Art of Astrology

354 Pages·2007·21.529 MB·English

by  Abu Rayhan al-Biruni

(Kitab al-Tafhim li Awa'il Sina'at al-Tanjim
- Book of Instruction in the
Elements of the Art of Astrology)

English translation with parallel Arabic / Persian text.
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THE BOOK OF INSTRUCTION
IN THE ELEMENTS OF THE ART OF
ASTROLOGY
ABU'LRAYH~~NM UHAMMAD IBN AHMAD
Written in Ghaznah, I o 29 A.D.
Reproduced from Brit. Mus. MS. Or. 8349
The Translation facing the Text by
R. Ramsay Wright, M.A. Edin., LLD. Tor. and Edin.
Ernerims Professor of Biology
University of Toronto
I934
LONDON
LUZAC & CO.
46 Great Russell Street
PREFACE
NOTE. The History of Science is cultivated so aasiduous-
ly at the present time, as one may judge from the peri-
odfoals exolusively dedoted to it, and from the import-
ant books which appear from time to time elucidating
the history of certain subjects or of certain periods,
that the translation of a book whiah served as a primer
This work had occupied Dr. of Science for two or three hundred years efter it was
Ramsay Wright for many years. mitten requires no apology.l
The whole of the text, transla- This applies with special significanoe to the
tion and notes had been printed ~afhfmo f Al-~irk'ib ecause its author is one of the
and the title page and most of most outstanding figures of the eleventh oentury, which
has been desoribed as the blossoming time or Mohammedan
the preface finally revised by
nulture, and as the climax of mediaeval thought.
him before his death on 5th Sept- So dharacteris tic for his age is 1t s author that
ember 1933. The remainder of Sarton in his admirable "Introduotion to the History of
the preface was awaiting his last Soienoew Styles the first half' of that century the
aorrections. An index has been nTime of ~l-~irllnx.
added.
Intimacy with Sir Willlam Oaler, whose fine Ubmy
The edition is limited to
was asse bled in ill.ustration of the History of
one hundred copies. .o.f wnich this Soienoe19 and with Dr. Charles Singer whose notable
i S aontrlbutions to it are well-known formed a favourable
No. atmosphere for Increasing interest therein and lad to
8ly undertaking the task of this translation.
The suaestion that the ~afixmw as both worthy of
being translated, and alsa suitable as a representative
Of its period was made by Professor B.B. Browns to
DF. Singer who kindly placed a rotograph of the Persian
veraion (PL) et my disposal. It was from this that
the translation was made in the first instanoe.
&n answer to a question as to the Persian source
Greaves* wAstronomFca quaedamw brought me into oom-
Uunioation with Professor Wiedemann of Erlangen. Re
Chron. ~extm, .
Washington,- 1927, vol. I, 69s-737. I am indebted to
Professor Fulton of Yale for tris reference.
Bibliotheca Osleriana, Oxford, 1929.
Ueber die Sohrift nutronomica quaedamn von GJXaVeS;
B- Rqsaz might mit einem zusatz von E. Wiedemann,
Be1 traege , -1.
Made and Printed by the Rcplika Process in Great Britain by
PERCY LUND HUMPHKlES CO. LTD.
11B &W$ square, London, W.C.1
and at Brodfwd
he ~arhirni s a BOO^ or Instruction on the Prin-
had translated various passages flxm the Taf'hfm in his cipleo~r the Art pi Astrology (xltsb al-taihxm l1 awar-
*Beitraege zur Oeschichte der Naturwissenschaftenw com- il qinlrat al-tanjim) but may be regarded as a Primer d
municated to the Physico-Medical Society of Erlangen, .selr~nth century science,Secause apart from the elaaglta
an3 was good enough to look over my translation of this of ~eomtryan d Astronomy, ( 'ilm 81-nujib, rilm al-falak)
ndrk and to make a number of valuable suggestions which and the use of the Astrolabe for astronomical and as*-
have been incorporated iqto it. Ee advised that the logical purposes (~strologyi s d irferentiated as rilm
Arabic versions should be collated with the Persian, al-tanjIm, 'ilm ahkh al-nujUm) i t has sections on Ge-
lending me with this object photographs of the two Ber- ography and Chronology both fnvouri te topics st this
lin bSS.(A.B.AB1.) and presenting me with copies of his pried. It is, therefore, often classified with other
numerous papers on Arabic Science, Be was about to works designated as ocsmoqraphies 5ut the suthor places
write at my request a short' Introcluc tion to this work, it at the head of his list sf works on Astrology. Al-
which he did not live to compsete, in which he proposed ~1-r insists that no one is entitled to cell himself
to compese the life and works of a-~XriinIi n the East an Astrologer unless he possesses a thorough knowledge
with those of his oontemporary Ibn al-Baitham, better of there ancillary sciences.
