119919458-AlKindi-on-Judicial-Astrology-the-Fourty-Chapters-Charles-Burnet-1993(1).pdf

''J J& -iwvkA Arabic Sciences and Philosophy, vol. 3 (1993) pp. 77-117 Copyright 0 1993 Cambridge University Press

AL-KINDI ON JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY: 'THE FORTY CHAPTERS" CHARLES BURNETT Let all astrologers honour thee thus: Alkindus, Thou art Kinde to all of us. R. 52

Al-Kindi's Forty Chapters was one of the most influential astrological texts in the Middle Ages in the Arabic and Latin-reading world. Yet it has never been studied by modern scholars and has not even been properly identified in the standard bibliographies and encyclopaedias of Arabic literature. In the one extant Arabic manuscript of the text - MS Jerusalem, Khãlidi Library, 21(2)-Astr.-2 - the work is entitled Kitãb ft mudkhai ilã 'jim alnujüm ('the book on the introduction to the science of the stars'), but is said to be 'called al-arba 'üna bãban ('The Forty Chapters')'.,' Since the latter name is also used by 'All ibn Abi al-Rijãl (as we shall see), it seems appropriate to use it here. In all our manuscripts it is attributed to al-Kindi. This attribution need not be doubted.' Rather, this work fills out our picture of the intellectual range of the 'first philosopher' of the Arabs. My aim is to draw together the texts which are most important for This paper is an off-shoot of a project for cataloguing all the works in Latin attributed to al-Kindi. For this project I am greatly indebted to the resources of the Equipe of the Centre national de Ia recherche scientifique, Histoire des sciences et des philosophies arabes et médiévales, and to the help received there from M. Jean Jolivet and M. A. Ben Chehida. M. Roshdi Rashed kindly lent me his copy of the microfilm of MS Jerusalem, Khàlidi Library, 21(2)-Astr.-2 (= 1(h). 1 could not have written this paper without the help of Silke Ackermann, Hillary Wiesner, David Pingree, Fritz Zimmermann and Luc Deitz. 2 Oxford, Bodleian, Ashmole 434 (late sixteenth century .), pt. 12, fol.1'; see p. 105 below. The catalogue of the Ashmolean MSS compiled by W.H. Black (Oxford, 1845), suggests that 'R. S.' is Richard Sanders. On the title page the work is called 'kitãb al-mudkhal 11 ahkãm 'ilm al-nujUm', which does not make sense. 'Ahkãm' should either replace "ilm' or should follow "ilm'. The Latin titles 'De iudiciis' and 'ludicia' imply that 'alkám' was part of the title of the Arabic text(s) known to the translators in Spain in the mid-twelfth century. The appearance of 'abü (Isaq)' instead of 'ibn (Isaq)' in the Khalidi manuscript is probably a scribal error and should not arouse the suspicion that there is another author with a similar name to the Philosopher of the Arabs.

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revealing the original state of the work and its early transmission; an account of its sources must await further research.,' I The Forty Chapters is a substantial work of twenty-two folios in the Khãlidi manuscript and one hundred printed pages in each of the two Latin versions. The Arabic text begins with a short Preface: 3"- i--

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In the name of God the merciful, the compassionate. The book of Ya'qUb abü Isaq al-Kindi to some of his brethren on the introduction to the science of the stars, which is the book called 'The Forty Chapters': He said (may God grant you success in the guiding of your The Forty Chapters is cited by the chapter-numbers of the Arabic text (with those of Robert of Ketton's Latin translation in brackets), and a continuous sequence of section () numbers into which I have divided the Latin texts. A modern descriptive note on the microfilm states that the work occupies fols 648-70 of the manuscript, but since these folio numbers are not visible on the microfilm, I have numbered the folios from the beginning of al-Kindi's text, referring to the title page as folio 1. For full details of the manuscripts of the Arabic text and Latin translations, the list of chapters, and an edition of a specimen chapter from the Arabic text and two Latin translations see the Appendices below. The beginning of the Arabic text and of the two Latin translations is edited in C. Burnett, 'A group of Arabic-Latin translators working in Northern Spain in the mid-twelfth century', Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1977): 62-108 (see pp. 98-102). The author has printed out a full edition of the two Latin translations in parallel columns (200 pp .), and bound copies of this edition may be obtained directly from him.

AL-KIND! ON JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY: 'THE FORTY CHAPTERS' 79 labours and may he facilitate for you the attainment of your goals in the easiest of outcomes and the most perfect well-being): I shall devise for you a concise and compendious introduction, to make it easy for you to retain in the memory the natures of the heavens, the aspects to the places from their directions and all the particular aspects in themselves. And I shall produce for you in it rules for knowing Nativities, Commencements of actions, Interrogations and Choices. From that I have devised general so that the whole should be secure (?) through the mention of premisses and what is needed. Then I divided (?) it into chapters, making it 40 chapters, concisely and in accordance with (?) the established composition. Thereby we shall repeat... (?). Make sure that you remember the chapters of the book!6

This is followed by the titles of the forty chapters, numbered in a mixture of Hindu-Arabic numerals and abjad numerals. The Introduction announced in the Preface consists of succinct descriptions of the layout of the cosmos, the nature of the zodiacal circle, the characteristics of the signs of the Zodiac, the planetary houses, the decans, the planetary hours, the Egyptian terms, the characteristics of the planets and the effects of their aspects one to another, and other astrological information. Then come the forty chapters themselves, each devoted to different topics on which the astrologer's client might ask the astrologer a question. These topics include personal concerns such as marriage, children, slaves and illnesses; business affairs such as making a partnership, sending goods by ship and making a journey by land; matters which are relevant especially to the ruler, such as battles, besieging cities, and knowing which of one's subjects might be a traitor; and recreation, such as the banquet, the hunt and horse-racing. There is very little philosophical or theoretical material in the text. A theoretical statement occurs in an appendix to Robert of Ketton's Latin translation where we read: It is established among wise men that the comings-to-be and the passingsaway of things happen by the perpetual movement of the heavenly bodies, whose effect principally proceeds from the nature, condition and order of the luminaries, the other planets and the heavenly sphere when the luminaries are in conjunction and opposition .7 6 The

Arabic is obscure and appears to be garbled in the Khãlidi manuscript. 'Constat apud sapientes rerum generationes corruptionesque motu perpetuo celestium corporum contingere, quarum effectus ex luminum et ceterorum planetarum celique natura, modo simul et ordine, in luminum coniunctione oppositioneque principaliter procedit' (Robert of Ketton's translation, §699).

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CHARLES BURNETT

It is unlikely that this was part of al-Kindi's original text since it does not occur in the Khãlidi manuscript, but it could have been a marginal annotation or appendix in the Arabic text used by Robert. An analogy between astrological events and biological development occurs in the Arabic text and both the Latin translations in The Forty Chapters, Introduction, §9:

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begins with Spring because it awakens" the beginning of all growth, in agriculture and reproduction. For these begin with life-giving moisture and heat. Then, when their strength grows, heat and dryness increase in them. Then coldness and dryness increase in them. Then humours return in them with an excess of coldness (dryness, Arabic MS), because they dissolve, and they remain inside them causing decay and putrefaction.'

Metaphorical language is used in the description of the movements of the heavenly bodies relative to each other, which are compared with events and stages in human life. A planet in its own house is like a man in his own house getting on with his MS Kh, fol. 2' appears to give 'nabbaha' ('it awakens/arouses'); the Latin manuscripts imply 'yushbihu' ('it resembles'). See following note. 'MS Kh, fol. 2'. Compare the Latin versions: 'Ipsorum autem inicium ver satis idonee statuitur, quoniam ipsum pre ceteris omnium rerum origini cuiuscumque generis assimilatur. Res quippe singule suum ex calore et humore vegetativo contrahunt inicium. Deinceps etate ineunte, vigoreque florente, caloris siccitatisque vires subintrarit. Unde sua calori subtracta materia, frigor cum siccitate succedit. Hisque vigentibus cum frigoris sit excessus, ipsius superhabundanciam humorum crementum cornitatur. Unde cibus sumptus, cum in huiusmodi rebus bene digeri nequeat, huinores putridos atque corruptos, remanens in eorum corporibus, procreat' (Robert of Ketton's translation); 'Veruntamen hec temporum differencia a vere ducit exordium. Est enim quedam ipsius cum biformi, seminum videlicet et animalium, nativitate conveniencia. His namque duobus calor vitalis et humor subsistenth prebent initium. Cum eorum virtus in ulterioris vite spacium roboratur, calor et siccitas preferuntur. Deinceps autem calor cum frigore suo tempore convalescit. Ad ultimum quoque humor expressa frigiditate copulatus cum nullo caloris vel siccitatis fomento hauriatur, in utero remanens corrumpitur et putrescit' (Hugo of Santalla's translation). This is similar to a statement in Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos, Book I, chapter 10, but adds the statement concerning the dissolution of the organism due to the presence of corrupted humours.

AL-KINDI ON JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY: THE FORTY CHAPTERS' 81

own job; a planet in its exaltation is like someone reigning; in its term it is like a man who is in his own land and surrounded by his family; in its triplicity it has the form of one who is protected by his guards, defenders and supporters; in its decan it is like a craftsman sculpting forms and images; when it is increasing in speed it is like a man in a hurry; when it is rising, it is like a child; when it is setting, it is like an old man.'° Most of the language of The Forty Chapters, however, is straightforward and practical in its orientation. To give an example of the tone of the text one may summarize the chapters on journeys, by land (chapter 8 (12)) and by sea (chapter 18 (22)). For journeys on land it is advisable that the Sun, the Moon, the Lords of the Ascendent and of the Lot of Fortune, and the Lords of the syzygies should not be in the cardines. It also helps if the Lord of the third or the ninth place, or Mars, is in conjunction with the Lord of the ascendent, and the Moon is in conjunction with one of these. The duration of the journey is determined by the number of degrees in which the conjunction takes place - read as hours, days or months as appropriate. When you have no hesitation about undertaking the journey itself you might like to know what kind of thing might happen on the way. The cardines indicate good things: Jupiter in a cardine will indicate the acquisition of wealth; the Sun, honouring by kings and nobles - or by hunting or telling fortunes; Saturn, enriching by an old man or because of some old thing or some inheritance; Venus because of intercourse with women, games, dancing etc. If Venus is fortunate in the tenth place, she brings joy and prosperity from those things which belong to her and are pleasing to behold. The distance of one of these planets from the seventh place will indicate at what distance from one's destination such a good should be expected, whereas the distance from the ascendent will indicate the point on the return journey at which the boon might occur. Malefics in bad places indicate respectively shivering disease, a danger from animals, acute illnesses, robbers, poisonous snakes, violent lawsuits, ambushes, etc. If the journey, on the other hand, is by sea, one must consider the following: If the cardines are bright with the light of the beneficent planets, both the ship and its cargo will reach the desired port without harm. But if malefics are in cardines or "Introduction, §69-71. See also n. 66 below.

