[Preliminary Entry] The Haft aḥbāb is a pseudepigraphic work on alchemy. It is attributed to a group of seven scholars who in reality lived in different periods, among which are the Sufis Ḥamīd al-Dīn Nāgawrī (d. 643/1246) and Sulaymān Mandawī (m. 944/1537-38). It is said that Sulaymān Mandawī was instructed in the teaching of the yoga treatise Amṛtakuṇḍa by the čištī master ‘Abd al-Quddus Gangōhī (d. 944/1537). The second chapter, entitled haft sāgar, is the biggest of the work and is attributed to Gyān Nāth Sa‘ādatmand a Nāth yogi who was converted to Islam by the other supposed authors of the Haft aḥbāb. This chapter includes eighty-eight sayings on alchemy attributed to Gūrū Gorakhnāth, the founder of the Nāth order of yogis. The following chapter, attributed to Sulaymān Mandawī, includes a description of the pātanayantra (pātāl-jantra), an apparatus for subliming metals used in Indian alchemy. The fourth chapter, attributed to Mīr Muḥammad Hāšim Buḫārī, describes the methods for the solution (ḥall) of various substances, which were taught to the Sufi Ẓahīr al-Dīn Rūmī by the yogi Dayā Nāth.
F. S.
Leiden, Universiteitsbibliotheek, Or. 22.768
.Speziale, Fabrizio, 2006, “De zeven vrienden. Een Indo-Perzische verhandeling over alchemie”, in : P. Hoftijzer - K. van Ommen - G. Warnar - J. J. Witkam, eds., Bronnen van kennis. Wetenschap, kunst en cultuur in de collecties van de Leidse Universiteitsbibliotheek. Leiden, Primavera Pers, pp. 23-31.
| Main Persian Title: | Haft aḥbāb |
| Later texts quoting this Work: |
Wājid ‘Alī Khān, Maṭla‘ al-‘ulūm wa majma‘ al-funūn (19th century) |