known in the West as Alhazen, so distinguished for his
researohes in 0ptica.l The author, ~bul-*R aypan L!u$emad ibn m a d 81-&id
(~-~~hwc?rizmgein) erally known by his nisbah, which meens
er aeAs iwstaarmn t tHr.Ji butSee etmoa Pnrno, fdesisscour sWseiesd hemisa nano, bnyt rhtbius tifoornms- othf atth hee x hbwel&oniPgneida nt oC tahpei tasu1,bbuurtb sa,losuot soidfete n(b rierlfienr)r etdh e twod s
to the History of Arabic Scienoe, and gives a list of by him lcunyah,which is occasionally written Abu RayQBn.
his numerous papers, which testif to the extent an& KO mtion is made or dl-3IrUnI1S offspring nor is there
any lndioation why *rayJ#n* (literally sweet-basil, but
diversity of his studies thareln.3 al.o a not unoonmon name) should have been selected as
I take this opportunity of associating myself with
him kuuyah. Sprigs of' this fragrant plant are often worn
Dr. ~&~mainnn expr&ssingm y admiration of Professor
by L;caba,and it may have been as characteristic for hlm
Kiedemann's achievements, and my indebtedness for the
interest he showed in my work. iamn llaun otorromh,lldia yfoh8r naa hd,iits tiinsg uai swhoemda np'so lniatmioei alni.k eI nan iyt sot hreemr-
Sartan thus characterizes U-~frfhf in comparison ~ta1lVP.onm f.rao hmig hf llyo-&edeur coart epdl aJnetw liiskh eg Piyrlr tlfreo.m O Wne aolb f . a z'S
W th his more widely-known contemporary Avlcenna (Ibn so-aalled. It is also the name of the lady,Ra*Bnah the
Scfrnitli)c walA sl-p~iIrriUt,n fIr bepnr e$nine8n tsth eth ee ymnothree tcidcv; en8tu1r-oBgirai inaig dw-a s Idtphdriioraituend,i:annd ,dauagth wtehrls eo f reAql-uVeassta, n,itnod ewedho,m itth riaa-ab oworkit tiesn .
more of a discoverer and In that respect cornea nearer
to the modern scienti@t*si deal; Ibn 5InS was easen- The ~afhrrno ccurs In both Brclbic and Persian ver-
tially an organizer, an encyclopaedist, a philo8opher." mions, nel ther of which according to Rleu purports to
Two other oon'temporaries may be mentioned; Ibn hare been translated the one from the other. Bromo
BWakf~o f the bilingual TafhIm (Lit. Eiet. 11,102) and
YUnus dl,stinguished for his astronomical work in Cairo of it8 having been composed simultaneously in both lan-
and v811 ibn rfsii for his researohes in ~~hthalrnolo~~.~ guq.8 (~hahr~zarq Elah) while a Paris hB. (D)h as been
'1 One of Wledemann'r papers deals with the lives and regarded on inadequate grounds as favouring the view
works or Ibn $1-Haithem and al-Kindi; Jahrb. f. Photo. that it had been translated from the Persian by the
d.Reproduotionstechnik, 1911. 8 Isis,May 1930 166-186. BUthor- ( P - ~ Vun der a.)