82 CHARLES BURNETT succedents they bring danger to that part of the ship designated by the place in which the malefic is situated (the attribution of the parts of the ship to the twelve celestial places is given). Saturn breaks up the ship and sinks it. Mars in a place of Saturn's power and in an earthy sign indicates the same as Saturn, but also a massive collision of waves and heaving of waters. However, if the malefics are in these positions but aspected by the benefics, and the Lords of the cardines are secure and unblemished, after the aforesaid threats of waves and surges of waters, the wholeness of the ship and the safety of the cargo is, for the most part, protected. But if Mars himself corrupts the Lords of the cardines and the Lord of the Moon, he attracts the disaster of an overpowering storm and various attacks of enemies. If misfortune accompanies this corruption of the signs, it produces war, it affects the sailors with wounds, and it carries away the merchandise by theft, especially while malefics are in the places which protect the higher parts of the ship. Saturn and Mars together add death and captivity, while Saturn on its own spares the sailors from death, but makes them captives and robs them of their money. But if Mars is corrupted in medium caelum he brings down from above thunder and lightening and whatever fiery things the collision of clouds is wont to add. But Mars in imum caelum burns the lower parts of the ship. In a human sign he burns the ship at the hands of an enemy, and affects with fire the part of the ship which the corrupted place possesses. But if Saturn takes the place of Mars in medium caelum he brings down the mast of the ship shaken by the force of winds, and tears the sail. II The Forty Chapters belongs to the tradition of catarchic astrology, in which the astrologer judges what is the best time to begin some activity, taking into account the most auspicious state of the heavens. The closest term in Arabic for this genre is ibtidã'ãt (al-cf mãl) ('commencements (of activities)') - a term which al-Kindi uses in the Preface to The Forty Chapters. Arabic astrologers, however, often used the more general term masã'il ('questions') for this type of text, since the astrologer's judgement is given in reply to the question of his client. Hence, as we shall see, chapters from al-Kindi's text were included in

AL-KIND! ON JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY: 'THE FORTY CHAPTERS' 83

Arabic texts with masã 'ii as part of their title. In Latin translation The Forty Chapters became part of the Liber trium iudicum and Liber novem iudicum, which were included in the chapter on the astrological genre 'interrogationes' in Albertus Magnus's Speculum astronomiae." Already in Greek astrology katarkhai ('commencements') included questions concerning present matters which were hidden or unknown, such as the identity of the thief, the state of the absent person, or the sex of the unborn child. The subject-matter of Arabic and Latin texts treating this range of material was often called 'judgements (of the stars)' (a,ikãm (al-nujüm) or iudicia (stellarum)) and the genre of astrology could be described as 'judicial astrology'. This was a thoroughly practical kind of astrology, which provided the astrologer with his bread and butter. The classical Greek source for judicial astrology was, principally, the fifth book of the Carmen astrologicum of the first century A.D. Greek astrologer, Dorotheos.' 2 This book was referred to in Arabic as being both 'fi al-masã'il ('on Questions') and 'Ii amr al-ibtidã" ('on the matter of Commencernents')J The Carmen astrologicum was translated into Middle Persian in the third century A.D., and thence into Arabic by 'Umar ibn alFarrukhãn al-TabarI in the late eighth century. Judicial astrology was particularly popular amongst the Arabs, and texts were written on the topic not only by 'Umar ibn al-Farrukhãn al-Tabari himself, but also by Mãshã'allãh who took part with 'Umar in establishing the horoscope for the foundation of Baghdad in 762, and by their contemporary, Theophilos of Edessa (who wrote in both Greek and Arabic). It was continued in the next generation by AbU 'All al-Khayyã, a pupil of Mãshã'allãh, and Sahi ibn Bishr (first half of the ninth century).' 4 Al-Kindi would have known texts by these authors, but See Albertus Magnus, Speculum astronomiae, ed. P. Zambelli et al. (Pisa, 1977), chapter 9, PP. 23-5. II Dorotheus Sidonius, Carmen Astrologicum, ed. D. Pingree (Leipzig, 1976), This book includes the Arabic text, an English translation, and the Greek and Latin fragments. Dorotheus, Carmen Astrologicum, p. 106. "For the relevant works see the entries in F. Sezgin, Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums (Leiden, 1979), VII, and D. Pingree, 'Astrology', in Cambridge History of

Arabic Literature, 2 Religion, Learning and Science in the 'Abbasid Period (Cambridge, 1990), PP. 290-300. Several early Arabic texts which have masã 'ii in

their titles were incorporated into compendia such as those of al.Qasrani (see below), and the Liber novem iudicum, whose sources I am investigating.

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may also have had access to other, Greek astrological texts derivative from Dorotheos. For they may have travelled with the Greek philosophical texts which were translated in his 'circle'. Most of the topics in The Forty Chapters can be found in Dorotheos's Carmen astrologicum, while others appear in Hephaestio of Thebes's Apotelesmatica (written Ca. 415 and heavily based on Dorotheos) and Theophilos of Edessa's work on military katarkhai.'5

Al-KindI's text, however, is conspicuous for its lack of reference to authorities. Even in the brief Preface in the Khãlidi manuscript there is no mention of so much as 'the Ancients' or 'my predecessors'. In the Latin translations two names occur: Dorotheos and 'Abeniucef' or 'Abiniozuf'. But when one turns to the Khãlidi manuscript neither of these is present, since they both occur in final portions of chapters which are absent from the Arabic manuscript, and may therefore be additions. The reference to Dorotheos occurs in one of the two Latin translations, in section 244 of the final portion of the chapter on theft (chapter 6(10), §238-47), and also, under the rubric 'qala D.ràniyUs' in the context of this same final portion in 'Ali ibn AbI al-Rijäi's Kitàb al-Bàn 'Abeniucef is credited with several examples of finding lost objects, at the end of the chapter on 'fugitives and lost things' (chapter 7(11), §270-82).' This last portion is also missing in the Khãlidi manuscript. However, one of the examples of 'Abeniucef' reappears in 'All ibn Abi al-Rijal's Kitãb al-Ban under the rubric 'AbU Yüsuf'. 18 This is the first element in al11 1 am indebted to David Pingree for this information. Whether there is agreement in the contents of chapters which have the same title, and, if so, what are the stages in the transmission of those contents from the Greek texts to The Forty Chapters, are subjects which require much more extensive investigation. §244 (Robert of Kettori's translation): 'Dorothio rursum teste, Sol in quovis onente nisi in Libra et Aquario repertus, inventionem nunciat, sicut et Luna quoque in ascendente cum Venere loveque'; K. al-Ban', London, British Library, Oriental and India Office Collections, Additional 23399, fol. 89". Cf. Dorotheos, Carmen astrologicum, V.35.17. See §270-3: 'quoddam exemplum abeniucef de furto subiciatur... Ainissionis quidem astrologus idem tale dedit exemplum... Idem eciam actor hoc de furti questione supposuit exemplum' (Robert of Ketton's translation); 'Exemplum abmiozuf questione de furto facta... Item astrologi eiusdem aliud questionis de re amissa exemplum... Ait ergo iudex idem abiniuzuf... Item eiusdem sub alia furti questione exemplum' (Hugo of Santalla's translation). Unfortunately the horoscopes give too little information to permit one to date them. "MS Add. 23399. fol. 88": 'Wa qala Abu Yusuf...' ( = §272).

AL.KINDI ON JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY: 'THE FORTY CHAPTERS' 85

Kindi's name, and since the Kitãb al-Bàn' was composed in Ifriqiyä it is tempting to think that the examples of 'AbU YUsuf' were added to a maghribi version of The Forty Chapters which travelled through North Africa to al-Andalus. However, already in the ninth-century compendium of al-Qaräni the whole of the final portion of chapter 7(11) is found intact, and this time the examples are attributed not to 'AbU Yüsuf but directly to al-Kindi. 19 These references to al-KindI in the third person are reminiscent of the references to the 'notes of al-KindI' and the drugs and stomachics 'according to al-Kindi' at the end of his Aqrabad/un, to which the arrangement of The Forty Chapters bears a resemblance, as we shall see. One further self-reference must be pointed out. That is alKindI's allusion, in the first person, to 'his larger book on the Secrets of the Stars 'P20 By characterizing this as the 'larger book' he is presumably contrasting it to The Forty Chapters which, in the Preface, he emphatically states as giving a concise introduction. Al-Kindi's book on the Secrets of the Stars has not been identified in any manuscript, but may be the same as the 'Letter to Z.rn.b, his student, on the secrets of the stars and the instruction on the commencements of actions' mentioned by Ibn AbI Uaybi'a.2' The earliest known citation of The Forty Chapters is in an astrological work which could have been written shortly after al-Kindi's death, al-Qarani's Kitãb al-math 'ii ft 'urn ahkãm alnujum. 22 This is a compendium of interrogations compiled from the works of at least seven astrologers, including Theophilos, Mashã'allah and Abü 'All al-Khayyat. Al-Qarani includes Forty Chapters, chapters 6(10) (without §238-47), 7(11) (without 0248-69), 8-9(12-13), 11(15), 13(17), 18(22), 20-1(24-5), 23Oxford, Bodleian Library , Marsh 211, fol. 111': 'mithál II amr al-sariqa: qala al. Kind!...' Introduction, §25, Khalidi MS, fol. 2": '11 kitãbinã a1-a'am fi asrär al-nujUm'; 'in libro nostro maiore De steilarum secretis' (Robert and Hugo's translations). 21 Risãla ilã z.rn.b tiim.zdhihi /1 asrãr al-nujüm wa Sa'lirn mabãdi' al-a'inal; Ibn Abi Uaybi'a, 'Uyun al-anbd' fi abaqat a1-aibbã', ed. N. Riçla (Beirut, 1965), II, p. 185; R.J. McCarthy, S.J., al-Tasanif al-mansüba ilã faylasuf al- 'arab (Baghdad, 1963), P. 103, n, 79, gives 'Dharnab' as the dedicatee. See Sezgin, Geschichte, VII, pp. 134 and 138, and D. Pingree, 'Political horoscopes relating to late 9th century 'Alids', Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 36 (1977): 247-75. The horoscopes discussed by Pingree were cast by al-Qarani between 864 and 884, but the horoscopes discussed below appear to be a few years later.

