The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (118 page)

of
Muslim
(d. 875 (AH 261)), al-Bukh
r
's collection is accepted as the main definitive compilation of reliable
ad
th, and as such, comes second only to the
Qur’
n
as a source of principles for legislation and religious practice.

 
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(Arab., perhaps from Gk. via Syriac,
al-k
miy
). The endeavour (minimally) to find the key to the transformation of chemical substances, especially of base metals into precious ones; and beyond that, to find ‘the elixir of immortality’. The word and practice of ‘alchemy’ thus underlie modern chemistry. In its earlier forms it pervades all religions, though moving increasingly to interior and spiritual transformations. Thus in Taoism, there were two different levels: practitioners of Wai-tan (external alchemy) sought a potion for immortality, based on a belief that a person's vital energy (
yüan-ch’i
) was a particular balance of
yin-yang
, which, if it is disturbed, produces illness and death; gold and cinnabar have the power to restore the balance. The practitioners of Nei-tan (internal alchemy) aimed to develop an immortal soul from
ching
,
ch’i
, and
shen
, by meditative exercises, especially breathing and control of bodily functions.
European alchemy seems to have begun in Hellenistic Egypt around the 1st cent. CE, and possibly even earlier. It enjoyed flourishing periods in 2nd- and 3rd-cent. Greece, and in various parts of the Arab world in the 7th and 8th cents., thus taking its name from the Arab.
al-k
miy
, the Syriac
k
m
y
, and the Gk.
ch
meia
. In the 10th cent., alchemy re-entered Europe via Islamic Spain, where it also received influence from the
Kabbalah
. At its peak in Renaissance Europe, in addition to having produced a well-developed medical system under such as Paracelsus, alchemy came for some to rival the Church as the epitome of
Hermetic philosophy
.