black ink

Ingredients

sulfur, mercury, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, alkali

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The manuscript Hall al-Rumuz wa Mafatih al-Kunuz (The Solution of Symbols and Keys to Treasures) is associated with Jabir ibn Hayyan's alchemical school. Jabir is credited with refining core chemical operations central to laboratory science, including distillation (using the alembic/al-anbiq), calcination for transforming minerals and metals, crystallization for purifying salts, and sublimation (p. 249-250). He described the preparation of mineral acids such as sulfuric, nitric, and hydrochloric acid and introduced technical terms like alkali (p. 248, 250). His theoretical framework, the Theory of the Balance (Nazariyyat al-Mizan), posits that the entire cosmos is governed by a delicate, divinely ordained equilibrium, where the harmony of elements (earth, water, fire, air) within substances mirrors the soul (p. 252).

Evidence

"One is held at Umm al-Qurā University and is attributed to Ibn Ghānim al-Maqdisī; it contains 57 folios and is written in alternating black and red ink."

Remarks

The manuscript examined is one of several extant versions. The Umm al-Qura version attributed to Ibn Ghanim al-Maqdisi consists of 57 folios using black ink in an alternating pattern with red ink (p. 253). Another version attributed to al-Izz ibn Abd al-Salam has 67 folios with twenty lines of script (p. 253). Jabir's work fundamentally reshaped the epistemology of chemistry by insisting on empirical verification and precise documentation, moving the field from speculative philosophy to a structured discipline (p. 248, 250). The laboratory is framed as a site of spiritual refinement where chemical transformation (e.g., base metals into gold) allegorically represents the purification of the human soul (p. 246, 251).