The Arabic Influences on Early Modern Occult Philosophy

Liana Saif

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN:
  9781349573998
  9781137399465
• eBook ISBN:
  9781137399472
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: European Medieval History
• Index: History

Investigating the impact of Arabic medieval astrological and magical theories on early modern occult philosophy, this book argues that they provided a naturalistic explanation of astral influences and magical efficacy based on Aristotelian notions of causality.

1

Arabic Theories of Astral Influences: Abu Ma‘shar al-Balkhi

The astrologer Abu Ma‘shar Ja‘far ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Umar al-Balkhi was definitely one of the most influential astrologers in the Middle Ages and the early modern period, in the Islamic world and Europe.¹ From Kitab al-mudhakkarat (Book of Reminiscences) written by his pupil Shadhan, we know he was born in Balkh in Khurasan on 21 Safar 171 AH/10 August 787 AD; and according to Ibn al-Nadim he died in al-Wasit in central Iraq on 29 Ramadan 272 AH/9 March 886.² His works on astrology display his masterful syncretic knowledge, drawing from Greek, Persian and Indian sources.³ Among his most influential works are Kitab al-milal wa al-duwal (Religions and Dynasties) also known as Kitab al-qiranat (On Conjunctions) which deals with the effects of celestial conjunctions on nations, dynasties and rulerships; Kitab tahawil sini al-mawalid (The Revolutions of the Years of Nativities), which describes casting horoscopes for the birthdays of clients and how to derive information for the following year by comparing these horoscopes with the clients’ birth charts; and Kitab al-madkhal al-kabir ila ‘ilm ahkam al-nujum (The Book of the Great Introduction to the Science of the Judgements of the Stars) in which he provides a comprehensive philosophical model for astrology, presenting it as a natural science.⁴ The strategies for the naturalization of astrology that Abu Ma‘shar adopts in his Great Introduction led Richard Lemay to assert that ‘Abu Ma‘shar alone attempts to justify the validity of astrological science by the use of natural philosophy. Of all the astrological works of Mash’allah, Zael (Sahl ben Bisr) or Alcabitius (al-Qabisi) translated by John of Seville we find the Introductorium [The Great Introduction] alone to be of a theoretical nature, all the others having a particular subject and aim, usually for the use of the practice of astrology.’⁵

In his Fihrist, completed in 377 AH/987–8 AD, the biographer Abu al-Faraj Muhammad ibn al-Nadim enumerates thirty works attributed to Abu Ma‘shar including The Great Introduction.⁶ Many anecdotes were mentioned by various authors that afford us a glance into his fame and influence. In Niswar al-muhadara wa ahbar al-mudhakara, we are told by Abu ‘Ali al-Muhassin ibn ‘Ali al-Tanukhi (891–959) that Abu Ma‘shar and his companion al-Buhthuri were suffering from financial difficulties. To improve their situation they decided to gain favour with al-Mu‘tazz (r. 866–9) who was at that time incarcerated. Abu Ma‘shar predicted that al-Mu‘tazz would eventually become a caliph. When his prediction was realized, the new caliph assigned him an allowance of one hundred dinars per month, granted him thirty dinars in real estate, and bestowed upon him a gift of one thousand dinars; in addition, he made him chief of astrologers at court.⁷ Ibn Tawus (1193–1266) in Faraj al-mahmum relates this incident and refers to Abu Ma‘shar as the ‘foremost Muslim authority in astrology, [he] was exemplary in this science’.⁸ We find in this work thirteen tales about Abu Ma‘shar, including one that shows the astrologer predicting the appearance of a calf’s foetus in the presence of al-Muwaffaq’s army,⁹ and another tale of an incident that took place in the presence of the same caliph who had asked Abu Ma‘shar and his companion to guess the thing he was hiding. Having cast a horoscope, the companion answered that it was a fruit; Abu Ma‘shar declared it an animal. When revealed, it was an apple. A perplexed Abu Ma‘shar re-examined the horoscope for an hour and then rushed towards the apple. He broke it and exclaimed, ‘God is great!’ The apple was full of worms! Al-Muwaffaq was very impressed and granted the astrologer a reward.¹⁰ These testaments confirm the popularity and reputation of Abu Ma‘shar as a brilliant astrologer. But what they leave out are the theoretical foundations found in The Great Introduction that underlie Abu Ma‘shar’s impressive skills and placed astrology in the domain of natural philosophy. But before delving into this work, it is important to consider the cultural and intellectual context in which his theory was formulated in order to understand the special status of Abu Ma‘shar and his Great Introduction in the intellectual history of astrology as a whole.

Astrology in medieval Islam

Astrology was certainly popular and largely accepted in the medieval Islamic world.¹¹ This can be attributed to the special consideration of the heavens and stars in Islam, in addition to the status of astrology as a natural science.¹² Today, astrology in popular imagination is synonymous with ‘telling the future’ but future-telling is a complex concept that is represented by many traditions. In Islam predictions come under the category of ‘ilm al-ghayb – knowledge of that which is veiled – this knowledge is only available to God. In the Qur’an we read that God is the Knower of the Unseen (‘alim al-ghayb), ‘He discloses His [knowledge of the] Unseen to no one.’¹³ As a result, belief in omens (tatayyur) is false; ‘their omen came from God, but most of them know it not’.¹⁴ But when it comes to astrology, things are a little different. A verse in the Qur’an declares that ‘In the creation of the heavens and the earth, in the rotation of night and day, are sure signs for those people possessed of minds [ulul albab].’¹⁵ The heavens are full of signs of God’s omnipotence on which the faithful contemplate with their intellect. We also read in the Qur’an, ‘I [Allah] swear by the motions of the stars – and a mighty oath it is, if only you knew! This is a Glorious Qur’an, in a Book well-sheltered.’¹⁶ This verse reveals that the locations of the stars have a divine significance; for only by great things does the Almighty swear, and the greatness of this oath lies in its hidden significance only revealed to the wise or ulul albab. Astrologers then may argue that they are among those who employ the intellect to perceive and analyse the order of the celestial bodies which have great significations as God in his Sacred Book asserts. Abu Ma‘shar, who started his career as a student of theology but later turned his attention to astrology,¹⁷ begins his Great Introduction with, ‘praise be to God who created the heavens and all its wonders, made the planets as ornaments and lanterns, made them signs and guides to be followed, and made the earth an even expanse and set its sustenance’.¹⁸