3 Not to be confused with the Astrolabe-maker (p. 119) .
who lived under the Caliph ~a'miinn early 200 years with Ptolemy and Galen. Nor is he to be confised
earlier,and whose tract on the Astrolabe has recently 'fag ibn *dlI, a physician of the 3rd century at-
been edited by Father L. Cheikhu S.J. Ibn ~ h u raef ers uohe* to the court or Mutawakkil (and Murtamid?)
to him with enthusiaem (Not. et Extr. VII, 54) ranking
RayGRnah being a native of Khwkrizn would necesse
mile at the samgnid cpurt he probably met ~zbiis
ily be more familiar with Persian than with Arabic,
ibn nashrngrr Sham: al-IKa~~lwih~o had "sken refuge
which would acoount for the Persian version. Al-~ikflnT
there, and when ~abiier egained his rrlncipelity in 388,
wrote in aablc and was accustomed to make use of as-
Al-sriinI at his invitation joined him in GurgZn at
sistants in his literary output. There are some indica-
the S.E. angle of the Caspian. To hitn Al-BIriinTts
tions that the translator into Persian was less
first important work, the Chronology of Ancient
familiar with Arabic than ~1-3Irflrd. (v. note p. 81)
Nations, is dedicated; It was finished in 390-1/100~
The following sketch of the life of ~l-~IrDnfis
A-I)., and, although not his first work, represents
booicm pEildeidt iofrno mo f ththaet Cbyh rSoancohloaug yi,ann dti lefr oPmre mfaactee rtioa lt htrea nAsr-a - the 1su%misa t iuonnc eorft ahini sw rheesne a~r1o-hBe~s rUt inrBtei tlulr ntehda tt oti me.
lated by Wiedemann from YHqUtts Biographical Dictionar
~hwgrizm, certainly before-399 A.H., for he speaks or
??I, 30@ md references by *l-Baihaqi and Ibn Abi Oabbifa8
his kind reoeption at Gurganj by Abu'l-qasan *ai,
gl-~lriiniw as born in 362 A.H. (973 A.D.) in a sub- the eldeat eon Of MaqmUn who succeeded his father in
urb (blrtin) of the Capital of the Principality of m r - 387.2 r~1dii ed in 399, and was followed hy his
brothel? ~bu~l-*~bXabrm~6sn ibn Matmiin, with whom
izm, corresponding roughly to the farmer Khanate of
~i-~zriinoTc cupied an honourable position3 as coun-
Khiva,at that time a province at the Senid Empire un-
der ?l@ Ibn Flan~flr (ob. 987/997-8). The Capital, ~Sth, hcei lwloasr mduurridnegre dt hbey w rheoblee lolifo uhsi ss urebijgenct st.i ll 407, when
situated on the right bank of the Oxus,where is now
~t was to revenge this murder that Mahmcd of
Shaim C~SbzsV 'alI,was the seat of the last 1Chwiirizm-
Gheznah I,!atmiint s brother-in-law,4 set out to oonquer
shih ,Abu Abdallah ?!u@mad, a direc t descendant of the
Khusraws,but the greater part of the Province was ~ov- KhwSrizm, placed Altuntash on the throne, and carried
erned by the Emir Ma'mtin ibn hbbammad from GurgBnj, an the surviving members of the Royal family and other
nobles to Afghanistan in 408, and with them AI-
important city,now Kuhna Urgenj,a hundred milea to the B T ~ aInd two other savants Abu'l-1:hair ibn EZhammBr
N.W. situated on the branch of the Oxus leading to the the physician, and Abu Nasr ibnrIriq, the rnathematio-
~as~ian.
He overthrew the ancient dynasty of the KhwGrizm- ilaenar. nedM maQemn Cod rh ~adu pyrgevbitojo u ihlyi st rowien d cotou rat tftorar-catl rtehaed y
sh&s in 385 A.H. ,appropriating the title. 3 BY this Aviaenna (~bu ibn ~in5)an d Abu Sahl ?SE ibn
time the Oxus had already destroyed the Citadel of the
Capita1,and was making further inroads in the city. Y3% y'hb eatol-rMe asATlhhI63 hhiadd tfsl eadr rfirvoaml ,G ruartghBenrj , thpapno baacbolye pitn
These ciroumstanpes may have led to ~l-~IrtlnI'lse aving
MaPmudcs somewhat peremptory invitation.
for the court of FIangrUr, for in a verse quotgd by
YEqUt, he refers to him-as his first patron.*
Little is known up to this time of ~l-3IriinT*s l At 6 later period of his life he must have met Q E ~ ~ s
early history; he kn W little of his grandfather andno- grandson, rtmgur, author of the gtibas nsrnah who was
thing of his father,5 but he must have profited b h:t i oompanlon of Masriid from 422-432 and married his sis-
studies under ibu Na?r Manpur ibn 'Lli ibn Tr~p,! Yon DieZ, Buch des ~Bbus,p . 136 seq.
