القلى

Ingredients

القلى, الماء, الكحل المسحوق, مرقشيتا, مرداسنج, إسفيداج الرصاص, الزاج, العفص المرضوض, برادة الحديد, الصمغ العربي, نشا سنج

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Dual-color ink (p. 108): Take 4 dirhams of high-quality alkali (qali) and dissolve it in half a ratl of water for seven days, stirring daily. Add 8 dirhams of crushed kohl, 3 dirhams of marcasite (marqashita), and 1 dirham of litharge (murdasanj). Grind together daily for four days. Add 4 dirhams of lead white (isfidhaj al-rasas) and 3 awqiyya of water. Let sit for five days. Boil the alkali water with crushed kohl and crushed galls (afas) until it reduces to 1/3 and then 2/3 remains. Filter. If galls are used with iron filings (buradat al-hadid), it is even better. Mix with gum Arabic and starch (nisha). It writes white on black surfaces and black on white surfaces.

Evidence

"تأخذ من القلى الجيد وزن أربعة دراهم فتصب عليه وزن نصف رطل من الماء وتحركه وتتركه فيه سبعة أيام ... فيجيء في السواد يجيء أبيض وفي البياض يجيء أسود"

Remarks

This complex recipe creates a chemically reactive ink. The inclusion of marcasite, litharge, and iron filings with galls and alkali creates a substance that reacts differently depending on the substrate's acidity or color (p. 108).