On Magic, Part Ii: An Arabic Critical Edition And English Translation Of Epistle 52 B & C

The Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ (Brethren of Purity), the anonymous adepts of a tenth-century esoteric fraternity based in Basra and Baghdad, hold an eminent position in the history of science and philosophy in Islam due to the wide reception and assimilation of their monumental enyclopaedia, the Rasāʾil Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ (Epistles of the Brethren of Purity). This compendium contains fifty-two epistles offering synoptic accounts of the classical sciences and philosophies of the age; divided into four classificatory parts, it treats themes in mathematics, logic, natural philosophy, psychology, metaphysics, and theology, in addition to didactic fables.

This edition of Epistle 52b and 52c On Magic, Part II, complements Epistle 52a. With this volume the epistle 'On Magic' is reconstituted in its complex heterogeneous variations. The Brethren of Purity's treatment of the theoretical and practical aspects of the occult science of magicians and diviners carries some resonances with the prophetic healing arts, the pseudo-Aristotelian corpus, and the Hermetica. It also covers incantations, divinations, astrology, alchemy, necromancy, phantasmagoria, prestidigitation, omens, spells, talismans, and auguries. The Brethren themselves state that 'this epistle of ours "On Magic and Incantations" was written for the Brethren's sake in such a way that, once they have reached the summits of the sciences and the noble arts, they will by [doing] this dispense with the need for anyone but themselves for whichever affair of this mundane existence they would need this.'
The present edition is accompanied by comprehensive footnotes and a substantial introduction.

Godefroid de Callataÿ is Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the University of Louvain (UCLouvain), specializing in the history of science and philosophy. Amongst other subjects, he has published extensively on the classifications of the sciences in the Islamic world and on the encyclopaedic corpus known as Rasāʾil Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ (Epistles of the Brethren of Purity). After conducting PhilAnd, a European Research Council (ERC) Advanced project on the emergence of philosophy and rational thinking in al-Andalus, he is now the leading Principal Investigator of the ERC Synergy project MOSAIC (Mapping Occult Sciences Across Islamicate Cultures) at UCLouvain and four other universities in Europe and the United States.


Sébastien Moureau is a researcher at the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS) in Belgium and a Professor at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the University of Louvain (UCLouvain). His work focuses on the history of Arabic science and its transmission to the Latin world, with particular emphasis on the history of alchemy and metallurgy. He also specializes in critical editions and digital humanities.


Bruno Halflants has cultivated his interest in Arabic since 1978, focusing on Arabic poetry and metrics. In 2007, he published Le Conte du Portefaix et des Trois Jeunes Femmes, a study of Middle Arabic in the 1001 Nights, with an original edition of the tale's earliest known manuscript. Further to this, he has participated in several colloquies and seminars and has contributed to Autour de la Langue Arabe: Etudes presentees a Jacques Grand'Henry a l'occasion de son 70e anniversaire (2012). His first career was as a civil engineer.


Janne Mattila is a research fellow at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies of the University of Helsinki. He specializes in the history of philosophy in the Islamic world, publishing on subjects such as philosophical conceptions of religion, ethics, and the moral status of animals. A major part of his research has focused on the Epistles of the Brethren of Purity. Besides writing several articles, he has translated Epistle 22's fable about a trial between animals and human beings into Finnish. His open access book The Formation of the Ikhwānian Corpus: A Philological Study of the Epistles and Two Summaries Attributed to the Brethren of Purity (2025) argues for a gradual textual and doctrinal evolution of the three works attributed to the Brethren of Purity.