CHARLES BURNETT 86 4(27-8), 29(33), 31(35) and 35-6(39-40); i.e., more than a third of al-Kindi's work. No title is given to al-Kindi's text, the excerpts from which are introduced merely with the phrase 'qawl al-KindI f...' ('al-Kindi's statement on...'). The excerpts from al-Kindi in MS Bodleian Library, Marsh 211 of al-Qarani's work are very close" to the text of the KhSlidli manuscript, except in two instances:

1) In the chapter on hidden treasure (chapter 35(39)), the central portion (642-7) is replaced by a passage describing a procedure whereby the space where one thinks the treasure is to be found is divided geometrically (this is illustrated in a diagram) . 2) The passages on theft (chapter 7(11)) are completely different from those in the Khãlidi manuscript. They occur in the following sequence: First there is a detailed account, attributed to al-Kind.i, of how to discover the name of the thief 25 Then there are two unattributed horoscopes, which can mostly plausibly be interpreted as for 18 September 888 and 27 September 892. (I owe these interpretations to David Pingree). These horoscopes are presumably original to a1-Qarani, and would give a terminus post quem for his Kitab al-masã'il. The horoscopes are followed by the 'example concerning the matter of theft: al-Kindi said...' and the passage which follows corresponds exactly to §*270-82 in the Latin translations, which, as we have seen, are missing in the Khãlidi manuscript. Two further Arabic testimonies to The Forty Chapters may be noted. A substantial section of the Introduction - on the significance of each of the planets - is included in al-BirUnI's 'Book of Instruction in the Elements of the Art of Astrology' (written in 1029 A.D.).` Al-BirUni does not give the title of the work, but implies that al-Kindi provides a convenient introduction to astrology: " The main variants are in terminology. For example, al-Qarani tends to use 'rabb' in place of 'à12ib' for 'Lord (of the nth place)'. MS Marsh 211, fol. 55". 2 Ibid. p. 110: 'qa.Ia al-Kindi Ii ma'rifat istikhraj jam a1-li'. I have not discovered this account in any other Arabic or Latin source. AI-BirUni, Kitab al-Tafhim li-awã'il sineiat al-tanjim, ed. R.R. Wright (London, 1934), pp. 301-4 (I487-8), correspond to Forty Chapters, Introduction, §44-52.

AL-KINDI ON JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY: 'THE FORTY CHAPTERS' 87 We have extracted from Ya'qUb ibn Ishaq al-Kindi all that a beginner requires to know with regard to the different indications of the planets as to their powerful influence in orientality and their weakness in occidentality, although these differences do not amount to being exact opposites.27

The second is a short text in a paper manuscript written in

1242 A.D., and entitled: Qala Abü Yusuf Ya 'qub ibn al-abbã,j al-Kindi ft al-mawãçii allati yuannu anna al-dafina fl/ia mm kanzin aw ghayrihi ('AbU YUsuf Ya'qUb ihn al-Sabbab al-Kindi

said on the place where one suspects that something is hidden, like treasure or something else: '),28 The manuscript contains a collection of texts on astronomy, astrology, geometry and medicine, and the treatise on treasure follows al-KindI's Risãla

ft 'amal al-sã 'at ft qafl4a tuntabü 'ala sai muwãzi li-l-ufuq

('Letter on determining the hours by a sundial which is set on a plane parallel to the horizon')," which, in turn, follows an anonymous treatise in forty chapters on the astrolabe, Risãla ft, al- 'amal bi-al-kura. 30 The text on treasure corresponds to chapter 35(39) of The Forty Chapters, except that the same substitution of the central portion occurs here as in al-Qa.ranI's text. Works on finding treasure by astrological methods were particularly popular in the Middle Ages, 3' and al-KindI himself might have excerpted the chapter in The Forty Chapters, and rewritten it as a short risala. The most significant citation of The Forty Chapters, however, occurs in the Kitãb al-Ban of the eleventh-century Tunisian astrologer, 'All ibn AM al-Rijãl. 32 Not only does 'All ibn AM a!Rijál quote extensively from The Forty Chapters, but he also names the text and gives a chapter-number which agrees with the chapter-number in the Khãlidi manuscript. The first three books of the Kitãb al-Ban' are devoted to interrogations. In a Wright's translation, p. 301. MS Oxford, Bodleian Library, Marsh 663, pp. 196-7, first noted in Sezgin, Geschichte, VII, p. 133, no. 15. Sezgin, Geschichte, VI, p. 154. Ibid., p. 285. The twelfth-century astrologer, Hermann of Carinthia, collected several texts on the topic by Arabic authors in Latin translation, in his De occuitis; see C. Burnett, 'Arabic into Latin in twelfth-century Spain: the works of Hermann of Carinthia', Mittellateinisches Jahrbuch, 13 (1978): 100-34 (see pp. 118-21). 'All ibn Abi al-Rijal served the Zirid prince al-Mu'izz ibn Badis at Qayrawan and died after 1037; see D. Pingree, 'Ibn Abi'l-Ridjãl', Encyclopaedia of Islam, second edition (Leiden, 1971), III, p. 688. 31

CHARLES BURNETT 88 chapter on illness (Book II, chapter 2) 'All ibn AbI al-Rijãl happens to come across an error in a text by AbU Ma'shar, where AbU Ma'shar is reproducing Dorotheos. This prompts a digression on how even the best astrologers make mistakes. First, 'All ibn Abi al-Rijãl points out errors in Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos. Then he refers to al-Kindi. It is worth quoting the relevant passage in full, both to show what great respect he gives to alKindI as an astrologer, and to demonstrate his use of al-Kindi's

Forty Chapters.33

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AL-KINDI ON JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY: 'THE FORTY CHAPTERS' 89

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Al-Kindi also erred in spite of his excellence, his expertise and his skill in this science, and he is like Ptolemy among the Muslims. But both of them are obscure in expression, enigmatic in meaning, and far from clarity. Their books are difficult for those intermediate in the science, not to speak of apprentices, and the profit from them is very small except for him who is trained in the science and opens up its obscurity, and for whom God makes easy by His grace what he would find difficult without Him. Among al-KindI's books are two sections (falani) of eight folios in which is the science of the stars. If one commented , then it would be more than eight volumes. In this al-Kindi erred in that he criticized the division proposed by the Ancients for the decans of the signs of the Zodiac. In his larger book and in 'The Forty Sections' (al-arba 'üna fa1an) he argues as follows: "And each sign of the Zodiac is divided into three divisions, each division being of ten degrees, and they are called the 'faces' (wujuh; i.e., decans) because of their signifying the appearances ('faces') . The first decan of Aries the majority of men assign to Mars, the second to

AL-KINDI ON JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY: 'THE FORTY CHAPTERS' 91

the Sun, the third to Venus, and so on according to the order of the spheres until the last decan of Pisces falls to Mars. But this division does not hang together because the last decan of Pisces is adjacent to the first decan of Aries, so that two adjacent decans get assigned to one planet. In our view, the correct division is as established by us in our larger book on the 'Secrets of the Stars', where we assigned the decans according to the arrangement of the signs. For we assign the first decan of Aries to Mars the Lord of Aries, the second decan to Venus the Lord of Taurus, and the third to Mercury the Lord of [Gemini, and the last of Cancer is assigned to Jupiter the Lord of] Pisces which is the last of the signs. Then we begin the first of the second, fiery, signs to Mars. Then it returns in this order until the last decan of Scorpio falls to Jupiter which is the Lord of Pisces [also, and the first of the third, fiery, signs falls to Mars, and the last decan of Pisces falls to Jupiter, Lord of Pisces], and the first decan of Aries returns to Mars." Here ends the statement of al-Kindi. I say that he criticized the sequence of the last of Pisces and the first of Aries in decans since they are assigned to Mars and an assignment like this one that we have mentioned does not happen in any of the twelve signs. He did not realize that in that which he advances the decans come successively three times to Saturn ( as an example) - once in the sign of Cancer, another time in the sign of Scorpio and a third time in the sign of Pisces. He is equally mistaken in the eleventh chapter (bab) of 'The Forty Sections' (al-arba 'üna fa.lan), where, in considering wars and fighters and rebels, he says: "It is necessary when Mars is in the Eastern part of the Sphere, which is from ten degrees of Taurus to ten degrees of Leo and from ten degrees of Scorpio to ten degrees of Aquarius, that the Eastern rebel begins the battle. And when it is in the Western part, which is from ten degrees of Leo to ten degrees of Scorpio, and from ten degrees of Aquarius to ten degrees of Taurus, the Western rebel begins the battle." Thus the whole sphere and its twelve signs are assigned to the East and the West. But the situation is not like this, since there is in the sphere North and South and, for the fighters also, four directions - East, West, North and South: sometimes the rebel or the king comes from one of these directions, and sometimes the encounter is between the East and the West, at other times between the North and the South for both kings and rebels. And the procedure in this case is that Mars from ten degrees of Taurus to ten degrees of Leo is Eastern, from ten degrees of Leo to the same degrees of Scorpio is Southern, from ten degrees of Scorpio to the same degrees of Aquarius is Western and from ten degrees of Aquarius to the same degrees of Taurus is Northern. The words in square brackets are missing from 'All ihn Ahi al-Rijal's text, but are present in the Khàlidi manuscript of The Fortly Chapters, fol. 2'.

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CHARLES BURNETT

As for the world, who can make a reckoning of it and its decline, and who can keep in mind the extent of its error?" Al-Kindl in any case surpasses everybody in judicial astrology, although his exposition is too brief and his words are obscure. He is the opposite of Abü Ma'shar because Abü Mashar rarely hits the mark, but gives many sleepless nights; his accuracy (?) is slight: he is a collector of firewood at night."

'All ibn AbI al-Rijal's reference to al-Kindi's writings on the science of the stars is not crystal clear. The 'two chapters of eight folios' may be the same as the work referred to as the 'risãla fi a1-falayn' by Ibn al-Nadim 37 and Ibn Abi Uaybi'a, 38 but the only text that 'All ibn Abi al-Rijãl shows evidence of knowing at first hand is The Forty Chapters.

The first quotation from al-KindI's Forty Chapters in the above passage from the Kitãb al-Ban corresponds exactly with 024-5 of the Arabic work, which is the only passage in the whole text in which al-Kindi dares to put forward an opinion of his own, at variance to that of the majority of astronomers, and is the only context in which he cites another work of his, 'The Secrets of the Stars'. 39 The second passage is correctly referred This sentence is obscure in MS Kh. The Castilian translation (see n. 33 above) gives: 'E los yerros del mundo e las desacordanças serian luengas de contar'. "For the last phrase compare the Castilian translation: 'es t.al como qui faze lenna de noche que toma buena e mala'. Thn al-Nadim, Kitäb al-fihrist, ed. G. FlUgel (Beirut, 1871), p. 257. 36

tJyün al-anbä', vol. II, p. 184.

