Elixir - A Posthumanist Approach to Alchemy in Akbarian Sufism and Islam

Step outside laboratory, and into the world of nature. The books on cannon law can be left behind as well, for Ibn ¿Arab¿ (d. 1240) believed there is one Sharia for humans and another for minerals. This Element rethinks what it means to be an alchemist and Muslim, by shifting its focus to the religious practices of sentient minerals, as described in Ibn ¿Arab¿'s oeuvre and the Qur'an. Common stones and metals undergo their spiritual feats with the single goal in mind: to gain proximity to the Divine by turning themselves into gold. Alchemists sought to facilitate this process through elixirs and sorcery. Setting allegories and metaphors aside, this Element examines ontological principles governing the struggles of iron to become gold, and the human strivings to better the world of nature.

List of contents

1. Introduction; 2. Anything but magic!; 3. A posthumanistic approach; 4. Seek knowledge, even as far as China!; 5. The roots of corruption; 6. Mineral magic - an (extra)ordinary transmutations; 7. The alchemy of red sulphur; 8. In conclusion; Bibliography.

Product details

• Authors: Dunja (Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society and Tamp Rasic, Dunja Rašić
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 31.12.2025
• EAN: 9781009777018
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0977701-8
• No. of pages: 75
• Series: Elements in Magic
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Religion: general, reference works; RELIGION / General, Magic, spells and alchemy, Magic, spells & alchemy, Conjuring & Magic, Conjuring and magic, Islamic & Arabic philosophy, Islamic and Arab philosophy