(Pseudo-) Apollonius of Tyana (Balīnūs)
c. fifth century CE
trans. Jason Colavito
2018
NOTE |
The history of the Kitāb sirr al-ḫalīqa, or the Book of the Secret of Creation and the Art of Nature, is confused and disputed, but the influence of the text is not. Attributed falsely to Apollonius of Tyana, known in Arabic by the syncopated name Balīnūs, the book became one of the most influential Hermetic texts in Arabic literature, helping to shape the views of the Persian polymath Jābir ibn Hayyān in the eighth century and many others after. As the earliest source of the famed Emerald Tablet, it also has historical value for the West. Scholars dispute whether the text originated in the Hellenistic Period or somewhat later, in Late Antiquity, perhaps the fifth century, but most agree that it began as a Greek treatise on the nature of the universe and everything in it. Sometime in Late Antiquity, a Syrian monk from Barbalissos named Sergius translated the text into Syriac and added to it twenty folios of commentary citing the book as support for the refutation of various Christian heresies. This text, in turn, was translated into Arabic by no later than 955 CE, and each new translator redacted the text to conform to his purpose. The Arabic text exists in two versions, a short form closer to the Greek original and a long form to which additional material from other writers has been interpolated. A recension of the Arabic in which the material added by the various translators had been assimilated under the name of Apollonius entered the West in the twelfth century in a Latin translation by Hugo of Santalla, which contained significant mis-readings and additions and redactions.
Editions of the Latin and Arabic translations have been published, but the book has never been translated into English. Significant excerpts were translated into French in 1798 by Antoine Isaac Silvestre de Sacy, a French nobleman and orientalist. I have translated these below, with excerpts from Silvestre de Sacy’s notes and commentary. My translation is of the sections attributed to Balīnūs, and the reader will, I hope, forgive me for omitting the translation of the excerpts of the twenty folios of Christian commentary and will indulge my somewhat loose adaptation of some of Silvestre de Sacy’s notes. For comparison, I have also provided in the blue boxes excerpts of the parallel translation of the opening and closing from the Latin translation of the book, from the transcription of Paris manuscript 13951 and with notes adapted from the 1907 commentary of F. Nau. Notes are bracketed and in italics. Due to the historicizing and intentionally complex medieval Latin of Hugo, in places I have given the sense of the text more than its word-for-word meaning. The translation by Silvestre de Sacy lacks the Emerald Tablet, either because he omitted it or it was not present in the manuscript he consulted. I therefore provide it from the Latin conclusion. |
THE BOOK OF THE SECRET OF CREATION AND THE ART OF NATURE
Kitāb sirr al-ḫalīqa
F. 1v. This is the book of the sage Balīnūs, who possesses the art of talismans: Here is what Balīnūs says. I am going to expose and develop in this book the knowledge which has been given to me, so that you may hear it, let it penetrate into your minds, and insinuate its principles into your very being. If my words penetrate into a man’s soul, stimulate his faculties, and transmit this motion to its natural source, the man in whom they will produce this effect enjoys all the perfection of his being; his nature is not altered by any accident, his soul is free from the darkness which could form a veil between himself and the pursuit of knowledge: He will collect the fruit of my words in proportion to the degree of his strength. The easier instructions he will receive first, and these will strengthen him and make him capable of acquiring knowledge, and of casting his gaze upon the infinitely varied composition of beings, and upon the causes of all things. But if a man hearing my words feels no impression, if my words do not put in motion the principles of his being, it is a mark that his eyes are shrouded in darkness; then the immense chaos which separates these first and simplest instructions from the most sublime degrees of knowledge, will be for him an insurmountable obstacle, like a thick cloud, which, by its dark shadow, blocks from the eyes of even the most healthy the sight of the stars and the brilliance of their light.
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Latin: Here begins the book of Apollonius on the first cause of things, the beginning of the celestial bodies and the stars, and the plants and also the minerals and animals, and finally mankind. In this volume of the series, I am principally carrying forth the teachings of the most ancient philosophers, taking up the story from the start they made, in order to realize my prudent intention and to breathe into you both intelligence and the deepest of secrets to drive home the nature of separation. Whatever the natural intention that therefore exists in this discussion that contains so much, it will serve to liberate a man from irrelevancies and from outside anxieties, like one who has awakened from sleep. |
I will make known my name to you, that you might love me for my knowledge, that you might meditate on my words, that you might have them before your eyes day and night, and that by studying them earnestly, you might manage to know the secret of nature.
I am the sage Balīnūs, who possesses the art of talismans and marvelous things. I have received from the master of the universe a peculiar science, superior to nature, so subtle that it escapes the vagaries of matter, strong and penetrating. Through the inner senses—which are thought, reflection, intelligence, mind, and judgment—I have grasped all that is imperceptible to the external senses, and I have known by the organ of the external senses all that falls under their action—the colors, the flavors, the smells, the sounds, and the sensations of touch. There is no creature, either of the number of the spiritual and ethereal substances, or among the gross and corporeal beings, none among them capable of being grasped by the organs of the external or internal senses, whose nature, cause, and formation I have not been able to understand. This book penetrates them all; like a fine and inflexible spear, it triumphs over all the obstacles it faces against coarse and corporeal matter.
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Latin, p. 116. I, Apollonius, astonishing in my wonders, therefore, received many secret teachings of a most excellent kind… For, the internal functions of perception, such the perception of cognition, discernment, subtle reflection, revile as inferior and futile that which is received from the external, and they instead recognize instead the hidden things, whatever the color, sound, taste, odor, and touch that come in contact with the body from the outside. |
Now lend your ears to the instructions I shall give to you. All things are composed of four basic principles: hot, cold, wet and dry. These are the elements comprising all that exists; it is by their combination that all things are formed; they are combined with each other, so that they are all carried away by the same rotational movement and form a single assemblage. A single sphere carries them into its orbicular motion; the highest part of its orbit is similar to the lowest part, and the extremities, though far distant, have no difference between them; for the whole is of the same substance, of the same droplet, and forms a single body without any distinction or difference, until the accidents which influence this substance modify it, its parts are separated, and diversified beings are formed among them, by reason of the different combinations of the elementary principles which play a role in their formation; and these beings have different names according to the variations of their substance and their forms.
From these differences in combination, relationships of sympathy and antipathy result between the substance of different beings; some seek each other, others repel one another. They turn and carry themselves to each other because of the affinities that exist between them; they seem to invite beings who are like them to unite with them, and to repulse those which are contrary to them by the opposition they display to them. This is the fundamental principle of science; this comprises the knowledge of the primitive cause of the variety of beings.
I have exposed here this doctrine of the relationships of sympathy and antipathy among the four elementary principles, so that this instruction might serve to shape and exercise the minds of those who read it, that they might know how one can discern beings by their primitive nature, and that they might grasp the affinities and oppositions that these principles have between them. By this they will be able to enter into the knowledge of the causes of all things. This matter being thus placed at the head of this work, once one has come to understand its spirt, he will know the summary of all science: This knowledge will serve as a guide for him to reach the one of all the beings, and he will understand in what manner all that exists was made, and how nature itself was formed. I will now teach you that which concerns me in particular.
From these differences in combination, relationships of sympathy and antipathy result between the substance of different beings; some seek each other, others repel one another. They turn and carry themselves to each other because of the affinities that exist between them; they seem to invite beings who are like them to unite with them, and to repulse those which are contrary to them by the opposition they display to them. This is the fundamental principle of science; this comprises the knowledge of the primitive cause of the variety of beings.