See above. Compare the Latin translations: Introduction, §*24-5: 'Harurn item singulis partibus in novenas divisis, earum sixigule x. gradus optinent, qui facies ex eorum ducatu super rerum facies, nuncupantur. Arietis itaque primam faciem plereque gencium Marti tribuunt, secundam Soli, terciam Veneri. Fitque successus deinceps secundum circulorum compositiones ordinatas. Facies igitur postrema Piscium et Marti contingit. Huiusmodi quidern divisio iimaturalis dignaque repudio cernitur, cum bine continue facies, postrema scilicet Piscium, Arietisque prima, uni stellarurn accidant. (25) Facierum autem assignatio nostro quidem iudicio naturalis atque sana velud in libro nostro maiore "De Stellarum Secretis" explanavimus planetis secundum suorum signorum ordinem attingit. Arietis igitur faciem primam Mars suus dominus sortitur, secundam Venus Tauri domina, terciam, Mercurius Geminorum dominus. Talisque progressus ordo Iovi Piscium scilicet signi postrerm domino, faciem ultimam Cancri tribuit' (Robert of Ketton's translation); 'Singule igitur harum partium in tres partes recipiunt seetionem quarum quelibet .x. gradus assumit. He autem facies nominantur, quoniam animalium facies significare videntur. Primam itaque Arietis faciem quamplures Marti, secundarn Soli, terciam Veneri et deinceps pro circulorum ordine quousque Piscium facies ultima Marti denuo succedat, concesserunt. Que tamen incongrua videtur particio, quoniam Piscium ultima facies Arietis primam ordine sequitur. Unde duas continue eadem scilicet inconvenienter suscipit stella. (25) Apud nos igi-

AL-KINDI ON JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY: 'THE FORTY CHAPTERS' 93

to as coming from 'chapter 11' of The Forty Chapters, for it is part of the chapter 'On War' which is chapter 11 in the Khãlidi manuscript, and chapter 15 in Robert of Ketton's translation.40 'All ibn Abi al-Rijal's respect for al-Kindi's work is illustrated by the fact that he uses several chapters from The Forty Chapters, 4 ' underlining al-Kindi's importance on one occasion by noting that 'the best of what is said concerning ships is the saying of al-Kindi. 142 The Kitãb al-Ban was frequently copied in Arabic, and was one of the texts that was translated into Castilian under the aegis of Alfonso X, el Sabio, King of Castile and Leon, and subsequently into Latin, Portuguese, French and English. The Castilian translation (and subsequent translations) retains the attributions to al-KindI, but, strangely, the 'example of Abü Yüsuf concerning a lost thing (discussed above) has become an example of 'All himself.43 The passages and whole chapters from The Forty Chapters quoted verbatim by astrologers such as al-Qasrani and 'All ibn tur priore pocior et conveniens ea videtur divisio, quam in libro nostro rnaiore "De Stellarum Secretis" inscripto prediximus. Ibi enim facies pro signorum ordine describens, primam Arietis Marti eiusdem signi domino concessimus, Secunda Veneri que Tauri dominatum possidet, relicta eat. Terciam quoque Mercurius Geminorum dominator retinet. Unde accidit ut Cancri novissima lovi domino Piscium et in ordine signorum ultimo relinquatur' (Hugo of Santalla's translation). Compare the Latin translations of chapter 11(15), §408: 'Marte quoque a decimo Tauri gradu usque ad decimum Leonis vel a decimo Scorpionis usque ad consimilem Aquarii circuli partem orientalem sortito, orientali certamen est fructuosum et cornmendabile. Illo vero inter Leonis et Scorpioms vel Aquarü Taurique gradus decimos circuli partem occidentalem occupante, in occidentem tendenti bellum incoandum' (Robert of Ketton's translation): 'Mars item in orientali parte circuli, a decimo scilicet gradu Tauri usque ad Leonis decimum gradum et a decimo Scorpionis ad decimum Aquarii, in orientis partem pugnandum admonet. In occidentali parte a decimo scilicet Leonis usque ad decimum Scorpionis, item ab Aquarii decimo usque ad decimum Tauri gradum, in occidentis partes dimicandum hortatur' (Hugo of Santalla's translation). K al-Ban 1.30 (MS Add. 23399, fol. 36r) = Forty Chapters, 28(32); 1.39 (fol. 41") = 35(39); 1.48 (fol. 47r) = 21(25); 1.50 (fol. 49r) = 29(33); 1.51 (fol. 52") = 27(31); 11.29-32 (fol. 77r) = 20(24); 11.33 (fol.78") = 7(11) (only §*248-69); 11.34 (fol. 80") (without attribution) = 6(10) and part of 7(11) (173-241, 272, 277-82, 242-7); 111.14 (fol.121T) = 18(22); 111-17 (fol. 122") = 23(27); VII.22 (fol. 287") = 16(20) (482-3);WI.24 (fol. 287") = 16(20) (**488-9). The chapter divisions of the K. alBan' are those given in MS Loth 735, fols 1"-4", which match those in the Castilian version as far as it goes. MS Add. 23399, fol. 121r, El libro cornplid.o, ed. G. Hilty, p. 92b: Di.xo Aly, el conpilador d'este libro: A mi fue demandado una uez por una cosa e falle el ascendente Leon e Venus en el, e dix que aquella cosa era en el lecho so la ropa, e esto porque Venus era en el ascendente, e es significador de lecho. E segund esto para mientes e iudga, e acertaras, con Dios. 42

CHARLES BURNETT 94 Abi al-Rijãl can help us to establish the original text of alKindi's work, as well as give some idea of the way it was used. For example, both these astrologers indicate the existence of fuller versions of the chapters on theft (chapter 6(10)) and fugitives and lost things (chapter 7(11)). These fuller versions were clearly present in the text of The Forty Chapters which was available in al-Andalus in the mid-twelfth century, when it was translated twice into Latin.

The fact that there are two translations in itself indicates the popularity of the work amongst the Arabs in al-Andalus. It is clear that the text was recommended by Muslim practicioners, and one Arabic-Latin translator, Hermann of Carinthia, in turn recommended al-Kindi to his colleague Robert of Ketton as 'the most suitable and true judge amongst astrologers' and persuaded him to translate The Forty Chapters.' Robert of Ketton was an archdeacon of Pamplona Cathedral and a canon of Tudela between the years 1145 and 1157. He was active in disputes between neighbouring bishops over territory newly acquired from the Arabs, and was commissioned by Peter the Venerable, abbot of Cluny, along with Hermann of Carinthia, to translate a corpus of Muslim texts into Latin, including the Qur'an. However, Robert and Hermann's principle interest was in the translation of mathematical and astronomical works. Robert translated The Forty Chapters on the insistence of Hermann, and Hermann uses Robert's translation in his own compendium on finding lost treasure.46 The date of Robert's translation is not known, but it was probably composed in the late 1130s or early 1140s when we know Robert and Hermann to have been collaborating. After a preface of his own composition (which appears to incorporate some phrases from al-Kindi's Preface)'"' Robert gives a list of "See Robert's Preface in Appendix I below. 'See J.M. Goni Gastarnbide, 'Los obispos de Pamplona del siglo XII', Anthologica Annua, 13 (1965): 254-64. "See Hermann, De occultis, MS Oxford, Bodleian, Laud Misc., 594, fol. 149", with the rubric: 'Alkindis vero post doctissirnum Messehallem ad hunc modum'. See Appendix I below, sentence 4.

AL-KIND! ON JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY: 'THE FORTY CHAPTERS' 95

chapter headings which probably correspond to those of the Arabic manuscript he was following. The order of the chapters on the forty different topics is exactly that of the Klhãlidi manuscript. However Robert, or his Arabic source, has subdivided the Introduction in the Khãlidi manuscript into four sections and made these the first four chapters of the book. Moreover, an extra chapter on the effects of the Moon has been added at the end. Hence Robert's text has forty-five chapters in contrast to the Khãlidi manuscript which has an Introduction followed by forty chapters. Robert avoids using Arabic terms.48 Moreover, he states in his Preface that he wishes to enclose the subject-matter in a brief style of exposition." Robert and Hermann both agreed that the Arabic language was prolix and it was appropriate to abbreviate and miss out things when making a translation into Latin,' and Robert's translation of The Forty Chapters fully exemplifies his spare style. The second Latin translation has a more complicated history. Al-Kindi was one of the 'nine Judges' in the popular Latin compendium known as the Liber novem iudicum ('Book of the Nine Judges'). It is possible, by extracting all the chapters under alKindi's name and putting them together in a different order, to reconstruct almost the whole of a translation of The Forty Chapters which is completely different from that of Robert. The manuscripts and editions of the Liber novem iudicum give hardly any clues as to either who put the whole work together, or who was responsible for translating the works of the individual authors contained in it. However, there also exists, in three incomplete manuscripts, a Liber trium iudicum ('Book of the Three Judges'). These three judges are the Arabic astrologers Sahi ibn Bishr, 'Umar ibn al-Farrukhan al-Tabari and al-Kindi, and the excerpts from the latter two authors correspond to the excerpts in the Liber novem iudicum. We are fortunate in that " One may note that his revision of Adelard of Bath's translation of alKhwãrizmi's astronomical tables involved finding Latin equivalents for the Arabic terms which had been left untranslated; see R. Mercier, 'Astronomical tables in the twelfth century', in C. Burnett (ed.), Adelard of Bath: An English Scientist and Arabist of the Early Twelfth Century (London, 1987), PP. 87-118 (see pp. 97 and 11618). See Appendix I below, sentence 2, See Hermann's Preface to his translation of Abu Ma'shar's Maius introthzctorium, in C.H. Haskins, Studies in the History of Mediaeval Science, second edition (Cambridge, Mass, 1927), pp. 45-7.

CHARLES BURNETT 96 we possess the translator's (or compiler's) preface to this smaller work. 5' The translator tells us that he has found so many volumes on astrological judgements written in Arabic that he has decided to make a selection of works, translate them into Latin and bring them together in one volume. In fact, the titles of each of the three works used, together with their number of chapters, are given at the head of the first excerpt from each work. 'Umar's work is said to have 138 chapters and to be translated by Hugo of Santalla. SahI's work is described as being divided into 56 chapters. Al-Kindi's work is called 'the book concerning judgements divided into 66 chapters'. It seems clear from the statement in the Preface and from the construction of the Liber trium iudicum that the Latin translator was working with a complete text of al-KindI's Forty Chapters, one which, moreover, may have had a similar division of chapters as Robert's text, if we may amend the number of chapters from 66 (.lxvi.) to 46 (.xlvi.).52 In two of the three manuscripts the compendium is addressed to Bishop Michael," who can only be Michael, bishop of Tarazona from 1119-50, who received all the translations which have dedications made by Hugo of Santalla. Hugo's distinctive style (as evidenced in the translations firmly ascribed to him) can be recognized in al-Kindi's Forty Chapters. He has some pretensions to writing literature. He appears to get bored with the repetitive phraseology characteristic of astrological texts, and he insists on finding alternative ways to express the same concept. Thus when there is a list of which planets 'rejoice' in which astrological places, Hugo finds a different word for rejoicing on each occasion. Compare the Khalidi manuscript (Kh, fol. 5r):

" This preface is edited, and the composition of the Books of Three Judges and Nine Judges is discussed in Burnett, 'A Group', pp. 78-97. Since this article appeared another manuscript of the text has come to light: MS Dublin, Trinity College, 368. The MSS are agreed in giving the number of chapters as 'lxvi'. If this is not a simple mistake for 'xlvi', made by transposition, it may be explained by the fact that several of the longer chapters are subdivided already in the Khãlidi manuscript (in which the subsections have rubricated titles beginning with 'bãb...'), and these subdivisions appear as separate chapters in the Liber trium iudicurn and Lther novem iudicum.

