Chemistry in the "Kitab Al-Sumum" ("Book of Poisons") by "Ibn Al-Wahshiya"

Author(s): Martin Levey

Source: Chymia, Vol. 9 (1964), pp. 33-45
Published by: University of California Press
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Chymia

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 CHEMISTRY IN THE KITAB AL-SUMUM
(BOOK OF POISONS)
BY IBN AL-WAHSHIYAf
MARTIN LEVEY

THE problem of the paths of transmission of ancient chemistry

and chemical technology through a little-known period down
to the early Muslims is both an important and an extremely
interesting subject. It has already been demonstrated that preceding
civilizations had possessed a large body of chemical knowledge. The
Babylonians2 particularly had amassed and transmitted much data
on chemical matters of a technological nature not only to the Naba
taeans 3 who were the descendents of Chaldaea and Babylonia but to
much of the rest of the world. Chemical knowledge coming from
India to the Near East is sometimes difficult to pin down. Ibn al
Wahshlya, in the text under consideration, however, draws on Indian
material and Chaldaean folklore and writings to extol the Babylonian
Aramaean-Syrian culture in contradistinction to that of the conquer
ing Arabs.
Ab? Bakr Ahmad b. cAli b. Wahshiya an-Nabat?4 was born of an
Aramaic family in Iraq and flourished toward the end of the third
century of the hegira?before 912. He was much interested in agri
culture, alchemy, and the occult sciences generally. His most impor
tant and best known work is Kitdb al-faldha al-nabatiya, a book on
Nabataean agriculture, supposed to be a translation from Babylonian
sources. This has proved to be untrue. Much of the work is concerned

* Yale University.
fThe author is indebted to the National Institutes of Health (RG 7391) for
support of this work.
2 Cf. particularly M. Levey, Chemistry and Chemical Technology in Ancient
Mesopotamia, Amsterdam, 1959, chap. 1.
3 The word Nabataean was used frequently to denote a mystic, occult people
as the adjectives Chaldaean and Hindu are often used today. The Nabataeans, as
the text explains, spoke Syriac, closely related to Aramaic.
4 Carl Brockelmann, Gesch. der arabischen Literatur, Leiden, 1943, Vol. 1, p. 242.

33

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 34 CHYMIA

with supernatural matters and the superstitions of the people.3 This

work is still unedited and has not been translated. The present author
has the Aya Sofia copy in microfilm at hand.
In the Book of Poisons,6 there is also much fact and a great deal
of discussion of supernatural substances, superstitions, and folkloric
information of the people.
In the introduction of the Book of Poisons, the author tells why
he translated the book from Syriac into Arabic.7

Know, my son, that I felt it essential to translate this book and others
also into Arabic from the language of this people [the Nabataeans]. I listened
to people calumniate them and perpetrate evil on them; these people were
praising themselves, increasing their slanders, and saying, "We did not receive
any science or philosophy from them [the Nabataeans] nor moral virtue, nor
any praiseworthy scientific work.
They ridiculed the rest and scoffed at them; they made much of faults
in their words and blamed them for their language and made the Nabataeans
ashamed of being Nabataeans. When they wished to calumniate and throw
suspicion on a man and to scoff at him, they say to him, "O Nabataean."
They may set up the example as, "He is stingier than a Nabataean," and
"He is viler and more ignoble than a Nabataean," "Such a one claims that
he is an Arab and in reality he is a Nabataean; there is no good in him,"
"This one claims that he is a Persian but he originally was Nabataean; .here
is no good in him because of his Nabataean origin."
I have no patience, by Allah, my dear son, when I hear these words of
the likes of those. I am not to be blamed for zeal for my nation especially.
I am sure it has been brought out that knowledge of the sciences is distributed
among the peoples or most of them. Who denies this cannot deny my words
unless nine-tenths of the sciences are theirs, and one-tenth of it is that of
another people. This is popularly accepted.
This calumniation of the Nabataeans put a burden on me to translate
some of the sciences of the Nabataeans in order to make them known to
other people and to show men how wise they [the Nabataeans] are and how
excellent their thought.
I mention these words to my readers at the beginning of my book so that
they may pardon me. This is because the treatise is on the subject of poisons,
a topic in which the concealment of its secret and the less said and done
about it may be the better way of treating it. However, there are reasons for
my being pardoned. I am desirous of describing the science of this people
5 Cf. T. Noeldeke, Noch einiges ?ber die nabataische Landwirtschaft," Zeit.
deut. morg. gesell, 29, 445-455 (1875).
6 Four MSS have been used to make the translation of the entire book. These
are given in Brockelmann, op. ext. and Suppl., Br. Museum 1357, Leiden 1284,
Velieddin 2542, and Sehit Ali 2073.
7Velieddin MS fols. 138b-140a.