I have exposed here this doctrine of the relationships of sympathy and antipathy among the four elementary principles, so that this instruction might serve to shape and exercise the minds of those who read it, that they might know how one can discern beings by their primitive nature, and that they might grasp the affinities and oppositions that these principles have between them. By this they will be able to enter into the knowledge of the causes of all things. This matter being thus placed at the head of this work, once one has come to understand its spirt, he will know the summary of all science: This knowledge will serve as a guide for him to reach the one of all the beings, and he will understand in what manner all that exists was made, and how nature itself was formed. I will now teach you that which concerns me in particular.
I was an orphan of the people of Tuaya [read: Tuana (Tyana)], totally indigent and destitute of everything. There was in the place where I lived a statue of stone raised on a column of wood; on the column one could read these words: “I am Hermes, to whom knowledge has been given; I have made this wonderful work in public, but afterward I hid the secrets of my art, so that they can only be discovered by a man as learned as I am.” On the breast of the statue one could similarly read these words written in ancient language: “If anyone wishes to know the secret of the creation of beings, and in what way nature has been formed, he should look under my feet.” They came in crowds to see this statue, and everyone looked under its feet without seeing anything. As for me, I was still a weak child; but when I was stronger, and I attained a more advanced age, having read the words that were on the chest of the statue, I understood the meaning, and I undertook to dig the ground under the foot of the column. I discovered a subterranean vault where a thick darkness reigned, and in which the light of the sun could not penetrate. If one wanted to carry in the light of a torch, it was immediately extinguished by the movement of the winds which blew ceaselessly. I found no way to follow the path I had discovered, because of the darkness that filled the underground; and the force of the winds which blew through it did not allow me to enter by the light of the torch. Unable to overcome these obstacles, I slipped into depression, and sleep took hold of my eyes. While I slept an anxious and restless sleep, my mind occupied with the subject of my pain, an old man whose face resembled mine appeared before me and said to me: “Arise, Balīnūs, and enter into this underground path; it will lead you to knowledge of the secrets of creation, and you will come to know how nature was formed.” “The darkness,” I replied, “prevents me from discerning anything in this place, and no light can withstand the wind blowing there.” Then this old man said to me: “Balīnūs, place your light under a transparent vessel. It will thus be sheltered from the winds which will be able to put it out, and it will illuminate this dark place.” These words restored joy to my soul; I felt that I would finally enjoy the object of my desire, and I addressed the man with these words: “Who are you,” I said to him, “to whom I am indebted for such a great blessing?” “I am,” he replied, “your creator, the perfect being.” At that moment I awoke, filled with joy, and placing a light under a transparent vessel, as I had been ordered to do, I descended underground. I saw an old man sitting on a throne of gold, holding in one hand a tablet of emerald, on which was written: “This is the formation of nature”; before him was a book on which this was written: “This is the secret of the creation of beings, and the science of the causes of all things”" I took this book boldly, and without fear, and I departed from this place. I learned what was written in this book of the Secret of the Creation of Beings; I understood how nature was formed, and I acquired knowledge of the causes of all things. My knowledge made my name famous; I knew the art of talismans, and marvelous things, and I penetrated the combinations of the four elementary principles, their different compositions, their antipathies, and their affinities.
[We see that it is Balīnūs himself who is supposed to speak so far. In the subsequent chapters, the translator or the commentator of the work of Balīnūs addresses the reader. This part of the manuscript, which occupies nearly twenty folios, can be regarded as a supplement or introduction to the treatise of Balīnūs. The translator or commentator first sets out in a great detail the subjects which he must deal with in this work, for it is important to observe that he speaks of them as his own work, and that he often seems to identify with the author; then he deals with several questions of metaphysics and theology. After this treatise, which serves as an introduction to Balinus's work, we find the title and the notice I present here in translation:] In the name of God, clement and merciful, this introduction was written by the priest who interpreted the work of the sage Balīnūs, entitled The Collection of All Things. It is I, Sajiyūs [i.e., Sergius] the Priest, whose home and residence is at Balis [i.e., Barbalissos in Syria], who has interpreted the book of Causes, which was placed before Hermes in the subterranean darkness on a talisman made with the most sublime secrets of the arts. I made this interpretation clear and easy without altering or changing anything, so that it is useful to those who want to use it. Here in all its purity is the work of the wise Balīnūs, who possesses the art of wonders. Here is what Balīnūs says, etc. |
Latin, pp. 118-119. But now, I think it appropriate either to stop talking entirely or to tell the story all the way through--for the banquet [of the philosophers] can take place without it. Thus, for the knowledge required by matter and place, it seems sufficient to say that my two parents having been taken away by the assault of adverse fortune, and the insatiable greed of death having removed the consolation, still so necessary, of their presence, as for me, begotten of the family of Athawaca, as someone who, devoid of wealth, deprived of resources, deplores its lack of goods, the pressing inconvenience of a double orphanage led me to be abandoned, according to the rites of human destiny, [being] poor and called to live without being respected. There was, in the region where I dwelled, a certain statue of stone, shining brightly in a wide variety of colors, which its illustrious craftsman put in place above a transparent column both unwavering and steady. On it, these words in the first of all tongues were inscribed thusly: “I, Hermes, built this statue in a public [place], to which, however, by the decree of my craftsman [“mei opificis decreto,” sic for “mei opificii secreto,” “by the secrets of my art”] nobody will be able to gain access if not a philosopher like me.” [It seems that Hugo translated from Hebrew and not from Arabic, because Tuanah (Tyana) has become Thawaca (or Tuaca ), and this change of n to c cannot be explained by an error in the Arabic or by a Latin fault, but only by a bad reading of Hebrew. We do not find here (fol. 5) the few lines: “What we have just said is taken from the translation of the book of Causes made by the priest who lived in Balis and made his residence there, but here are Balīnūs's own words.” On the other hand, we find a second chapter, “De confirmanda unitate and rerum exordio,” which encloses the prayer of Apollonius from the fourth line. (S. 131). The Latin contains the history of Baheth (fol. 5 v. and 6 r.) but without any proper name. (S. pp. 138-139) These lines are not found in the Latin: “In the name of God, this beginning was written by the priest who interpreted the work of the wise Balīnūs,” or all the rest, so one wonders whether these lines have not been added by an Arab Muslim author who begins with the formula: "In the name of God clement and merciful” and wants to explain how a work attributed to Apollonius of Tyana can mention Bardasian, who lived after. These extracts are already enough to show that this is an Arabic translation, that the Latin translation, by the deformation of the proper names, was made from an Eastern version, that it paraphrases greatly and also presents a certain number of omissions.] |
[It is here, then, that Balīnūs's work seems to begin. It is divided into chapters and paragraphs, whose subject is indicated by titles which in our manuscript are written in red ink. To put the reader in a position to judge for himself the merit of this book, I will provide some excerpts. I will choose the first chapters, which deal with God and the formation of the universe, and some pieces relating to the production of the three kindgoms of nature.]
F. 20v. This is what the wise Balīnūs, who possesses the art of wonders, says. I will glorify him who made me, and I will say: “Praise be to God the Creator, who alone began the work of creation, who drew the creatures from nothingness and formed them into pairs; for the creator is alone, but every creature is formed by a couple. The creator is too great and too exalted for something created be like unto him, or for him to be like unto his creatures. He is too far above the intelligences he created to be understood by thought, or seen by the eyes, or heard by the ears; it is he who has created all beings and all that is necessary for each one of them. He has created them all through pairs to better distinguish his unity and his sovereignty; for he is alone, as we have said. . . . The creatures, on the contrary, are all in pairs: the two parts which form the pair are of the same nature, but they can be united or divided. After having thus paid homage to the unity and omnipotence of the creator, I will make known the cause of things created.
