She said: “I see that these things
are fugitives.” He said: “Yes. For are fugitives.” He said: “Yes. For
that reason the sages chose fugitive that reason the sages chose fugitive
things in preference to what does not things in preference to what does not
flee.” She said: “Does this fugitive flee.” She said: “Does this fugitive
‫‪50‬‬ ‫‪Introduction‬‬

‫”?‪have a name by which it is known‬‬ ‫"?‪have a name by which it is known‬‬

‫”!‪He said: “How many names it has‬‬ ‫’’!‪He said: “How many names it has‬‬
‫‪She said: “Then tell me some.” He‬‬ ‫‪She said: “Then tell me some.” He‬‬
‫‪said: “It is the serpent which eats its‬‬ ‫‪said: "It is the serpent which eats its‬‬
‫‪tail. For the egg is divided into four‬‬ ‫‪tail. For the egg is divided into four‬‬
‫‪parts. When they are operated and‬‬ ‫‪parts. When they are operated and‬‬
‫‪mixed, they became one thing, like‬‬ ‫‪mixed, they become one thing, like‬‬
‫‪the four natures of the world.” She‬‬ ‫‪the four natures of the world.” She‬‬
‫‪said: “How does it eat its tail?” He‬‬ ‫‪said: “How does it eat its tail?” He‬‬
‫‪said: "One similar to it, one like it,‬‬ ‫‪said: “One similar to it, one like it,‬‬
‫‪is put in it [the serpent]. It eats it,‬‬ ‫‪is put in it [the serpent]. It eats it,‬‬
‫‪and changes it to water. Then the‬‬ ‫‪and changes it to water. Then the‬‬
‫‪one which the serpent ate becomes a‬‬ ‫‪one which the serpent ate becomes a‬‬
‫‪body.‬‬ ‫”‪body.‬‬
‫‪Concerning their compari-‬‬ ‫‪She said: “Tell me. about‬‬
‫‪son of their egg with the egg of a‬‬ ‫‪your statement: ‘Do not reject burn-‬‬
‫‪hen, that is because the colours of‬‬ ‫»”‪ing the bodies’...‬‬
‫‪their egg are like the colours of an‬‬
‫‪egg. Secondly, before they dis-‬‬
‫‪solved it, they knew it had a flying‬‬
‫‪fugitive in it, which is what escapes‬‬
‫‪ 62‬ﻗﺎﻟﻖ; ﻓﺄﻧﺒﻨﻨﻲ‪ ،‬ﻣﺎ ﺑﺎ ل أﻟﺤﻜﻤﺎ‪ ٠‬ﺳﻨ ﻖ ا ﻟ ﻤ ﺪأ ‪ M‬ا ﻟ ﻤ ﻞ ؟ ﻗﺎل; ا‬
‫‪٠‬ف اﻟﻤﺎﺀ ﻟ ﻨﺎ ﻃﺒ ﺦ ﻣﻊ األﺟﺴﺎد أﺧﺬ ﻃﻌﻤﻬﺎ ﻛﻤﺎ‬
‫ﻳﺎﺧﺬ اﻟﻤﺎ‪ .‬ﻃ ﻌﻢ اﻟﻌﺴﻞ ﺣﻴﻦ ﻳﻤﺰ ح ﺑﻪ‪ .‬وﻛﺬﻟ ﻚ اﻟﺤﻜﻤﺎﺀ ا ﺳﺘ ﺨﺮ ﺟ ﻖ اﻧ ﺼﺒﻎ ﺑﺎﻟﺮ ﻃﻮﺑﺔ ﻣﻦ األﺟﺴﺎد ﺛﻢ أدﺧﻠﺘﻪ ﺣﻴ ﺚ‬
‫ﺷﺎﺀت‪.‬‬

‫ﻃ ﻌ ﻢ اﻟ ﻌ ﺴ ﻞ‬ ‫ﻃ ﺒ ﻴ ﻌ ﺘ ﻬ ﺎ ﻛ ﻤﺎ ﻳﺄﺧﺬ ا ﻟ ﻤ ﺎ ‪.‬‬ ‫آﺧﺬ‬ ‫ﺑ ﺎ أل ﺟ ﺴ ﺎ د‬ ‫ا ﺧﺘﻠ ﻂ‬ ‫اﻟ ﻤﺎ ﺀ إ ذا‬ ‫ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ألئ ﻫﺬا‬ ‫ﻋ ﺴ ال؟‬ ‫‪ 63‬ﻗﺎﻟ ﺖ‪ :‬ﻓ ﻖ ﺳﻨﻮا اﻟﺲ^‬
‫إذا ﺧﻠ ﻂ ﺑﻪ‪.‬‬

‫‪ 64‬ﻗﺎﻟﺖ‪ :‬ﻓﺄ ر ى ﻫﺬه األﺷﻴﺎﺀ اواﺑﻖ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻧﻌﻢ‪ ،‬وﻟﺬﻟ ﻚ ا ﺧﺘﺎر ت اﻟﺤﻜﻤﺎﺀ األواﺑ ﻖ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺘﻲ ال ﺗﺄﺑﻖ‪ .‬ﻗﺎﻟﺖ‪ :‬و ﻫ ﻞ‬
‫ﻟﻬﺬا اآلﺑﻖ اﺳﻢ ﺑﻪ ﻧﻌ ﺮ ف؟ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻣﺎ أﻛﺜﺮ‪ .‬أﺳﻤﺎﺀﻫﺈ ﻗﺎﻟﺖ‪ :‬ﻗﺴﻢ ﻟ ﻲ ﺑﻌ ﻀﻬﺎ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻫﻮ اﻟﺘﻨﻴﻦ اﻟﺬي ﻳﺄ ﻛ ﻞ ذﻧﺒﻪ‪ .‬ألئ‬
‫اﻟﺒﻴ ﻀﺔ ﻗﺴﻤﺖ ﻋﻠﻰ أرﺑﻌﺔ اﺟﺰاﺀ‪ ،‬ﻓﻠﺘﺎ دﺑ ﺮ ت وا ﺧﺘﻠ ﻄ ﺖ و ﺻﺎ ر ت ﺷﻴﺌﺎ واﺣﻨﺎ ﻛﻨﺤﻮ ﻣ ﻦ ﻃﺒﺎﺛﻊ اﻟﺪﻧﻴﺎ األرﺑﻌﺔ‪ .‬ﻗﺎﻟﺖ‪:‬‬
‫وﻛﻴ ﻒ ﻳﺄﻛ ﻞ ذﻧﺒﻪ؟ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬إذا د ﺧ ﻞ ﻣ ﻌ ﻪ ﺷ ﺒ ﻬ ﻪ اﻟﺬ ي ﻫﻮﻣﺜﻠﻪ‪ ،‬ﻓﺄﻛﻠﻪ وأﺻﺎر'ه ﻣﺎ ن‪ .‬ﺛﻢ ﺻﺎ ر اﻟﺬ ي أ ﻛ ﻞ اﻟﺘﻨﻴﻦ ﺟﺴﻨﺎ‪ .‬وأﻧﺎ‬
‫ﺗﺸﺒﻴﻬﻬﻢ ﺑﻴ ﻀﺘﻬﻢ ﺑﺒﻴ ﻀﺔ اﻟﺪﺟﺎﺟﺔ‪ ،‬ﻓﺬﻟ ﻚ ألئ اﻟﻮان ﺑﻴ ﻀﺘﻬﻢ ﻛﺄﻟﻮا ن اﻟﺒﻴ ﻀﺔ‪ ،‬وأﺗﺎ اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻲ ﻣ ﻦ ﻗﺒﻞ إﻧﺎﺑﺘﻬﻢ إﻳﺎﻫﺎ‪ ،‬ﻓﻘﺪ‬
‫ﻋﺮﻓﻮا ا ر ﻓﻴﻬﺎ آﺑﺜﺎ ﻃ ﺆا ر‪ ، ١‬وﻫﻮ اﻟﺬي ﻳﺄﺑﻖ ﺑﺄ ﺻﺤﺎﺑﻪ‪ .‬وﻛﻤﺎ ﻓ ﻲ ﻳﺪ ك ﺑﻴ ﻀﺔ اﻟﺪﺟﺎﺟﺔ و‪.‬أﺑﺖ ﺗﻌﺮﻓﻴ ﻦ أﺗﻬﺎ ﻟﻴﺴ ﺖ ﺑﺒﻴ ﻀﺔ‬
‫دﺟﺎ ﺟﺔ و ال ﺟﺴﺪﻫﺎ‪ ،‬وأﺗﻪ إذا ﺧﻌﻠ ﺖ ﺗ ﺤ ﺖ اﻟﺪﺟﺎﺟﺔ ﺑﻴ ﻀﺘﻬﺎ ﺧ ﺮ ج ﻣ ﻨ ﻬ ﺎ اﻟ ﻄﺎﺋﺮ‪ .‬وﻛﺬﻟ ﻚ ﺑﻴ ﻀﺔ اﻟﺤﻜﻤﺎﺀ‪ ،‬ﻓﻴﻬﺎ ﺟﺴﺪ‬
‫وﻧﻔﺲ وﻓﻴﻬﺎ ﻣﺎ ﻳﺄﺑﻖ وﻫ ﻲ اﻟﻤﻔﻨﻴﺴﻴﺎ وﻗﺪ ﺳﺘﺘﻬﺎ ﺑﻬﺎ وﻟﻜ ﻦ ﺣﻮل اﺳﻤﻬﺎ‪.‬‬