he had already mitten a number of scientific papers,md '$;i .d*mann, Beltraege, U,p . 6:, No. I.
had had discussions wit h his younger contemporary Avi- Wledemann, ;ceitraege, LX, p. 61, No. 5.
cenna before leaving Khwlrizm, and w.h ile Avicenna wee b. Subuktigln, Ma@nudts sister was first
stri lelS iemn, aSn nu kUh. z~a. ; E . z. eec . s urw ss. U. melasrer iemda rtroie dV aA sai~nsdtI e sru obfs eMqua*emnTtllny, ntamoe M naotmt Urne. corMdaeIdp.i id
e';: 973. ' ~e~:ede:~3~e, lt~aeg~,~,X%~II,t. &Z."baur,ganuel de Genealogic et de Chron3logie,l927.)
v.. note 3 D. 186. \~ledemann,~eitraege,II,p.6l,N0. Plrdawai had fled from Ghaznah seven years before
2. 5 ~iedebnn,Q eitraege, LX, p. 62, NO. 4. thia .
Wiedemann, Beitraege, LX, p. 61, No. 3.
In one of his verses ~l-SIriinis ays Mahmud did not
cease to load him with benerits;l he may hive ocoupied TO return to ~aybiinaht o whom the ~afi?limi s de-
an official position as ~stro1oger;Z but many of the dioated; she must have been carried off to Ghaznah
twelve years between 408 and the completion of his in 408 A.H. with the rest of MahmGdls involuntary
seoond great work *Indiam (Talrzkh al-Hind) in 421/ It has been su~estedt'h at she was a sia-
10m must have been spent in travel and study in India, tar of ~bu*l-~dbbk3b,u t in such event she would have
ss well as in the extraordinary and encyclopaedic beon fbint al-~a'miin'not bint AI-gasan.
literary activity, including the TaihIrn in 420/1029, gbull-Hasan is a common kunyah which doe6 not
which may be gathered from his own bibliography of hie neoees.rily' imply the existence of a son Al-Haean,
writings up to 427, contained in the Leiden EaS.GOllUt3 otherrirs one aght euspe2t a relationship tb
133, printed Qy Sachau in his Prefaoe, and translated Awcl-Basan rAli ibn b¶a1mun, whose only re-c orded
by Wiedemann, with the appendix of Al-Gha Pa nfar (630- son ~bull-s rig eucceeded his uncle Cbul S for
692 A.H.) who is responsible for the detai s on which few montS(8; or to Abull-psan ?Ali :1 ?:l-
the figure of ~l-~IrnIh*orsos oope p. 191 is founded. Fa l ~l-KhhseI to whom, accordin to IjBjjl Khalifs
~apmcd, to whom the Indica would probably have (If, 585) an edition of the Tafhfra was dedicated in
been dedicated, €lied (421/10W) before the work was 421 A.& ~l-Khiisa was a village near the anoient
actually finished, so there is no dedication. Capital or Khwtirizm, (Talrikh-i Rashidi, p. 45) and
was evidently one of the exiles in"
When MasfUd suoceeded his father, Al-l$rUnf com-
posed his third grincipal work, the Canon P,!asudious, ~l-~irbocdcu pied such a prornlnent position in
and was in reoeipt of a pension which enabled him to Gurglnj, it is possible that Rayhgnah was a namesake
devote the rest of his life to his,scientific studies (aamiyyah), daughter of some friehd at LIaimtin's court
and his literary work. YEqiit relates that !,?asr6d Whatever her cirigin she is marked out among oriental
sent him an elephant=loap of silver coin for the women by her oravine; for saientific knowledge, and
Canon, but that A1-BizUni returned it tow Treasury. bp the rare distinction of having a book dedicated
Ye survived llas+'ud, dedicated a work on jewels to her.
to his sucoessor L!awdCd, and died at Ghaznah in
440/1048.
- - -
Wiedemann, Beitraege, LX, p. 61, No. 6.
v. ~hahgrZ laqslah, XXIII; Browne, Lit. Fist. of
Persia, 11, 97; DIEIerbelot, under Abu RlhRn.
3 Sachau, Preface to Chron. Text. pp. XL-~VIII and
Hiedemann, l. c. pp. 71-77 and notes to p. 96.
