Works of Apollonius of Tyre Which Circulated in Arabic

[Stephan Huller]

Apollonius was a known figure in the medieval Islamic world. In the Arabic literature he appears as Balīnūs (or Balīnās or Abūlūniyūs). Arabic-speaking occultists dubbed him "Lord of the talismans" (Ṣāḥib aṭ-ṭilasmāt) and related stories about his achievements as a talisman-maker. They appreciated him as a master of alchemy and a transmitter of Hermetic knowledge. Some occult writings circulated under his name; among them were:[17]
the Kitāb Sirr al-ḫalīqa (Book on the Secret of Creation), also named Kitāb al-῾ilal (Book of the Causes)
the Risāla fī ta'ṯīr ar-rūḥānīyāt fī l-murakkabāt (Treatise on the influence of the spiritual beings on the composite things)
al-Mudḫal al-kabīr ilā risālati aṭ-ṭalāsim (Great introduction to the treatise on the talismans)
the Kitāb ṭalāsim Balīnās al-akbar (Great book of Balinas’ talismans)
the Kitāb Ablūs al-ḥakīm (Book of the sage Ablus)

Medieval alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan's Book of Stones According to the Opinion of Balīnās contains an exposition and analysis of views expressed in Arabic occult works attributed to Apollonius.[42]

There were also medieval Latin and vernacular translations of Arabic books attributed to “Balinus”.[43]

The Tablet of Wisdom written by Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, names "Balinus" (Apollonius) as a great philosopher, who "surpassed everyone else in the diffusion of arts and sciences and soared unto the loftiest heights of humility and supplication." The use of talismans is commonplace in Babi and (to a lesser extent) Baha'Bahá'u'lláh, LAWH-I-HIKMAT (Tablet of Wisdom) in: Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas

[Leucius Charinus]

Hermes Trismegistus and Apollonius of Tyana in the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh
by Keven Brown

http://www.mountainman.com.au/Hermes_Ap ... _Brown.htm

Introduction

The name Hermes Trismegistus is commonly associated with occult sciences, such as theurgy, alchemy, and astrology, which partly originated in the technical Hermetic literature circulating in the Roman empire from as early as the second century B.C.E. Our modern expression “hermetically sealed” derives from the name Hermes. Apollonius of Tyana, the Pythagorian philosopher of the first century C.E., is less well known. Greek and Latin sources do not connect these two figures doctrinally, but in the Arabic Hermetic literature, some of which was translated from pagan Syrian sources in the time of Caliph Ma’mún (813 - 833), Apollonius (in Arabic Balínús) is often associated with Hermes.

There he is depicted as the discoverer and representative of Hermes’ teachings on the secrets of creation that had been lost to the generations before him. It is this later picture of Hermes and Apollonius that is most relevant to this study, for it is the tradition that is adopted by Bahá'u'lláh in his writings. In his Lawh-i-Hikmat (Tablet of Wisdom), for example, Bahá'u'lláh states: “It was this man of wisdom [Balínús] who became informed of the mysteries of creation and discerned the subtleties which lie enshrined in the Hermetic writings.”[1]

My notes on the books of Apollonius .....

The Mystic Rites or Concerning Sacrifices.
[The full title is given by Eudocia, Ionia; ed. Villoison (Venet 1781) p 57]

This treatise is mentioned by Philostratus (iii 41; iv 19),
who tells us that it set down the proper method of sacrifice
to every God, the proper hours of prayer and offering.
It was in wide circulation, and Philostratus had come across
copies of it in many temples and cities,
and in the libraries of philosophers.

Several fragments of it have been preserved, [See Zeller, Phil d Griech, v 127]
the most important of which is to be found in Eusebius,
[Præparat. Evangel., iv 12-13; ed Dindorf (Leipzig 1867), i 176, 177]
and is to this effect:

“ ‘Tis best to make no sacrifice to God at all,
no lighting of a fire,
no calling Him by any name
that men employ for things to sense.

For God is over all, the first;
and only after Him do come the other Gods.
For He doth stand in need of naught
e’en from the Gods,
much less from us small men -
naught that the earth brings forth,
nor any life she nurseth,
or even any thing the stainless air contains.

The only fitting sacrifice to God
is man’s best reason,
and not the word
that comes from out his mouth.

“We men should ask the best of beings
through the best thing in us,
for what is good -
mean by means of mind,
for mind needs no material things
to make its prayer.
So then, to God, the mighty One,
who’s over all,
no sacrifice should ever be lit up.”

Noack [Psyche, I ii.5.] tells us that scholarship
is convinced of the genuineness of this fragment.
This book, as we have seen, was widely circulated
and held in the highest respect, and it said that
its rules were engraved on brazen pillars
at Byzantium. [Noack, ibid.]