‫‪ 65‬ﻗﺎﻟﺖ‪ :‬ﻓﺄ ر ى ﻫﺬه األﺷﻴﺎﺀ اواﺑﻖ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻧﻌﻢ‪ ،‬وﻟﺬﻟ ﻚ ا ﺧﺘﺎر ت اﻟﺤﻜﻤﺎﺀ األواﺑ ﻖ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺘﻲ ال ﺗﺄﺑﻖ‪ .‬ﻗﺎﻟﺖ‪ :‬و ﻫﻞ‬
‫ﻟﻬﺬا اآلﺑﻖ اﺳﻢ ﻳﻌ ﺮ ف ﺑ ﻪ؟ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻣﺎ أﻛﺜ ﺮ أﺳﻤﺎﺀه؛ ﻗﺎﻟﺖ‪ :‬ﻓﺴﻮ ﻟ ﻲ ﺑﻌ ﻀﻬﺎ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻫﻮ اﻟﺘﻨﻴﻦ اﻟﺬ ي ﻳﺄ ﻛ ﻞ ذﻧﺒﻪ‪ .‬أل ر‬
‫'اﻟﺒﻴﻀﺔ ﻗﺴﻤ ﺖ ﻋ ﺮ ارﺑﻌﺔ أﺟﺰاﺀ‪ ،‬ﻓﻠﺘﺎ دﺑ ﺮ ت وا ﺧﺘﻠ ﻄ ﺖ ﺻﺎ ر ت ﺷﻴﺌﺎ وا ﺣﻨﺎ ﻛﻨﺤﻮ ﻣﻦ ﻃﺒﺎﺋﻊ اﻟﺪﻧﻴﺎ األرﺑﻌﺔ‪ .‬ﻗﺎﻟﺖ‪:‬‬
‫ﻓﻜﻴ ﻒ ﻳﺄ ﻛ ﻞ ذﻧﺒﻪ؟ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬أدﺧﻞ ﻣﻌﻪ ﺷﺒﻬﻪ اﻟﺬي ﻫﻮ ﻣﺜﻠﻪ‪ ،‬ﻓﺄﻛﻠﻪ وا ﺻﺎ ره ﻣﺎة‪ .‬ﺛ ﻮ ﺻﺎ ر اﻟﺬ ي أ ﻛ ﻞ اﻟﺘﻨﻴﻦ ﺟ ﺴﻨﺎ‪ .‬ﻗﺎﻟﺖ‪:‬‬
‫ﻓﺎﻓﺘﺶ ﻋﻦ ﻗﻮﻟ ﻚ ال ﺗﻨﺎ ش ﺣﺮ ق األﺟﺴﺎد‪...‬‬
 The Kitab al-habîb and the Kitab Qiratis 51

with its companions. Like when

you have the egg of the hen in your
hand, and you know that it is nei­
ther the egg of a hen nor its body,
and when its egg is put under the
hen a bird comes out. The egg of
the sages is like that. It has in it a
body and a soul, and it has some­
thing that escapes in it, which is the
magnesia, and they named it like
that, but its name changed.”»
After our second quote from the Kitab al-habïb, the topic of the serpent
switches to a quite different question of Theosebeia, concerning the burn­
ing of the bodies in order to extract their souls.
Although the style and content of the whole text are close to
Zosimos, about one quarter of the way through (p. 45, line 1) the Kitab al-
habïb becomes a dialogue between Zosimos and Theosebeia. Many of the
questions and answers can be traced to our M ushaf as-suwar, although the
quotations do not follow the original order. For example, Kitäb al-habïb
edition in Chimie au Moyen Age p. 47, 9-14 = M ushaf as-suwar fol. 7b, 14-
19; p. 48, 2-7 = fol. 66b, 10-16; p. 49, 16-19 = fol. 55b, 9-13; p. 50, 15-51,
17 = fol. 117a, 19-118a, 19, etc. We find the characteristic expression «my
lady» (ayyatuhâ al-m afa, p. 67, line 7). Zosimos is mentioned, but not
consistently, and new names are introduced into the dialogue of the student
and his teacher, names like Pythagoras and the Byzantine Gregorius.
There are many passages in dialogue form in the Kitäb al-habïb
which cannot be traced to the Mushaf as-suwar, although similar in style
and content. Where these come from is unclear.
The Kitäb Qirâtis al-hakim was edited with the Kitäb al-habïb in
Chimie au Moyen Age III (pages 1-33), and the relationship between this
work and Zosimos should also be noted. When we compare the Kitäb
Qirätis and the Kitäb al-mafàtïh we find that it is mainly (from page 6, line
3) an epitome, turning into a word-for-word copy, of part of the Zosimos
work (folios 58a, 12-75a, 4, including the dream of the young man and the
dragon). However, the name Zosimos is either suppressed or replaced by
the name Qirätis (perhaps from Dümiqrätis, Democritus).
52

9. The Greek Origin of the Turba philosophorum?

The author the Turba philosophorum must have known the M ushaf
as-suwar. This can be seen first in a passage similar in both books that
relates also back to Ancient Egypt.

