The Elixir: A Posthumanist Approach to Alchemy in Akbarian Sufism and Islam (Elements in Magic) - Softcover

Book 14 of 15: Elements in Magic

Rašić, Dunja

 
9781009777018: The Elixir: A Posthumanist Approach to Alchemy in Akbarian Sufism and Islam (Elements in Magic)
Softcover
ISBN 10: 1009777017 ISBN 13: 9781009777018
Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2026

Synopsis

Step outside laboratory, and into the world of nature. The books on cannon law can be left behind as well, for Ibn ʿArabī (d. 1240) believed there is one Sharia for humans and another for minerals. This Element rethinks what it means to be an alchemist and Muslim, by shifting its focus to the religious practices of sentient minerals, as described in Ibn ʿArabī's oeuvre and the Qur'an. Common stones and metals undergo their spiritual feats with the single goal in mind: to gain proximity to the Divine by turning themselves into gold. Alchemists sought to facilitate this process through elixirs and sorcery. Setting allegories and metaphors aside, this Element examines ontological principles governing the struggles of iron to become gold, and the human strivings to better the world of nature.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Publication date
2026
Language
English
ISBN 10 
1009777017
ISBN 13 
9781009777018
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
80

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9781009777407: The Elixir: A Posthumanist Approach to Alchemy in Akbarian Sufism and Islam (Elements in Magic)

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  1009777408 ISBN 13:  9781009777407
Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2026
Hardcover