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 CHEMISTRY IN THE KITAB AL-SUMUM 35
in the field of poisons because their knowledge and wisdom must be made
known. To permit the people to profit by it, the poisons are described
along with their remedies so that the ill effects of the poisons will be
countered.

As to the actual sources ibn al-Wahshiya has much to say. He con

tends that it is translated from two ancient writers on poison.8

I gathered what is in this book, statements on poisons and their antidotes,

from a treatise which I found among the books of a man, a very old one
of Kasad?n, called Y?rb?q?, and also from a book whose author is called
S?h?b S?t, another wise man. The latter is very simple in his language and
experienced in what he speaks about. I suppose that since he was of later
times, it was possible for him to examine the treatises of some of those
medical men who preceded him. As a result, his book benefited in size and
value.

The best books on poisons are attributed to the Indians, Persians,

and Greeks. Actual titles and authors are given to make the text a
valuable one for the pre-Muslim history of chemistry and pharma
cology. It goes as follows:9

The men had certainly compiled many books on poisons. On this subject,
those books which are better and contain more of the uses and are more
extensive in detail were compiled by Indians and Persians. One of these is
a book of the Indians and is called Book of Sh?n?q.10 The book is called by
the Indians according to its meaning, The Book, The Unique, or Book of
the Orphan.
There is another great anonymous book which contains extensive descrip
tions of the properties [of poisons]. There is also a book by an Indian called
Tammashah; it contains many words and is extensive. The fourth book
which speaks of poisons and odors in plants is attributed to a man called
Bahl?nd?d, an Indian. Then there is a book which was compiled for some
Persian kings. It was translated [into Arabic] with the title, The Five Signs.
Then, there is a book compiled for the Persian king, Noshirow?n the Just.
In it there are thirty chapters each of which is divided into three sections
thus making ninety sections. I have also seen a book on poisons compiled
by a Persian. I obtained it at Isfahan where it had been in the possession of
some kings of Isfahan. Then there is a great book which has been translated
[into Arabic]; the meaning of its Arabic title is The Rhymed Book on
8 Velieddin MS fol. 138b.
9Velieddin MS fols. 141a-142a.
10 Chanakya or Kautilya, the author of Arthashastra, Treatise on Polity (of the
Avurvedic period), 321-296 B.C., trans?, by R. Shamasastry, Mysore, 1929. Cf. P. Ray,
History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India, Calcutta, 1956, pp. 40-107.