M ushaf as-suwar Turba philosophorum in the

('On fol. I74b, 13-175a, 9):6 ‫ة‬ sermon LVIII of B a ! g u s 6 7

«She said: “Tell me about his state- «He [asked]: “Why have you omit-
ment: ‘The tree from which whoev- ted to describe that tree, of whose
er eats will never feel hungry fruit whoever eats shall never feel
again.” ' He said: “We were told by hungry anymore?” Balgus [said]: “I
the sages who continued looking was told by a certain person, who
for the nature which was called has followed [our] science, till he
their tree, till they found it and ate discovered tliis same tree and in
its fruit. I asked them about it, and what manne.r he, after appropriately
about its state. They described it to operating [it], did extract the fruit

:
‫ﻗﺎل ﻗﺪ أﻋﻠﻤﺘﻨﺎ اﻟﺤﻜﻤﺎﺀ اﻟﻨﻴﻦ ﻟﻢ ﻳﺰاﻟﻮا‬ .‫أﺑﻨﺎ‬ :
‫ﻗﺎﻟﺖ ﻓﺎﻧﺒﻨﻨﻲ ﻋﻦ ﻗﻮﻟﻪ اﻟﺸﺠﺮة اﻟﺘﻲ ﻣﻦ اﻛﻞ ﻣﻨﻬﺎ ﻟﻢ ﻳﺠﻊ‬ 66
،
‫اﺻﺎﺑﻮﻫﺎ ﻓﺄﻛﻠﻮا ﺛﻤﺮة ﺗﻠﻚ اﻟﺸﺠﺮة ﻓﺴﺎﻟﺜﻬﻢ ﻋﻨﻬﺎ وﻋﻦ ﺣﺎﻟﻬﺎ ﻓﻮﺻﻔﻮﻫﺎ‬ ‫ﺣﺌ ﻰ‬ ‫ﻃﺎﻟﺒﻴﻦ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﺔ اﻟﺘﻲ ﺳﻤﻴﺖ ﺷﺠﺮﺗﻬﺎ‬
.‫ وﻟﻢ ﻳﻨﻜﺮوا ﺗﻤﺎم أﻣﺮﻫﺎ وال ﻏﻨﺎﺀﻫﺎ‬،‫ وﻟﻜﻦ ﻣﺎ ﺗﻔﻨﻲ ﻣﺴﺎﻟﺘﻚ إﻳﺎي ﻋﻨﻬﺎ‬،‫ﻟﻲ ﺑﺎﻟﺒﻴﺎض اﻟﺨﺎﻟﺺ وذﻛﺮوا أﻧﻬﺎ ﻣﻮﺟﻮدة‬
:‫ ﻗﺎل‬.‫ ﻓﺎﻓﻌﻞ‬:‫ ﻗﺎﻟﺖ‬.‫ ﻓﺎﻧﻲ إﻧﻤﺎ أﺟﻴﺒﻚ رﻫال‬،‫ اﻓﻌﻞ ﻓﺎﻓﻬﻤﻲ‬:‫ ﻗﺎل‬.‫ ﻓﺄﻧﻌﻢ ﻋﺮ ﺑﺘﻤﺎم ﻣﺎ ﺳﺘﺮوا‬،‫ ﻓﺎن ﺳﺘﺮوا ذﻟﻚ‬:‫ﻗﺎﻟﺖ‬
‫ واﺟﻌﻠﻲ ﻓﻴﻪ ﻣﻌﻬﺎ رﺟال ﻛﺒﻴﺮا‬.‫ ﻓﺎﺑﻨﻲ ﻟﻬﺎ ﺑﻴﺜﺎ ﻣﺪوزا ﻣﻈﻠﺌﺎ ﻳﺤﻴﻂ ذﻟﻚ اﻟﺒﻴﺖ اﻛﺪى‬،‫ﻓﺨﻨﻲ ﺗﻠﻚ اﻟﺸﺠﺮة اﻟﺒﻴﻀﺎﺀ‬
‫ واﺗﺮﻛﻴﻬﻤﺎ ﻓﻲ ﺑﻴﺘﻬﻤﺎ ذﻟﻚ‬،‫ ﻧﻢ اﻏﻠﻘﻲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ وﻋﻠﻴﻬﺎ واﻧﻌﻤﻲ االﻏالق ألل ال ﻳﺼﻞ إﻟﻴﻬﻤﺎ رﻳﺢ‬،‫ﻋﻤﺮه ﻣﺎﻧﺔ ﺳﻨﺔ واﻛﺜﺮ‬
،‫ ﻓﻌﺠﺒﺎ ﻟﻜﻢ ﻣﻦ ﻃﺒﺎﻧﻊ ﺳﻴﺮ ذﻟﻚ اﻟﺸﻴﺦ ﻓﻲﺟﻌﻌﺪ ﺛﺎب‬.‫ واﻋﻠﻤﻲ أل ذﻟﻚ اﻟﺸﻴﺦ ﻳﺼﻴﺮ ﻫﻤﺒﺒﺎ ﺣﺪﺛﺎ‬.‫ﻣﺎﻧﺔ وﺛﻤﺎﻧﻴﻦ ﻳﻮﻫﻨﺎ‬
‫ ﻟﻌﻤﺮك ﻳﺎ ﺗﻴﻮﺳﺎﻧﻴﺔ ﻟﻘﺪ ﺻﺪﻗﺖ اﻟﺤﻜﻤﺎﺀ إذ ﺳﻨﻮا ذﻟﻚ‬.‫ ﺧﺎﻟﻖ ﻣﺎ ﻳﺸﺎﺀ‬،‫ ﻓﺘﺒﺎرك اك أﺣﺴﻦ اﻟﺨﺎﻟﻘﻴﻦ‬،‫ﻓﺼﺎر األب اﺑﻨﺎ‬
‫ﺑﺮﻃﻮﺑﺔ ﻫﺬا‬ ‫إال‬ ‫واﻋﻠﻤﻲ أل اﻟﺤﺪﻳﺪ ال ﻳﺼﺪأ‬ .‫ﺷﺎﺑﺎ‬ ‫اﻟﻤﺎﺀ ﺣﻴﺎة ألل ﻣﻦ ﺋﺮب ﻣﻦ ذﻟﻚ اﻟﻤﺎﺀ ﻣﺎت ﺛﻢ ﻋﺎش ﻓﺼﺎر‬
...‫اﻟﻤﺎﺀ‬
67 ‫ل‬. Ruska, Turba Philosophorum, Berlin 1931, reprint Berlin 1970 and Frankfurt am
Main 2002. p. 161,15 ff. [Editor's translation]. The Latin text runs: «Et ille: "Cur arborem
dimisisti narrare, cuius fractum qui comedit, non escuriet unquam?" Et Balgus: "Notificavit
mihi quidam, qui scientiam consecutus est, quousque illam invenies arborem convenienter
operatus est ac fractu exUacto comedit. Mihi autem quaenti eam mera descripsit albedine, ratus
quod ipsa absque ltibore invenitur; dispositionis autem eius perfectio ei cibus est. Mihi autem
quaerenti, qualiter cibo nutriatur. » quousque fractiferet, ait: 'Accipe illam albam arborem, et
aedifica ei domum circumdantem, rotundam, tenebrosam, rore cicumdatam, et impone ei
hominem magnae aetatis, centum annorum, et claude super eos, et necte fortiter, ne ad eos ven-
tus seu pulvis perveniat; deinde centum et ocoginta diebus in sua domo <eos> domitte. Dico,
quod ille senex de fractibus illius arbores comedere non cessat ad numeri perfectionem,
quousque senex ille iuvenis fiat. ٥ quam mirae naturae, quae illius animam senis in iuvenile
corpus transformaverant, ac pater filius factus est! Benedictus sit Deus, creator optimus!'”»
 Greek Origin of the Turba philosophorum? 53

me as the pure whiteness, and they and ate of it. But when I asked him
said that it exists. But your asking concerning the growth and the
me about it is not sufficient. They increment, he described that pure
did not give a complete explanation whiteness, thinking that the same is
of it, nor of its food.” She asked: found without any laborious dispo­
“They veiled it then. Favour me sition; the perfection of its opera­
with a complete explanation of tion and its nourishment. But when
what they veiled.” He said: “I will. I asked how it is nourished with
But understand that I will answer food until it carries fruit,
you symbolically.” She said:
“Please do!” He said: “Take that he said: ‘Take that white tree, and
white tree, and build a round, dark build for it a house, which shall
house for it, with dew surrounding wholly surround it, which shall be
that house. Put in it with the tree an circular, dark, encircled by dew,
old man who is more than a hun­ and place in it a very old man of a
dred years old. Then close him with hundred years; shut and secure the
her up, and be careful when you door in order that neither dust nor
close it so that no wind reaches the wind can reach them.
two. Leave them in their house for Then leave them for 180 days in
180 days. their home. I say that this man shall
not cease to eat of the fruit of that
Know that this old man will tree till the perfection of the num­
become a young boy. How aston­ ber [of the days] until the old man
ishing are you natures, that old man shall become a youth. O what won­
was changed into the body of a derful natures, which have trans­
youth, so that a father turned into a formed the soul of that old man into
son! So God be praised, the best a body of a youth, transforming the
creator, the creator of what he father into the son! Praise to God.
wants. O Theosebeia, upon your the best creator!’”»
life, the sages where right when
they named that water life, because
whoever drinks from that water
dies then lives, and he turns into a
youth. And know that iron only gets
rusty by the moisture of this
water....”»
54 Introduction

