The Light of the World: Astronomy in al-Andalus

447 Pages·2016·3.02 MB·English

by  Joseph ibn Nahmias

The Light of the World
Astronomy in al-Andalus
Joseph Ibn Naḥmias
Edited, Translated, and with a Commentary
by Robert G. Morrison
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous support
of the Jewish Studies Endowment Fund of the University of
California Press Foundation.

The Light of the World
BERKELEY SERIES IN POSTCLASSICAL ISLAMIC SCHOLARSHIP
Edited by Asad Q. Ahmed and Margaret Larkin
1. The Light of the World: Astronomy in al-Andalus, by Joseph Ibn Naḥmias, edited,
translated and with a commentary by Robert G. Morrison
The Light of the World
Astronomy in al-Andalus
Joseph Ibn Naḥmias
Edited, Translated, and with a Commentary
by Robert G. Morrison
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university
presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by
advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural
sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by
philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more
information, visit www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 2016 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available at
http://www.loc.gov/.
ISBN 978-0-520-28799-0 (cloth : alk. paper)
Manufactured in the United States of America
23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
ansi/niso z39.48– 1992 (r 2002) (Permanence of Paper).
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Preface xi
Introduction 1
1. Judeo-Arabic Text of The Light of the World 49
2. Translation of the Judeo-Arabic Text of The Light of the World 101
3. Hebrew Recension of The Light of the World 187
4. Translation of the Significant Insertions in the Hebrew Recension of
The Light of the World 241
5. Commentary on the Judeo-Arabic Text 263
6. Commentary on the Significant Insertions in the Hebrew Recension
of The Light of the World 359
7. The Hebrew Text of Profiat Duran’s Response to The Light of the World 393
8. Translation of the Hebrew Text of Profiat Duran’s Response to
The Light of the World 395
Glossary of Judeo-Arabic, Hebrew, and English Technical Terms 399
Bibliography 409
Index 421

Acknowledgments
My doctoral adviser at Columbia University, George Saliba, introduced me to The
Light of the World in the spring of 1992. I owe him an immense debt of gratitude
for putting the text in my hands, for his advice and encouragement over the
years, and for how he has modeled the virtues of intellectual exploration and
an unceasing search for fascinating material. He has been everything I could
hope for in a mentor. While I was a student, Raymond Scheindlin of the Jewish
Theological Seminary gave me outstanding instruction in medieval Hebrew.
Since then, I have been assisted by a number of institutions. My former home,
Whitman College, provided generous sabbatical support, gave me amazing senior
colleagues (Rogers Miles, Jonathan Walters, and Walter Wyman), and placed
me on the same floor as members of the Mathematics Department who helped
me when I was just starting to understand The Light of the World’s models. My
current departmental colleagues (Todd Berzon, Jorunn Buckley, John Holt, and
Elizabeth Pritchard) at Bowdoin College are outstanding teachers and scholars
around whom it is impossible to be complacent. At Bowdoin, I have also been
fortunate to be part of a cohort of associate professors (Dallas Denery, Kristen
Ghodsee, Page Herrlinger, and Arielle Saiber) who have pushed and prodded one
another onward through the post-tenure doldrums. Bowdoin College provided
me with two summer travel grants, in 2010 and 2012, which allowed me to consult
manuscripts.
The Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania
gave me a fellowship in the spring of 2007, and the Stanford Humanities Center
granted me a fellowship for my sabbatical in 2012– 3. Office 209 at the Stanford
Humanities Center was unforgettable. Without the support of both universities
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