F. 21r. The first thing God created was this word: the cause of all subsequent creations; thus, all the other creations have had a cause, and this is the first of all the generative unions, that of the creation and the cause; but let us give the explanation of this. It is undoubted that creatures ought to have a cause, for without it, they would make fires like God, which no one would dare support. There was, therefore, a cause which contributed to the production of creatures, and it was necessary that this cause should be united with other things, so that from this union the creature might be produced; for had not the cause been united to anything, the creature would not have been created, and the cause would not really have been a cause. It cannot be that the creator has been the cause of the creatures; for it must necessarily be that there is between the cause and that which is the product of the cause, points of resemblance, or of difference. Now, there can be no connection, as has already been said, between the creator and the creature; the creator cannot therefore be the cause of the creatures, since we cannot say of the creature whether it resembles or differs from the creator. The word of God is too excellent to be sullied by the senses, because it has neither any elementary quality nor any substance; that is, it is not hot or cold, neither wet nor dry. Nevertheless, everything was done by the means, by the order, and by the will of God. The creatures can no more grasp the word of God, than they can make that which has never been created and does not exist. They can only grasp that which has been given to their intelligence to comprehend, all the things which, like them, are part of created beings. They exist in the world, and they are part of its existence, and they know it in proportion to the degree of knowledge and intelligence which has been given to them.
The first thing that appeared was the light of the word of God: it gave birth to action, action to movement, and movement to heat. This was the principle of beings created with a cause; then, movement having ceased, rest followed. The measure of each of these two states was seventy thousand years, and all this was an effect of the word of God. When God wished to render this first creation useful, and to multiply creatures, whether they be animal or vegetable, the movement, which is the same thing as heat, was again the generative action which he took to give birth to man, and which, directed by the creator and passing through different degrees, produced all that could be useful to man.
[I will not undertake to translate all that our author says about the formation of the universe; that would take me far too long, and I would have to engage in lengthy discussions of it because of the obscurity of his text, which, moreover, seems to me to have often been altered by the copyist. I will therefore content myself with giving an idea of the system, as far as I can make sense of it.]
F. 22r. Movement having given birth to its heat, heat contributed reciprocally to increase the activity of the movement. Thence arose an extreme agitation in all parts of matter, the measure of which was 60,250 years. This work lasted only forty-eight hours. This agitation gave rise to a division of matter; it separated into several portions which rose because of their volatility and their relative lightness. Twelve layers of matter having risen to the highest level, the coarsest part of the matter, which was deprived of movement and heat, conceived the desire to receive a fruitful impression. The heat was then communicated to it by the upper parties, and this communication at the same time made it participate in the movement, for the heat having covered it and, so to speak, brooded for some time, the parts which were in immediate contact with the heat warmed up, went into motion, and rose, but not, however, to the height of the preceding layers. Two new layers or divisions were formed, and these fourteen divisions form the seven heavens and the seven lands. The measure of this coarser part of matter which gave birth to these last two layers is 9,750 years. All the layers answer to a measure of 70,000 years; understand this: a thousand for each of the seven lands, as much for each of the six lower heavens, and 57,000 for the seventh heaven.
In the first process which gave birth to the first twelve layers, there was only division, and no point of combination, or generative union; in the second, on the contrary, there was a combination of heat and cold, a powerful coupling. Each of these operations was completed in forty-eight hours. In this kind of generative union which took place in the fecundity of these operations, the heat performed the function of the male, and the cold that of the female. Their union produced humidity, and from that time new combinations were formed: The cold united to the dryness produced the earth; united with moisture, it produced [water; heat united with dryness, giving birth to fire; united with humidity, it produced] air. In these marriages, the heat always performs the male’s function, the cold, on the contrary, always held the place of the female. At the end of ninety-six hours the movement and heat came to an end, the divisions that were formed remained, the creatures of the three kingdoms appeared, and the world was entirely formed.
[After having thus exposed his system to the formation of the four elementary substances, the author sets out to explain in a particular way the formation of the seven heavens and the seven stars, which govern all things. First of all, he posits that lightness is the cause of ascension, and heaviness is the cause of fixity, that is to say, of this quality of bodies which is opposed to volatilization; that heat is the essence of lightness, and cold the essence of heaviness; finally, that movement is the inseparable characteristic, the necessary property constitutive of the heat, and the rest that of the cold. Afterward, he says:]
F. 24r&v. All heavens were not formed at the same time. The action of the elemental heat being first carried on the aerial principle, owing to the resemblance and relation of these two elements, its motion soon communicated to the other two elements, the land and the water. The water, being less heavy than the earth, was the first in motion, and a vapor rose from it. In rising, this vapor met the aerial principle, collided with it, mingled with it, and by its lightness and volatility, it fled at an immense distance; it finally stopped and formed the heaven of Saturn.
The action of fire, however, continued to impress motion onto the aqueous principle; and it elevated a vapor less volatile and less abundant than the first vapor, the subtlest part having first cleared. This cold vapor, although of the same nature as the first, did not reach the same degree of ascent; when it had exhausted all the strength that carried it upward, it settled down and formed the heaven of Jupiter.
The movement imparted to the element of water by the elementary fire, lasted forever, and the pushing of the rotation of the already formed heavens increased its activity.
He successively raised in the same manner several other layers of vapors, the volatility of which steadily diminished by the loss which the preceding emanations had caused to the principle of moisture, and which led to an increasing domination of the principle of dryness or the earthy element. These different layers of vapor, by fixing them at the point where their degree of volatility bore them, formed the heaven of Mars, the heaven of the Sun, the heaven of Venus, the heaven of Mercury; and finally, the heaven nearest to the earth, which is that of the Moon.
F. 25v. We must now explain how the seven planets were formed, why there is only one star in each heaven, except in the heaven of the Moon, which is dotted with a large number of stars; and finally, why the stars are round and not of a square or triangular form. After the heavens had been formed, the heat, which is the same thing as fire, mingled with the rest of the same aerial principle which had been used in the formation of the heavens, but of which a part could not be carried away by the aqueous vapor, because of its too great subtlety, which had subtracted it from the action of this element. From this mixture of fire and air were formed the stars, the Sun, and the Moon; all the stars, therefore, are nothing more than a luminous matter formed of fire and air; this luminous matter rose up and met at the summit of the vault of heaven; for the heavens formed a vault, because of the wind and the vapor which entered into their substance. Having thus ascended to the summit of heaven, the luminous matter found itself restrained and compressed by the vault of the heavens, and could not satisfy its degree of natural volatility, which made it rise still higher. Then, all parts being compressed one by the other, it threw out flames and sparks, and began to descend from the seventh heaven, extending in length and breadth. A part, however, remained suspended in the seventh heaven. The movement of the mantle of this luminous matter increased its heat, and the humid principle deteriorated, and the principle of fire dominated it more and more; it continued to burst, and several portions were successively detached from it. These portions, thus detached, ascended to the seventh heaven, and the principal mass continued to descend. The portion of luminous matter, which was suspended in the vault of the seventh heaven, became like the soul of which this heaven was the body, and it is the planet Saturn. The mass of luminous matter which continued to descend, always experiencing an increase in heat and dryness, was divided into a great number of portions, and each heaven which it traversed retained a portion of it. The portions which thus remained suspended in the vault of the sixth and fifth heavens formed the planets Jupiter and Mars. When the mass of the luminous matter had reached the fourth heaven, it stopped there, its parts came together, assumed a round form, and formed the Sun. It has already been said that after the formation of Saturn, a few errant parts of the mass of the luminous matter were again raised towards the seventh heaven; but these portions could not be fixed there because the seventh heaven had retained as much luminous matter as its nature entailed, and that it was, so to speak, saturated with it. These superabundant portions were therefore obliged to descend again to the lower heavens; the same happened in the heaven of Jupiter and in that of Mars; all this excess of luminous matter having reached the fourth heaven, there it met with a great number of such superabundant portions, which the Sun had allowed to escape. All these fragments of the luminous matter collided, and having united, descended towards the third heaven, which retained a portion of it that formed the star of Venus. The rest continued to descend and crossed the second heaven; the portion which remained suspended in the second heaven formed the star of Mercury, and all the rest united in the first heaven. This residue was no longer homogeneous, it partook of the qualities of the six stars already formed. The portions emanating from the Sun united in one body, and formed the Moon; this is why the moon draws its light from the sun, and effaces the brightness of the other stars. The parts emanating from the other planets were divided into a great number of portions, and formed all the stars.
