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JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY<br />
*<br />
,<br />
i t<br />
This science is contained in [Ptoletily's] Almagest, whereof the<br />
best commentaries (o) and elucidations are the Commentary of<br />
Nayrizi 1 and *he Almagest in the Shifd*. And amongst the<br />
applications of this science is the science of Astronomical Tablgs<br />
and Almanacs. , f<br />
Judicial Astrology 'is a branch of Natural Science, and its<br />
special use is prognostication, by which is meant the deducing<br />
by analogy from the configurations of the stars in relation to one<br />
another, and from an estimation of their degrees in the zodiacal<br />
signs, the fulfilment of those events which are brought about by<br />
their movements, such as the conditions of the worlti-cycles,<br />
empires, kingdoms, cities, nativities, changes, transitions, decisions,<br />
and other questions. It is contained, as above defined by us, in<br />
'<br />
'63<br />
Ahmad [ibn Muhammad]<br />
the writings of Abii Ma'shar.pf Balkh 3<br />
,<br />
4<br />
5<br />
ibn 'Abdu'1-Jali'l-i-Sajzi Abu , Rayhan Bfruni' ,and Ki'ishyar-i-Ji'li' 6 .<br />
So the astrologer must be a man of acute fnrtid, approved<br />
character, and great natural intelligence, though apparently [some<br />
degree of] folly, madness and a gift for soothsaying are amongst<br />
the conditions and essentials of this branch [of the subject]. And<br />
the Astrologer who would pronounce prognostications must have<br />
the Part of the Unseen 7 in his own Ascendant, or in a position<br />
which stands well in relation to the Ascendant, while the Lord of<br />
the Mansion of the Part of the Unseen must be fortunate and<br />
in a favourable position, in order that such pronouncements as he<br />
gives may be near the truth. And one of the conditions of being<br />
a good astrologer is that he should know by heart the whole of<br />
the "Compendium of Principles" (Mujniahil-Usiil) of Kushyar 6<br />
,<br />
and should continually study the "<br />
Opus Major 8<br />
," and should<br />
look frequently into the Qdmin-i-Mas'iidi* and the Jdmi'-i-<br />
Slidhi, so that his knowledge and concepts may be refreshed.<br />
1 Abu'l-'Abbas al-Fadl ibn Hatam of Nayriz (near Darabjird in Fars). He<br />
nourished in the latter half of the third century of the Flight (late ninth and early<br />
tenjh of the Christian pra).<br />
2 Presumably Avicen ja's great philosophical work of this name is intended. *<br />
3 See Brockelmanq's Gesch. d. Arab. Lid., vol. i, pp. 221-222, pp. HA *<br />
of the Persian notes, and Note XXIII at the end.<br />
4 s See n. 6 on p. 62 supra.<br />
See n. i on p. 62 supra.<br />
6 See Ibid., pp. 222-223. Kiya Abu'V-Hasan Kushyar ibn Labban ibn Bashahri<br />
al-Jili (of Gilan) was a very notable astronomer who nourished in the second half of<br />
the fourth century of the Flight (tenth of the Christian era). A fine MS. of his Mujmal<br />
(Add. 7490) exists in the Bri^sh Museum. See also p. f V of the Persian notes, and<br />
Note XXIII at the end.<br />
7 Fo'r this and other ,<br />
Astrological terms see Note XXIV at the end.<br />
8 'Kar-i-Mihtar by Hasan ibnu'l-Khasib, a notable astronomer of the second<br />
century of the Flight.<br />
9<br />
Composed about A.D. 1031-6 for Sultan Mas'iid, to whom it is dedicated, by<br />
al-Biruni. A fine MS. transcribed at Baghdad in 570/1174-5 is described in Rieu's<br />
Arabic tmpplement, pp. 513-519.<br />
10 A colleatioa of fifteen treatises by Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abdu'l-Jalil<br />
as-Sajzi, a notable astronomer who nourished in the latter half of the tenth century of<br />
the Christian era. See p. 62 supra, n. 6 ad calc.<br />
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