Alchemy - The Philosopher's Stone

Islamic alchemy could also be based on alternative ideas about material constitution. New substances could be produced by dissolving composite bodies and re combining their particles. Supposedly, arazi used this technique to produce an elixir for transforming metals. He once outdid a rival alchemist who turned metal into silver by using such an elixir to turn that silver into gold. The philosopher's stone was like a drug being used to treat metal by eliminating impurities orreleasing their inner spirit. In both medicine and alchemy, the same technique that works on one day may fail on another due to a different astral configuration.