That astrology seemed compatible with religion also led to the open reception of foreign astrological knowledge.¹⁹ During the reign of the Abbasids, who seized power in 750 AD and remained in Baghdad for two centuries, astrology began to be perceived as a handmaiden of sciences that were being transmitted into Islamic domains through a boom of translation activity and contact with the remains of ancient civilizations such as Persia.²⁰ Such texts included the Aristotelian natural corpus, Euclid’s Elements of Geometry and the Almagest and Tetrabiblos of Ptolemy whose works were foundational to Arabic astrology.²¹ During the reign of Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809), many Indian astronomical works were also translated such as the Siddhanta, an Indian set of astronomical tables with instructions translated by Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Fazari, who was influential on Abu Ma‘shar.²²

In addition to the active reception of astrological treatises and their translation, astrology thrived due to its status in the courts of the caliphs. Harun al-Rashid and many other rulers from the Abbasid dynasty had faith in astrology and often consulted their court astrologers before venturing on a new project. Astrologers seemed to occupy the position of military strategists and their predictions were much valued.²³ Alongside medicine, astrology was deemed in court as a beneficial science for state and individuals.²⁴

We can therefore see that favourable cultural conditions existed for the development of astrological practice and theory.²⁵ The Qur’anic call for the contemplation of the heavens and stars and the appropriation of Hellenic, Indian and Pahlevi texts led to the production of works that presented astrological investigations as a fundamental part of the epistemological foundations of Islamic science.²⁶

The astrological theory of Abu Ma‘shar al-Balkhi

Under the historical conditions outlined earlier thrived Abu Ma‘shar al-Balkhi who worked under the patronage of al-Ma’mun. The common Arabic term for astrology is adopted in The Great Introduction: ‘ilm ahkam al-nujum, the science of the stars’ judgements. The words of this term can be seen as the organizing principles of Abu Ma‘shar’s defence of astrology as he begins with presenting astrology as a legitimate science (‘ilm), discusses the nature and operations of the stars (nujum), and then highlights the nature of the events that the stars signify and judge (ahkam).

‘ilm: astrology as science

The noun ‘ilm, the root of which is ‘a-li-ma ‘to know’, denotes ‘knowledge’, ‘science’ or ‘theory’. All of these meanings are utilized in Abu Ma‘shar’s demonstration of the epistemological foundations of astrology. To express general knowledge, he mostly uses ma‘rifa (root: ‘a-ra-fa, ‘to know’), whereas ‘ilm is adopted by and large to denote ‘science’. Abu Ma‘shar states at the beginning the first chapter: ‘I saw the lovers of science [‘ilm] aiming toward the knowledge [ma‘rifa] of things and the deduction of the sciences [al-‘ulum] [ … ] the completion of scientists’ [‘ulama’] purpose is the perfection of the knowledge [ma‘rifa] that they seek.’²⁷

The generality of ‘things’ is associated with ‘knowledge’ whereas ‘deduction’ (istinbat) is specifically correlated with ‘science’ and is the occupation of ‘scientists’. That science is one part of knowledge is implied here. Moreover, astrology as a science of prediction is set apart from other types of knowledge of future things known by the public (ta‘rifaha al-‘amma) due to tradition and experience.²⁸ In discussing prediction among farmers, herdsmen and sailors, the root ‘a-ra-fa is used rather than ‘a-li-ma, and ma‘rifa is used to describe the non-astrological means of knowing the sex of an unborn baby under a subsection entitled ‘on the knowledge of boys and girls’ (fi ma‘rifat al-thakaran wa al-inath).²⁹

That the science of astrology is supported by theory is stated clearly in the first chapter. Abu Ma‘shar writes that the science of the judgements of the stars has a theoretical part (‘ilmi) and a practical one (‘amali).³⁰ The casting of horoscopes and the computational aspect of astrology is often referred to as a type of sina‘a meaning ‘practice’ (from the root sa-na-‘a, to make).³¹

Abu Ma‘shar establishes the scientific status of astrology and its theoretical foundations with two strategies: comparatively, by highlighting its interconnectivity with astronomy; and epistemologically by applying Aristotelian notions of natural investigations to astrology. In the first strategy, Abu Ma‘shar states that astrology is a qualitative science that contrasts with, but is also related to, astronomy, the quantitative study of the heavenly bodies since it is concerned with mathematical observations and exact calculations. Astrology is

The knowledge of the nature of every planet and sphere, and the specifics of their significations and what is bor...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Figures
• Introduction
• 1. Arabic Theories of Astral Influences: Abu Ma‘shar al-Balkhi
• 2. Arabic Theories of Astral Magic: The De radiis and the Picatrix
• 3. Textual and Intellectual Reception of Arabic Astral Theories in the Twelfth Century
• 4. Magic in the Thirteenth Century: Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas and Roger Bacon
• 5. Early Modern Astral Magic: Marsilio Ficino
• 6. The True Magic and Astrology of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
• 7. The Magic and Astrology of John Dee
• 8. Celestial Souls and Cosmic Daemons
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index