F. 27. The superabundant portions of the luminous material, descending from the heaven of Saturn, left in the heavens two traces of their passage: these traces make what is called burdj, that is to say, the house or sign of the zodiac. The two traces formed by the passage of the emanations of Saturn, are Capricorn and Aquarius; the first is cold and dry, and the second hot and humid. It was the same with the other stars; the emanations of each of them left two traces. The two traces formed by the emanations of Jupiter are Sagittarius and Pisces; the first is hot and dry, and the second cold and wet. Aries and Scorpio were formed by the passage of the emanations of Mars; Aries is hot and dry, and the Scorpion cold and wet. The emanations of the Sun left only one trace. It is Leo, which is warm and dry. Libra and Taurus were formed by the emanations of Venus; the Scale is hot and wet, Taurus cold and dry. The two traces formed by the passage of the emanations of Mercury are Gemini and the Virgin; the first of these signs is hot and wet, the second cold and dry. Finally, the excess of luminous matter which had been used in the formation of the Moon, having been separated from this star, likewise left a trace of its passage. [It is Cancer which is cold and wet.] Here is the reason why the emanations of the Sun left only one trace, while those of the other stars left two; the emanations of Saturn and the other planets, with the exception of the Sun and the Moon, were of two natures. A part had escaped from the very body of the star at the time of its formation; the other part was composed of the splinters of the luminous mass, which rose towards these planets after their formation and could not be fixed there, because their heaven was already saturated with it.
The Sun, on the contrary, having absorbed in its formation the entire mass of the luminous matter, did not elevate, after it was formed, any superabundant portions towards itself, and its emanations consisted only in the portions which it let escape at the time of formation. Thus, the emanations of Saturn and the other planets were of two types, while those of the Sun and of the Moon, which was formed only from the emanations of the Sun, were absolutely homogeneous.
[I believe that this abridged exposition of our author’s system of the formation of the heavens and celestial bodies is sufficient to give an idea of his knowledge of astronomy. Let us now listen to him speak about mineralogy and vegetable and animal substances.]
F. 49r. All sublunary bodies owe their existence to the action of celestial bodies. The heavens were not even fully formed before they began to move; their rotation produced a mixture of the coarse parts and subtle parts of matter: the elements came together and united with one another in a generative alliance. From these operations the substances of the three kingdoms resulted; the minerals were formed first: these dead and lifeless bodies responded to the state of the celestial spheres at the first moment of their formation; they were still only weak, dark, inanimate bodies, and they had only a corporeal power. The stars were not yet formed to animate the celestial spheres. The subtlest part of matter had been raised up, and the seven heavens had been formed, exercising on the softer part which had remained below the same dominion which the soul exerts over the body, impressing upon it motion; this movement gave birth to the mineral substances, divided into three hundred and sixty types, a number which corresponds to that of the degrees of the circumference of the heavens.
The stars having been formed, became the souls of the celestial spheres, and this new power of heaven, acting concurrently with the first on sublunary matter, produced animated bodies, but their lives were imperfect only, because the motion the heavens had acquired only a weak degree of activity. The bodies produced by the concurrence of these two powers are those of the vegetable kingdom.
When the movement of the celestial spheres had attained all of its force, this new power united with the two preceding it, and produced the animal substances by the action it exerted on the sublunary matter.
Thus, animals unite the body and the soul, that is, life and movement, because they are the product of the action of the three celestial powers: the heavens, the stars, and the rotation of the celestial bodies. Plants, which have as principles of their formation only the heavens and the stars, are only animated bodies and are deprived of movement. Minerals are purely bodily substances, also devoid of movement and life, because they owe their formation only to the celestial spheres in their state of inertia, without the concurrence of any other power.
Among the substances of the mineral kingdom, there are different degrees of perfection; the most perfect are the fusible minerals, whose number is equal to that of the planets. Each of these metals belongs to one of the planets; lead to Saturn, tin to Jupiter, iron to Mars, gold to the Sun, copper to Venus, quicksilver to Mercury, and silver to the Moon. Some are male; they are lead, iron, and gold. Others are females, and of this sex are of copper and silver; quicksilver is sometimes male; and sometimes female. The body and the mind are differentiated in each metal, and each of them participates in the qualities of the star under whose domination it falls, and in the qualities of the zodiac signs affixed to this star. Thus, lead participates in Capricorn and Aquarius, which are the two dependent signs of Saturn. Capricorn is the body of this star, and Aquarius its spirit: the first is cold and dry, the second hot and humid. In one of these two signs it acts by the qualities of its body, and in the other by those of its mind.
[Similar details are found for the other metals. A large number of other mineral substances, stones, salts, etc. are classified in the same way, with the metals to which they appear to have the closest relation, under the domination of the seven planets. Let us see how the author explains the formation of some of these metals.]
F. 53v. Quicksilver is a fusible body; it must originate from a portion of water confined and constricted in the mine. This portion of water, volatilized at first by the action of heat, rose towards the summit of the mine, and finding no escape, attached itself to it in the form of vapor; it cools there insensibly, its molecules came closer, and returning to its first state, it became water, and was carried back by its heaviness to the bottom of the mine. A new volatilization produced the same effect as the first, and was followed by a second cooling, which reduced it to its primitive nature. These operations repeated several times, but with each new volatilization, the aqueous substance diminished and became more spiritous and lighter. It retained always some new portion of the heat which reduced it to vapor, and this heat augmented that which it had received in its first formation, for water in its principle had been combined with light, and this is the cause of its fluidity, and what prevents it from being a solid body like stone. By the increase of the principle of heat, this water acquired the property of dissolving bodies, every hot and wet substance being naturally a solvent; it seized the sulfur, made it enter into dissolution, incorporated it, and by a long digestion and a smooth boiling, the spirit of the sulfur penetrated the parts of the water, the principle of quicksilver, and became the spirit of the quicksilver. The fluidity of the water served as a glue to retain the dry molecules of sulfur, and the dryness of the sulfur gave this compound a degree of adherence to prevent it from dividing like water, and from mingling with fluids.
F. 54 v. & 61r. Quicksilver is the first of all metals; the variety of their colors, their favors, and their odors, comes only from the places where they are formed, and from the action of the four elementary principles in their formation. All of them are based on quicksilver and all of them are corruptions of gold; their substance is the same as that of this metal, but various accidents that occurred during their formation have arrested and modified them without altering their primitive substance.
F. 63r. Quicksilver being thus formed, the body of this metal was hot and damp, and it spirit cold and dry; that is why quicksilver is under the domination of Mercury; for of the two zodiacal attributes attributed to this star, the one of Gemini, which is its body, is hot and humid; the other, which is the Virgin, is cold and dry. The moist principle thus occupied the surface of quicksilver molecules, and the dry principle was in the interior; the place where quicksilver was formed, being of a moderate temperature, and free from all saline, bitter, acidic, or foul substances, this metal entered into fermentation by the effect of heat united with moisture; It became volatile, the adherence of its molecules was destroyed, and the heat of fermentation penetrated these molecules themselves. The heat united with the principle which occupied the interior of the quicksilver, and increased its energy. This principle thus succeeded in dominating in this metal, and rose to its surface, and it coagulated also in all its parts: The cold, which was present in the first combination of quicksilver, disappeared, and there remained in this new compound only the principle of heat united to the principle of moisture, and this same principle united to that of dryness. These two combinations, which are air and fire, gave birth, by their mixture, to the red color which appears on the surface of the metal. The taste of gold is sweet, because sweetness holds the middle ground between flavors, like the Sun between the planets. The great weight of gold is caused by the density of this metal, that is to say, by the extreme closeness of its molecules; and the cause of this density is the perfect dissolution of quicksilver. The principle of dryness, occupying the surface of the molecules of gold, compresses and retains the principle of fluidity, bringing the parts of this metal together, and increasing its particular weight.
