Traditionally jinn were associated with magic, astrology, and alchemy. As various occult sciences developed in the medieval Islamic world, the jinn became secret patrons and teachers of the esoteric.

A thread on the jinn king of the Sun and alchemy, al Mudhib

As the luminous potentate of the Sun, Mudhib is the most glorious of the jinn kings; adorned in gold and fine silks.

He’s depicted as wreathed in flame surrounded by his retinue.

In the time before Islam, it was said he was the one who granted oracular visions to soothsayers in the form of rhyming verse.

Precious metals, luxury, gnosis, and mastery of alchemy are all his domain.

He is said to have 12 palaces, corresponding to the movement of the Sun through the Zodiac.

His connection to the Sun or Shams is an interesting one; in pre-Islamic mythology, the Sun was actually a goddess. She only became male after the adoption of a Hellenic planetary system

But some of the old correspondences survived. The Sun’s placement in the Chaldean order is sometimes flipped because of the relationship between Saturn and the Sun and the Sun’s power over Mars.

The Jinn king of Saturn and the Jinn King of the Sun are said to be close

Same with their angels. A reference in Al Samarqandi’s work mentions a mystic who invoked the powers of the Sun and was thus granted an audience with its angel, Ruqyail. The mystic begs the angel to reveal his time of death for Sun sees all, but the angel did not know

so Ruqyail takes the mystic to its solar throne and asks him to stay there until they can figure it out.

Ruqyail then flies to Azrail the Saturnian angel of Death and asks the angel to check the Book to see when the favored human would die.

The angel of death checks and exclaims, worry not, he will not die until such a remote future where he sits upon the throne of the Sun

Ruqyail blanches realizing they had just left the human on the throne. Azrail smiles and reminds even Prophets do not know of the their time

The story contains a series of important interpretations for alchemy, astrology, and destiny.

Muslim astrologers were quick to point out their art proved the existence of God’s ordered universe.

For mystics like Buni and Ibn Arabi, the movement of the planets were not causes, but a reflection of an inner world, the skilled mystic was merely reading the writing of the universe

For Buni it was literally in the form of sacred letters and the Names of God which formed everything.

He would assign the letter و to the Sun and correspond it with the Name, al-Ḥayy, the Everliving.

The mystic who mastered this secret could fashion a talisman which would keep them safe, healthy, and extend their life… if God permits.

Yet, despite the orthodox stance which states none can know of their end, medieval astrologers developed a series of techniques to predict death from the Lot of Death to examining “qat” or severances in the natal chart.

They took great pains to point out death was only by God’s decree, though Ibn Tawus records several such predictions.

For alchemists the story of the Sun and Saturn is at the heart of their science: the power to turn lead into gold.

The process of transmutation and purification was done through the introduction of “elixirs” (which were a type of ash or burnt powder)

the elixir would alter the elemental make up of a substance in order to transform it into gold.

The importance of gold fits within the astrological schema: Lead (Saturn), Tin (Jupiter), Iron (Mars), and Copper (Venus) could be made into Gold (the Sun).

The central place of the Sun as the prime light and its relationship to the planets is understood alchemically.

In turn, the process of transforming lead into gold could yield a healing power. The process in the mineral world would translate to healing the animal body.

The alchemist could presumably create a substance to heal all illnesses, a true all-cure, and extend life.

This particular ability to heal is classically linked to the jinn.

Al Jahiz relates that a jinn granted his human lover a powerful herb which when touched on the body of the afflicted could cure them of all illness

It is this power Al Mudhib is most closely liked to. As the jinn of alchemy, he is said to grant the alchemist the secret herb of healing and the elixir to turn lead into gold.

If the Jinn King of Mars, Al Ahmar can afflict one with plague, then Al Mudhib can overcome it with his healing, thus the Sun’s light purifies Mars’ fire

The talismans of Al Mudhib grant protection, ensure a naturally long life, draw wealth and are used for gnosis and alchemy

In one ritual, amber, aloes, and saffron are burnt as incense as Mudhib is invoked by the power of Ruqyail, Yasmiz, and Yab’il when the Sun is in Leo and the Moon in certain degrees of Aries.

A ring fashioned of gold with the appropriate seal at this time would grant one the power to bend all rulers to your will.

Al Mudhib also has a reputation as a snake-eater as seen in his depiction in the Kitab al Bulhan in the first tweet. His presence drives snakes away

While in esoteric tradition Mudhib is associated with alchemy and astrology, not all alchemists viewed their work as related to jinn, but rather a process of experimentation and study in natural philosophy.

Dr. Saif is currently working on the most important body of alchemical texts: the Jabirian corpus.

The linking of the jinn to alchemy speaks to a particular intellectual history: the translation of Hellenic sources into Arabic with the introduction of elemental and mineral correspondences linking the sublunar world with the supralunar.

I’ll cover the rest of the jinn kings in future threads.

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