Sirr al-Khalíqa (The Secret of Creation)
NB: Extended title - Sirr al-Khalíqa wa San‘at at-Tabí‘at
(The Secret of Creation and the Craft of Nature)

This work was derived by Apollonius (in Arabic Balínús) according
to Jábir ibn Hayyán (722-815) from the Kitáb al-‘Ilal (The Book
of Causes) of Hermes. It ranges from explaining the metaphysical
origin of the universe to considerations on the ontological
categories of the world and the nature of the human soul.

The Arabic version of this book is no doubt based on an original
written in Syriac, Balínús’ native tongue. A Christian monk of
Neapolis in Palestine named Sájiyús states that he translated
the work (into Arabic?)

"so that those who remain after me
may have the benefit of reading it."

- Balínús, Sirr al-Khalíqa wa San‘at at-Tabí‘at (Kitáb al-‘Ilal),
ed. Ursula Weisser (Aleppo, Syria: University of Aleppo, 1979)
p. 100

According to the account recorded in the introduction to the
Sirr al-Khalíqa, Balínús discovered both the Emerald Tablet of
Hermes and the "Book of Causes" while exploring a crypt beneath
a statue of Hermes:

"Thus, I found myself across from an old man
seated upon a golden throne who was holding in his hand
an emerald Tablet on which was written:
“Here is the craft of nature.”
And in front of him was a book on which was written:
“Here is the secret of creation and
the science of the causes of all things.”

With complete trust I took the book [and the Tablet] and
went out from the crypt. Thereafter, with the help of the book,
I was able to learn the secrets of creation, and through the
Tablet, I succeeded in understanding the craft of nature.

- Balínús, Sirr al-Khalíqa, p.7.


There is another story in Philostratus (viii, 19-20), where
Apollonius enters a cave at the temple of Trophonius in Greece
to visit its oracle, declaring that his purpose is "in the
interests of philosophy." After seven days, he returns to his
companions, carrying a book of philosophy supposedly conformable
to the teachings of Pythagoras. Philostratus says that this book,
along with the letters of Apollonius, was later entrusted to the
care of the emperor Hadrian and kept in his palace at Antium.

The full text of the Emerald Tablet can be found
at the end of the Sirr al-Khalíqa.




The Kitáb at-Talásim al-Akbar (The Great Book of Talismans)
Addressed by Balínús to his son, it partly matches up with a Greek
pseudo-epigraph titled The Book of Wisdom of Apollonius of Tyana,
which Dzielska believes was composed no earlier than the late fifth
century, probably in Antioch by Christian Gnostics.
[Dzielska, Apollonius of Tyana, pp. 104-105]

The following extract is from an article by Keven Brown, who has
provided the research on the Islamic Hermetic tradition, in this
article here :

Where did the legends of Apollonius’ talismans come from?
They are not mentioned by Philostratus, so they were either
unknown to him, or he did not wish to speak about them.
Maria Dzielska, whose book Apollonius of Tyana in Legend and
History has been very helpful in constructing this account of
Apollonius, has explained this question.

Eusebius is the first to refer to them in his Contra Hieroclem.
He says that "certain queer implements attributed to Apollonius
were used in his times."
[Cited in Dzielska, Apollonius of Tyana, p. 101]

After Eusebius, references to Apollonius’ talismans begin to
appear frequently. Pseudo-Justin mentions the dissemination of
Apollonius’ talismans in Antioch. It appears that these objects
were so popular that Antioch’s Church leaders decided to accept them.
Pseudo-Justin illustrates the problem in a work containing a
dialogue between a theologian and a Christian:

"The Christian is concerned about the popularity
and spread of Apollonius’ talismans.
He wonders how to explain their magical powers....
He wonders why God...allows them....
The theologian dispels his doubts saying that
there is nothing evil about those objects
because they were produced by Apollonius
who was an expert in the powers governing nature
and in the cosmic sympathies and antipathies...
and that is why they did not contradict
God's wisdom ruling the world."

--- [Ibid., pp. 101-102]

The talismans, which were usually made out of stone or metal,
were placed in cities to protect their inhabitants
against plagues, wild animals, vermin, natural disasters, and the like.
Two other centers in the Greek east where memories of Apollonius
had been strongest, Agaeae and Tyana, were completely converted to
Christianity by this time, so there is no mention of Apollonius’
talismans there. However, surprisingly, in Constantinople itself
Apollonius’ talismans became popular.