Burnett, 'A Group', p. 92: 'Tibi, ergo, mi domine antistes Michael'. The third manuscript has a dedication to 'karissime R' ('dearest R'?), which suggests that Hermann of Carinthia might also have had a role in compiling the work.

AL-KINDI ON JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY: 'THE FORTY CHAPTERS' 97 L.I

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Mercury rejoices in the ascendent and the Moon in the third and Venus in the fifth and Mars in the sixth and Saturn in the twelfth and Jupiter in the eleventh and the Sun in the ninth.

and Hugo's translation: Mercurius itaque in ascendente gaudet, Luna in tercio exultat, Venus in quinto letatur, Mars in sexto tripudiat, Saturnus in duodecimo resultat, Jupiter in undecirno plaudit, Sol itidem in nono gratulatur. Mercury rejoices in the ascendent, the Moon exults in the third place, Venus is happy in the fifth place, Mars waltzes in the sixth place, Saturn dances in the twelfth place, Jupiter applauds in the eleventh place, and the Sun celebrates in the ninth place.','

Moreover, Hugo adds glosses to explain obscure terms or passages in the Arabic, as can readily be seen by a comparison of Hugo's translation and Robert's terse rendering in the sample chapter in Appendix II below. Robert's translation was never printed, but was frequently copied and exists in several manuscripts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Hugo's translation, by being incorporated into the Liber novem iudicum was printed at least twice in the Renaissance, 55 and a French translation of the Liber novem iudicum was made for Charles V in the fourteenth cenThe Forty Chapters, Introduction, § 112. Compare Robert of Ketton's translation: 'Letatur item Mercurius in ascendente, Luna in tercio, Venus in quinto, Mars in sexto, Sol in nono, lupiter in .xi., Saturnus in xii.'. Hugo's style is the same in his translation of Liber Aristotilis de 255 Indorum volurninibu.s... summam continens, ed. D. Pingree and C. Burnett (in progress), III iv 1,3: 'Mercurius in oriente discurnt, Luna in tercio moratur, Venus in quinto tripudiat, Mars in vi. erit alacrior, Sol in nono congaudet, lupiter in .xi. resultat, Saturnus in .xii. plaudit'. For more examples of Hugo's translating style see C. Burnett, 'Literal translation and intelligent adaptation amongst the Arabic-Latin translators of the first half of the twelfth century', in La diffusione delle scienze islamic/i.e nel medio evo europeo, Convegno internazionale de!l'Accadeniia nazionale dei Lincei (Rome, 1987), pp. 9-28. The two printings are by Peter Liechtenstein (Venice, 1509) and Henricus Petrina (Base!, 1571). The printed editions omit the introductory chapters.

CHARLES BURNETT 98 tury. 56 Moreover, it was al-Kindi's Introduction that provided 'the rules for knowing Nativities and Commencements of Actions and Interrogations and Choices"' at the beginning of the Liber novem iudicum, and thus educated several generations of European readers in the precepts of astrology.

lv How does al-Kindi's Forty Chapters fit in with the rest of his ceuvre? The interest of the 'Philosopher of the Arabs' in astrology is well-documented." Ibn al-Nadim devotes whole sections of his bibliography of al-KindI's works to 'his books on judgements' (kutubuhu a1-aikãmiyyàt) 59 and 'his books on premonitions' (kutubuhu a1-taqaddumiyyãt). 6° These include 'a first, second and third letter on the art of judgements by division (taqasirn)', and letters on 'the degree of usefulness of the art of judgements and who deserves to be called an astrologer', 'providing knowledgeable answers to interrogations from the significations of the higher bodies', 'the introduction to judgements by way of interrogations', 'on interrogations (masã'il)', 'on the significations of the two malefics in the sign of Scorpio', 'on the usefulness of choices (ikhtiyãrãt)', 'on the revolution of the years of nativities', and 'anticipating knowledge by the signification (istidlàl) of the heavenly bodies'. 6 ' These titles alone cover the fields of Interrogations, Choices and Revolutions of Nativities. As we have seen, al-KindI mentions the usefulness of The Forty Chapters for Nativities, Commencements, Interrogations and Choices in his Preface. His interest in political astrology is See L.A. Shore, 'A case study in medieval nonliterary translation: Scientific texts Beer (ed.), Medieval Translators and their Craft (Kalamazoo, 1989), pp. 297-328 (see p. 308). See al-Kind's words in his Preface, p. 78 above. The pioneering study in this field was 0. Loth, 'Al-Kind! ala Astrolog',

from Latin to French', in J.

Morgenlandische Forschungen, Festschrift ft2r Herrn Professor Dr. H.L. Fleischer (Leipzig, 1875), pp. 261-309. See also R. Waizer, Greek into Arabic (Oxford, 1962),

pp. 199-200. M'Fihrist, ed. Flugel, p. 259. Ibid., p. 260. See B. Dodge, The Fihrist of al-Nadim (New York and London, 1970), pp. 621-2 and 624. See further Sezgin, Geschichte, VII, pp. 133-4 and M. Ullmann, Die Natarand Geheimwissenschaften im Islam (Leiden, 1972), pp. 313-14.

AL-KIND! ON JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY: 'THE FORTY CHAPTERS' 99

shown in his works on Conjunctions (Qiranat): a short work on calculating the duration of the Arab rule from the conjunction of Saturn and Mars in Cancer, 62 and a work entitled 'Qiranat alkawãkib' ('Conjunctions of the planets') in an Escorial manuscript." To these strictly astrological genres could be added astrological methods in weather-forecasting and medicine, which al-Kindi subscribed to. Thus his writings covered the whole range of medieval astrology. Only his letters on the duration of the Arab rule and 'on choosing the most convenient time when one expects that God will hear your prayer by way of astrology' have up to now been published. The rest of al-KindI's astrological works survive 62 Risãla ft mulk al- arab Wa kammiyyatihi ('Letter on the rule of the Arabs and its length'). This letter was included in AbU Ma'shar's Kitãb al-Qiranat ('Book of the Conjunctions') and edited and translated in Loth, 'Al-Kindi als Astrolog'. Escorial 918; see Ullmann, Natur- und Geheimwissenschaften, p. 313. For Arabic texts on astrometeorology attributed to al-Kindi see Sezgin, Geschichte, VII, pp. 326-7. A Risãla ft aidãth al-jaww ('letter on the happenings in the atmosphere'), has been edited by F. Rosenthal in 'From Arabic books and manuscripts VI: Istanbul materials for al-Kindi and as-Sarabsi', Journal of the American Oriental Society, 76 (1956): 27-31, and by Y.Y. Maskuni, 'Risäla ft a1däth al-jaww' (University of Baghdad, 1965) (One must note Rosenthal's hesitation concerning the authenticity of this text). Two letters on astrometeorology by al-Kindi exist in Hebrew and Latin: for manuscripts of the Hebrew texts see

M. Steinschneider, Die hehräisch.en Uebersetzungen des Mittelaiters ond die Juden als Dolmetscher (Berlin, 1893), pp. 564-5; for the Latin text, which combines the two letters, see the incipit Rogatus fui in L. Thorndike and P. Kibre, A Catalogue of Incipits of Mediaeval Scientific Writings in Latin, second edition (London, 1963).

The Latin text was published in Venice in 1507 and Paris in 1540. Al-Kindi uses the theory that the Moon causes crises in illnesses in his 'Letter on the causes of crises in acute diseases' (Risãla fi illat al-bahàrin li-I -am.rãd a1-hãdda), edited, translated into German and discussed by F. Klein-Franke in 'Die Ursachen der Krisen bei akuten Krankheiten. Eine wiederentdeckte Schrift al-Kindi's', Israel Oriental Studies, 5 (1975): 161-88. Note that this last text, like The Forty Chapters, is dedicated to 'some of his brethren' ('ha ba'di ikhwãnihi').

For the latter - Risãla ft taiirir waqt yurjã fihi Uabat al-du 'a' wa al-taclarru' ilã Allah ta'ãlti min jihat al-tanjim - see M. TUrker-Kuyel, 'Kindi'nin sanilan kucuk bir yildiz bakim kitabi', Ara,tirma, 10 (1972 (1976)): 1-18 (edition of Arabic text,

Turkish translation, Turkish and French introduction), and M. Mandi, 'Al-ta'ãlim wa al-tajriba fi al-tanjim wa al-rnusiqa (NuU ghayr manshUra li-l-Kindi wa alFãrãbi)', in 'Uthmän Amin (ed.), Nu?üq falsafiyya muhdät jUt al-Duktür Ibrahim Mo4kür (Cairo, 1976), pp. 53-78 (edition of Arabic text together with a similar text by al-Fãrãbi). This text would seem to belong to the genre of astrological Choices and complements the chapter on asking for things from people in The Forty Chapters (c. 30 (34)). A further treatise on Choices - Ikhtiyarãt al-ayyam - has been translated into German and studied by E. Wiedemann in 'Ueber einen astrologischen Traktat von al Kindi', Archiv für Geschichte der Naturwissenschaflen und der Technik, 3 (1912): 224-6.

100

CHARLES BURNETT

only in manuscript, and many texts remain to be identified. Several of the references to al-Kindi in the works of other astrologers, listed by Sezgin and Ullmann, might be discovered to come from The Forty Chapters. 6 It is possible, too, that a work by al-Kindi on the Revolution of Nativities survives in the form of a large number of paragraphs ascribed to al-KindI in the compendium on that subject by al-Damaghani.6' The Forty Chapters is a full-length book rather than a letter. Al-KindI has hitherto been known primarily for writing philosophical and scientific works in the form of short essays, or letters, each addressed to one particular subject or problem.' 'All ibn AbI al-Rijãl, as we have seen, is particularly struck by the brevity of al-Kindi's style, and refers to a work on the science of the stars in eight folios. However, we know of at least two other works by al-Kindi which have a more extended form. These are his Kitãb ft kimiyã' al- eitr wa al-ta? 'idat ('Book on the chemistry of perfume and distillation') 10 and the Aqra bad hin ('Medical Formulary'). 71 Both these are practical works based on al-Kindi's own professional experience, as is clear from the full heading of the latter: The Aqrabadhin of AbU YUsuf Ya'qUb ibn Ishaq al-Kindi and his selection of examined and tested drugs, which he actually used .12 For example, aside from the passage from al-Qabii's k. al-mudkha.l ild 'iln alnujüm referred to in Ullmann, Natur. und Geheimwissenschaften, p. 314, a para-

graph attributed to 'quidam' ('certain people') in the Latin translation of a1-QabIi's work (Alcabitii ad Magisteriuni iudiciorum. astrorum Isagoge (Paris, 1521), fol. a5 r) reproduces The Forty Chapters, §69-70. Moreover a very similar passage appears in 'Achmat the Persian"s introduction to astrology, MS Vatican City, Biblioteca apos. tolica Vaticana, Pal. 312, fol. 92' (transcribed by David Pingree). 'Achmat"s work is known only in Greek, but is a Byzantine translation of what is probably a ninth-century Arabic text; see D. Pingree, The Yavanajãtaka of Sphujidhvaja (Cambridge, Mass., 1978), II, p. 419. 17 Majnzü aqawil al-hukamä' al-munajjimin of Abu Sa'id ManUr ibn 'All Bundàr al-Damaghäni (written 507 A.H./1113 A.D.); see Sezgin, Geschichte, VII, pp. 20-1. This is clearly the case too of the 'Secrets of the Stars' mentioned in The Forty Chapters as 'our larger book'. ' In this he may have been following the example of Alexander of Aphrodisias whose Quaestiones have a similar form, and were (at least partially) translated into Arabic. The influence of Alexander of Aphrodisias on al-Kindi is being uncovered in the current research of Silvia Fazzo and Hillary Wiesner. ° This is edited and translated into German by K. Garbers (Leipzig, 1948). ' This is printed in facsimile and translated into English by M. Levey (Madison, 1966). ' Italics mine; Aqrabadhin, ed. Levey,

p. 29: '... allati kãna yasta'miluha'.

