Alchemiae Gebri Arabis philosophi solertissimi, libri, cum reliquis, ut versa pagella indicabit

about to conflict. Therefore, they are feigned to be armed men who are born, who fall by mutual wounds, that is, they are at last buried in that earth and fixed. And unless the vessel were glass, or flint, without pores, the artisan would be endangered by the noxious odor. Therefore, Jason in Ovid is feigned to have turned the danger from himself onto his enemies by means of a stone. Thus far the perfect philosopher's stone is finished; there remains the task of putting the watchful dragon to sleep, that is, to convert its efficacy into gold or silver by means of the quicksilver: when that succeeds, Jason the victor carries off the golden fleece, that is, the artisan has attained this most precious art. But before this happens, they sacrifice to Hecate, according to Orpheus, in which sacrifice a great mystery lies hidden. Furthermore, because the same philosopher's stone is said also to heal human bodies and keep them sound and whole until the end of life, therefore Medea is feigned to restore the father of Jason to youth. The fables of the Garden of the Hesperides and of Cadmus also insinuate this art, and Cadmus, having sought immense wealth from it, founded the Egyptian Thebes. Let no one wonder that this art flourished most of all in Egypt. These are great testimonies of this art, but there are far greater ones which the Jews bring forth from the Sacred Scriptures, according to the propriety of the Hebrew language. They say, namely, that this is also a part of their Cabala. And that the prince of Tyre, according to Ezekiel, practiced it, and for that reason the prophet rebuked him because, trusting in that art, he seemed to be God to himself. For the prophet (as they themselves say) narrates that the gold and silver which he had in his treasuries he had not dug from the earth, had not exacted from his subjects, nor had he snatched them from enemies, but had made them for himself, relying, clearly, on this art. And for this reason he is said there to be wiser than Daniel and to have traversed all the secrets of nature. Likewise, concerning their fathers, they bring forth that the prophet Hosea rebuked them for the abuse of this art when he said to them under the person of God: I have multiplied silver for them, and they have made gold for their idol. And so that you might believe this more, they say that David, in the twelfth Psalm according to them, exhibits a certain taste of this art, when he says: The words of God are pure words, silver refined in an aludel original: "aludele", purified in the earth, or dust, seven times. For thus they interpret it word for word. (Whether rightly or otherwise, let those skilled in that language judge.) And they add: No one is so foolish that he would wish to treat silver in such a way, since it is of the greatest labor and highest industry, unless silver so treated were precious. Nor would the prophet compare the word of God to such silver, but rather to sincere gold, unless such silver were of equal value to gold. And this certainly agrees very much with the words of Geber, saying about silver: He who knows how to subtilize it more, and after subtilization to infuse and fix it, will join it with gold, etc. We have said these things thus, not that we are overly eager to persuade. For if there is any solid truth here, philosophical minds will recognize and apprehend it no less slowly than a healthy eye recognizes light, and a magnet recognizes iron. There are almost four types of writers of this art. Some follow the Method, without figures and