The Ancient Egyptian roots of this parable are evident in the light
of the Royal Books of the Afterlife. The Ancient Egyptian calendar had
360 days. The 180 days needed for the old man to become a youth again is
the topos of the renewal of the Sungod. He becomes rejuvenated in the
arms of the white tree that is a symbol of Hathor, the goddess of the West,
i.e. the land of the dead. Through her the old Sungod dies and is reborn,
turning into a youth after the journey through the «night of the year» (180
days). The water that Zosimos then explains to Theosebeia is also men­
tioned in the Turba in sermon LIX of Nofil (Theophilus). This shows the
Pharaonic origin of this parable: Zosimos speaks of the water of life that
first kills and then gives birth again to the youth, a well-known feature of
the primordial water Nun.
Julius Ruska has worked out the Arabic origin of the Turba
Philosophorum. Martin Plessner in his extensive review of the book tried
to find a key to exact dating the Turba by showing that the therein men­
tioned parable— that he calls the «international legend of the
Giftmädchen»—originates in India. Then he states that «as this legend is
not to be found in Graeco-Roman literature», and it came to the knowledge
of the Arabs only «at the beginning of the 10th century.» Then he concludes
from this assumption that the Turba must be dated around 900.68 But this
archetypal parable of the Giftmädchen, the woman killing her lover, can be

68 See Martin Plessner, Vorsokratische Philosophie und griechische Alchemie in ara­

bisch-lateinischer Überlieferung, Studien zu Text und Inhalt der Turba Philosophorum.
Wiesbaden 1975, p. 122-130. Plessner writes on p. 123: «Was hier zur Veranschaulichung
(oder Verdeckung) einer alchemistischen Operation dient, ist nichts als die bekannte interna­
tionale Legende vom Giftmädchen, das die Männer in der Umarmung vergiftet und tötet. Der
Ursprung dieser Vorstellung ist in Indien gelegen; die vollständigste mir bekannte
Zusammenstellung der Nachrichten darüber enthält die grosse Abhandlung von Wilhelm
Hertz Die Sage vom Giftmädchen. Diese Sage nun findet sich nicht in der griechisch-römi­
schen Literatur; dagegen ist sie im Islam sehr früh bezeugt. Sie ist bereits in dem aus Indien
stammenden Giftbuch des aus dem Anfang des 10. Jahrhunderts erwähnt,» On the basis of
this argument Plessner concludes on p. 125: «Da bei der Abfassung der Turba durch einen
vorislamischen Griechen nicht verständlich ist, woher der Verfasser Kenntnis von dieser Sage
haben soll, für einen Araber dagegen selbst ein sehr früher Abfassungstermin der Turba die
Bekanntschaft mit der Sage nicht ausschliesst, wie wir gesehen haben, so können nunmehr
Einwände gegen den arabischen Ursprung des Werkes nicht mehr erhoben werden.» Plessner
could have learnt of the M ushaf as-suwar account of the Giftmädchen as he critizied the very
article of Fuat Sezgin (see n.16) in which the existance of this manuscript of Zosimos was
announced.
 Greek Origin of the Turba philosophorum? 55

found in our Mushafas-suwar frequently mentioned as «ascunia, murder-

ess of her husband».‫وه‬
In the light of the dialogue ofZosimos and Theosebeia that was pre-
sented earlier on page 35 f., it becomes clear that ascunia is not a
Decknamen as Plessner and other historians of alchemy assumed, but that
it is a symbol for the feminine principle that was experienced by Zosimos
in his beloved student Theosebeia. We read for instance:

M ushaf as-suwar The text in the Turba (sermo LIX

folio 10b, 1 9 -lla, 14;70 f. of Nofil i.e Theophilius):‫؛؟‬

«In the same way that woman, flee-

«“And how amazing! That ing ftom her own children, with
woman does not accept to be taken whom she lives, although partly
for bridal money; and she is not sat- angry, yet does not consider it dig-
isfied that her splendour goes to nified being overcome,
anybody except her husband. nor that her husband should possess
Although she has poison in her, he her beauty, who furiously loves her,
does not care about it, and he stays and keeps awake contending with
with her and comes together with her, till he shall have
her until he finishes the sexual carnal intercourse with her. And
intercourse with her. Her fecunda- God makes perfect the foetus, when
tion becomes complete in order that he multiplies children to himself
God increases her children. And according to his pleasure. His beau-
God makes it a blessing to ty, therefore, is consumed by fire.
69 Ascunia means acacia, having ‘murderous’ thorns. See j. Ruska, Turba, I. c., p. 248, n3.

