Alchemy in the medieval Islamic world

Alchemy in the medieval Islamic world refers to both traditional alchemy and early practical chemistry (the early chemical investigation of nature in general) by Muslim scholars in the medieval Islamic world. The word alchemy was derived from the Arabic word الكيمياء (al-kīmyāʾ), which itself may derive either from the Egyptian word kemi ('black') or from the Greek word khumeia ('fusion').