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36 CHYMIA

Poisons.11 In it is discussed cultivation of the Persian language. The book

is famous. There is a pleasant book also belonging to those works attributed
to Buzurj-mihr 12 on lethal drugs and the symptoms arising from poisoned
food. I believe, my dear son, that this book is much earlier by some time
than that of Buzurj-mihr. Its author, however, erased his name [from the
book]; the book was attributed to Buzurj-mihr after his [the author's] time.
There are also those books which are from the Greeks. One of them
contains two treatises on poisons of Dioscordes appended to a book of hashish.
There is a good book of Theophrastus. I hold it in esteem, my dear son, for
what it contains on the subject of remedies. Then there is a treatise on
poisons attributed to Galen. Also, there is a book on poisons attributed to
a man called Alexander. I don't know if he is Alexander, the physician, or
the other one who is a philosopher. I know two Alexanders aside from
Alexander, the king, and the Alexander who compiled a book on art. The
latter is an Egyptian and is a philosopher and scholar.
There is a book belonging to the Egyptians also attributed to Cleopatra,
the queen. They assert that it was compiled for the queen. The book has
many sections containing wonders. I believe that some of them are true.
The author speaks of properties of substances which it is asserted will kill
one at a glance thereon. This is without drinking or touching them. Our
friends who are from Kasad?n have something similar to this. I shall describe
it to you in this book, my dear son. Then there are discussions of poisons
in the books on Egyptian agriculture if one cares to find them.
I have seen a book attributed to another people, and of which I have
not spoken here. There are also anonymous books belonging to several
peoples. I have not listed them here since this would cause the discussion
to be overlong.
The genuine Arabs, who were from Yemen, had no science, no wisdom,
no understanding reasoning, nor solid thought. But, when the Islamic power
rose, translators prepared for them the books of the wise men of other
nations and their sciences. They [the Yemenites] studied and learned them.
They also compiled books in the Islamic Age on poisons. One of them,
J?bir b. Hayy?n al-S?f?, is said to be from Azd. If this is true, then he was
a genuine Arab. This book of his on poisons is a great work containing

11 Here may be recalled the famous works of Nicander of Colophon (3rd cen
tury B.C.) on theriaca and alexipharmaca. The former in 958 verses concerns poison
ous animals, their venoms, and antidotes; the latter in 630 verses describes poisons
and remedies in general. Cf. Nicandrea Theriaca et Alexipharmaca recensuit et
emendavit, fragmenta collegit, commentationis addidit Otto Schneider. Accedunt
scholia in Theriaca ex recensione Henrici Keil scholia in Alexipharmaca ex recog
nitione Bussemaki R. Bentlei emendationes partim ineditae, Leipzig, 1856. See also
T. Reinach, Mithridates Eupator, Roy de Pont, Paris, 1890. Philumenos, according
to Sarton, was a younger contemporary of Galen; his main extant work is on animal
poisons and their remedies, -rrepi top?Xcop faav Kcti rwv ev avrois ^ovdrjfxdrcjv.
Max. Wellmann, Philumeni de venenatis animalibus eorumque remediis capita
XXXVII, Leipzig, 1908.
12 Name of the prime minister of Noshirowan.

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 CHEMISTRY IN THE KITAB AL-SUMUM 37
numerous and extensive accounts as well as many practical applications. It
is a wonder.
A book which was compiled by Yahy? b. al-Bitr?q al-R?ml on poisons
in the time of al-Rashid is also a great and useful book. Ibn al-Bitriq also
translated two anonymous treatises on poisons and articles from ancient
scholars. The author of Memorandum Book of the Physician declares that
discussion of poisons in very early Islam and in pre-Islamic times was rare.
A man called cIsa b. S?sa compiled a book on poisons as has been done
nowadays by others such as Qusta b. L?qa and Yacq?b b. Ish?q al-Kindl.
But I refrain from speaking of the books of these Persians, Indians, Greeks,
Egyptians, and Muslims. I wish to say that you may collect the books I
mentioned or at least some of them since it is impossible to find all. Look
over these books and then my book whose account comes from Kasadan.

The introduction is invaluable in that it gives a good picture of

the scientific currents then prevailing in the ninth century a.d. The
Muslims did not hesitate to learn from anyone who came along,
Persians, Indians, Greeks, Egyptians, Canaanites, Hebrews, and others.
The list of authors mentioned is also of great interest; in effect, ibn
al-Wahshiya gives a sketchy history of the subject of poisons.
The Book on Poisons is divided into five parts. The materials are
from the animal, plant, and mineral kingdoms:13

Do know that the material of lethal poisons of which we spoke, whether

simple or compound, are generally [prepared] from three categories, animal,
plant, and mineral substances. That which destroys by sound, though its
substance is from these three types, is not appropriately placed among these
three. Nor is it good to subsume them there for a reason you are aware of
if you are wise. It is, nevertheless, necessary to speak about it. Because I
compiled this book in five parts, all of them are from the three types except
the latter which I shall also include in the book.

