The Identity, Life and Works of the Alchemist Ibn Arfaʿ Raʾs
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/alqantara.2020.010Keywords:
Alchemy, Ibn Arfaʿ Raʾs, Ibn al-Naqirāt, sixth/twelfth century, Morocco, al-Andalus, Almohads, Shudhūr al-dhahab, manuscript studiesAbstract
Ibn Arfaʿ Raʾs is the author of a famous collection of alchemical poems entitled Shudhūr al-dhahab (The Splinters of Gold). In addition to Shudhūr al-dhahab, he authored several other works, including a commentary on Shudhūr, which is discussed here at some length for the first time, and strophic poetry on alchemy. The attribution of other works to him seems to be incorrect, and this applies especially to two works on magic. This contribution focusses on our findings on the identity of Ibn Arfaʿ Raʾs and on his life, challenging the identification of the alchemist Ibn Arfaʿ Raʾs with a Mālikī religious scholar known as Ibn al-Naqirāt. Based both on manuscripts and on bio-bibliographical literature, we argue that from an early period, two different people, both from sixth/twelfth century Morocco, have been fused into one. Considering all sources, we also suggest that Ibn Arfaʿ Raʾs might have left the Islamic west and have written at least some of his works in the east, more specifically in Egypt, thereby explaining the broad reception of Shudhūr al-dhahab throughout the Islamic world, particularly in the Mashriq.
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