Ali bin Mahammad Aydamir or ʿIzz al-Dīn al-Jildakī (Egyptian Arabic: عز الدين الجلدكي; Coptic: Ⲉⲍ ⲉⲗⲇⲓⲛ ⲉⲗϫⲗⲇⲕⲓ), also written al-Jaldakī (d. 1342 CE / 743 AH) was an Egyptian alchemist from the 14th century Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt. A scientist and author who specialized in chemistry and lived in the eighth century AH. He copied entire paragraphs from the works of Jabir bin Hayyan, Abu Bakr al-Razi, Ibn Arfa` Ras, Abu al-Qasim al-Iraqi, and others, thus serving the history of chemistry in Islam, as he recorded in his works much of what had disappeared from the books of his predecessors. Haji Khalifa, the author of "Kashf al-Zunun", stated that al-Jildakī has 26 books.
Life
Despite being one of the most important Islamic scholars of the 14th century, almost nothing is known about his early life.
Al-Jildaki was probably born in Egypt. In his writings he reveals that he spent seventeen years traveling through Iraq, Anatolia, Yemen, North Africa, and Syria. Historical scholars almost unanimously agree that he belongs to Egypt, so they called him al-Masry (the Egyptian).
Based on a speculative vocalization of his Nisba as "al-Jaldaki ", some 20th century writers like Henry Corbin suggested that he was originally from Jaldak, a town in Khorasan before emigrating to Egypt. Nicholas G. Harris has criticized this theory noting that it was never mentioned in any pre-modern source before. Instead, he notes that all the biographical information known about him –like his Turkic name "Aydamir", places of residence and native language – would make sense only when set against a Mamluk background. Harris further notes that the name "Jildak" and its derivative Nisba "Al-Jildaki" are attested Turkic names, especially among Mamluk amirs.
Al-Jildaki was one of the last and one of the greatest of medieval Islamic alchemists, he was the author of scientific works such as the al-Misbah fi Ilm al-Miftah (, Key of the Sciences of Lights) and alchemical treatise Kitab al-Burhan fi asrar 'ilm al-mizan (, The Proof Regarding Secrets of the Science of the Balance).
He was a prolific author of alchemical writings, of which the United States National Library of Medicine has three. His treatises, which reflect interests much broader than simply alchemy, preserve extensive quotations from earlier authors.
Works
Al-Jaldaki grew up loving science, and devoted himself to reading all the chemistry books he could find, and read them critically. He was fascinated by Jabir ibn Hayyan, to the point that he called him "the Imam". He collected 42 works from his books that he studied and discussed. He also read Al-Razi and other scientists, and made many comments and many explanations of some theories and mysterious issues in chemistry.