JABIR IBN HAYYAN

he was considered a Sufi

invented the 

alembic. 

What is that?

So, the gossip on :   https://vinepair.com/spirits-101/history-of-distilling/ says Jabir was driven by an interest in science into distilling fruit into various pure substances the products were alcohol, acetic acid, and pulp. I wonder if he ever sold any of his pure substances...    

He started to wonder how other things could be separated, and started to experiment to see how he could separate other materials. He tried boiling things, cooling them and collecting what was left and then studying that.He is credited with the invention of many types of 

This extremely intelligent man knew of the process of extracting salt from water by letting the water evaporate, which leaves salt crystals behind. Though his mentor was a spirtiual man Jabir knew the value of having evidence to back up what he said.

By distilling various salts together with sulfuric acid, Jabir discovered hydrochloric acid (from salt) and nitric acid (from saltpeter). By combining the two, he

invented aqua regia, one of

the few substances that can dissolve gold.

What is a Sufi?

now-basic chemical laboratory equipment, and with the discovery and description of many chemical substances and procedures – such as the hydrochloric and nitric acids, distillation, and crystallisation – that have become the foundation of today's chemistry and chemical engineering..

Besides its obvious applications to gold extraction and purification, this discovery would fuel the dreams and despair of alchemists for the next thousand years. He is also credited with the discovery of citric acid (the sour component of lemons and other unripe fruits), acetic acid (from vinegar), and tartaric acid (from wine-making residues).

Jabir applied his chemical knowledge to the improvement of many manufacturing processes, such as making steel and other metals, preventing rust, engraving gold, dyeing and waterproofing cloth, tanning leather, and the chemical analysis of pigments and other substances. He developed the use of manganese dioxide in glass making, to counteract the green tinge produced by iron — a process that is still used today. He noted that boiling wine released a flammable vapor, thus paving the way to Al-Razi's discovery of ethanol.

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The seeds of the modern classification of elements into metals and non-metals could be seen in his chemical nomenclature. He proposed three categories: "spirits" which vaporise on heating, like camphor, arsenic, and ammonium chloride; "metals", like gold, silver, lead, copper, and iron; and "stones" that can be converted into powders. In the Middle Ages, Jabir's treatises on alchemy were translated into Latin and became standard texts for European alchemists. Several technical terms introduced by Jabir, such as alkali, have found their way into various European languages and have become part of scientific vocabulary.

Jabir distilled, and distilled organic things until he ended up with things he called pure substances.  "Pure substances" were what was left after the distillation was done.  He would be left with something that could not be broken down into more substances if it was distilled more.  The substance was only "pure" if it was made of the same thing throughout. He had an interest           that drove him to experiment with                    distillation.  What is                                 distillation?  What is the                         product of distillation?