MERRICAL MAN STORY
Abu Mūsā Jābir ibn Hayyān (Arabic/Persian
جابر بن حیان, often given the
nisbas, al-
Azdi, al-
Kufi, al-
Tusi or al-
Sufi; fl. c. 721 – c. 815),
[2] also known by the
Latinization Geber was a
polymath: a
chemist and alchemist,
astronomer and
astrologer,
engineer,
geographer,
philosopher,
physicist, and
pharmacist and physician. Born in
Tus, he later traveled to
Yemen and
Kufa where he lived most of his life. He has been described as "the father of early chemistry".
[3][4][5]
As early as the 10th century, the identity and exact corpus of works of Jabir was in dispute in Islamic circles.
[6] His name was
Latinized as "Geber" in the Christian West and in 13th-century Europe an anonymous writer, usually referred to as
Pseudo-Geber, produced alchemical and metallurgical writings under the pen-name Geber.
[7]
According to the philologist-historian
Paul Kraus
(1904-1944), Jabir cleverly mixed in his alchemical writings
unambiguous references to the Ismaili or Qarmati movement. Kraus wrote,
“Let us first notice that most of the names we find in this list have
undeniable affinities with the doctrine of Shi'i Gnosis, especially with
the
Ismaili system”.
[9] Henry Corbin believes that Jabir ibn Hayyan was an
Ismaili.
[10] Jabir was a
natural philosopher who lived mostly in the 8th century; he was born in
Tus,
Khorasan, in
Persia,
[2] well known as
Iran then ruled by the
Umayyad Caliphate. Jabir in the classical sources has been variously attributed as
al-Azdi,
al-Kufi,
al-Tusi,
al-Sufi,
al-Tartusi or
al-Tarsusi, and
al-Harrani.
[11][12] There is a difference of opinion as to whether he was an Arab
[13] from Kufa who lived in Khurasan, or a Persian
[14][15] from Khorasan who later went to Kufa
[11] or whether he was, as some have suggested, of Syrian
Sabian[16] origin and later lived in Persia and Iraq.
[11] In some sources, he is reported to have been the son of Hayyan al-Azdi, a
pharmacist of the
Arabian Azd tribe who emigrated from
Yemen to
Kufa (in present-day
Iraq).
[17] while
Henry Corbin believes Geber seems to have been a non-Arab
client of the 'Azd tribe.
[18] Hayyan had supported the
Abbasid revolt against the Umayyads, and was sent by them to the province of
Khorasan to gather support for their cause. He was eventually caught by the Umayyads and executed. His family fled to Yemen,
[17][19] perhaps to some of their relatives in the
Azd tribe,
[20] where Jabir grew up and studied the Quran, mathematics and other subjects.
[17] Jabir's father's profession may have contributed greatly to his interest in
alchemy.
After the Abbasids took power, Jabir went back to Kufa. He began his career practicing medicine, under the patronage of a
Vizir (from the noble Persian family
Barmakids) of Caliph
Harun al-Rashid.
His connections to the Barmakid cost him dearly in the end. When that
family fell from grace in 803, Jabir was placed under house arrest in
Kufa, where he remained until his death.
It has been asserted that Jabir was a student of the sixth
Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq and
Harbi al-Himyari;
[6][21] however, other scholars have questioned this theory.
[22]
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