Description:

THE BOOK SHIFA AL-SUDUR, EXPLAINING THE DIWAN AL-SHUDHUR IN THE SCIENCE OF ALCHEMY, WRITTEN BY THE SAFE ALCHEMIST ABU AL-QASIM MUHAMMAD IBN AHMAD AL-SAMAWI AL-AWAQI, WRITTEN BY SUWAIFI IBN AHMAD AL-ADAWI, DATED 1185
Ottoman Syria, dated 1185 AH / 1771–72 AD

Description:
Arabic manuscript on polished cream paper, written in a fine naskh script in black ink with important sections and keywords rubricated in red. The treatise is a detailed alchemical commentary—Shifa al-Sudur—on the Diwan al-Shudhūr, itself an alchemical work attributed to the alchemist Abu al-Qasim al-Samawi al-Awaqi. This manuscript was compiled and authored by Suwaifi ibn Ahmad al-‘Adawi, whose name and date of completion appear on the colophon page. The work is composed in clear, systematic prose and exhibits hallmarks of learned transmission including multiple ownership stamps, scholarly marginalia, and a structured textual layout. Housed in its original red-stained leather binding with blind-tooled panel decoration.

Dimensions: 24 x 18 cm

A highly unusual and intellectually rich manuscript focused on Islamic alchemical doctrine. Texts of this kind, which openly name classical alchemists and explore both symbolic and practical transformations, are rarely encountered in complete, dated form. Its Ottoman-Syrian provenance adds to its scholarly significance.

Comparable examples:

  • A rare Arabic alchemical treatise attributed to Jabir ibn Hayyan, North Africa or Near East, 15th century, sold at Christie’s, London, Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds, 25 October 2018, Lot 20, for £68,750.

  • Al-Razi (Rhazes), Kitab al-Asrar, Arabic manuscript, Persia or Iraq, circa 13th century, sold at Sotheby’s, London, 26 April 2023, Lot 14, for £75,600.

  • An illustrated alchemical manuscript, possibly by al-Tughra’i, Persia, circa 1600, sold at Bonhams, London, Islamic and Indian Art, 23 April 2018, Lot 120, for £60,000.

Note:
This manuscript stands out for its direct attribution, firm date, and clear chain of textual transmission. The dual authorship—original text by al-Samawi and commentary by al-‘Adawi—reflects a layered tradition of scholarly exegesis within Islamic esoterica. The rubrication and clean script suggest it was produced with scholarly utility in mind, possibly for a Sufi or philosophical circle with interest in the metaphysical sciences.

 

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