“From Theory to Practice: The Alchemical Curriculum of the Rutbat al-ḥakīm”

de Callatay, Godefroid;Moureau, Sébastien
(2023) Science and Craft: the relations between the theoretical and practical sides of the occult and esoteric sciences in the Islamic — Location: Londres, Royaume-Uni (10.January.2023)

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In the first maqāla of the Rutbat al-ḥakīm, an alchemical text written in all likelihood by Maslama b. Qāsim al-Qurṭubī in 339-342/950-953, is found a curriculum of the sciences to know in order to become a sage (ḥazīm), along with a list of books and authors to be read for each of these sciences (ed. Madelung 2017, pp. 25-27). Being a sage implies, in the author’s view, to manage the two “conclusions” (natījatān), namely alchemy (kīmiyā’) and astral magic (sīmiyā’): knowing only one of them makes you only half a sage (niṣf ḥakīm). Although the gradation to reach these two results is first composed with a theoretical view, it then includes a more practical aspect, alchemy and astral magic being considered by the author as arts and sciences. In this curriculum, the author explains the link between theory and practice (al-‘amal), and how he the apprentice must train his mind (dhihn, for theory) and hand and eyes (yad, naẓar, for practice) to understand the knowledge hidden behind the codenames used by the Ancients (al-rumūz al-latī li-al-awā’il). In this presentation, we will explain how the author of the Rutbat al-ḥakīm considers the path to wisdom, and how he articulates theory and practice in this journey to knowledge.
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de Callatay, G., & Moureau, S. (2023). “From Theory to Practice: The Alchemical Curriculum of the Rutbat al-ḥakīm”. Science and Craft: the relations between the theoretical and practical sides of the occult and esoteric sciences in the Islamic, Londres, Royaume-Uni. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/239005