.
‫ﺗﺆﺧﺬ ﺑﻤﻬﺮ وال ﺗﻄﻴﺐ ﻧﻔﺴﺎ أن ﻳﺬﻫﺐ ﺑﻬﺎﺀﻫﺎ إال زوﺟﻬﺎ وإن ﻛﺎن‬ ]‫[أن‬ ‫وﻋﺠﺒﺎ ﻟﺘﻠﻚ اﻟﻤﺮاة ﻛﻴﻒ ال ﺗﺮﺿﻰ‬ 70
، ،
‫ﺼﻌﻴﺮ ﻣﻌﻬﺎ وﻳﻘﺎﺑﻠﻬﺎ ﺣﺶ ﻳﻔﺮغ ﻣﻦ ﺟﻤﺎﻋﻬﺎ ﻓﻴﺘﻢ ﻟﻘﺎﺣﻬﺎ ﻟﻴﻜﺜﺮ اﻟﻠﻪ وﻟﺪﻫﺎ ﻓﻴﺠﻌﻠﻪ اﻟﻠﻪ رزﻗﺎ‬ ،
‫ﻣﻌﻬﺎ ﺳﻢ ﻟﻢ ﻳﺤﻔﻞ ﺑﻪ ﻳ‬
، ‫؟‬
‫ﻓﺎﻧﺒﺌﻨﻲ ﻣﺎ اﻟﺬي اذﻫﺐ ﺑﻬﺎﺀﻫﺎ ﺑﺎﻟﻨﺎر ذﻫﺐ ﺑﻬﺎﺀﻫﺎ وﺑﻴﺎﻫﻨﻌﻬﺎ وﺑﺎﻟﺴﺨﻮﻧﺔ‬ ،‫ ﻟﻘﺪ ﻗﻠﺖ ﻓﺄﺣﺴﻨﺖ‬:‫ ﻗﺎﻟﺖ‬.‫ﻟﻤﻦ ﻳﺸﺎﺀ‬
.‫ ﻫﻮ اﻟﺘﻨﻴﻦ‬:‫ ﻓﺰوﺟﻬﺎ ﻫﺬا ﻣﺎ ﻫﻮ؟ ﻗﺎل‬:‫ ﻗﺎﻟﺖ‬.‫ وﻟﻢ ﺗﻬﻠﺐ ﻧﻔﻌﻨﺎ ﺑﺬﻫﺎب ذﻟﻚ اﻟﺒﻬﺎﺀ إال ﻟﻠﻨﺘﻬﺎ ﻣﺠﺎﻣﻌﺘﻪ‬،‫ﺻﺎرت رﻣﺎذا‬
‫ﻓﻬﺎ‬,‫ ألل ﺟﻮ‬،‫ه ﺑﺎﻟﺤﻴﻠﺔ واﻟﺮﻓﻖ ﺑﺎﻣﺮأة ﻗﺘﺎﻟﺔ ألزواﺟﻬﺎ‬,‫ وﻟﻜﺊ اﻟﺤﻜﻤﺎﺀ ﻗﺘﻠﻮ‬،‫ ال ﻳﻤﻮت أﺑﻨﺎ‬:‫ ﻓﻬﻞ ﻳﻤﻮت؟ ﻗﺎل‬:‫ﻗﺎﻟﺖ‬
‫ ﻓﻜﻠﻤﺎ‬،‫ ﻓﻤﻦ ﺷﺬة اﻟﻐﺔ اﻟﺘﻨﻴﻦ ﻳﻠﺘﻒ ﺑﺘﻠﻚ اﻟﻤﺮأة‬،‫ ﺛﻢ ﺗﺪﺧﻞ ﺗﻠﻚ اﻟﻤﺮاة ﻣﻌﻪ‬،‫ ﻓﺘﺤﻔﺮ ﻟﺬﻟﻚ اﻟﺘﻨﻴﻦ ﻗﺒﺰا‬.‫ﻣﻤﻠﻮﺀ ﺳﺜﺎ وﺳالﺣﺎ‬
‫ ﻓﺈذا اﻳﻘﻦ اﻟﺘﻨﻴﻦ ال‬.‫ﻟﺰم ﻗﻄﻊ ﺟﺴﺪه ﺳالﺣﻬﺎ اﻟﻤﺨﻠﻮق ﻣﻌﻬﺎ ﻓﻲ ﺟﺴﺪﻫﺎ ﺣﺘﻰ ﺗﻘﻄﻊ أوﺻﺎل ذﻟﻚ اﻟﺘﻨﻴﻦ إرﺑﺎ إرﺑﺎ‬
‫ ﻓﺈذا اﻳﻘﻨﺖ اﻟﺤﻜﻤﺎﺀ أﺗﻪ ﻗﺪ ﺻﺎر دﺛﺎ ﺗﺮﻛﻮه ﻓﻲ‬.‫ ﻓﺼﺎر دﻫﺄ‬،‫ اﻟﻘﻰ ﻳﺪه وأﻳﻘﻦ ﺑﺎﻟﻬﻠﻜﺔ‬،‫اﻟﻤﺮاة ﻗﺪ ﻋﻠﻘﺖ ﺑﻜﻞ ﻣﻐﺼﻞ‬
.‫ ﻓﻌﻨﺪ ذﻟﻚ اﻟﺮﻳﺢ اﻟﻐﺎﻣﺮ‬،‫ ﻓﻴﺠﺪون اﻟﺴﺰ ﻗﺪ ﻇﻬﺮ‬،‫اﻟﺸﻤﺲ أﻳﺎﻧﺎ ﻛﺜﻴﺮة ﺣﺶ ﻳﺬﻫﺐ ﺳﻨﻪ وﻳﺠﻒ اﻟﺪم‬
71 ‫ ل‬. :Ruska, Turba Philosophorum, I.C., P. 162 [Editor’s translation]. The Latin text reads

-Similiter illa mulier suos fugiens generos, quibus parte quamvis irata domestica fit, nec dig «
natur se superari, nec ut suus coniunx suum habeat decorem, qui furibunde eam diligit et cum
ea pugnans vigilat, quosque concubitus cum ea peragat, eius foetus Deus perficiat, filiosque
56 Introduction

whomever he wants.” She said: he who does not approach his wife
“What you just said is right. Then except by reason of desirousness.
tell me what caused her splendour to For when the term is finished he
go away.” He said: “With the fire turns to her.
her splendour and her whiteness
went away and with the heat she
turned into ashes and she was not
happy for the going away of that
this splendour disappeared, except
for the enjoyment of intercourse
with him.” She asked: “Who is this
husband of hers?” He said: “He is
the dragon.” She asked: “Does he
die then?” He replied: “He never I also make known to you that
dies, but the sages killed him by the dragon never dies, but the
trickery and the gentleness of a Philosophers have given over to
woman that is murderous to her hus­ death the woman who slays her
band [emendation]. This is because spouses. For the belly of that
her inside is full of poison and woman is full of weapons and
weapons. Thus she digs a tomb for venom. Let, therefore, a sepulchre
the dragon. Then that woman enters be dug for the dragon. Then let that
with him. Because of the intensity woman be buried with him, who
of the desire of the dragon, he being strongly joined with that
embraces that woman. Then, when­ woman, the more he clasps her and
ever he touches [her], her weapons, turns around her, the more his body
which are created in her body, cut is cut up into parts by the female
his body into pieces, until that drag­ weapons created in the body of the
on’s joints are cut into pieces. woman.
multiplicet prout sibi placet. Eius autem decor igne consumptus est, qui ad suum non tendit
coniugem nisi libidinis causae; termino enim ad eam vertitur. Item notifico vobis, quod Draco
nunquam moritur. Philosophi tamen mulierem suos coniuges interficientem neci dederunt;
illius enim mulieris venter armis plenus est et veneno. Effodiatur igitur sepulchrum illi
Draconi, et sepeliatur illa mulier cum eo qui cum illa fortiter vinctus muliere, quanto magis
eam nectit et volvitur circa eam, tanto corpus eius mulieribus armis in mulieris corpore cre­
atis in pertes secatur. Videns se autem in mulieris artubus mixtu, certus fit morte, et totus ver­
titur in sanguinem. Videntes autem philosophi (ipsum) in sanguinem versum, in sole dimit­
tunt per dies, quousque eius lentitudo consumatur et arescat et venenum inveniunt illud; iam
apparens tunc ventus est occultus.»
 Greek Origin of the Turba philosophorum? 57

When the dragon is sure that the When he mixed with the limbs of a
woman is attached with every joint woman he becomes secure of death,
[or fecundated], he surrendered.
And he is sure of the destruction.
Then he turns into blood. When the and the whole is turned into blood.
sages are sure that he has turned But when the philosophers see that
into blood, they leave him in the turned into blood, they leave him in
sun for many days, until his poison the sun for some days, until the
goes away, and the blood dries up. softness is consumed, and the blood
Then they find that the secret has dries up, and they find that venom
appeared. At this point comes over­ which now is manifest. Then the
flowing benefit [lit. wind].”» hidden wind appears.»

Figure 6: The immortal dragon and the murderess of her husband, from M. Maier's
(1618). The parable is already found in the M u s h a f a s-s u w a r.
A ta la n ta fu g ie n s
58 Introduction

The quote given from the M ushaf as-suwar is the same text that we
find in the Turba, used by Plessner to as main argument to date this text.
In the light of this new evidence, however, his proposal to date the Turba
around 900 is no longer acceptable.
A further striking parallel between the M ushaf as-suwar and the
Turba leads finally to the question whether we have in this text of Zosimos
a key that will allow us to trace the origin and the date of the Turba; we
might even have here parts of the original Ur-Turba (First Turba
philosophorum). We find a passage which could have provided the seed for
the framework story of the Turba. Zosimos tells of a leading philosopher
who called a crowd of philosophers together in order to debate the con­
junction of male and female (fol. 88a): «Then Bütîtus, the head of the
sages, said: “Gather to me the sages from around the world so that they can
tell me why they joined this man and this woman.” When they [the sages]
came together, the sage questioned them. One of them said: “When this
man and this woman had the child, Ares [Mars] was in the East, the woman
[note in the margin: Venus] was in the West, and the sun was in the mid­
dle of the sky, in the house of Ares from the ram [Aries]. The woman
[Venus] was pointing east, and Ares was pointing west.” Another sage
said: “By God, these two must come together in the house of the king.”
Another sage said: “Indeed, the love between the two would not have hap­
pened if they had not joined at the time the sun was in the house of its
height.” A fourth sage said: etc.» That means that our questions and
answers of Zosimos and Theosebeia could have been a basis of inspiration
for a later Greek or Arab creation of one of the earlier synodos of the Greek
philosophers.
Our examples confirm that the Turba originates in Egypt as it uses
the same symbolic images as found here in the M ushaf as-suwar. They fur­
ther dismiss Ruska’s (and later also Plessner’s) assumption of an Arabic
origin of the Turba and corrobates the hypothesis of M. Berthelot and
F. Sezgin that this book could have a Hellenistic origin.72 In the light of
these and numerous further new facts, all coming from still neglected
Arabic alchemical manuscripts, the problem of dating the Turba and
reviewing its Latin translation must be treated anew.