[This is the way in which our author explains the formation of each particular metal, and of a great number of mineral substances which he looks upon as having begun as metals, whose metallization was intercepted by various accidents.
In reading the detail he goes into about the production of the metallic bodies in the origin of the world, and of their affinities with the celestial spheres, the celestial bodies, and signs of the zodiac, I had expected to find in the following section of his work, instructions about how to proceed in search for the philosopher’s stone. However, I did not find anything like it. This leads me to conclude that the author had reserved this subject for a second treatise, which he announces as the sequel to this one, and which he says he entitled: On Creation and the Created.
It remains for me to give some examples of the questions which he proposes on the formation of vegetable and animal substances, and the manner in which he refutes them. I will choose the shortest ones so as not to abuse the patience of the reader.
The author asks why all the seeds and kernels have a cleft; and here is what he answers:]
F. 89r. Reproduction can be done only by way of generation, and there is no generation without the union of the male and the female. Plants having only a mediocre heat and an imperfect life, so they cannot, like animals, be transported from one place to another; that is why the two sexes do not separate in them as in animals; they have, however, the distinction of the two sexes, but they are united in one place, and for this reason all seeds have a cleft.
[We see that by this cleft the author understands the insertion and implantation of the germ into the body of the seed. Here is another example taken from the vegetable kingdom.]
F. 88v. Why do trees have leaves?
The fruits and the seeds are to the plants, as babies and the spermatic liquor are to animals. As for the leaves, they are fruits that have started, but whose entire formation was stopped by a blast of hot wind. The action of these winds, by communicating themselves to the interior parts of the trees, excited the thinnest part of their substance to reach the upper extremities. Thus, this substance did not remain long enough in the interior of the trees to undergo all the boiling which was to make it pass to the state of fruit. This substance being thus subtracted from the generative action, and the fertilizing operation having only begun, produced only leaves, instead of fruit, in proportion to the degree of fertilization which it had experienced.
[The last example I will take from the vegetable kingdom contains two questions.]
Why do some fruits and seeds have a round shape and others an elongated shape?
[The first of these forms is due, following our author, to the width of the matrix in which they were formed, and to the abundance of air; the other is the effect of a narrow matrix and abundant moisture.]
F. 90r&v. The sap having reached the vessels where fertilization is to take place, there finds an empty space and a certain amount of moisture: the heat of digestion or boiling of the sap communicating with this moisture, resolves it into a vapor; and this vapor produces a wind that moves through the matrix to seek a way out. The action of the wind is communicated to the feminine liquor and makes it take a circular motion. If the matrix is broad, the fruit or the seed becomes round; if, on the contrary, the matrix is narrow, and the wind and the vapor produced by the fertilization cannot move freely, the seminal liquor tries to escape the heat, flees and takes on an elongated shape.
[I will choose as examples from the animal kingdom a small number of questions relating to the production of teeth.]
F. 94v. Why do animals have teeth in their mouths?
It is an effect of heat. Teeth are a kind of plant; they derive their origin from the substance of the bones: the bones being coagulated by the force of the fiery principle, and having acquired a degree of dryness and eminent solidity, a part of the substance destined for their formation was superfluous. This substance was of the same nature as the bones, but as they had received all their perfection, it could no longer be used for this purpose. The heat still acting on it, the substance rose to escape its action. Having reached the mouth, it sprouted there, and the action of the air solidified it, and from there the teeth were formed.
Why are the teeth divided?
Because the bone substance of which they are formed is superfluous material from every one of the limbs, and consequently has different qualities. This substance was divided by reason of the different qualities of the limbs which had furnished it, and it formed different germs.
F. 95r. Why are the teeth white rather than black?
It is an effect of the combined action of moisture and heat. The teeth being exposed sometimes to the action of moisture, sometimes to that of heat, are heated and moistened alternately; this is the cause of their whiteness, just as we see happen from the successive action of the dew and the sun.
Why do teeth fall out?
This is the effect of excess moisture. Moisture being too abundant in the roots of the teeth, the principle of dryness becomes weak and lacks sufficient strength to grip and hold the teeth, and they fall out. Similarly, the earth retains plants as long as it is only moderately moist; but when it is too wet and has become like mud, it no longer has the strength to support them.
F. 20v. This is what the wise Balīnūs, who possesses the art of wonders, says. I will glorify him who made me, and I will say: “Praise be to God the Creator, who alone began the work of creation, who drew the creatures from nothingness and formed them into pairs; for the creator is alone, but every creature is formed by a couple. The creator is too great and too exalted for something created be like unto him, or for him to be like unto his creatures. He is too far above the intelligences he created to be understood by thought, or seen by the eyes, or heard by the ears; it is he who has created all beings and all that is necessary for each one of them. He has created them all through pairs to better distinguish his unity and his sovereignty; for he is alone, as we have said. . . . The creatures, on the contrary, are all in pairs: the two parts which form the pair are of the same nature, but they can be united or divided. After having thus paid homage to the unity and omnipotence of the creator, I will make known the cause of things created.
F. 21r. The first thing God created was this word: the cause of all subsequent creations; thus, all the other creations have had a cause, and this is the first of all the generative unions, that of the creation and the cause; but let us give the explanation of this. It is undoubted that creatures ought to have a cause, for without it, they would make fires like God, which no one would dare support. There was, therefore, a cause which contributed to the production of creatures, and it was necessary that this cause should be united with other things, so that from this union the creature might be produced; for had not the cause been united to anything, the creature would not have been created, and the cause would not really have been a cause. It cannot be that the creator has been the cause of the creatures; for it must necessarily be that there is between the cause and that which is the product of the cause, points of resemblance, or of difference. Now, there can be no connection, as has already been said, between the creator and the creature; the creator cannot therefore be the cause of the creatures, since we cannot say of the creature whether it resembles or differs from the creator. The word of God is too excellent to be sullied by the senses, because it has neither any elementary quality nor any substance; that is, it is not hot or cold, neither wet nor dry. Nevertheless, everything was done by the means, by the order, and by the will of God. The creatures can no more grasp the word of God, than they can make that which has never been created and does not exist. They can only grasp that which has been given to their intelligence to comprehend, all the things which, like them, are part of created beings. They exist in the world, and they are part of its existence, and they know it in proportion to the degree of knowledge and intelligence which has been given to them.
The first thing that appeared was the light of the word of God: it gave birth to action, action to movement, and movement to heat. This was the principle of beings created with a cause; then, movement having ceased, rest followed. The measure of each of these two states was seventy thousand years, and all this was an effect of the word of God. When God wished to render this first creation useful, and to multiply creatures, whether they be animal or vegetable, the movement, which is the same thing as heat, was again the generative action which he took to give birth to man, and which, directed by the creator and passing through different degrees, produced all that could be useful to man.
[I will not undertake to translate all that our author says about the formation of the universe; that would take me far too long, and I would have to engage in lengthy discussions of it because of the obscurity of his text, which, moreover, seems to me to have often been altered by the copyist. I will therefore content myself with giving an idea of the system, as far as I can make sense of it.]