AL-KINDI ON JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY: 'THE FORTY CHAPTERS' 101

The same may be said about The Forty Chapters: it is a practical manual with theoretical discussion cut down to a minimum. Moreover, it includes internal references to al-Kindi's own experience, just as the Aqrabadhin refers to drugs and stomachics 'according to al-Kindi' or from 'a note of al-Kindi'. The theoretical underpinning for al-Kindi's astrological beliefs can be located in other texts, 73 What is significant about The Forty Chapters is that it shows how al-KindI puts that theory into practice. His short rasã'il may reflect his discussions with his pupils and fellow philosophers. The Forty Chapters and his works on drugs and perfumes, begin to reveal to us another aspect of his work: i.e., that of comprehensive introductions and handbooks to practical subjects which were the concern of the people as a whole. E.g., in his 'Letter on the proximate efficient cause of generation and corruption', in M. A. Abu Rda, Rath'il al-Kindi al-fa/safiyya, 2 vols. (Cairo, 1950-3), I, pp. 224-5, and his 'Letter on the prostration of the furthest body', ibid., pp. 247 and 252.



APPENDIX I: THE ARABIC AND LATIN MANUSCRIPTS OF AL-KLNI)I'S THE FORTY CHAPTERS

I. The Arabic Text

The Arabic text is found in MS Jerusalem, Khãlidi Library, 21(2)-Astr.-2, fols 648-70 (1'-21'); a manuscript of the 10th/16th century. The following words appear on the title page (fol. ir): KitãJ, al-mudkhal ft ahkãm 'jim al-nujüm li-dh al-facfã'il al-bãhira Ab al-Kindi rahima

lszaq

The book on the judgements of the science of the stars" by the possessor of shining qualities, Abü Ishaq al-Kindi. [May God] have mercy [on him!]

The text begins on fol. 1": (Bismillãh) kitãb Ya 'qub ibn Isiiaq al-Kindj ilã ha i ikhwànihi ft mudkhal ilã 'ilm al-n ujüm we huwa al-kitãb al-musammã "al-arba'üna bãban"...76

This is followed by the list of chapter-headings:77

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AL-KIND! ON JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY: THE FORTY CHAPTERS'



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104

CHARLES BURNEVP

1. On the fortunes of this world and the great amount of importance attached to them (it ?). 2. On the failure of matters and their fulfilment. 3. On the classification of the haylajat. 4. On significations [On commencements of actions]. 5. On relations with other people and every matter between two people. 6. On theft (without §242-7). 7. On fugitives and lost things (without §270-82). 8. On the journey. 9. On a position of authority, whether it will be attained or not. 10. On the siege of cities. 11. On war. 12. On whom one suspects of treason. 13. On seeking wealth. 14. On acquiring real estates and landed properties. 15. On laying the foundations of cities and houses. 16. On digging canals, cultivating the land, [wells], and constructing wells and dams. 17. On building ships. 18. On questions concerning ships and what happens in the way of safety and injury. 19. On acquiring slaves. 20. On marriage. 21. On pregnancy and child-bearing. 22. On asking for friendships and companionships. 23. On prisoners. 24. On the absent one. 25. On acquiring domestic animals, cattle, sheep [and camels]. 26. On the hunt on land and water. 27. On the feast [and what happens at it]. 28. On news - its truth, its falsehood and its consequences. 29. On messengers and posts. 30. On asking for the things one needs. 31. On sick people and what their conditions lead to. 32. On blood-letting and scarification. 33. On treating wounds by surgery. 34. On giving purgative medicines. 35. On the place where one suspects something is hidden, such as treasure [or something else]. 36. On betting on horses and the race-course [and other matters]. 37. On prices and what commodity falls in price, and what rises. 38. On the changes of the weather. 39. On the years of plague and of good health. 40. On the revolution of the years of the world.

The text breaks off at the bottom of fol. 21' in the middle of a line, ten lines short of the end of the chapter 40(44) in the

AL-KIND! ON JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY: 'THE FORTY CHAPTERS' 105

Latin text: 'thumma nur ma'a dhãlika mawçli' al-mirrikh fa-in kãna sharqiyyan aw gharbiyyan aw yaminiyyan aw janUbiyyan fa-inna al-ghalaba...' II. Robert of Ketton 's Translation Judicia Alkindi Astrologi.

The translator's preface begins: 'Quamquam post Euclidem Theodosii cosmometrie libroque proportionum libencius insudarem...' The text begins: 'Circulus itaque spericus, cuius atque terre centrum est idem.,.' This translation is found in the following manuscripts: - C London, British Library, Cotton App.VI, s.xiii, fols 1O9r 162". - B Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ashmole 179, pt.4, ca. 1600 A.D., pp. 1-62. - G Ibid., Ashmole 209, s.xvii, fols 211-59 (collated against another MS). - A Ibid., Ashmole 369, s.xiii, fols 85'-101". - F Ibid., Ashmole 434, pt.12, s.xvi, fols 1-23. - D Ibid., Digby 51, s.xii, fols 55'-78'. - E Ibid., Digby 91, s.xvi, fols 86r126\r.79 - V Leiden, Bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit, Voss.Lat. 0.52, s. xvii, fols 3r83r50 - F Paris, Bibliotheque de l'Université, 640, s. xiv, fols 10725.s1 Fda 87 and 88 are replacements. There is a squash to et everything in on these replaced folios, and the text on the last part of fol. 88 is taken from Hugo of Santalla's translation of al-Kindi's text (see below). This manuscript belonged to Thomas Allen, and the copy of al-Kindi's ludicia follows a copy of the De radiis attributed in Latin manuscripts to al-Kindi. Apparently copied from MS Digby 91; see K. A. de Meyier, Codices Voesiani Latini (Leiden, 1977), pp. 97-8. See Catalogue général des MSS des Biblisthéques publiques de France: Université de Paris (Paris, 1918), pp. 159-60. The MS lacks fols 123 and 126; consequently the text ends in c. 33(37), §637. This manuscript was brought to my notice by R. Lemay in his 'L'authenticité de la preface de Robert de Chester a sa traduction 78

du Morienus (1144)', Ch,ysoperia, 4 (1990).

106 CHARLES BURNETT MS D is both the earliest and the most reliable manuscript. It is written in several contemporary hands, but corrected and annotated throughout by one twelfth-century hand. 82 The manuscript consists almost entirely of translations from the North of Spain - in particular, the works of Plato of Tivoli, whose translation of AbU'Ali a1-Khayyã's De nativitatibus also accompanies the ludicia in MS C. MS A is an important English collection of texts on judicial astrology. MSS BEFG are closely related. All four of these MSS give as the explicit: 'Finit liber Alkindi, translatio Roberti Angligenae de Chebil'. 83 MSS BEG also give the date of translation as 1272, which is clearly an error. After the explicit MSS ACDE include the Appendix beginning 'Constat apud sapientes...' (E in an abbreviated form). Here is the preface as given in MS D: 1 Quamquam post Euclidem Theodosii cosmometrie libroque proportionumm libencius insudarem unde commodior ad Almaiesti - quo precipuurn nostrum aspirat studium - pateret accessus, tamen, ne per meam segniciem nostra surdesceret arnicitia, vestris nutibus nil preter equum postulantibus, mi Hermanne, nulli Latinorum huius nostri temporis astronomico secunde, penitus parere paratus, eum quem commoclissimum et veracissimum inter astrologos iudicem vestra quam sepe notavit diligencia, voto vestro serviens transtuli, non minus amicicie quarn pericie facultatibus innisus. 2 In quo turn vobis turn ceteris huius sciencie studiosis placere plurimum studens, enodato verborum vultu, rerum semen et effectum atque summam stellarium effectuurn pronosticationisque quorumlibet eventuurnM Latine brevitati diligenter inclusi. 3 Cuius examen vestram manurn postrerno postulans, non indigne vobis laudis meritum, si quid assit, cornmuniter autem fructus pariat, mihique non segne res arduas aggrediendi calcar adhibeat, si nostri laboris munus amplexu favoris elucescat. 4 Sed ne proemium lectori tedium, lectionique moram afferat, illius prolixitate supersedendo, rem propositam secundum nature tramitem a toto generalique natis exordiis texamus, prius tamen libri totius capitulis enumeratis ad rerum evidenciam suorumque locorum repertum facilern. ' This hand has also written some words in maghribi script on fol. 88v. This place name, clearly written in G, is difficult to read in the other MSS. " I have checked the text of the other manuscripts, but they do not provide any better readings. Corrections have been made to the edition provided by C.H. Haskins, in his Studies in the History of Mediaeval Science, second edition (Cambridge, Mass.,1927), pp. 121-2. ãportionum. eventu D.

AL-KIND! ON JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY: 'THE FORTY CHAPTERS' 107 1 Although after Euclid I would have more willingly sweated over the

Cosmoinetria of Theodosius and a book of ratios, so that a more convenient

path towards the Almagest - which is the principal goal of our studies should be cleared, nevertheless, lest our friendship should fade away through my laziness, dear Hermann, second" , to no Latin astronomer of our time, I was prepared completely to obey your wish which is not unreasonable, and I translated that author whom your diligence has often noted to be the most suitable and true judge amongst astrologers, answering your request and relying on the services not less of your friendship than of your expertise. 2 In this I have attempted especially to please both you and other adepts of this science, and, having unravelled the surface-tangle of the words, I have carefully enclosed the seed and result of things and the sum of the effects of the stars and of the prognostication of every event within a brief Latin style. 3 Finally, this work calls for your scrutiny: it would provide the merit - supposing the book contains anything of merit - of unstinted praise for you, and rewards for both of us, and it would give me a spur to tackle hard things with a lively spirit, if the offering of our work is made splendid by being embraced by your favour. 4 But lest the introduction bring boredom to the reader and a delay to the reading, replacing its prolixity, let us weave the matter in hand according to the path of nature, taking as the beginning, whole and general principles - first, however, enumerating the chapters of the whole book to show what it contains and to facilitate finding the right place.