The contents of the five parts are given as follows:14

The first part is about those things which are lethal when one glances
at them.
The second part is about the awful sounds which tear at the heart, often
fatally, or [make one] violently ill and about the nature of its effect.
The third part is about those substances having a lethal scent and the
different exposure effects according to length of time.
The fourth part concerns those things which when eaten or drunk are
fatal.

13 Velieddin MS fol. 145b.

14 Velieddin MS fol. 145b-146a.

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 38 CHYMIA

The fifth part concerns those substances which kill by touch, contact,
and closeness to the body.
These five chapters, their contents, and what they include of the poisons,
contain two categories, simple and compound, which are derived from the
three types, animal, plant, and soil and mineral matter.

Ibn al-Wahshiya is careful to first give the definition of a poison.15

It is of value to give the definition of an actual poison, to mention the

difference between it and a remedy and the difference between these two
and food. This would be useful in the beginning of this treatise.
Know that the definition of a poison is that it is overpowering in its
nature. The latter is resident in the directing strength of animals' bodies or
in something which arises from the mixing of the soul in its makeup with
its uniting substances according to the influence of the stars. It is not an
accident but it exists permanently. Poison is something which overpowers
and destroys that which is called the life force of an animal. When it over
comes this force, the functioning of the organs in the body is disturbed. The
liver, stomach, and veins cannot function so that the strengths of the heart,
liver, brain, arteries, daily warmth and sinews cannot be transported through
the body as they were previously. The quality of this condition is the quality
of death since, in consequence of these things, it corrupts the breath which
gives rest to the body. Then the life of the animal is affected without delay.
This is the definition of poison.

The scientific aptitude of the Nabataeans is discussed by ibn al

Wahshiya; he states that the people discovered and prepared the
poisons by imitating nature. The Nabataeans said,16

"We learned it from nature and made it similar in truth and in its
effects. When we compounded it, we knew that although our compounding
is an imitation of the work of nature and a way of learning from it, never
theless, we have a superiority over nature. This is because we can work
with materials of our own choice, with planning, and with the excellence
of our reasoning. Nature, however, has no choice nor any distinguishing
characteristic in its work. We can compound the lethal poison more certain
and quicker in its effect than the effect of the poison manufactured by nature.
Also when we put into practice these compound and simple poisons that
we made up, we can also make up remedies opposing them in the extreme.
Whoever is exposed to the effect of the poisons can recover thereby and the
associated injuries can be made to pass away.
"By this manner directly, I mean with this extraction and discovery, our
ancients and physicians could discover a poison which kills by being looked

15 Velieddin MS fol. 146a.

i<5 Velieddin MS fol. 147a.

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 CHEMISTRY IN THE KITAB AL-SUMUM 39
at, a poison which kills through its hearing, and all other poisons which
have been discovered by these two ways. They said, 'We set up the argument
and the proof of the correctness of what we prepare by way of comparison
before experience though the latter is more sound and clearer.' "

More than eight hundred kinds of substances are mentioned in

the text. Many of these are of a supernatural or unreal nature and
rely on magic of various kinds. The following gives an idea of the
preparation of a material which is lethal when one looks at it. It is a
necklace which, when a man beholds it, kills him on the spot.17