F. 22r. Movement having given birth to its heat, heat contributed reciprocally to increase the activity of the movement. Thence arose an extreme agitation in all parts of matter, the measure of which was 60,250 years. This work lasted only forty-eight hours. This agitation gave rise to a division of matter; it separated into several portions which rose because of their volatility and their relative lightness. Twelve layers of matter having risen to the highest level, the coarsest part of the matter, which was deprived of movement and heat, conceived the desire to receive a fruitful impression. The heat was then communicated to it by the upper parties, and this communication at the same time made it participate in the movement, for the heat having covered it and, so to speak, brooded for some time, the parts which were in immediate contact with the heat warmed up, went into motion, and rose, but not, however, to the height of the preceding layers. Two new layers or divisions were formed, and these fourteen divisions form the seven heavens and the seven lands. The measure of this coarser part of matter which gave birth to these last two layers is 9,750 years. All the layers answer to a measure of 70,000 years; understand this: a thousand for each of the seven lands, as much for each of the six lower heavens, and 57,000 for the seventh heaven.
In the first process which gave birth to the first twelve layers, there was only division, and no point of combination, or generative union; in the second, on the contrary, there was a combination of heat and cold, a powerful coupling. Each of these operations was completed in forty-eight hours. In this kind of generative union which took place in the fecundity of these operations, the heat performed the function of the male, and the cold that of the female. Their union produced humidity, and from that time new combinations were formed: The cold united to the dryness produced the earth; united with moisture, it produced [water; heat united with dryness, giving birth to fire; united with humidity, it produced] air. In these marriages, the heat always performs the male’s function, the cold, on the contrary, always held the place of the female. At the end of ninety-six hours the movement and heat came to an end, the divisions that were formed remained, the creatures of the three kingdoms appeared, and the world was entirely formed.
[After having thus exposed his system to the formation of the four elementary substances, the author sets out to explain in a particular way the formation of the seven heavens and the seven stars, which govern all things. First of all, he posits that lightness is the cause of ascension, and heaviness is the cause of fixity, that is to say, of this quality of bodies which is opposed to volatilization; that heat is the essence of lightness, and cold the essence of heaviness; finally, that movement is the inseparable characteristic, the necessary property constitutive of the heat, and the rest that of the cold. Afterward, he says:]
F. 24r&v. All heavens were not formed at the same time. The action of the elemental heat being first carried on the aerial principle, owing to the resemblance and relation of these two elements, its motion soon communicated to the other two elements, the land and the water. The water, being less heavy than the earth, was the first in motion, and a vapor rose from it. In rising, this vapor met the aerial principle, collided with it, mingled with it, and by its lightness and volatility, it fled at an immense distance; it finally stopped and formed the heaven of Saturn.
The action of fire, however, continued to impress motion onto the aqueous principle; and it elevated a vapor less volatile and less abundant than the first vapor, the subtlest part having first cleared. This cold vapor, although of the same nature as the first, did not reach the same degree of ascent; when it had exhausted all the strength that carried it upward, it settled down and formed the heaven of Jupiter.
The movement imparted to the element of water by the elementary fire, lasted forever, and the pushing of the rotation of the already formed heavens increased its activity.
He successively raised in the same manner several other layers of vapors, the volatility of which steadily diminished by the loss which the preceding emanations had caused to the principle of moisture, and which led to an increasing domination of the principle of dryness or the earthy element. These different layers of vapor, by fixing them at the point where their degree of volatility bore them, formed the heaven of Mars, the heaven of the Sun, the heaven of Venus, the heaven of Mercury; and finally, the heaven nearest to the earth, which is that of the Moon.
F. 25v. We must now explain how the seven planets were formed, why there is only one star in each heaven, except in the heaven of the Moon, which is dotted with a large number of stars; and finally, why the stars are round and not of a square or triangular form. After the heavens had been formed, the heat, which is the same thing as fire, mingled with the rest of the same aerial principle which had been used in the formation of the heavens, but of which a part could not be carried away by the aqueous vapor, because of its too great subtlety, which had subtracted it from the action of this element. From this mixture of fire and air were formed the stars, the Sun, and the Moon; all the stars, therefore, are nothing more than a luminous matter formed of fire and air; this luminous matter rose up and met at the summit of the vault of heaven; for the heavens formed a vault, because of the wind and the vapor which entered into their substance. Having thus ascended to the summit of heaven, the luminous matter found itself restrained and compressed by the vault of the heavens, and could not satisfy its degree of natural volatility, which made it rise still higher. Then, all parts being compressed one by the other, it threw out flames and sparks, and began to descend from the seventh heaven, extending in length and breadth. A part, however, remained suspended in the seventh heaven. The movement of the mantle of this luminous matter increased its heat, and the humid principle deteriorated, and the principle of fire dominated it more and more; it continued to burst, and several portions were successively detached from it. These portions, thus detached, ascended to the seventh heaven, and the principal mass continued to descend. The portion of luminous matter, which was suspended in the vault of the seventh heaven, became like the soul of which this heaven was the body, and it is the planet Saturn. The mass of luminous matter which continued to descend, always experiencing an increase in heat and dryness, was divided into a great number of portions, and each heaven which it traversed retained a portion of it. The portions which thus remained suspended in the vault of the sixth and fifth heavens formed the planets Jupiter and Mars. When the mass of the luminous matter had reached the fourth heaven, it stopped there, its parts came together, assumed a round form, and formed the Sun. It has already been said that after the formation of Saturn, a few errant parts of the mass of the luminous matter were again raised towards the seventh heaven; but these portions could not be fixed there because the seventh heaven had retained as much luminous matter as its nature entailed, and that it was, so to speak, saturated with it. These superabundant portions were therefore obliged to descend again to the lower heavens; the same happened in the heaven of Jupiter and in that of Mars; all this excess of luminous matter having reached the fourth heaven, there it met with a great number of such superabundant portions, which the Sun had allowed to escape. All these fragments of the luminous matter collided, and having united, descended towards the third heaven, which retained a portion of it that formed the star of Venus. The rest continued to descend and crossed the second heaven; the portion which remained suspended in the second heaven formed the star of Mercury, and all the rest united in the first heaven. This residue was no longer homogeneous, it partook of the qualities of the six stars already formed. The portions emanating from the Sun united in one body, and formed the Moon; this is why the moon draws its light from the sun, and effaces the brightness of the other stars. The parts emanating from the other planets were divided into a great number of portions, and formed all the stars.
F. 27. The superabundant portions of the luminous material, descending from the heaven of Saturn, left in the heavens two traces of their passage: these traces make what is called burdj, that is to say, the house or sign of the zodiac. The two traces formed by the passage of the emanations of Saturn, are Capricorn and Aquarius; the first is cold and dry, and the second hot and humid. It was the same with the other stars; the emanations of each of them left two traces. The two traces formed by the emanations of Jupiter are Sagittarius and Pisces; the first is hot and dry, and the second cold and wet. Aries and Scorpio were formed by the passage of the emanations of Mars; Aries is hot and dry, and the Scorpion cold and wet. The emanations of the Sun left only one trace. It is Leo, which is warm and dry. Libra and Taurus were formed by the emanations of Venus; the Scale is hot and wet, Taurus cold and dry. The two traces formed by the passage of the emanations of Mercury are Gemini and the Virgin; the first of these signs is hot and wet, the second cold and dry. Finally, the excess of luminous matter which had been used in the formation of the Moon, having been separated from this star, likewise left a trace of its passage. [It is Cancer which is cold and wet.] Here is the reason why the emanations of the Sun left only one trace, while those of the other stars left two; the emanations of Saturn and the other planets, with the exception of the Sun and the Moon, were of two natures. A part had escaped from the very body of the star at the time of its formation; the other part was composed of the splinters of the luminous mass, which rose towards these planets after their formation and could not be fixed there, because their heaven was already saturated with it.