The preface continues with the following list of chapters (the section numbers are given in square brackets): 1. Primum igitur capitulurn zodiaci divisiones earumque proprietates tam naturales quam accidentales generaliter amplectitur [*1] 2. Planetarum formas, naturas et effectus turn ex se turn ex suis locis edocet [*44] 3. Est de planetarum coniunctionibus [*82] This is a pun on the name by which Hermann preferred himself to be known: Hermannus Secundus, as has been pointed out by R. Lemay in his 'De la scola8tique A l'histoire par le truchement de ]a philologie', in La diffusione delle scienze islamiche, pp. 399-535 (see pp. 440-1). For Robert's metaphorical use of the word 'semen' see his translation of The Forty Chapters, c. 28(32), §600: 'Ex his quidem velud ut a quampluribus turn thetis turn dicendis a nobis semine dato, diligens lector multa proferat' ('When the seed has been planted from these words as from many other things both said and to be said by us, the diligent reader will bring forth many things'). This sentence has no equivalent either in the Arabic or in Hugo's translation. The reading 'seriem' which is found in the other manuscripts and adopted by Haskins seems to be a banalization of Robert's distinctive vocabulary. This last sentence appears to incorporate statements found in al-Kindi's preface to The Forty Chapters (see p. 78 above).

108

CHARLES BURNETT

4. De receptionibus [*921 5. In accidentibus mundi [*113] 6. In effectu rerum sive defectu [*132] 7. In aihilegech reperiendis ex ordine [*1381 8. In rerum initiis [*1421 9. De cuiusvis participum coniunctionis eventu [*1501 10. De fure simul et de furto [*173] 11. De fugitivis et amissis [*248] 12. De itinere [*2831 13. De cuiusvis honoris adeptione [*3201 14. De civitatis obsidione [*348] 15. De preliis [*3821 16. De cuiusvis in suum regem insultu [*4231 17. De repertu pecunie [*4531 18. De congrua dispositione planetarum atque signorum ad cuiuslibet hereditatis adeptionem [*4691 19. In urbium et suorum edificiorum edificationibus [*4771 20. In fluminum et rivulorum ad irrigandum alveis necnon in coloniis puteisque gerendis [*4821 21. In compositione navium [*4901 22. De successu naufragioque navis in itinere [*4961 23. In servorum emptione [*5121 24. De coniugio [*519] 25. De conceptione et partu [*537] 26. De participationis ac societatis et amicitie connexu [*546] 27. De incarcerato [*553] 28. De quovis absente [*567] 29. In emendis quibuslibet animalibus [*5781 30. De venatu [*5841 31. In convivio [*5871 32. De discretione rumorum inter verum et falsum [*5991 33. De legatis et viatoribus [*6041 34. In petitione rei [*6081 35. De exitu morbi [§6121 36. De scarificatione atque flebothomo [*6261 37. De cirurgia [*632] 38. De purgatoriis per utramque regionem [*6351 39. De thesauri repertu [*6391 40. In certamine cursus equorum [*6491 41. De pretio rerum quolibet tempore [*662] 42. In aeriis qualitatibus anni [*6691 43. Utrum annus morbidus sit an salubris [*6831 44. In revolutionibus annorum mundi [*688] 45. In effectibus Lune [*694].

AL-KINDI ON JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY: 'THE FORTY CHAPTERS' 109

III. Hugo of Santalla 's translation Liber Alkindi de Iudiciis ,lxvi. capitulis discretus.

The text begins: 'Celestis circuli forma sperica idem cum terra centrum obtinet...' This text was incorporated into the Liber trium iudicum which is found in the following MSS: - D Dublin, Trinity College, 368, s.xii, fols 431'-137' (almost complete). - A London, British Library, Arundel 268, s.xii, fols 75'-84" (opening chapters only). - B Oxford, Bodleian Library Bodley 430, s.xiii, fols 50r 122" (incomplete). Most of the same passages from the ludicia have been taken over from the Liber trium iudicum into the Liber novem iudicum, which has to be consulted for the last chapters of the text, missing in all three manuscripts of the Liber trium iudicum. For the Liber novem iudicum the following MSS have been used: - C Cambridge, Clare College, 15, ca. 1280 A.D., fols 69'144r. - V Vienna, Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, 2428, s.xii, fols 1-160. MS V often gives a better reading for the text of al-Kindi than the MSS of the Liber trium iudicurn. While the chapter numbers have not been retained in the two astrological compendia, most of the original titles to the chapters seem to survive.90 In the following list they follow the number of the Arabic chapter: 1. De fortuna secularium et summa eorumdem dignitate. 2. De eligendis ducibus et eorum significatione. 3. (chapter missing) 4. De incipiendis negociis. 5. De his que inter duos solent accidere. 6. De furto. Several chapters have been subdivided and the divisions have separate titles. These are not given, except in the case where the title is that of the first division of the chapter (e.g., cc. 7, 10 and 20).

110

CHARLES BURNE'N'

7. Utrum aliquid secum detulerit. 8. De itinere. 9. Be honoris adeptione. 10. Utrum hostes urbem obsessuri veniant. 11. Do preliatoribus. 12. De egressis a rege et qui rebelles fiunt. 13. De acquirenda pecunia. 14. De terrarum, agrorum et consimilium statu. 15. De urbium sive domorum edificatione. 16. De alveis fluminum effodiendis et de his que ad imganda arva pertinent et de incolenda terra. 17. De construendis navibus. 18. De navibus quid boni vel mali his accidere debeat. 19. Dc captivorum et servorum emptione. 20. In firmando coniugio. 21. De pregnante. 22. De amicicia ineunda vel consorcio firmando. 23. De captivis et eorum statu. 24. De absentis statu. 25. De emendis animalibus, bobus videlicet, ovibus et camelis. 26. Do venatu et piscatione. 27. De conviviis et his que in convivio accidunt. 28. De nunciis. 29. De rumoribus et eorum fine. 30. (chapter missing) 31. (title missing) 32. De fleubotomia et ventosis. 33. De cirurgia. 34. De potionibus sumendis. 35. De thesauris et qualibet re occulta. 36. De equorum cursu et eorumdem victoria. 37. De rebus venalibus. 38. De aeris qualitate per singulos annos. 39. De annorum peste et salute. 40. (chapter missing). 41. ( = c. 45 of Robert's translation) Do Lune potentia et de signis secundum tropica et bicorpora et firma.

The following paragraphs are missing in one or other Latin translation: 1) Paragraphs missing from Robert of Ketton's translation: [ § 90 1 Another form of applicatio [245-6} Alkindius quantum recuperari debeat [541] Alkindius de hora partus [619] Questio de medico

AL-KINDI ON JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY: 'THE FORTY CHAPTERS' 111

2) Paragraphs missing from Hugo of Santalla's translation: [*27] Facies planetarum [*43] Termini Egyptiorum [*73] Introduction to the 12 places [*81] Coniunctio planetarum

[*113] A brief introductory passage

[**138-411 In aihilegech reperiendis ex ordine (c. 3(7)).

[§247 1 One or many thieves

[0821 A brief introductory passage [*5431 One or many children in the womb [*591] Characteristics of the feast [**608-11] In petitione rei (C. 30(34)). [*615] Exitus morbi [**652-611 The colour

of the horses and their ownership

[**688-93] In revolutionibus annorum mundi (c. 40(44)).

It remains to be investigated whether this discrepancy in contents is the result of the vicissitudes of the Latin tradition, or reflects the use of Arabic manuscripts with differing contents. APPENDIX II: THE FORTY CHAPTERS, CHAPTER 16(20)

As a specimen of the Arabic text and Latin translations of The Forty Chapters I have taken one of the shorter chapters - that

on when to dig irrigation ditches, wells and dams. This is a good example of catarchic astrology, and, as such, portions of this chapter appear in the seventh book of 'All ibn Abi al-Rijãl's Kitãb al-Ban which is devoted to ibtidã'ãt ('Commencements') or, as the title states, ikhtiyarat ('Choices').9' A chapter of Hephaestio of Thebes's Apotelesmatica is 'on the digging of wells and cisterns' ('peri freatOn orugés kai lakkOn'), but the contents are not the same.92 L))'' ;) L.

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CHARLES BURNETT

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AL-KINDI ON JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY: 'THE FORTY CHAPTERS' 113

The Sixteenth Chapter: On Digging Canals, Cultivating the Land and Constructing Wells and Dams. §482. As for digging canals, that should be done when the Moon is in the first quadrant of the Sun, made fortunate, and received in the cardines; and the cardines are firm and direct; and the Lord of the ascendent is Eastern, in its dignities, cardinal or in a succedent; and the ascendent is a watery sign, made fortunate by a strong benefic; and the cardine of the fourth is made fortunate too by a strong beneficY 3 §483. And the Lord of the Moon is in its dignities, received and made fortunate; and the Lot of Fortune is made fortunate in the aspect of the Moon and Sun; and the degree of the conjunction is in the aspect of the benefic; and the application of the Moon, at its departure from the Sun at the time of the conjunction or opposition,94 is a strong benefic in a cardine or succedent; and the Lord of the conjunction or opposition is like this; and the malefics are falling from (i.e., distant from) the cardines and the luminaries and the Lot of Fortune and the Lord of the Moon. §484. For if that is judged to be as we have defined, it signifies ease of toil, abundance of water, a large number of profits from this water, a small amount of harm from it, and the safety of vessels travelling on it, and it will ensure that it lasts for a long time (?). §485. As for the construction of wells, that should be done when the ascendent and the cardines are firm, not receding and direct, and the ascendent is an earthy sign - and the cardine of the earth likewise; (486) and the cardines are clear of malefics and fortified by benefics, especially if Venus is in the ascendent or the fourth and this is an earthy sign; and the Moon is in an earthy sign, being dominant in the North or the South, especially in its dignities, and it is received by a benefic in the East. §487. Likewise the construction of dams is like the construction of wells. For wells are dams. §488. As for the cultivation of the earth, this should be done when the Moon is received by a benefic, with it its recipient being in cardines or succedents; and it is better if both are in cardines or the Moon at least; and the condition of the Lord of the ascendent is the same as the condition of the Lord of the Moon; and the cardines are clear of malefics and fortified with benefics, especially if one of the two benefics is Lord of the house of wealth or Lord of the Lot of Fortune or Lord of the Lot of Wealth; and the conjunction or opposition is one of the cardines; (489) and [the Lord of]96 the application of the Moon when it departs from its conjunction with On both occasions the Arabic for 'made fortunate by a strong benefit' should be: 'mas'üdan bi-al-sa'di al-qawiyyi', and this is the text implied by the Latin translations. In the Arabic text as it stands h should be read as 'qawiya' and the phrase translated either as 'made fortunate by the benefic, and which has become strong', or 'made fortunate, and which has become strong through the benefic'. Literally: 'full moon'; the Kitãb al-Ban gives 'istiqbal'. Literally: 'full moon'. 'the Lord of, omitted in the Kitãb al-Ban'.

