Pilocarpine (1) was synthesized in seven steps starting from 2-acetylbutyrolactone. Chirality was introduced by asymmetric reduction of enone 4 and transferred via a Claisen rearrangement. A mild procedure for the preparation of 1,5-disubstituted imidazoles in the last synthetic operation led to pilocarpine unaccompanied by isopilocarpine.