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NOTE XXIV. CERTAIN ASTROLOGICAL TERMS l 131
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" Q. ' What are khaby and damir ? '
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A. Khaby is fjiat which is hidden in the fist; and dami? is that
,
'one should think of something and [that the operator should] find if,
out '
by questioning.' , .
" Herein are astrologers speedily put to shame, and their mistakes
are more frequent than tnefr successes."
? . Sahmu's-Sa t l
ddat and Sahmu* l-Ghayb
A full explanation of these terms, which I have translated " Part of
Fortune " and " Part of the Unseen," is givei! in vol. i of the Dictionary
of the Technical Terms used in the Sciences 1
of the Musalmdns , pp. 698-9.
After denning the pronunciation and ordinary meaning ("arrow") of
sahm, and its' special sense in Geomancy and Geometry, the article
proceeds :
"
With astronomers the term sahm means a definite portion of the
zodiacal "heaven. According to them, these 'Parts' (sahm-ha) are many,
e.g. the '
Part of Fortune '
(or '
Happiness '
:
Safymu's-Sa'ddat), also
Called by them the '
'
Part of the Moon and the ;
'
'
Part of the Unseen
\Sahmii l-Ghayb\ the 'Part of Days' (Sahmti'l-Ayydm), the 'Part of
Men-servants and Maid-servants '
(Sahm-i-Ghuldmdn wa Kanizakdri),
and so forth. So by day they compute the '
'
Part of Happiness from
the Sun to the degree of the Moon, and add to it (that is to the degrees
between the Sun and the Moon) the degree of the Ascendant. Then
from the Ascendant's total they subtract thirty each [for the Sign
ofjths Ascendant and the adjoining Sign], and what remains will be the
degree of the '
position of the Part of Happiness.' And by night they
compute from the degree of the Moon to the degree of the Sun, and
add thereto the degree of the Ascendant.
''Example. Ascendant 10 in Aries; the Sun 20 in Leo; the Moon
L5 in Libra, leaving 40 [from the position of the Sun in Leo] to [the
beginning of] Libra. [To this] we add the 15 [already] traversed 'by
the Moon [in Libra], which gives us 55. To this we add the degree of
the Ascendant, which gives us 65. Of these we give 30 to Aries and
30 to Taurus, and the 5 remaining to Gemini. So the place of the
'
Part of HappinesS ',will be the fifth degree of Gemini."
" As for the '
Pisces Aries
Aquarius
Taurus
Capricorn
Gemini
Sagittarius
Cancer
Scorpio
Leo
t Libra Virgo
Part of the Unseen,' by day they it compute from the
Moon and by night from the Sun, adding thereto the degree of the
Ascendant, and subtracting thirty each from the Ascendant, as before;
then what remains over is the place of the '
Part of the Unseen.' "
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Then follow directions on similar lines for calculating the other 'Parts,'
viz. the '
Part of
'
Days (Sahmu'l-Ayydm), the
'
Part of Men-servants
1 Published in the Bibliotheca Indica, Calcutta, 1862. ,
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