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Article: Names, Natures, and Things: The Alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan and His Kitab al-Ahjar (Book of Stones).
- Article from:
- The Journal of the American Oriental Society
- Article date:
- October 1, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 American Oriental Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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S. N. Haq has produced a detailed study of one of the Jabirian alchemical texts, the Kitab al-Ahjar. In the opening chapter of the first section of his book, Haq discusses the complex of problems associated with the Jabirian corpus, paying particularly close attention to the work of Paul Kraus on the subject. Two other chapters present clearly and concisely the doctrinal content of the Kitab al-Ahjar in the fields (to give them their modern names) of physics, chemistry, language, and metaphysics. Part two contains the text itself. After a short introduction, the Arabic text is displayed, finely printed and conveniently numbered, following which come the English translation, ...