Sirr al-Khaliqa (The Secret of Creation)

The Sirr al-Khaliqa (The Secret of Creation), also known as the Kitab al-Ilal (The Book of Causes), is an Arabic Hermetic encyclopedia attributed to Balinas (Apollonius of Tyana). It is the earliest known source to preserve the full text of the Emerald Tablet.

Content and Scope: The text provides a comprehensive cosmology and mineralogy, explaining the emergence of the cosmos from the elements. It frames the Emerald Tablet as a revelation discovered by Balinas in a hidden chamber beneath a statue of Hermes in Tyana. The work served as a bridge between Late Antique Neopythagoreanism and the developing Islamic occult sciences.