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130 / NOTES ON THE THIRD DISCOURSE
Kiya Abu'l-Hasan Kushyar
i
ibn Labban ibn Ba-shahri
flourished in the
al-Jildni (of, Gilan) was' a notable astronomer y:ho
latter part of the fourth century of the hijra. In his Mujmalifl-Us&Phe
alludes to the year 321 of Yazdijird (A.H. 342
= A. D. 953-4), and in
another passage of the sarr^e work 2
to A.Y. 361 (A.H. 383
= A.D. 993-4),
so that his active life appears to have lain between these two limits, and
the date given by Hajji Khalifa (A.H. 459
= A. D. 1066-7) under Zij-i-
,
'
Kushydr is certainly too late. See also Brockelmann, i, 222-3.
Abu Yiisuf Ya'qub ibn Ishaq . . al-Kindi, entitled "the
Philosopher of the Arabf," traced his descent from Ma'di-Karib, tand
belonged to an Arabian family equally notable for ancient and noble
lineage and honourable achievements. How our author can have represented
him as a Jew is incomprehensible. The story ?bout him and
Abii Ma'shar, however, derives some confirmation from the Fihrist*.
He composed some 270 works on Logic, Philosophy, Geometry, Arithmetic,
Music, Astrology and Medicine, of which about a -score are
extant in European libraries 4 . The date of his death is not known, but
he flourished in thfe reigns of al-Ma'miin and al-Mutawakkil (A.H. 19?-
247; A.D. 813-861). It is not clear on what authority Dr Heinrioa
Suter 3
gives A.H. 260 (A.D. "873-4) as the date of his death. He was
noted for his parsimony, and a good many pages are devoted to him in
6
the "Book of Misers" (Kitdbu'l-Bukhald) of . al-Jahiz A number of his
sayings in praise of this unattractive quality are quoted on p. 206 of the
Persian notes from Ibn Abi Usaybi'a's "Lives of the Physicians"
(vol. i, pp. 208-9).
Note XXIV. Certain astrological terms.
(Text, pp. 56, 59 and 62; Persian notes, pp. 206-8.)
In these anecdotes about astrologers and their predictions there
occur a few technical terms which can be properly understood only by
trtose (few in these days) who have made Astrology the special object
of their studies. Amongst such is Mr Ralph Shirley, editor of the
Occult Review, who has most kindly supplied me with the valuable
notes which I have placed after
and Persian works.
*
the explanations derived from Arabic
'
''
6 x
i. Khaby and Damir (j*+~e 3 trj*-)-
The explanation of these terms, which I have translated by. "divina-
tion and thought-reading," is given by Abu Rayhan al-Biruni in a passage
of his Tqfhim, quoted by Mirza Muhammad ip the Persian notes,
(pp. 206-7), f which the translation is as follows:
1 Brit. Mus. MS. Add. 7490, f. 22 b .
2
Ibid., f. 4*. For a description of this fine MS. see Rieu's Arabic Supplement,
PP- 5'3-9'
3 Ed. FlUgel, p. 277.
4 See Fliigel's Al-Kindt genannt der Philosoph der Araber, in \he*AbhaitJlung f.
di Kuniie des Morgenlandes, vol. i, part i (Leipzig, 1857); the long notice in
?
>
al-Qifti Tarikhifl-Hukamd, pp. 366-378; and Brockelmann, i, 209-210.
8 In his Die Mathematiker und Astronomen der Araber und ihre Werke (Leipzig,
1900).
6 Cairo e(\.of 1323/1905-6, pp. 64-76.
.
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