Al-Jildaki, Demonstration of secrets of the balance

ʿIzz al-Dīn Aydamir al-Jildakī ( ar, عز الدين الجلدكي), also written al-Jaldakī (d. 1342 CE / 743 AH) was an

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

alchemist from the 14th century

Mamluk Sultanate The Mamluk Sultanate ( ar, سلطنة المماليك, translit=Salṭanat al-Mamālīk), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz (western Arabia) from the mid-13th to early 16t ...

Life

Despite being one of the most important Islamic scholars of the 14th century, almost nothing is known about his early life. Al-Jildaki was probably born in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

into a family of Turkic

Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

origin. In his writings he reveals that he spent seventeen years traveling through Iraq,

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, and Syria Based on a speculative vocalization of his

Nisba The Arabic language, Arabic word nisba (; also transcribed as ''nisbah'' or ''nisbat'') may refer to: * Arabic nouns and adjectives#Nisba, Nisba, a suffix used to form adjectives in Arabic grammar, or the adjective resulting from this formation **c ...

as "al-Jaldaki ", some 20th century writers like

Henry Corbin Henry Corbin (14 April 1903 – 7 October 1978)Shayegan, DaryushHenry Corbin in Encyclopaedia Iranica. was a French philosopher, theologian, and Iranologist, professor of Islamic studies at the École pratique des hautes études. He was in ...

suggested that he was originally from Jaldak, a town in Khorasan before emigrating to

Nicholas G. Harris has criticized this theory noting that it was never mentioned in any pre-modern source before. Instead, he notes that all the biographical information known about him- like his Turkic name "Aydamir", places of residence and native language- would make sense only when set against a

background. Harris further notes that the name "Jildak" and its derivative

"Al-Jildaki" are attested Turkic names, especially among

amirs. Al-Jildaki was one of the last and one of the greatest of medieval Islamic alchemists, he was the author of scientific works such as the ''al-Misbah fi Ilm al-Miftah'' (, ''Key of the Sciences of Lights'') and alchemical treatise ''Kitab al-Burhan fi asrar 'ilm al-mizan'' (, ''The Proof Regarding Secrets of the Science of the Balance''). He was a prolific author of alchemical writings, of which the

United States National Library of Medicine The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is an institute within the National Institutes of Health. Its ...

has three. His treatises, which reflect interests much broader than simply alchemy, preserve extensive quotations from earlier authors. He died in Cairo in 1342.

References

Sources

*C. Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, 1st edition, 2 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 1889–1936). Second edition, 2 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 1943–49). Page references will be to those of the first edition, with the 2nd edition page numbers given in parentheses, vol. 2, p. 138-9 (173-5) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jildaki, al- Egyptian alchemists 1342 deaths Alchemists of the medieval Islamic world Mamluks Year of birth unknown 14th-century alchemists 14th-century Egyptian people