The elixir : a posthumanist approach to alchemy in Akbarian Sufism and Islam / Dunja Rašić.
| Author/creator | Rašić, Dunja author. |
| Format | Book |
| Publication | Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, 2025. |
| Description | 71 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm. |
| Subjects |
| Series | Cambridge elements. Elements in magic Cambridge elements. Elements in magic. |
| Abstract | Step outside the laboratory, and into the world of nature. The books on cannon law can be left behind as well, for Ibn ʻArabī (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 ʻArabī'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. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references. |
| ISBN | 9781009777018 |
| ISBN | 1009777017 paperback |
| ISBN | 1009777408 hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781009777407 hardcover |
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| Joyner | Order on Demand Title | Order On Demand | ✔ Available | Click to order this title |