gold

Ingredients

ordinary metals

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The Kitāb al-Asrār is analyzed as a 'working laboratory manual' (p. 14) that details procedures for the 'transmutation of ordinary metals into gold' (p. 13). Successful results in these procedures were determined by the careful assessment of visual and quantifiable changes, specifically 'changes of color, malleability, or solubility' (p. 16). Key operational factors in the furnace included the 'intensity of heat' and the 'number of sublimations' (p. 16).

Evidence

"In fact, in tenth-century Persia, al-kimīyā, or alchemy, the science of raising the state of metals under laboratory conditions, was already controversial. ... a book of procedures on the transmutation of ordinary metals into gold as a sensible laboratory manual free of mysticism."

Remarks

The text discusses al-Rāzī's Kitāb al-Asrār (Book of Secrets) from 10th-century Persia, emphasizing its role as a practical manual rather than a mystical text (p. 13). It highlights how early alchemical practices focused on the observation of physical properties and laboratory conditions to achieve material transformation (p. 16).