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