72 See M. Berthelot, La Chimie au Moyen Age, l.c., Vol. I, p. 253-269, and F. Sezgin,
Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums, IV, p. 64f.
 59

10. The Mushaf as-suwar and

the Rosarium philosophorum
The M ushaf as-suwar found its way into the Arabic world and
inspired some introverted lovers of the soul, especially Gäbir ibn Haiyän
and Muhammad ibn Umail.73 Its pictures must have later on somehow
found their way to Europe, where they became a source of inspiration to
some Latin alchemists like the author of the illustrated book called
Rosarium philosophorum (15th cent.), and later the creator of the Mutus
liber (16th cent.).
Looking at the Rosarium pictures it is remarkable to see that the
symbolism of sun and moon is also to be found in some of the picutures.
But these luminaries are no longer connected to two specific, named
human beings, as is seen so clearly in the M ushaf as-suwar.74 This shows
that in the transition of Greek and Arabic alchemy to Latin alchemy the
individual relationship faded into the background, and the adept and his
soror mystica became just the archetypal sun-king and moon-queen, like
figures in a fairy tale.
It needed the experience and the courage of C. G. Jung to look at the
psychological facts, and thus rediscover the connection of the pictures of
the Rosarium to psychology.75 In his book called the Psychology of
Transference Jung used this picture series as a guide to show how the
process of individuation develops in a really deep analysis, and how the
relationship between analyst and analysand gradually finds its right form if
the two are able to separate (solve) the upper, divine dimension (sun and
moon), and the lower, subhuman or instinctual level (the snakes and the
dogs) from the human level, and then they are able, deo concedente, to
coagulate the transpersonal pair of opposites within themselves, represent­
ed by the greater man and the greater woman, the animus and anima, as he
called these archetypes.
The clinching argument for the continuity of culture in the Western
World can be found in a treatise called Rosinus ad Euthiciam, as the dis-
73 See Th. Abt. The Great Vision of Mohammad Ibn Umail, published as a supplement to
Psychological Perspectives. Los Angeles 2003.
74 See Artis Auriferae, Basle 1610, p. 158-208.
75 See C. G. Jung, «Psychology of Transference» in Coll. Works Vol. 16.
 X
Figure 7: King and queen standing on sun and moon from the «Rosarium cum fig­
uris», as this late medieval alchemical florilegium was called by earlier historians
of alchemy in order to distinguish it from other Rosarium texts without pictures
(Vadiana Library, St. Gallen, Ms 394a).
 The Rosarium philosophorum 61

torted names of Zosimos and Theosebeia were known by the time they
came into Latin. In the first volume of the Artis Auriferae (first printed in
Basle 1593), we find in the second chapter a dialogue that corresponds to
the «2nd Book of the Names» of the Mushafas-suwar. This translation pre-
served essential teachings of Zosimos to a surprising large extent.
In the introduction to this dialogue we even read that one has to look
at the pictures {speculare figuras) at the beginning, in the same way as the
reader of the different books of the M ushaf as-suwar is supposed first to
look at the pictures given at the beginning of each chapter. In Latin alche-
my, however, the pictures seem to have migrated from the dialogue
Rosinus ad Euthiciam to a separate treatise called Rosarium philosopho-
rum, although the text that accompanies the Rosarium pictures is just a
compilation of quotations—including from later alchemists—commenting
on the different stages of the work represented in the pictures. These pic-
tures of the Rosarium have the union of sun-king and moon-queen as their
central topic, connecting this series clearly to the Mushafas-suwar.
After the remark about looking at the pictures, the text of Rosinus
ad Euthiciam continues, showing clearly at times that it is a translation of
the dialogue from the Arabic text which we are considering in this study:

Mushafas-suwar 2nd chapter of Rosinus ad

(fol. 43a, 9-43b, 7);7‫ة‬ Euthiciam in the Artis auriferae;77
«... to look at the figures of the
names at the beginning, and to
meditate on what he states, for he
did not write anything except by

‫ﻓﺎن ﻟﻢ ﻳﻜﻦ ﻓﻴﻪ‬ .‫ﻃﺒ ﻮ ن‬ ‫ل ﺷﻴﻌﺎس ﺑﺬ ﻃﻴﻔﻦ اﻟﺤﻜﻴﻢ إذ اﻟﺜﻤﻲﺀ واﺣﺪ اﻟﺬي ﺑﻪ ﻳﻜﻮن ﻣﺎ‬.‫ﻗﺎق ﻓﺄﻧﺒﻨﻨﻲض ﻗﻮ‬ : 76
; .
‫ﻣﺌﻞ ﻣﺎ ﺗﻄﻠﺐ ﻓﻠﺴﺖ ﻣﺼﻴﺌﺎ ﺛﻴﺌﺎ ﻣﺘﺎ ﺗﻄﺌﺐ ﻗﺎل ﻗﺬ ﺑﻴﻦ ﻟﻚ أل ﻣﻦ دﺧﻞ ﻓ ﻲ اﻟﺼﻨﻌﺔ وﺗﻤﺎ ﻳﻄﻠﺐ ان ﻳﺼﻴﺮ األﺛﻴﺎﺀ‬ ،
‫ ﻗﺎﻟﺖ; وﻣﺎ اﻟﺬي ﻳﻨﺘﻔﻊ ﺑ ﻪ أن ﻳﺠﻌﻞ اﻟﺬﻫﺐ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺬﻫﺐ؟‬.‫ ﻓﺄﻧﺖ إن ﻟﻢ ﺗﺠﻌﻠﻲ اﻟﺬﻫﺐ ﻓ ﻲ اﻟﺬﻫﺐ ﻓﻔﺖ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺷﻲﺀ‬.‫ﻧﻬﻴﺎ‬
‫ﻓ ﻬﺎ‬ :‫ ﻗﺎﻟﺖ‬.‫ ﻗﺎل; ﻫﻮ ذا ﻗﺪ اﻋﻠﻤﺘﻚ ﺑ ﻪ‬.‫ ﻟﻮ ﻋﺮف ﻫﺬا اﻫﻞ اﻟﺪﻧﻴﺎ ﻟﻜﺜﺮ ﻧﻬﺒﻬﻢ‬:‫ ﻗﺎﻟﺖ‬.‫ ألﻧﻪ ﻳﺨﺮج ﻣﻦ اﻟﻨﻠﻴﻞ اﻟﻜﺜﻴﺮ‬:‫ﻗﺎل‬
‫ ﻗﺎﻟﺖ; ﻓ ﺄ ﻧ ﺒ ﻨ ﻨ ﻲ ﻋ ﻦ‬.‫ﻒ ﺑﺘﺪﺑﻴﺮ أﺷﺒﺎﻫﻪ اﻟﺬي ﻳﺨﻠﻂ ﺑ ﻪ ﻣﻦ اﻗﺎرﺑﻪ اﻟﻤﺆﺗﻠﻐﺔ ﻏﻴﺮ اﻟﻤﺨﺘﻠﻐﺔ‬‫ ﻗﻞ; ﺟﻬﺎﻟﺘﻠ‬.‫ﻓ ﻲ ﻳﺪي ﻣﻦ ﺷﻲﺀ‬
‫ ألﺋﻪ إن ﻟﻢ ﻳﻜﻦ ﺑ ﻴ ﻦ‬:‫ وﻛﻴﻒ وﺿﻌﻮه؟ ﻗﺎل‬:‫ ﻗﺎﻟﺖ‬.‫ إﺋﻤﺎ وﺿﻌﻮه ﻗﻴﺎﺳﺘﺎ ﻟﻠﺘﺮﻛﻴﺐ‬:‫ ﻗﺎل‬.‫ﻧﻜﺮ اﻟﺤﻜﻤﺎﺀ ﻣﺰاج اﻟﻬﻮاﺀ‬