I extracted this from the poetry of Fash?q?ny? (?) who appeared on top
of the sun and was chief of his time and lord of his age. I have added to
it what I have invented and then concentrated it so that there arose in it
the propertv of killing by one's looking at it. That is to say, when one sees
it he trembles and is restless until he dies.
Now I begin. First make the remedy which opposes its properties and
saves one from the evil of its effects. Take a piece of pure green emerald
weighing two daniqs or weighing as much as possible since the greater the
size the greater is the effect. Then take one dirham of white lead fceruse],
two dirhams of the bills of water birds, two dirhams of tanned hide, and
seven dirhams of the stone called y?rltis (?) in Egyptian and in Nabataean
m?rqashit?, marcasite. Marcasite has several colors; the iron-like one, the
black is used. Burn the birds' bills and hide and pound the emerald and
marcasite. Mix them well. Gather it [the mixture] together with good wine
and olive oil until it becomes like clay. Make of it four beads and pierce
them. Put something in the holes to preserve them while they [the beads]
are drying. Lay them in the summer sun until they become dry. Otherwise
put them in something to keep them from a direct fire. Use a slow fire until
tbev are drv. Then arrange them on a yellow silk string which is sound,
thick, and good. Perfume them with musk, ambergris, and camphor which
has been mixed with rose water. Put them on your neck so that they hang
to your breast. Look at it and touch and play with it frequently while
arranging it. Leave it on your neck; then begin the preparation of the stone
which kills.
Take eleven dirhams of the iron marcasite, double the amount of the
marcasite or twenty-two dirhams of the blood of the fish called harshd (?),
three dirhams of pine resin, one dirham of agaric 18 which has been sieved
until it is a fine powder, five dirhams of earth of an old grave or of a new
one whose earth has not yet become wet, three dirhams of earth of the
sarcophagus, and two dirhams of the hair of a man afflicted with leprosy or
hair which has an abominable smell. Then take the head of an owl, seven

i7Velieddin MS 154a-155a.
18 gh?r?q?n.

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40 CHYMIA

dirhams of the jasham (?) of the fish called haritha, five dirhams of the
manure of the donkey called "runner," 19 and five dirhams of the blood of
snakes. Take a dead viper as it is and burn it with the flesh of the fish and
with the hair until they become ashes. Mix the earth with the blood. If
moisture is needed, use blood of some kind that is easy to obtain even if
it is like dry mud. Knead them well and make of it a half sphere, one side
flat and the other surface convex. Smooth it well and polish it until it
appears like the best smooth stone. Since some of the blood which was used
in this operation is left over and will not be needed again, it is dried,
pounded, and mixed well with the remedies.
Make the stone in the shape that I described to you. Leave it to dry as
I ordered. When it is dry and wholly fashioned, take a little each of minium,
cinnebar, and dyer's rocket20 and mix them well with urine of a camel. Put
vine leaf on your palm; on it put the hemisphere. Spot it with a quill pen
until it is all spotted. Moisten it with the quill pen which has been wetted
with camels' urine. On the flat side, draw a figure of a cross; in each angle
formed by the cross, put in three spots. Leave it exposed to the air until
the spots on it are well dried. Put on it any leaf and a sheet of paper made
in the country of Sacad.21 Take four ratls of a man's urine which has been
weighed on a balance. Pour the urine in an earthenware container which
has been smeared with sesame oil three times. Take equal amounts of
verdigris, table salt, ashes of walnut rinds, pounded reed charcoal, sar?q
which is bat urine, dove [droppings], dung of sheep, bovine manure, and
hairs of Negroes, two dirhams each of tamarisk fruit pepper seed, camel
dung, gum and seeds of the mahaleb, black pepper, white pottery [dust],
good mustard, seeds of citron, two and a quarter dirhams of bran, sparrows'
excrement, broomrape, juniper berries, cypress cones, hazelnut opoponax,
and green bdellium. Mix all of them and put them in an earthenware vessel
containing the urine. Macerate it as quickly as possible until the operation
is completed. Then place the vessel on a hearth. Under it put the charcoal
which has become embers and add to these when it [the fire] goes down.
Let the urine boil little by little for three days and nights over a low fire.
Never-allow the fire under the urine to go out. If it does go out, remember
the period of time that it has been extinguished so that the total amount
will be seventy two hours. Then filter this urine from the remedy when it
is well cooled. Using your hand, take a feather from a black cock and dip
it into clarified urine. Smear the stone [with it] and lay it [the stone] on
the leaf and paper, seven times in a nychthemeron. Put the stone down in
a place where the wind blows. Do this until the urine is consumed and
until the stone has absorbed it while it was in the air. When this is com
pleted, take it after it has dried well and put it on a sieve. Through the
latter comes smoke produced from equal amounts of origan leaf, narthex,

19 durr?j. Cf. L. Leclerc, trans?. Traite des simples par ibn el-Beithar, Par?s,
1877, 1881, 1883, nos. 392, 405, 855, 867, 1484.
20 Reseda tute?la, salikh.
21 A country bordering Syria.