The Sun, on the contrary, having absorbed in its formation the entire mass of the luminous matter, did not elevate, after it was formed, any superabundant portions towards itself, and its emanations consisted only in the portions which it let escape at the time of formation. Thus, the emanations of Saturn and the other planets were of two types, while those of the Sun and of the Moon, which was formed only from the emanations of the Sun, were absolutely homogeneous.
[I believe that this abridged exposition of our author’s system of the formation of the heavens and celestial bodies is sufficient to give an idea of his knowledge of astronomy. Let us now listen to him speak about mineralogy and vegetable and animal substances.]
F. 49r. All sublunary bodies owe their existence to the action of celestial bodies. The heavens were not even fully formed before they began to move; their rotation produced a mixture of the coarse parts and subtle parts of matter: the elements came together and united with one another in a generative alliance. From these operations the substances of the three kingdoms resulted; the minerals were formed first: these dead and lifeless bodies responded to the state of the celestial spheres at the first moment of their formation; they were still only weak, dark, inanimate bodies, and they had only a corporeal power. The stars were not yet formed to animate the celestial spheres. The subtlest part of matter had been raised up, and the seven heavens had been formed, exercising on the softer part which had remained below the same dominion which the soul exerts over the body, impressing upon it motion; this movement gave birth to the mineral substances, divided into three hundred and sixty types, a number which corresponds to that of the degrees of the circumference of the heavens.
The stars having been formed, became the souls of the celestial spheres, and this new power of heaven, acting concurrently with the first on sublunary matter, produced animated bodies, but their lives were imperfect only, because the motion the heavens had acquired only a weak degree of activity. The bodies produced by the concurrence of these two powers are those of the vegetable kingdom.
When the movement of the celestial spheres had attained all of its force, this new power united with the two preceding it, and produced the animal substances by the action it exerted on the sublunary matter.
Thus, animals unite the body and the soul, that is, life and movement, because they are the product of the action of the three celestial powers: the heavens, the stars, and the rotation of the celestial bodies. Plants, which have as principles of their formation only the heavens and the stars, are only animated bodies and are deprived of movement. Minerals are purely bodily substances, also devoid of movement and life, because they owe their formation only to the celestial spheres in their state of inertia, without the concurrence of any other power.
Among the substances of the mineral kingdom, there are different degrees of perfection; the most perfect are the fusible minerals, whose number is equal to that of the planets. Each of these metals belongs to one of the planets; lead to Saturn, tin to Jupiter, iron to Mars, gold to the Sun, copper to Venus, quicksilver to Mercury, and silver to the Moon. Some are male; they are lead, iron, and gold. Others are females, and of this sex are of copper and silver; quicksilver is sometimes male; and sometimes female. The body and the mind are differentiated in each metal, and each of them participates in the qualities of the star under whose domination it falls, and in the qualities of the zodiac signs affixed to this star. Thus, lead participates in Capricorn and Aquarius, which are the two dependent signs of Saturn. Capricorn is the body of this star, and Aquarius its spirit: the first is cold and dry, the second hot and humid. In one of these two signs it acts by the qualities of its body, and in the other by those of its mind.
[Similar details are found for the other metals. A large number of other mineral substances, stones, salts, etc. are classified in the same way, with the metals to which they appear to have the closest relation, under the domination of the seven planets. Let us see how the author explains the formation of some of these metals.]
F. 53v. Quicksilver is a fusible body; it must originate from a portion of water confined and constricted in the mine. This portion of water, volatilized at first by the action of heat, rose towards the summit of the mine, and finding no escape, attached itself to it in the form of vapor; it cools there insensibly, its molecules came closer, and returning to its first state, it became water, and was carried back by its heaviness to the bottom of the mine. A new volatilization produced the same effect as the first, and was followed by a second cooling, which reduced it to its primitive nature. These operations repeated several times, but with each new volatilization, the aqueous substance diminished and became more spiritous and lighter. It retained always some new portion of the heat which reduced it to vapor, and this heat augmented that which it had received in its first formation, for water in its principle had been combined with light, and this is the cause of its fluidity, and what prevents it from being a solid body like stone. By the increase of the principle of heat, this water acquired the property of dissolving bodies, every hot and wet substance being naturally a solvent; it seized the sulfur, made it enter into dissolution, incorporated it, and by a long digestion and a smooth boiling, the spirit of the sulfur penetrated the parts of the water, the principle of quicksilver, and became the spirit of the quicksilver. The fluidity of the water served as a glue to retain the dry molecules of sulfur, and the dryness of the sulfur gave this compound a degree of adherence to prevent it from dividing like water, and from mingling with fluids.
F. 54 v. & 61r. Quicksilver is the first of all metals; the variety of their colors, their favors, and their odors, comes only from the places where they are formed, and from the action of the four elementary principles in their formation. All of them are based on quicksilver and all of them are corruptions of gold; their substance is the same as that of this metal, but various accidents that occurred during their formation have arrested and modified them without altering their primitive substance.
F. 63r. Quicksilver being thus formed, the body of this metal was hot and damp, and it spirit cold and dry; that is why quicksilver is under the domination of Mercury; for of the two zodiacal attributes attributed to this star, the one of Gemini, which is its body, is hot and humid; the other, which is the Virgin, is cold and dry. The moist principle thus occupied the surface of quicksilver molecules, and the dry principle was in the interior; the place where quicksilver was formed, being of a moderate temperature, and free from all saline, bitter, acidic, or foul substances, this metal entered into fermentation by the effect of heat united with moisture; It became volatile, the adherence of its molecules was destroyed, and the heat of fermentation penetrated these molecules themselves. The heat united with the principle which occupied the interior of the quicksilver, and increased its energy. This principle thus succeeded in dominating in this metal, and rose to its surface, and it coagulated also in all its parts: The cold, which was present in the first combination of quicksilver, disappeared, and there remained in this new compound only the principle of heat united to the principle of moisture, and this same principle united to that of dryness. These two combinations, which are air and fire, gave birth, by their mixture, to the red color which appears on the surface of the metal. The taste of gold is sweet, because sweetness holds the middle ground between flavors, like the Sun between the planets. The great weight of gold is caused by the density of this metal, that is to say, by the extreme closeness of its molecules; and the cause of this density is the perfect dissolution of quicksilver. The principle of dryness, occupying the surface of the molecules of gold, compresses and retains the principle of fluidity, bringing the parts of this metal together, and increasing its particular weight.
[This is the way in which our author explains the formation of each particular metal, and of a great number of mineral substances which he looks upon as having begun as metals, whose metallization was intercepted by various accidents.
In reading the detail he goes into about the production of the metallic bodies in the origin of the world, and of their affinities with the celestial spheres, the celestial bodies, and signs of the zodiac, I had expected to find in the following section of his work, instructions about how to proceed in search for the philosopher’s stone. However, I did not find anything like it. This leads me to conclude that the author had reserved this subject for a second treatise, which he announces as the sequel to this one, and which he says he entitled: On Creation and the Created.
It remains for me to give some examples of the questions which he proposes on the formation of vegetable and animal substances, and the manner in which he refutes them. I will choose the shortest ones so as not to abuse the patience of the reader.
The author asks why all the seeds and kernels have a cleft; and here is what he answers:]
F. 89r. Reproduction can be done only by way of generation, and there is no generation without the union of the male and the female. Plants having only a mediocre heat and an imperfect life, so they cannot, like animals, be transported from one place to another; that is why the two sexes do not separate in them as in animals; they have, however, the distinction of the two sexes, but they are united in one place, and for this reason all seeds have a cleft.
[We see that by this cleft the author understands the insertion and implantation of the germ into the body of the seed. Here is another example taken from the vegetable kingdom.]