The sixth century Antiochian historian Malalas wrote that, during
Domitian’s rule Apollonius paid a visit Byzantium, where he left many
talismans in order to help the Byzantines in their troubles.[Ibid,p.108]
In the thirteenth century, in the hippodrome in Byzantium,
there was still a bronze eagle holding a snake in its claws,
which citizens said had been placed there by Apollonius
to protect them against a scourge of venomous snakes.
This talisman was destroyed by the crusaders in 1204.[Ibid,p.110]




Kitab al-Ahjar ‘alá ra’y Balinas
(The Book of Stones according to the opinion of Balinas)
This treatise by Jabir ibn Hayyan, was divided into four parts
of approximately equal length, called simply al-juz' al-awwal
('the first part'), al-juz' al-thani ('the second part'),
al-juz' al-thalith ('the third part'), and al-juz' al-rabi‘
('the fourth part').

Of this treatise, NLM has a manuscript containing an extract
from the 2nd part (juz') and possibly also from the 3rd juz' .

For other copies, see Sezgin, GAS IV, p. 253 no. 3, and Kraus,
Jabir, p. 80 no. 307-10. There are only three other recorded
copies: Paris, BNF, MS arabe 5099, copied in 1614/1023; Tehran,
Danishgah MS 49; and Cairo, Dar l-Kutub, Tal‘at kimya' MS 218.

Portions of the treatise have been edited and translated into
English by Syed Nomanul Haq, Names, Natures and Things: The
Alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan and his Kitab al-Ahjar (Book of Stones)
[Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 158] (Dordrecht:
Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1994), pp. 119-162 Arabic edition
and English translation pp. 163-202. An earlier partial edition
using only the Paris copy was published in P. Kraus, Jabir ibn
Hayyan (Essai sur l'histoire des idées scientifiques dans l'Islam).
Vol. 1: Textes choisis (Cairo: Libraries El-Khandji and Paris:
G.P. Maisonneuve,1935), pp. 126-205. The NLM (National Library
of Medicine) copy was not used in either edition.



Dhakhírat al-Iskandar (The Treasury of Alexander)
In this work Aristotle is made to present the book to Alexander,
which he says was given to him by Balínús, who retrieved it from
a watery tomb, where Hermes had deposited it for safekeeping.
The book discusses, among other things, the principles of alchemy
and the manufacture of elixirs, the composition of poisons and
their antidotes, and the use of talismans for healing.



The Oracles or Concerning Divination
4 books. Philostratus (iii 41) seems to think
that the full title was Divination of the Stars,
and says that it was based on what Apollonius had learned in India;
but the kind of divination Apollonius wrote about
was not the ordinary astrology, but something which Philostratus
considers superior to ordinary human art in such matters.
He had, however, never heard of anyone possessing a copy of this rare work.

A work On Astrology is mentioned by Moeragenes and Damis



The Life of Pythagoras
Porphyry refers to this work, 8 [See Noack, Porphr. Vit. Pythag., p 15]
and Iamblichus quotes a long passage from it.
[Ed. Amstelod., 1707, cc 254-264]



The Will of Apollonius
This was written in the Ionic dialect,
and contained a summary of his doctrines.
[References: Philostratus' sources?]


A Hymn to Memory
Ascribed to him, ref??



Other Works ?(Eudocia)
Eudocia speaks of many other( ?a? a??ap???a) works of Apollonius.



Other Works ?(Jábir ibn Hayyán)
Jábir ibn Hayyán defends a natural picture of Balínús.
In his Kitáb al-Baht, he criticizes vehemently such stories
of magical exploits and attributes them to the inventions of
charlatans and liars.

If Balínús is truly the master of talismans, according to
Jábir, it is not due to magic but to his perfect knowledge
of the properties of things.

For Jábir and other Muslim scientists, Balínús was primarily
a natural philosopher, and they attribute to him several
cosmological, astrological, and alchemical treatises.
[Kraus, Jábir ibn Hayyán, pp. 295]

Jábir ibn Hayyán also wrote ten books according to the opinion
of Balínús (‘alá ra’y Balínús). A collection of sayings from
Balínús in Arabic have come into Latin under the title Dicta
Belini. There is also a work in Arabic by a disciple of
Apollonius named Artefius, called Miftáh al-Hikmat (The Key to Wisdom)
[Kraus, Jábir ibn Hayyán, p. 298, and Encyclopedia of Islam,
new edition, vol. 1, p. 995.]


finally there are ....

The Letters of Apollonius

[Leucius Charinus]

It is also worth noting that the original books of Apollonius which circulated in Greek were preserved at the major temples of Asclepius (Apollonius was a former priest of Asclepius) and that these writings were destroyed when the major temples (of Asclepius) were destroyed during the rule of Constantine. Somehow we must postulate that some of these works were saved from the flames and taken to the 4th century Persian empire.