114

CHARLES BURNETT

the Sun or from its opposition is with a benefic in a cardine or succedent; and the Lord of the conjunction is a benefic, and likewise the Lord of the Moon and the Lord of the fourth .

The Latin Translations

In the following editions the orthography of the base manuscripts has been retained, except in cases of ambiguity or inconsistency. Punctuation is my own. 97 Robert of Ketton's translation: XX. In fluminum et rivulorum ad irrigandum alveis necnon in coloniis puteisque gerendis. §482. In alveorum fluminum eductionumque suarum opere, cardinem firmum atque directum in primo Solis quadrante fortunata necnon et recepta Luna sorciatur orientisque dominus orientalis in suarum aliqua potenciarum in cardine yel receptus existat. Oriens item signum aqueurn terreque cardo a felicissimo fortunentur. §483. Sitque Lune dominus in sua dignitate receptus et fortunatus, partemque fortune lumina, gradumque coniunctionis felices, aspiciant. Luna rursus in primo de subradiis exitu dominusque coniunctionis cum felicissimo in cardine yel succedente iungantur, infelices a cardinibus atque luminibus parteque fortune necnon et a lunari domino quam diligenter alienentur. §484. Hoc enim labore modico commodum immensum, aquarum copiam et salubritatem nulliusque naufragii pestisve seu detrimenti capacem, diuturnitatem eciam efficit. §485. Similiter in ciconiis sint oriens ceterique cardines stabiles et nullatenus intricati, (486) directi et ab infelicibus mundi, felicibusque corroborati, precipueque oriens seu terre cardinem, que terrea sint signa, Venus optineat, et Luna in signo terreo in septemtrionem vel sursum accedens, precipueque sit in suarum dignitatum quamvis ab orientali felice fortunata. §487. Hec eadem quoque dispositio suffragiumque sidereum in rotis aquam trahentibus sunt necessaria. §488. In coloniarum quidem fundamentis et iniciis est utilhimum ut Luna a felice recipiatur, earumque utraque ye! saltim Luna cardinem vel succedens, precipue tamen cardinem tenente. Sitque similis et concors habitus dominorum orientis et Lune cardinesque firmi, ab infelicibus mundi felicibusque corroborati, potissimumque felicium quevis domicilio substantie partisve fortune seu pecunie dominetur. §489. Luna rursus in suo de subradlis exitu yel expositione a stella felicissima sit fortunata yel recepta, coniunctioque sui vel oppositio in cardine vel succedente, et eorum alterius ac Lune terreque cardinis domini felices ye! fortunati. The Latin texts are taken from my edition of the two translations which I can supply on request.

AL-KINDI ON JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY: 'THE FORTY CHAPTERS' 115

Hugo of Santalla's translation: De alveis fluminum effodiendis et de his que ad irriganda arva pertinent et de incolenda terra. In excidendis fluviorum alveis Luna in primo Solis tetragono fortunata et recepta in cardine, cardines eciam firmi et directi disponantur, ascendentis quoque dominus orientalis in aliquo dignitatis sue loco, in cardine aut post cardinem, ascendens eciam signum aquaticum et a vigenti fortunio secundaturn. Quarti quidem loci cardo fortis, felicium beatitudine non privetur. §483. Lunaris vero doniinus in sue dignitatis loco receptus, beatus. Pars item fortune Solis et Lune respectu faveatur. Alestirna quidem gradus fortunatorum respectu secundetur. Lune vero applicatio post primum a Solis conventu vel oppositione secessum cum fortunio forti in cardine yel post cardinem fiat. Dominus item conventus aut oppositionis eodem modo se habeat. Infortunia quidem a cardinibus cadant et a Sole et Luna et parte fortune, lunari domino. §484. Quod si ut determinavimus possibile est fieri, ab excidendo aiveo inpedimentum repellit, aquas multiplicat et utiitati non modice facit subservire, easque innocuas conservat, naves et navigantes incolumes custodit et indeficientes reddit. §485. In erigendis item puteorum quibusdam instrumentis quibus ad exhauriendas aquarum altitudines apud gentes nonnullas uti consueverunt, que etiam propt.er forme similitudinem vulgari nomine ciconias nuncupant, ascendens et cardines firmi et inmobiles nec reducti, directi etiam statuantur, ascendens quoque signum terreum. Terre quidern cardo et reliqui in hunc modum. §486. Cardines tamen ab infortuniis mundentur et fortunati a felicibus muniantur. Potiorem quidem effectum Venus in ascendente aut in quarto, in signo scilicet terreo, conficiet. Luna necnon in signo terreo et in septemtrionem super aliou - videlicet ethera - sublimata et in sue potestatis loco a fortunio orientali recepta idem. §487. Rotarum item fabricatio quas Arabes azenias vel annoras clicunt preclicturn puteorum sequetur artificium. Utriusque enim instrumenti beneficio in agrorum irrigacione aque extrahuntur. §488. Terrarum vero inhabitationi precipue Luna a fortunatis recepta consulit, ea quidem a qua recipitur cardinalis aut post cardines fiat. Potior vero ipsa in cardine aut saltem Luna, ascendentis item domini status cum lunaris dornim statu communis. Cardines item ab infortuniis mundi a felicibus muniti roborentur, precipue dum fortunatorum alterum dornus pecume aut partis fortune aut partis pecume dominus st.atuatur. Conventus item aut oppositio in cardine accidat. §489. Luna deinde applicatio Solis conventu aut oppositione relicta ad fortunium aliquod in cardine aut post cardines dirigatur, alestima vero - videlicet conventus - dominus felix, lunaris item et quarti dominus eiusdem felicitatis munere pociantur.

The following points may be noted about the two Latin translations: §482. Robert confusingly translates both 'maqbul' and 'rnuqbil' as 'receptus' ('received'), whilst Hugo correctly translates the first as 'receptus' and the

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second as 'post cardinem' ('in a succedent'). Robert's abbreviating tendency is demonstrated in his bringing together into one clause the first two phrases ('As for digging.,. firm and direct') by not repeating 'cardines'; and in his running together of the last two phrases, so that he avoids repeating the words 'made fortunate by a strong benefic'. Hugo, on the other hand, both follows the Arabic in repeating the later phrase, and, in characteristic style, finds two different ways of expressing the same Arabic words in Latin: 'vigenti fortunio secundatum' and 'felicium beatitudine non privetur'. §483. Similarly Robert combines the second and third phrases, allowing them to share the same verb 'aspiciant' (they should aspect'). Hugo finds yet another word for 'made fortunate' ('faveatur'), and retains an Arabic word in Latin transliteration ('alestima' = a1-ijtimã"). It is difficult to see why he does this here and in §489 below, when he elsewhere translates the Arabic word as 'conventus' - unless, again, he is aiming at variety. Robert avoids using Arabic words, and, in this instance, uses the appropriate Latin term 'coniunctio'. Robert combines the fourth and fifth phrases, which share the verb 'iungantur' ('they should be joined'), but adds a caution which is absent in the other versions: 'quam diligenter' ( ... as carefully as possible'). Hugo retains the Arabic word order. §484. Hugo appears to read 'karw' ('digging') in place of 'kadd' ('toil'), but otherwise keeps close to the Arabic as in the Khãlidi manuscript. Robert paraphrases the Arabic. §485. Robert and Hugo both seem to have in mind the shadoof when the Arabic speaks of wells. Robert simply replaces 'wells' by 'ciconiae' (literally 'storks'). Hugo retains the word 'wells' ('puteorum') but adds a long gloss describing the shadoof: 'In erecting certain machines of (in?) wells which they (the Arabs?) were accustomed to use amongst certain peoples for drawing off high levels of water, and which they call 'storks' in the common language, because of the similarity of their form...' This might be a reflection of Hugo's own experience of irrigation methods in al-Andalus. From at least the time of Isidore of Seville, the Spaniards were known to have called a machine for drawing water from wells a 'ciconia',91 and the Spanish vernacular equivalents of this word have been used since medieval times to signify this machine."' §486. In the phrase 'super aliou - videlicet ethera - sublimata' Hugo again uses a transliterated form of an Arabic word. However, the word 'aliou' does not appear in the Khãllidi manuscript, which gives only the one word 'ghàliban' ('prevailing/dominant') for Hugo's phrase. What seems to Isidore, Etyrnologiae, ed. W,M. Lindsay, XX, 15.3: 'Telonem hortulani vocant lignum longum quo auriunt aquas... Hoc instrumentum Hispani ciconiam dicunt, propter quod imitetur eiusdem nominis avem, levarites aqua ac deponentes rostrum, dum clangit' ('Cultivators call a long pole by which they draw water a 'telo'... This machine the Spaniards call a 'ciconia' because it mimics the bird of the same name, raising and lowering its beak into the water, squeaking all the time'). See J. Corominas, Diccionario crItico etirnologico de la lengua castellana., 4 vols

(Bern, 1954), s.v. 'ciguefia'.

AL-KIND! ON JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY: 'THE FORTY CHAPTERS' 117 have happened is that Hugo (and possibly Robert) read "aliyan' ('high/sublime') for 'ghaliban'. Hugo then emphasizes or explains the mode of elevation of the Moon by adding 'super aliou', which, as the Latin equivalent ('ethera' = 'aether'! 'upper air') shows, must mean 'above al-jaww ('the air'! 'atmosphere')'. §487. Robert and Hugo both have in mind water-wheels ('rotae')'°° for the Arabic 'dams' or 'jetties' ('musannayãt'). Once again Hugo appears to add a gloss from his own experience of Andalusian society: 'The construction of water-wheels, which the Arabs call "sãniya" or "n'üra"...' Both these words were taken over into the Spanish vernacular. 'Saniya' is attested in Spanish documents as early as 945 A.D. (in the form 'azenia'), while, up to now, the first secure attestation of 'nã'üra' (as 'annora') is in a document of 1148)ul §488. Robert and Hugo seem to interpret the Arabic here as meaning 'breaking virgin soil' or 'establishing new farms'. Robert omits the last phrase 'and the conjunction or opposition is one of the cardines'. Hugo's use of words of Arabic origin may indicate not so much a desire to preserve the Arabic terms he found in his Arabic original as his familiarity with the Spanish vernacular into which many Arabic words had already been assimilated. Robert, not being Spanish himself, would not have been so susceptible to the influence of vernacular vocabulary. Although neither of the translators follow a literal style of translating (like that of John of Seville or Gerard of Cremona), their translations can give us clues as to what the Arabic text of The Forty Chapters as known in al-Andalus in the mid-twelfth century looked like. For this meaning, see Isidore, Etyrnologiae, XX, 15.1: 'Rota... est... machina de qua e flumine aqua extrahitur' ('A wheel is a machine by which water is drawn from a river'). Corominas, Diccionario crIlico etimológico ,s. v. 'aceña' and 'noria'. For the use of Arabic irrigation techniques in Spain and the significance of some of these terms see T.F. Glick, Islamic and Christian Spain in the Early Middle Ages (Princeton, 1971), pp. 68-76.