Reflections of the Term Kibrit-i Ahmar From Field of Alchemy Onto Classical Turkish Poetry

The formation of metals is an important subject of alchemy. Metals take thousands years to form. Alchemists aim to accelarate the time naturally required for this formation. In addition, alchemists believed in the fact that materials could be transformed; their special efforts were devoted to transform base metals into gold which is considered to be the most precious metal. On the basis of this transformation thought, there were certain underlying theories. According to the four elements theory, sulfur-mercury theory and elixir theory, transformation of a metal kind to another was possible. Kibrit-i ahmar is one of the materials that was used in this transformation and since ancient civilisations it has been believed to be an invaluable and very rare elixir. Through time, kibrit-i ahmar which was regarded as elixir and some concepts in alchemy have gained figurative, symbolic and mystical meanings that do not stem from their actual value and meaning. In Sufism, alchemy represents reaching maturity and perfection. Due to the fact that Sufism uses the language of alchemy, a concept has evolved in Sufism to refer to state of reaching hapiness: “alchemy of hapiness”. The term of kibrît-i ahmar symbolises rare and valuable beings. As an object of transformation and perfection, kibrît-i ahmar has been adopted in classical Turkish poetry with its mystical meanings. In this piece of work, brief information on alchemy and kibrit-i ahmar has been presented. The beyits in

Keywords

kibrit-i ahmar, elixir, alchemy, gold, classical Turkish poetry