F. 88v. Why do trees have leaves?
The fruits and the seeds are to the plants, as babies and the spermatic liquor are to animals. As for the leaves, they are fruits that have started, but whose entire formation was stopped by a blast of hot wind. The action of these winds, by communicating themselves to the interior parts of the trees, excited the thinnest part of their substance to reach the upper extremities. Thus, this substance did not remain long enough in the interior of the trees to undergo all the boiling which was to make it pass to the state of fruit. This substance being thus subtracted from the generative action, and the fertilizing operation having only begun, produced only leaves, instead of fruit, in proportion to the degree of fertilization which it had experienced.
[The last example I will take from the vegetable kingdom contains two questions.]
Why do some fruits and seeds have a round shape and others an elongated shape?
[The first of these forms is due, following our author, to the width of the matrix in which they were formed, and to the abundance of air; the other is the effect of a narrow matrix and abundant moisture.]
F. 90r&v. The sap having reached the vessels where fertilization is to take place, there finds an empty space and a certain amount of moisture: the heat of digestion or boiling of the sap communicating with this moisture, resolves it into a vapor; and this vapor produces a wind that moves through the matrix to seek a way out. The action of the wind is communicated to the feminine liquor and makes it take a circular motion. If the matrix is broad, the fruit or the seed becomes round; if, on the contrary, the matrix is narrow, and the wind and the vapor produced by the fertilization cannot move freely, the seminal liquor tries to escape the heat, flees and takes on an elongated shape.
[I will choose as examples from the animal kingdom a small number of questions relating to the production of teeth.]
F. 94v. Why do animals have teeth in their mouths?
It is an effect of heat. Teeth are a kind of plant; they derive their origin from the substance of the bones: the bones being coagulated by the force of the fiery principle, and having acquired a degree of dryness and eminent solidity, a part of the substance destined for their formation was superfluous. This substance was of the same nature as the bones, but as they had received all their perfection, it could no longer be used for this purpose. The heat still acting on it, the substance rose to escape its action. Having reached the mouth, it sprouted there, and the action of the air solidified it, and from there the teeth were formed.
Why are the teeth divided?
Because the bone substance of which they are formed is superfluous material from every one of the limbs, and consequently has different qualities. This substance was divided by reason of the different qualities of the limbs which had furnished it, and it formed different germs.
F. 95r. Why are the teeth white rather than black?
It is an effect of the combined action of moisture and heat. The teeth being exposed sometimes to the action of moisture, sometimes to that of heat, are heated and moistened alternately; this is the cause of their whiteness, just as we see happen from the successive action of the dew and the sun.
Why do teeth fall out?
This is the effect of excess moisture. Moisture being too abundant in the roots of the teeth, the principle of dryness becomes weak and lacks sufficient strength to grip and hold the teeth, and they fall out. Similarly, the earth retains plants as long as it is only moderately moist; but when it is too wet and has become like mud, it no longer has the strength to support them.
[We can see enough from these examples what kind of questions the author asks himself and the solutions he gives to them. I had at first proposed to add to this notice a table of chapters or paragraphs, but I have recognized that the titles of these paragraphs most often indicate only very imperfectly their object, and that they appeared to be in no particular order. … I promised to translate the adjuration that ends this manuscript, and that's where I'll finish this set of excerpts, which is already too long.]
Final folio, v. We have arrived at the end of the book of Causes, to which Balīnūs has given the name of the Universal Collection. It was I, Sajiyūs, who translated the book of the Causes of Balīnūs the Sage, a scholar in the art of talismans and wonders. I discovered the secrets that were hidden in this book, giving a clear explanation of what Balīnūs had written down, and I left that to my children and my descendants, to the wise men and the children of the wise. I forbid anyone, in whose hands this book will fall, to communicate it to anyone, except to a wise man who is worthy to know it, or to a learned man of the race of the wise, because this book contains the secret of creation. It is this secret hidden by Hermes, who placed it in front of himself in the subterranean passage and closed the entrance by a talisman so that it did not fall into other hands than into those of a sage, as I reported at the beginning of this book. Hide this then, for Hermes our father in science, and our master, the leader of the sages, he who was instructed in the most sublime sciences, hid this. Since he concealed it, you must also keep it hidden following the example of your father. Therefore, show it not to him that is unworthy, suffer no fools to participate in your knowledge. I have warned you enough about it, so keep my book, remain bound to my precepts, and wherever you go, let them serve as your guide. [This manuscript has a poor writing style; it appears to be filled with corruptions, and I am not surprised at it: The obscurity of the material may have rendered the text unintelligible to the copyist and will have occasioned a large number of errors. The pages of the manuscript are numbered, but there is a whole quire flipped around by the binder's error; there is no advertisement at the bottom of the pages, however the last word of each sheet is repeated at the beginning of the following sheet. There is a transposition after the 54th sheet, and it is necessary to pass immediately to the 61st. The intermediate sheets must be placed between the 93rd and the 94th. At the bottom of the last page we read these words:] This book was written by Muhammad Rakib al-Hanafi Ali al-Ali, at the Dailumia College in the city of Cairo on the 12th of Jumādá al-ākhirah 958 (June 17, 1551). It was copied from an old copy dated the month of Dhu'l-Qi‘dah 343 (March 955), in which there were faults and tears. Forgive me, dear readers, and be indulgent. [A note which one may read on the first recto sheet tells us that this book was commented on by a Christian named Aoun ibn al-Munḏar al-Ortodokschi, who entitled his commentary: Firdūs al-ḥikmat, the Paradise of Science.] |
[The Latin ending is different from the Arabic. There is no mention of the priest Sergius, and the words that the Arabic attributes to him are attributed in the Latin to Apollonius.] With this, therefore, everything that was proposed has been executed, whatever secrets of nature and of the knowledge of things that Apollonius expounded on in his book. We have poured harmonious light on his narration, with, however, a few exceptions, where our intelligence was unable to ascertain his intention and we have instead translated by substituting each word for a suitable one in our language. Apollonius, at the end of his book, says: All of the hidden teachings about the causes of things contained in the book of Hermes I have bequeathed to my children and to the philosophers. I have written out everything in full, on the condition and under the admonishment that this Treasury of wisdom not be made available to the ignorant and the unworthy. For these are the secrets of Hermes, who, that they might be protected from uneducated people, buried them and raised a statue over them, that he might deny access to all the indiscrete. He who dedicates himself diligently to observing all of these philosophies will obtain preeminence among his contemporaries. These are the words at the end of the book, which Apollonius wrote without any explanation, for he says: When entering the underground crypt, I discovered an emerald tablet in between the hands of Hermes, written with these words of complex truth: As above, so below. As below, so above. Just as all things derive their origin from one source, so did they develop from a single plan whose father is the sun, and whose mother is the moon. The wind carried it in its body, and the earth nourished it. Heed my voice, children of wonders, workers of prodigies. The perfect thing is separated. If the earth comes out of thinness and fire, which prevails over the heavy and the dull, then greatness, prudence, and industrious wisdom rise up from the earth, and climb up to heaven, and in descending from heaven back to the earth grasp the force and power of the above and the below. Hence, all is illuminated from the darkness. This power transcends the subtle things and integrates into the grossest. Accordingly, through this operation, the world had the composition of its substance. For this reason, Hermes is called the philosopher of the triple wisdom or triple knowledge. Here ends the book of Apollonius on the secrets of nature and the causes of hidden things, which Hugo Sanctelliensis has translated in six discreet parts. |
Sources: Silvestre de Sacy, “Le Livre du Secret de la Créature, par la Sage Bélinous,” Notices et extraits des manuscrits de la bibliotheque du roi, Vol. 4 (Paris: L’Imprimerie de la République, Year 7 [1798]), 107-158; F. Nau, “Une ancienne traduction Latine du Bélinous Arabe (Apollonius de Tyane),” Revue de l’Orient chrétien (2nd series) 12, no. 2 (1907), 99-106.
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