‫ وإن ﻟﻢ ﻳﻘﻮﻳﺎ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻛﻨﺌﺮة‬.‫ﻛﺜﺮة ا ﻟ ﻄ ﺒ ﺦ‬ ‫ا ﻟ ﺮ ﻃ ﺒ ﻴ ﻦ اﻟﻠﻄﻴﻔﻴﻦ ﻣﺎﺳﻚ ﻣﺼﻠﺢ ﺑﻴﻨﻬﻤﺎ ﻫﻠﻜﺎ وﻫﺮﺑﺎ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻨﺎر وﻟﻢ ﻳﻘﻮﻳﺎ ﻋﻠﻰ‬
.
‫اﻟﺬﺟﻮم إﺋﻤﺎ‬.‫ﻳﻨﺘﻔﻊ ﺑ ﻪ ﻟﺤﺒﺬ اﻟﺮﻃﻮﺑﺔ اﻟﻴﺒﻮﺳﺔ وﺣﺒﺬ اﻟﺴﺨﻮﻧﺔ اﻟﺒﺮودة وﻛﺬﻟﻚ اﻟﻘﻤﺮ و‬، ‫ﺷﻲﺀ‬ ‫ا ﻟ ﻄ ﺒ ﺦ ﻟﻢ ﻳﺨﺮج ﻣﻨﻬﻤﺎ‬
‫ﻛﺜﺮ ﺿﻮﺀه‬ ،
‫اﻟﺸﻤﺲ وﻟﺬﻟﻚ‬ ‫ﺿﻮﺀ‬ ‫ﻣﺎ ﻳﺄﺧﺬ ﻣﻦ‬ ‫اﻛﺜﺮ‬ ‫ﺻﺘﺔ‬ ،
‫اﻟﺸﻤﺲ وال ﺳﺆﻣﺎ اﻟﻘﻤﺮ ﺧﺎ‬ ‫ﺻﺎر ﺿﻮﺀﻫﺊ ﻣﻦ ﺿﻮﺀ‬
.‫ وﻛﺬﻟﻚ ﻛﻞ ﺷﻲﺀ ﻣﻦ األﺷﻴﺎﺀ ﻓﻤﻦ األﺻﻞ ﻳﺴﺘﻔﻴﺪ اﻟﻘﻨﺔ واﻟﺼﺒﻎ‬.‫ﺑﺎﻟﻠﻴﻞ‬
77 Basle 1610, P. 165: «Speculare figuras initio nominum, & meditare quare hic posui nihil
enim eoram posui, nisi ad eorum quibus eget coparatio. Ista est secunda expositionis nominu
alienorum Rosini ad Euthicia, & est per quaestiones & responsiones-Et illa: “Patefac igitur
62 Introduction

way of analogy for some of them.

This is following the explanation of
the other names of Rosinus to
Euthicia, and it is in questions and
«She said: “Then tell me about answers. She said: “Explain there­
what SImäs ibn Taifim the Sage fore what Symas the Philosopher
says: ‘The thing by which what you said, that the thing in which every­
are seeking comes into being is one. thing that is to be operated exists is
If it does not contain something like one, for if it is not there you will
what you are looking for, you will find nothing.”
attain nothing of what you seek.” '
He said: “He has explained to you He replied: “He has shown you
that whoever enters the work is here that whoever enters the art is
seeking to turn things to gold. only seeking to turn things into
If you do not put gold into the gold gold. If you do not put gold upon
gold, that is the ferment that is pre­
you will have nothing.” She said: pared and put onto the stone of the
“Then what is the benefit if you put philosophers, you will not gain that
the gold into the gold?” He said: from which much comes from lit­
“Because he gets the much from lit­ tle.”
tle.” She said: “If the people of the She said: “If many inhabitants of
world knew this their gold would the world knew this, gold would be
increase.” multiplied for them everywhere.”
He said: “That is what I told He replied: “That is what I told
you.” She said: “So I have gained you.” She said: “But it gave me

quod Symas Philosophus ait, quod res est una in qua sit totum quod operatura est: quod nisi
insit, nihil inveniatis.” Respondet: “lam tibi demonstravi, quod qui in hanc artem ingreditur,
nihil adinquirit. quam res in aurum vertere, tu aurum nisi aurum in aurum ponas, id est fer­
mentum praeparatum. & in lapidem Philosophorum positum, nihil habes ex eo quod a paulo
multum exit.” Et illa: “Si mundi habitatores haec scirent, eorum aura utiq, multiplicatetur.”
Respondet: “Ecce tibi notificavi.” Et illa: “Nihil mihi tum profuit.” Respondet: “Propter tuam
ignorantiam & insipientiam, huius regem qualiter proxima immiscentur apta, non inconveni­
entia.” Et illa: “Cur aere Philosophus narrat complexione?” Respondet: “Hoc ad compositio­
nis coparationem posuerunt.” Et illa: “Qualiter haec descripserunt? “ Respondet: “Nisi duobus
tentrissimis humidis continens fuerit aliquid quod ea placabilia faciat, pereunt. & ignem
fugiunt, & coctionem sustinere nequeunt: & nisi decoctione sustinuerint, nihil ex eis utile pro­
cedit, eo quod siccitas humiditatem diligit, & calor frigus. Similiter Lunae & Stellarum splen­
dor ex Solis est lumine, maxime vero, & proprie Lunae, quae magis ex Solis lumine sumit:
quare nocte lume eius multiplicatum est. Similiter omnia ex radice sumunt vires.”»
 The Rosarium philosophorum 63

nothing.” He said: “It is your igno­ nothing.” He replied: “That is

rance of the operation of its rela­ because of your ignorance and fail­
tives which are similar to it, and ure to understand. Near and suitable
mixed with it, which conform with things are mixed with this thing, not
it, and are not different.” She said: unsuitable.” She said: “Why does
“Then tell me about the mixing of the philosopher speak of a compo­
the air which the sages mention.” sition in the air?” He replied: “They
He said: “They wrote it as an anal­ gave that as a comparison for the
ogy for the composition.” She said: composition.” She said: “How did
“How did they write that?” He said: they describe this?” He replied: “If
“Because, if there is no holder and there is not something to contain
reconciler between the two subtle, the two very soft and moist ones,
moist ones, the two are destroyed, which makes them more pleasing,
and flee from the fire, and they are they perish, and flee from the fire,
not be strong enough to be cooked and they do not tolerate cooking.
much. If they are not strong enough Unless they are put in the cooking,
to be cooked much, nothing will nothing useful will come from
emerge which could be beneficial. them.
For moisture loves dryness, and For dryness loves humidity, and
heat loves cold. It is the same with heat loves cold. In the same way the
the moon and the stars, their light shining of the moon and stars
comes from the light of the sun. comes from the sun, especially that
Especially the moon takes much of the moon, which takes a great
light from the sun. That is why its light from the sun. That is why at
light is intense during the night. In night its light is made greater.
the same way everything gains In the same way all things gain
strength and dye from the origin.”» power from the root.”»