I urn obliged to H.A.R. Gibb for the rest of the quo-
tation from the Leiden B.,a nd to Dr. Fotheringham
for calculating the cusps of the houses from the data
there given.
TABLE OF coN'.I!mrs. 116-1e5. Inalined Orbits of Pla.n ets, their nodes. Epicyole;
DBferent ; Equan t Apogee of Epi cycle, lCean
rate of Planet, "ear? and True Anomaly. Yean and
Corrected Lowitude. Equation of Anomaly. True
The paragraphs (abw8b) are referred to in the text by position among the ntars.
numbers alone. 166-190. Orbits of the ElOOn. Its Elovements. Those of the
planets. Revolution of the planets.
GEOMETRY 191. The Trepidation Theory.
198-196. Latitude of the Moon and of the Planets. Position
1-28. Deal with definitions and propositions of Euclid of their Apogees and of their Nodes
Book I. io7-198. Daily-rate of &o+enent of Planet, BUHT.
29-se. Or Book 11. 33-36. Of Books I11 and N. 199-201. t?sqbat, ~ibatZt,~ itiiqlit.
37, Ratio of diameter to ciroumference. 802. planets. ~scendinga nd Descending.
38-51 and 55. Detinitlons of BOOK V. 52-54. Of Book VI. eos. Inorease and Decrease of the Planets.
56-71. Definitions from Books H and =I. 204. World-Days and World-Yehrs.
205-e09. Size of Planets. Distanoe fron the Earth. Size of
the Sarth end surrounding Elements.
ARITHMETIC Distribution. of Land and later. Squator. Erect
PO s ture
72-95. Names and properties of the various kinds of numbera Latl tude and Longitude of Locality.
96-108. Arithmetical Operations. Decimal Notation. Ortlve Amplitude. Day and Night. Diurnal ~ r c .
109-115. Algebra. 116-119. Representation of numbers by stars of Perpetual Apparitio~a nd Occultation.
letters of the alphabet. Altitude and Zenith Distance.
Gnomon and Shadow.
Azimuth. Meridian Altitude and Shadow. Relation to
time of Prayer. Azimuth of Qiblah. Direction
of Meoca.
The Spheres. 125. Stars and Planets.
Celestial Movements. IIorizon. l?eridian. Cardinal
Points. Indian Circle. GEOGRAPHY
Day and Night. Dawn and Twilight. Hours.
Equinoctial. Ecliptic. Parallels of Declination and X56-240. The Seven Climates. Their Extent and Ci:eracteris-
tios. Qubbat al-ara. Other Methods of dividing
of Latitude. Lfuqantarahs, Equinoxes. Solstices.
Subdivision of the circumferenoe of the circle. the Earth.
Relation to it of the diameter. 241. Cities in the Seven climates.
THE SIGKS. 147. Declination and Latitude of Stars.
THE PISSJiDS. Superior and Inferior. The Epicycle.
Combustion and Conjunction with the Sun.
Waxing and asning or the FKoon. Phases peculiar to
242. CO-ascensions of Equinoctial and Ecliptic.
the Mom?
The Fixed Stars. Their arrangement in Constellatlas, 243. lEpoohl of Star with Latitude. Degree with which it
rises, sets and crosses the Yeridian.
Zthoedsiea.c el, Ilor thern and Southern. Tables of 244. ~z1ir. BC of parallel of e. ster traversed from the
Star names. UTSION3 OF THE 5100hT. Their Ascension. horizon at a given time.
245-248. Asoendaqt. Houses, Cadent and Succeedent. Their
The Galsxy. Crder of succession of Signs. North-
ern and Southern Sidns and Mansions. Angles.
Munaththal Orbit or Parecliptic. Apogee of Sun. 249. Anniversary.. 250. COI~~CTIONSo f Saturn end
Jupiter
Its Excentric Orbit. Its MeanMovement, Mean
250-254. Conjunction and Oppositl3n of ltoon. Phases (F~@SZ~)
Argument end Equation. The anount of its move-
at which forecasts are made, Bthazer (al-tas~irht).
ment in the Scliptic. 255-267. Bolipses or Moon. Eclipses of Sun. parallaxis.