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 CHEMISTRY IN THE KITAB AL-SUMUM 41

asafoetida, pepper, galanga, thyme leaf, and marjoram leaf. Carry out this
operation for three days and nights without interruption as far as possible.
After the vaporization,22 put it in an earthen jar and cover it with a lid
made of jujube wood. On the lid place a good iron ball and preserve it.
When you wish to show it to someone to kill him, take the necklace and
wash it with pure water. On the water, put spots of olive oil and drink it.
Then show the stone to the one whom you wish to kill. He indeed begins
to tremble and his body becomes restless until he dies two hours later.

Some of the poisons, such as certain kinds of stones, never accu

rately described, are pictured by the author as they are in many
mythological works. One type of poison by contact, known in folk
lore in much of the world, is also given by ibn al-Wahshiya. This is
when intercourse is had with a certain young woman. Death occurs
immediately.23
Many poisons are based on the salamander which, in ancient times,
was a mythical creature in that it could endure fire without harm. It
was never clearly defined. Certain kinds of frogs24 were also supposed
to have supernatural poisonous qualities.25 These were prepared by
lengthy chemical procedures. Many other animals are mentioned.26
Throughout much of the text, reactions during the operations
must be carried out under favorable astrological conditions.
Most of the chemicals come from botanicals. These chemicals have
largely been described in a forthcoming book27 on the formulary of
al-Kindi who was known to ibn al-Wahshiya. Many of the botanicals
are still unknown.28
One of the most famous poisons is the Indian aconite root, de
scribed together with its treatment and antidotes. Another, the man
drake, is known in various parts of the world. It has long been be
lieved to possess mystical and unusual properties. It has a large forked
root credited with human attributes; it is also the subject of many
superstitions. The fruit is supposed to promote conception when
22 bakhur.
23Velieddin MS fol. 164b.
24 Cf. for example Velieddin MS fol. 182a-182b.
25Velieddin MS fol. 187a-187b.
26 Some of these are known in Syriac as karq?qathl buratd shammakd nahri,
shabbdmaghsha, qlm?r?sa, kur?r nabt?qimuha, caqariyu, and damitirba. They are
unknown at present.
27 M. Levey, The Aqrabadhin of al-Kindi (in press).
28 Some are fardamd, ath?syan, khaby?la (?), q?liyaqiq, qitashiqlqa, and zalima
in Syriac.

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42 CHYMIA

eaten by credulous women. Should a man pluck it from the earth,

then he would die in three days.29
Antidotes, according to the text, are derived by analogy.30

When something which I have not mentioned occurs, then compare it

with what I have discussed. Use your own intelligence to derive by analogy
an antidote which bears a resemblance to the practical antidotes.

Mineral poisoning must have been a common occurrence in the

period of al-Wahshiya.31 The author gives antidotes for poisoning by
white gypsum, "ceruse taken from lead," quicklime, arsenic, litharge,
cinnabar, "calcined gold," "calcined iron," and iron scoria.
The antidotal treatment for litharge poisoning gives a typical
routine:32

His treatment is that he be made to vomit strongly. When nothing

remains in his belly, then absinthe is cooked for him together with dill and
borax. Make him drink it. Then give him plum wine strengthened with
scammony. Also mix mucilage of quince with it. When this reaches his belly,
leave him for a short time. Then clyster him with a solution of caltrop, fig.
sebest?n, and alfalfa which have been cooked and filtered, and for every
half ratl of the filtrate, there are added one ounce each of garum, sesame
oil and sweet wine. He is clystered with this many times. The effect of the
plum wine and clyster is to strengthen the sitting so that then his body is
emptied. Then make him drink four times one ratl of water of barley in
which jujube and sebest?n have been cooked. Then pulverize well two
dirhams of pure, good myrrh, one dirham of pepper, one dirham of royal
cumin,33 one dirham of ginger, and one dirham of pulverized pigeon excre
ment and throw them on four ounces of sweet wine and two ounces of water
of honey. Pour one ounce of good olive oil on this and make him drink it
in draughts so that it reaches his stomach. Feed him with the meat of a small
fat sheep, and make him perspire with a blanket not a bath. Cook the
mutton for him with much ghee. He is saved if God wishes; may He be
exalted.