Also the end of the chapter corresponds to the end of the «2nd Book
of the Names» of the M ushaf as-suwar.
In conclusion to this chapter, based on the fact that the M ushaf as-
suwar must have been known, at least partially, in the Western world, it
would be difficult to reject the hypothesis that Zosimos’ M ushaf as-suwar
was the major source of inspiration for the Rosarium philosophorum. Now,
having the pictures of the M ushaf as-suwar together with the detailed
teaching of Zosimos, we can get a congruent and probably quite complete
idea of what he meant by the alchemical work and its effects on the adept.
64

11. The Mushaf as-suwar and One of the Mutus liber

Also in one of the Mutus liber (a ‘mute book’ without words), called
here the Mutus liber 1, printed in Mangetus’ Biblitheca curiosa, we find
clear parallels to the M ushaf as-suwar,78 But here we again see pictures
which, in contrast to those of the Rosarium, show an individual relationship
of the adept and his soror mystica. In some there is a clearly defined lower
register where we see the adept and his soror mystica on their knees in front
of the oven, and then an upper level where we see what happens on the
transpersonal level. The content of the upper, archetypal world needs, how­
ever, to be well contained in the hermetic vessel.
This is a clear parallel to two of the pictures of the M ushaf as-suwar
that also divide the upper divine level and the lower human level, and points
to the need for a containing vessel. But while the picture on folio 99a (see
p. 34) of the M ushaf as-suwar shows the lower level clearly separated from
the upper level, the picture on folio 128b gives the two levels not clearly
separated. Only the text speaks of the two levels, namely of the upper, big
Theosebeia, and the lower small or human Theosebeia. The entire Mutus
liber 1 illustrates how the upper archetypal world and the lower human level
must be clearly kept apart. The symbolic depiction of the opus alchemicum
in the Mutus liber 1 not only lacks a detailed explanation—contrary to the
M ushaf as-suwar—but it also excludes the animal level that is so frequent­
ly represented in the pictures of the M ushaf as-suwar, where we see depict­
ed the bull, the serpents, the dogs, the whale and the birds. These animals
are sometimes even represented as if they belong to a separate, subhuman
register.
The essential work since the time of Zosimos has been the distilla­
tion. The furnace for this work in figure 9 (folio 153a) has the same size as
the great Theosebeia with the moon on her head and the great Zosimos with
the sun on his head. It needs to be pointed out here that this is the only rep­
resentation we have of a furnace in a text by Zosimos.79 The striking simi­
larity to the Mutus liber is seen in figure 10. The furnace was considered by
the alchemists to be a microcosm, as can be seen from figure 11.

78 La Rochelle, 1678, reprinted in Bibliotheca Curiosa of J. J. Mangetus. Genève 1702.

79 There is a striking similarity of the distillation apparatus seen in fig. 9 to the one repre­
sented in Codex Parisianus gr. 2327. fol. 81v, see Mertens, Mem. auth. p. 255.
 One of the Mutus liber 65

Figure 8: The 2ndpicture of the M u tu s U ber 1 showing the Sun-king and the Moon-
queen in the hand of the great Mercurius, but well contained in the retort, a main
achievement of alchemy which is to contain the archetypal world within and not to
become possessed by it. In the lower part of the picture we see the adept and his
soror mystica on their knees in front of the oven.
66 Introduction

Figure 9: (fol. 153a) The huge alchemical oven with the small vessels on
top is the same size as Zosimos and Theosebeia, showing that it is not the concrete
outer oven that is depicted, but that the oven is a symbol. It points to the fact that
the distillation process is the best possible image for continous pondering, as
becomes clear from the text of the M u s h a f a s - s u w a r (see fol. 59a). The product of
this distillation process is the red elixir, that is also shown condensed in the upper
part of the head of Theosebeia. As Zosimos says in many places «the stone is called
the brain» (see Berthelot, p a ss im ). The elixir is distilled from the autonomous phan­
tasies gravitating aound the bodily urges, becoming in the end like a halo around
Theosebeia’s own head and a scarf around her shoulders.
 One of the Mutus liber 67

Figure 10: Another picture from the M u tu s lib e r /, showing a woman with
the moon on her head and a man with the sun on his head, symbolizing the divine
aspects of the adept and his soror mystica. The oven, also here in this picture of the
17th century, is of the same size as the humanized archetypal figures. The similari­
ty of this picture to Figure 9 on the opposite page is striking, leading to the hypoth­
esis that the pictures of the M u s h a f a s - s u w a r must have been known in some form
to the author of this M u tu s lib e r I. The numbers 100, 1,000, 10,000 etc. point to the
multiplicatio of the elixir as a result of the successful union of the opposites.

Figure 11: View of the alchemical

oven with a distillation apparatus on top. The
picture comes from a text written by Dorneus,
a medical doctor and alchemist from the 16th
century (A u r o r a 1577). The oven is of the
same size as the human being beside it, point­
ing to the symbolic dimension of the alchemi­
cal oven. The elixir is distilled out of the
human body, i.e. out of the mysterious urges
and phantasies that emerge from the inner
unconscious world of the individual. To distil
them is a symbol for pondering over those
images, as we can learn from alchemical writ­
ings. The result of this patient work is the wis­
dom of the earth or the body (see fn. 73, p. 59).
68

12. Summary
This introduction has given evidence for the following conclusions
concering the M ushaf as-suwar.
a. The book must be considered to be a translation from a Greek
original, above all because of a strong correspondence of ideas and lan­
guage with extant Greek books of Zosimos. But the Arabic translation of
the Mushaf as-suwar which has come to us is best understood as a transla­
tion with a certain amount of adaptation. The prophecy concerning the
.Arabs here must be an interpolation into the original text. Our text must
have been written by Zosimos himself or, quite possibly, somebody of his
following.
b. The M ushaf as-suwar shares many characteristics with the Kitäb
al-mafâtïh f i as-sanca. There is evidence that our dialogue was composed
later than the Kitäb al-mafatîh, which is mentioned in the Fihrist of Ibn
Nadlm. Both texts also have later offspring: the M ushaf as-suwar can be
found to a large extent in the up till now singular Kitäb al-habîb, while the
widely-known Kitäb Qirätis turns out to be largely (from page 6, line 3) an
epitome and copy of part of the Kitäb al-mafatîh.
c. The M ushaf as-suwar is important for the question of the origin
of the famous Turba philosophorum, as the Turba derives partly from the
Book o f Pictures. Even the framework of the meeting of philosophers may
have its origin in this book.
d. Our text was known in some form to the Latin alchemical tradi­
tion, as can been seen from a translation of the «2nd Book of the Names»
from the M ushaf as-suwar that can be found in the Artis auriferae of the
16th century. The pictures of the Rosarium philosophorum go back to
Zosimos, whose pictures also seem to have influenced one of the Mutus
liber.
Above and beyond these connections, the M ushaf as-suwar has to
be considered a key text to open up the better understanding of the reli­
gious-symbolic branch of alchemy. This branch thrived among the Arab
alchemists, who were influenced by a wide knowledge of translations from
Greek works. Authors like Muhammad ibn Umail, known in Latin alche­
my as Senior, developed Zosimos’ symbolism further.
 Summary 69

This branch of symbolic alchemy has from now on to be seen as the

description of a psychological transformation of the adept on his or her
quest for immortality. This process is described in the M ushaf as-suwar
with basic substances, mirroring the very elemental, collective character of
this process. It is the great merit of C. G. Jung to have shown the way to a
better understanding of this branch of alchemy. Further reseach that tries to
understand this type of text should stop looking for concrete substances
that might be covered up by the symbols mentioned by these authors.
The M ushaf as-suwar, the complete text of which survives in only
one manuscript, reveals the important role played by Arabic alchemy in
enabling the continuity of Western civilization. Arabic-Islamic culture was
a bridge that reconnected Western culture to its cradle, the culture of
Antiquity. By the uncovering of the historical facts presented here, the dis­
coveries of C. G Jung concerning the meaning of religious-symbolic alchemy
are further reinforced.
 Part II

Facsimile of the
Mushaf
• • as-suwar
••