CHRONOLOGY
DIVISIONS OF TRE SIGNS
869-173. Xonths. Solar and LMar Years. Leapyear. Inter-
calat ion. 448-452. Ralves. Faces. paranatell onta. Decanates.
2128. IIindu Names for Days of the Week. ptolemy*S thirds.
271479. Months of the Varioua Nations. 453-454. TERMS and their Lords. 455-456. Ninths and
280-881. Dates. Cycles. Eras. 282. Feasts and Fasts or Twelfths.
the Nations. 457-460. Characteristics of DEGREES of the Signs.
885-290. Jewish. 291-300. Christian. 301. Muslim.
302-310. Persian. THE HOUSES
311-315. . Days in Greek Calendar. 316-320. Soghdian and
WwHrizmian. 461-414. TA- gr Indications at Nativities, at Rorary Ques-
321-323. THE CALENDAR. Page of a Persian Calendar. tions, as to Organs, Powers, Joya and Powers of
the Planets. Sex. Characteristics of Groups of
!?ouses in Threes and .Sixes.
TIlE PART @F FORTUNE
324-346. The Astrolohe. Its Parts. Various Kinds. Uses.
475-480, Tables of other LOTS cast in a similar way.
481-488. Relative Position of Planets and Sun. Cazimi. Ori-
ASTROLOGY entality.Influenc8 changed under certain con-
ditions. TABIS.
THE SIGNS 489-490. XPPLICATION and SXPARATION. 491. DEAD DEGBES.
492. Conjunction in longitude and in latitude.
347-358. Their Nature and Charaoteristics. Relation to 493-505. DIGWITXIB. Order of precedence. Favourable and
Points of the Compass and to the Winds. unfavourable situations or the Planets in the
359-371. Tables giving Indications as to their influence on Signs snd Houses.
Character, Figure and Face, Profession, Dis.ease. 506-X9. Interference with their conjunctions, Reception QC.
Crops. Animals. 510. Substitutes for conjunc tion and aspect.
372. Years of the Signs. 511. Opening the doors.
373-376. Signs and Flanets in Aspect and Inconjunct. 512-513. Strength and Weakness or Planets.
377. Relations other then Aspect. 514. The Combus t Way.
578. Ascending and Descending halves or the Zodiac.
379-380. Triplicities and Quailrants or the Zodiac.
THE PLANETS
515-519. The Five Divisions and the estrol9gical principles
381-395. Their Kature and Cherscteristios. Relation to on which inquiries are to be based in each.
pints 3f the Compass. As Lords of Fours and 520. The Lord of the Year. SBlkhudE.
Days of the Week. Relation to Climztes and 521-523. The deter:~ininc~o nditions at a nativity, Iiyleg,
Cities. ~adkhudg,: scendant, Horoscope, Figure of the
394-395. Their ylZARS. Periods (RRDlJtIA) of control of Fieavens. Direation or Aphesis (Tasyir)
Suman Life. JBnbakhtLr. Gifts of length of life. Position
396-435. TABLES giving Indications as to Soils. Buildings. of the maleflcs (garrPHti*) which terminate it.
Countries. Jewels. Foods. Drugs. Animcls 524-526. Procedure et birth. Use 67 NumiidEr. P. sinii.la r
Crops. Parts of the Body. Disposition and substi tute for Ascendant (Rec tification)
Manners. Disease. Professions &c. 527. *Elections'. Selecting suit2ble time for action.
4'36-439. ORBS and YEARS. Details of Firdaria. 528-53~. General Questions. Thought reading. Dr.nger of
440-444. Domiciles and Detriments. Exaltatiori and Fall. hasty conclusions.
445. As Lords or the Triplicities.
446-447. Planets in Aspect. Friendship and Enmity of
Planets.
X
A note IndiOateS that the EB., writteii in gonia, was
bought in Siwas in 732 A.H.
PL'
PERSIAN
m.
