Takwin was a goal of certain Islamic alchemists, notably Jabir ibn Hayyan. In the alchemical context, takwin refers to the artificial creation of life in the laboratory, up to and including human life. Whether Jabir meant this goal to be interpreted literally is unknown.

Jabir states in his Book of Stones (4:12) that "The purpose is to baffle and and lead into error everyone except those whom God loves and provides for!" His works were deliberately written in a highly esoteric code, so that only those who had been initiated into his alchemical school could understand them. It is therefore difficult at best for the modern reader to discern which aspects of Jabir's work are to be read as symbols (and what those symbols mean), and what is to be taken literally.