A passage of great interest for historians of chemistry gives an

early description of their idea of a chemical reaction.35
29 Velieddin MS 214b; cf. Max Meyerhof, ed. of Maimonides' Sarh asma* ah
cuqqar, Cairo, 1940.
30 Velieddin MS fol. 204b.
31 Sehit Ali MS fols. 140b-143a.
32 Sehit Ali MS fols. 142b-143a, i.e. as a purgative.
33 n?nakhw?t.
34 kharw al-hamdm.
35 Velieddin MS fol. 165a-165b.

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 CHEMISTRY IN THE KITAB AL-SUMUM 43

The actions of the ones compounded by blending or mixing are numer

ous. It is a curious thing that when two, three, four, or more of these are
mixed, the properties resulting are not from any one of the simples. It is
strange that quicklime and orpiment when rubbed on hair one at a time
cannot depilate. However, when they are mixed with each other, they cause
depilation of hair and its burning. If cold sandalwood is rubbed against
another piece of cold sandalwood, much obvious burning takes place. When
melting metallic ores, which are generally cold because they come into exist
ence from earth and water and internally have little air or fiery substance,
are made into a concave mirror then we can use it in the sun to kindle
rags, cotton, and other inflammable materials. With the beryl, which comes
from frozen water which is cold and wet, it is possible for us to kindle
in the sun just as we do with the mirror. A greater wonder than this is it
we fill a pure white 36 glass bottle with water and we then heat it in the
sun as we have used the mirror and beryl, it sets [the object] afire. All these
occur by mixing one thing with another. Indeed, our Duwanay (?) said on
this subject that these things work only because they possess [certain] proper
ties which are latent in them. They act as a power which goes out from
them to the object as an act of mingling.

Much of the supernatural element in the text comes from Indian

sources. Many of the books on poisons seem to have had their origin
in Indian culture (and possibly Chinese). In another book on poisons,
written by the Indian, Sh?n?q 37 (Arabic for Chanakya), the Indian
sources have been determined by comparison of the Arabic with the
Indian texts. Startling similarities have been found in the Arthashastra
of Kautilya (Chanakya) and the Nltisdra of K?mandaki. The intro
duction of ibn al-Wahshiya corroborates this evidence. A further check
is to be had by comparing J?bir's Book on Poisons with the others
known.18
Some of the magical sources of the Book of Poisons are mentioned
by the author near the end of the book.39

. . . the magicians cAnkab?th? (?) and Siby?tha have made their selec
tions of works on the elephant, buck, male ass, and man which are described.

36 Meaning colorless.
37 cf. B. Strauss, "Das Giftbuch der S?n?q," Quellen u. Studien zur Gesch. des
Naturio, u. d. Medizin, 4/2 (1935).
38 A. Siggel, ed. and trans?., Das Buck der Gifte des G?bir ibn Hayyan, Wies
baden, 1958. Cf. also M. Steinschneider, "Die toxicologischen Schriften der Araber
. . . ," Archiv f?r pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie u. f. klinische Medizin,
52, 340-375, 467-503 (1871); "Gifte und ihre Heilung, ein Abhandlung der Moses
Maimonides . . . ," ibid., 57, 62-120 (1873).
39 Sehit Ali MS fols. 154a, 154b, 155a.