231.. . PPPLLP'... B~ri;t.b l .?NS a. t. PAd! .aris 237657967764... C"a t. Penr s. b4ISI S. 11W , 44545291 pthaera ,gB .rgKa . phsC a4ot7af 3lo-t4gh8ue9e ,1 a9XntdhI , c5e143n5-1t5u, 2r3ya.n: d cTeolmhsiepswl e1ht8ee. r ee ixascse rp egtfi evtroinrreg de bt htsoeen dicnea t e3f
,I of miting (321) as 425 A.H. instead 3f 420 as in other !SS.,
but this is due to a mistake of the copyist as will he seen
ARABIC fiom the" psuabs joiinn efdiz p sasisha gshea:-m bih ast ki brat U panjum
4. BL. Frit. ITUS. Add. Or. 8349. Recently acquired. Ramad6n andar sll chahirgad va b$st U an urn
567... AAaOO..* . KBbo;digl.l . M9oa9drsil.hb .l . Serlin 5652687162... C"Wa t. Arab. =S. 1VI1,,, 122562021 aanzd ~ari s~iilr (vhaaa z,hga rm v hao sitzupmad avza T. clshhihrIi l yakum est
d. AB'. I W 5667. " II vW"? 443 aanzd Iasrk asgadl)a r va riiz ardibahisht siwum AbZnm6h
9, U. Bibl. Nat. Paris 2497 '* 1. sFpae va nuvad va hashtum az Yazdiglrdw
The words in brackets are omitted. The Calendar Is the same
The translation was originally rnade from PL., was after-
wards collated with and amended from A0 and AOq , while the as in PL with son8 ineccurecies.
reproduction of AL which acoompanies t.h e translation has had
PP.
some lecunae supplied fro& 80 and AO*
ilthough this MS. is complete (as is AO) it has many
dropped lines and other nistakes. The script is very legible;
PL.
if. 39 and 110-1 are by another and more elegant hand. It is
This MS. is unique in being ?receded by a list of the 530 dated Modonday 19th RamaQEn 668 A.H. (12th Elsy 1270 A.D.) The
date of writing the ~aihImi s as In PL, 'bistum ast' for bist,
paragraphs (abwHb) into which the work is divided. This is f. 66r. M. Blochet in speaking of this ??S. refers to an
more detailed than that given in the Bodleian Catalogue of
Arabic MSS. 11, 262-8. Further it is the only m. in whioh Arabio edition, which he regards as probably the original.
the peragrephs ere numbered, nnd in which there are figures of
AL.
the constellations.
476-48T1h; erea alrle o cf etrhteasien claacnu nSaee s, uvpipzl.i ed9 1-f9ro5m, P1L9*3 -1e9x6c,e v2t0 6th-7e, On acTcohuisn ti so f thites V Sle. gwib.hi iclhit yh.a s Abe efenw sefolelciotesd a froe rl roesptr owdhuicchti oanr e
last, which, h~wever,i s in PP. copied fim A0 and AO' These are from A0 pp. 52-3, 60-62:
The script is described in the Catalogue as a fair naskhi. AO1, 90, 115-9, 130-1, 138: from A0, 219-22, 240-3. The
The teble in 453 has been substituted for the Arabic one as a oolophon does not indicate the date or the name of the copy-
specimen of the neat calligraphy. Professor Srowne in a let- ist, but two owners have written the dates on which the bc3k
ter to Dr. Singer refers to the arohaic writing; this is
oame into their possession, viz. Auhad b. As'ad b. Mihrlar el-
chiefly noticeable in dEl being written dhHl between vmelasn k Eastawrl in the month of Allah, Rsjab the dear, 839 X.%,
aanndd &efter i '3s r voewnkeli a~tn tdahce cehnid ( vof. Ya awrnw,d-S, eaun-dP eirnsi sfcohrme sS lpirkaceh e, 1I 4u3e5r--65 anA.dD . rAl*B b. al-vunain b. 'A18 al-Sahrqr, 889 A.H.
pp. 81 and 121).
The MS. is det,ed the beginning of RanaQBn, 6b6 A.H.
(end of October 1286 B.D.): and was mitten 'by the most weak
hand* of Al-Hellq ibn Ghul-m al-QunHwi. It is interesting This ?,E. is dated the last day, salkh, ~f ~ h acl-q iVd'dah,
that Ibn ~ h u i ias the copyist (692 A.B.) of the Leiden I.E. 833 A.H. (20 Aug. 1430 A.D.) It begi=th paragraph 42 and
Soli~s1 33 (Cat. 11, 29C) in ivhich his master ~l-Ghadanfar, a Omits 64-67, 150-165, 460-490.
great cdnirer of the Tafhh, discusses the life and iorks of
il-2irllnI. (Chron. T. XV. )
231