opposites of each other. I fail to appreciate what its relationship with
grass can be. It is possible that this mistake has been made by the copyist.
The Razi brothers say that the best emery is from Nubia. This is
followed by the Serandlbi and Indian varieties, and that the Nubian kind
is also called the zanji. It is said that it is found admixed with sand
grains in the rivers, and hands feel cold when they touch it. It is in this
way that it is separated. Being hard, it is used in the making of jewels.
The Serandibi kind being softer, is employed in sword-making.
The Kitab al-Hajar mentions its mines to be in the islands of the
China Sea, and describes it to be rough like sand, some grains petrifying
to stones. Some say that the rough kind is the one which the ants take
out of holes as they would take out earth in the manner of grains, and
which they spread round the stones. Some say that the lentil-like (adasi)
kind is the best. The aromatic kind (khuluqi) known as samirus 72 is the
next best. It is also said that one of its varieties is soft and fibrous. It is
loose and humid in the mine and is designated as kibrit-i-ahmar. 73 The
knowledgeable ones believe kibrit-i-ahmar to be the red ruby variety. I
believe that this follows from the fact that emery comprises reddish
grains which in redness are like karkind. Some transparent crystals are
made from brimstone and arsenic. These were brought from Isfahan.
When thrown into the fire, they let out blackish sulphurous flames and
gave off the odour of sulphur. People then began to see its similarity to
the ruby. Some jewellers have also mentioned that they have seen grains
of sulphur having the form of pomegranate grains. People in general designate by kibrit-i-ahmar, the elixir through which one could hope to obtain a metal by artificial means, e.g., the conversion of silver into pure
gold. People also believe that its mine is found in the mountain of Danbawand. They seem to have based their knowledge upon hearsay, having
heard about some salt from the chemists and the types of salts used by
them.
Some Magians believe that Bayurasp was imprisoned in the mountain
from the summit of which smoke belches out. This smoke is the breath
of the prisoner, while the sulphurous water which comes out of the slope
of the mountain is his urine and also of the women he has raped there.
When the water cascades from a certain height and passes through an orifice, an exquisite yellow brimstone deposits round it. Chemists began to
use it in place of the special salt and brought red brimstone out of it.
This, they regard as the elixir for gold.
I saw a stone with a person who used to undertake sea voyages. The
piece was reddish-black and handful in magnitude. Its slender pieces, on
breaking, were slightly transparent. When a silver dirham was placed
upon it, the stone perforated it. The person said the stone was imported
