Muslims have contributed a lot and patronised the Greek scientific heritage in the field of medicine, astronomy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, philosophy, etc. Islam continued to add new scientific achievements which bear witness that Muslims were deeply and seriously interested in scientific research.
So, it produced many Muslim scholars and scientists from 7th to the end of 14th century (668 C.E. to 1359 C.E.). But the world has either neglected/ denied their great contributions to the humanity or anglicised their names in order to look differently to nullify their contributions.
Everyone is quite aware that how the names of such Muslim scientists and scholars have been changed to the extent of their non-existent entity. Now, there is an urgent need to relook into their greatest contributions in every field.
In order to put the records straight, this series on contributions of Muslim scientists and scholars aims to convey the massage to the world that our contributions to world of knowledge can never be ignored. To start with, the contribution of first Muslim scientist and scholar Khalid Ibn Yazid who was an Alchemist is here.
Khalid Ibn Yazid (An Alchemist) (668 – 704/709 C.E.)
Khālid ibn Yazīd (full name Abū Hāshim Khālid ibn Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān. He was born in 668 C.E. (48 A.H.) during Umayyad Caliphate and died 704 C.E.(85 A.H.) or 709 C.E. (90 A.H.) in Homs, Syria. He was an Umayyad prince from Umayyad Dynasty and was a grandson of Muawiyah II who was briefly caliph and purported to be Alchemist.
He was Caliph adviser, military commander, poet, and patron of the sciences. The name of his wife was A’isha bint Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. His father’s name was Yazid I and mother’s name was Fakhita bint Abi Hashim ibn Utba ibn Rabi’a.
He was commander and one-time candidate for the throne. Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan Yazid I, also known as Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān, was the second Caliph of the Umayyad caliphate. He was the first ruler in the Islamic history to be appointed through hereditary succession.
Born in Syria to Governor Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan, who worked under Caliph Uthman, Yazid was raised among the Kalbite tribesmen. In Alchemy, Calid often refers to a historical figure, Khalid ibn Yazid. Prince Khalid lost the chance of inheriting the title, but took an interest in the study of alchemy.
A large number of Alchemical writings were attributed to Khalid, including also many alchemical poems. Khalid’s purported alchemical activity was probably part of a legend that evolved in 9th-century Arabic literary circles, which also falsely credited him with sponsoring the first translations of Greek philosophical and scientific works into Arabic (in reality, caliphal sponsorship of translations started during the reign of al-Mansur, 754–775). Some of the Arabic alchemical works attributed to Khalid were later translated into Latin under the Latinized name Calid.
One of these works, The Book of the Composition of Alchemy (Latin: Liber de compositione alchemiae), was the first Arabic work on alchemy to be translated into Latin, by Robert of Chester in 1144.
Alchemy and Chemistry in Islam refers to the study of both traditional alchemy and early practical chemistry (the early chemical investigation of nature in general) by Muslim scholars in the medieval Islamic world.
The word alchemy was derived from the Arabic word kīmiyāʾ and may ultimately derive from the ancient Egyptian word kemi, meaning black. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the focus of alchemical development moved to the Caliphate and the Islamic civilization. Much more is known about Islamic alchemy as it was better documented; most of the earlier writings that have come down through the years were preserved as Arabic translations.
According to the bibliographer Ibn al-Nadīm, the first Muslim alchemist was Khālid ibn Yazīd, who is said (purportedly) to have studied alchemy under the Christian Marianos of Alexandria. The historicity of this story is not clear; according to M. Ullmann, it is a legend.
According to Ibn al-Nadīm and Ḥajjī Khalīfa, he is the author of the alchemical works Kitāb al-kharazāt (The Book of Pearls), Kitāb al-ṣaḥīfa al-Kabīr (The Big Book of the Roll), Kitāb al-ṣaḥīfa al-saghīr (The Small Book of the Roll), Kitāb Waṣīyatihi ilā bnihi fī-ṣ-ṣanʿa (The Book of his Testament to his Son about the Art/Craft), and Firdaws al-ḥikma (The Paradise of Wisdom), but again, these works may be pseudepigraphical.
It was said the ancient champions of alchemy would believe that it could transform base metals into precious ones and produce an elixir of life. The Umayyad Prince Khalid was attracted by its mystery and had an ancient Egyptian book on alchemy translated into Arabic with the help of an Egyptian monk, Marianus.
Whether or not purported, his contribution in the field of Alchemy must be explored and experimented with available latest scientific tools and experimental protocols to prove its relevance for the modern time.
My submission to all the scientific policy makers in the field of Chemistry in the teaching institutions, whether University or otherwise, to allow to take up at least one M.Phil and Ph.D. research related to the Alchemy of Khālid ibn Yazīd for experimentation, to prove to the world that how far scientific was he in the so-called unscientific period that he would do Alchemy in his time. I think and hope that the Land of Kashmir (Peer Vaarie) will take lead in this direction.
Prof. (Dr.) Naquibul Islam, Senior Unani Medical Consultant
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in the article do not reflect the views of GK.