Alchemie, Ketzerei, Apokryphen in fruhen Islam: Gesammelte Aufsatze.

• Author: Langermann, Y. Tzvi

By PAUL KRAUS. Edited by REMI BRAGUE. Hildesheim and New York: GEORG OLMS VERLAG, 1994. Pp. xiii + 346. DM 118.

Eleven studies by Paul Kraus, one of the true geniuses of our times! Remi Brague introduces the book with a brief biography and interesting sketches of Kraus' main colleagues. Unfortunately the book has no index.

1. "Hebraische und syrische Zitate in ismailitischen Schriften." In a number of texts ascribed to the influential dai Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani (Kraus proves their authenticity in the course of his analysis) there are a number of quotations in Hebrew (drawn from the Jewish Bible and Mishnah) and in Syriac (taken from the New Testament). These texts are gathered in a single majmua, then in the possession of Husain Hamdani; the present whereabouts of the codex is unknown. However, some of the texts, including the most important one, Rahat alaql, have since been published. Two minor comments concerning Kraus' analysis: It seems clear that in the translation from Isaiah 60:19, a scribal error is responsible for reading kunuz, rather than ka-nur; the mysterious addition of gez above the line would seem to be a later attempt to deal with this error. In light of advances in research in the histories of both Jewish philosophy and kabhalah, I would suggest looking to philosophical literature for sources of the interpretations of asarah mamarot, and to explore kabbalistic connections (to the extent that these can be clearly distinguished at this period) for the concepts of the three worlds, especially "the world of creation."

2. "Dschabir ibn Hajjan und die Ismailijja." Here Kraus puts forth his well-known theory connecting the corpus of alchemical writings associated with the name of Jabir with the early phases of the Ismailiyya, claiming further that the underlying religious doctrines of the Jabirian texts are as germane to the corpus as are their scientific and technological contents. The technical terms used to describe the anatomy of the eye, planetary conjunctions, and the theological formulations of al-Kirmani, are evidence that the corpus dates from roughly the year 900.

3. "Studien zu Jabir ibn Hayyan." Several points developed in the previous study, especially Jabir's connection to the Ismailis and the thematic unity of Jabirian science, are taken further. Kraus notes that the corpus seems to give preponderance both to alchemy and to medicine, and suggests that Jabir was a doctor who later turned to alchemy. He suggests that...