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44 CHYMIA

Both have spoken of the marvelous effects when these have been fed on
mandrake as they have mentioned the virtues of the bull when fed merely
on thyme 40 and the resulting wonders which appear. These are the secrets
of nature and the concealments of this universe and the most remote aspects
of the science of nature and its stores.
Ab? Bakr b. Wahshiya said, "I have translated the two skillful and won
derful books by cAnkab?th? and Siby?tha but these two are not the ones
mentioned here. I obtained the two books but, for a reason, it was not pos
sible for me to translate them. If I find the opportunity, it devolves upon
me to translate especially the treatise of cAnkab?th? because it is greater than
the work of Siby?tha on this subject. It is so because he begins with the
elephant and mentions its relationship with man which he is in some form.
This is because he is a form belonging to the star Jupiter. There are also
wonders in man since the conquering of nature when he was fashioned.
Then he speaks in this manner of the elephant, the buck, and the bull. I,
therefore, swear by God than whom there is no god greater, and the God
of all, may he be exalted and glorified, that any of the medical men of the
Greeks, Egyptians, Persians, Indians, Chinese, and others could not reach
this [understanding] except the Nabataeans. It is special to them. They per
ceived what all other peoples could not, with the help of God; may he be
honored and glorified. Then the word came back to the author of this book,
The Book of Poisons."

Further on, ibn al-Wahshiya gives other interesting facts on writers

on poisons.41

Ab? Bakr b. Wahshiya said, "I neither heard of Sirw?q? nor saw a book
by him except for this above mentioned book. What I quoted of him is in
the book of Siby?tha mentioned above in which there are seventy eight
chapters on sorcery and the [magical] arts, all of which concern the root of
the mandrake. My dear son, there are in it, by God, many skillful wonders
what I have translated into Arabic in the year about two hundred and
seventy. It is incumbent upon me, if God, may he be exalted, will, to
dictate it to you after I have completed the dictation of this book on poisons.
This book by Siby?tha seems to the reader to be original and that Siby?tha
was the first to discover [these things] and not Sirw?q? or the others. There
are sorceries not only using the mandrake root alone but also mandrake
root together with other ingredients in compounded mixtures. However, they
are put together based on mandrake root as the active agent in sorcery and
charms."

Some of the known substances and materials to be found in ibn

al-Wahshiya's book are soda, "Persian soda/' opium, cadmia, ben nut,

40 Hdsh?.
41 Sehit Ali MS fol. 157a.

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 CHEMISTRY IN THE KITAB AL-SUMUM 45
mace, bindweed, henbane, Yemenite alum, borax, tamarind, Indian
tutty, castoreum, germander, metel nut, iron slag, henna, asafoetida,
bones and hooves of animals, vinegar, oleander, blood of man and
other animals, fennel, green vitriol, animal dung, aristolochia, arsenic,
pitch, mercury, "calcined mercury/' dill, marjoram, euphorbium,
sesquioxide of iron, verdigris, ginger, olive oil, cinnabar, caltrop, gal
banum, hemlock, milk, salt, toadstool, natron, quicklime, sal ammo
niac, and gum ammoniac.
Throughout the book, there are references to Greek, Berber, Per
sian, Indian, Chinese, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and other influences
which played a part in the development of early Muslim chemistry.
It demonstrates clearly that the Muslims were eager to learn from all
sources, synthesize them, and pass them on for future readers.
In so far as the names of the various chemicals are concerned, the
book is invaluable since it contributes many new ones to our knowl
edge. Synonyms are frequently given in other languages. The text is
also a mine of supernatural claims involving chemicals. In this sense,
it should complement the alchemical texts from which much has been
learned about Muslim chemistry.
The references to J?bir ibn Hayy?n and al-Kindi by a ninth
century author indicates the fame at an early date of these great
chemists. In addition, ibn al-Wahshlya's discussion of the status of the
Nabataeans and their science helps in the clarification of their contri
butions to science and culture. It is obvious, contrary to the claims
of the author, that these people were not in a direct path of trans
mission of much culture and science to the Arabs. The supernatural
contents of the author's book itself is the best evidence.
All in all, the text is a very important one. It offers a new bibli
ography in the field, has many new chemicals, shows the influences
of many cultures, gives names of previously unknown chemists, and
divulges an important cross section of ninth-centur Muslim chemistry.

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