Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm · draft

Book Two, chapter 4

The motion of the spheres

Ritter pp. 78–79 · 4 passages

Ritter p. 78

1Chapter 4

فصل (٤)

Book Two, chapter 4. Ritter prints no title.

2And know that the masters of the craft of talismans among the ancients hold that the quarters of the sphere move eight parts advancing and eight parts receding. A group of those who adhere to the craft of the astronomical tables (zīj) have neglected them, and that is according to their computation; and in them lies great benefit in this craft, I mean talismanic [craft]. And the way by which one arrives at the knowledge of that, according to what has been verified, is that you know the date of the reign of Augustus and take one hundred and twenty-eight years before the reign of Augustus, for that is the end of the retreat of those eight parts in that time; then the beginning of their advance was after that. Then you add to these years three hundred and thirteen years, from the beginning of the reign of Augustus to the beginning of the reign of Diocletian,

واعلم ان اصحاب صناعة الطلسمات من الاوائل يرون ان ارباع الفلك تتحرّك ثمانية اجزاء مقبلةً وثمانية اجزاء مدبرةً وقد اغفلها قوم من المتمذهبين بصناعة الزيج وذلك بحسب تقويمهم وفيها الفائدة الجزيلة فى هذه الصناعة اعنى الطلسمية والوجه الذى يتوصل به الى معرفة ذلك على ما تحقّق ان تعلم تاريخ ملك اغسطس وتأخذ مائة وثمانى وعشرين سنة من قبل ملك اغسطس فانه انتهاء ادبار تلك الثمانية الاجزاء فى ذلك الزمان ثم كان بدء اقبالها بعد ذلك ثم تزيد على هذه السنين ثلاثمائة وثلاث عشرة سنة من اول ملك اغسطس الى اول ملك دقلطيانوس

The doctrine is that of the trepidation (access and recess, iqbāl and idbār) of the fixed stars. ajzā' (parts) here means degrees. The pronoun of aghfalahā and fīhā is feminine and most naturally refers to the quarters or their motion. iqbāl wa-idbār, rendered 'advance and retreat', is the oscillation of the sphere (trepidation) through eight parts. Aghusṭus = Augustus; Diqlaṭiyānūs = Diocletian.

Ritter p. 79

3and you add to that the years of Diocletian, and after that you take, of the sum of that, one part in eighty, for it moves one part in every eighty years of these years. Whatever accumulates, we cast out from eight, and whatever remains of that we add to the reckoning of the Sun and the Moon and the five wandering [planets]. And by that you arrive at the operations which you seek from this craft. So do not neglect the matter of the advance of the sphere and its retreat, for it is the mainstay in the matter of talismans on account of the images. So know that; and this is among the most sublime of their hidden secrets.

وتزيد مع ذلك سنى دقلطيانوس وتأخذ بعده من جماعة ذلك جزءًا من ثمانين فانه يتحرّك فى كل ثمانين سنة من هذه السنين جزءًا واحدًا فما اجتمع ألقيناه من ثمانية وما بقى من ذلك زدناه على حساب الشمس والقمر والخمسة المتحيّرة وبذلك تتوصّل للاعمال التى ترومها من هذه الصناعة فلا تغفل امر اقبال الفلك وادباره فهو العمدة فى امر الطلسمات من اجل الصور فاعلم ذلك وهذا من اجلّ اسرارهم المكتومة،

alqaynāhu min thamāniya, 'we cast out from eight': sense uncertain; apparently the accumulated parts are reduced by eight, the full range of the motion. al-khamsa al-mutaḥayyira, lit. 'the five perplexed', are the five planets other than the luminaries. ṣuwar here = images (talismanic sense).

4So these eight parts of advance and retreat are completed in every six hundred and forty years. And I have made known to you where they ended in retreating, and by that you know the time of their advance and their retreat; and the need for them is also pressing in the craft of influence. And this advance and retreat is only on account of the motion of the pole of the sphere of the signs, and the motion is from the east to the west or from the west to the east, and nothing other than these two ways is valid. So when it begins in advance, it indicates events that occur in the world; and likewise when it begins in retreat, it indicates other events which have occurred through the cause of the advance and retreat. And know, together with that, that they belong to the sphere of the signs, not to the right sphere.

فتكمل هذه الثمانية الاجزاء من الاقبال والادبار فى كل ستّمائة واربعين سنة وقد عرّفتك حيث انتهت مدبرةً وبذلك تعرف أوان اقبالها وادبارها والحاجة ايضًا لها ماسّة فى صناعة التأثير، وهذا الاقبال والادبار انما هو من قبل حركة قطب فلك البروج والحركة من المشرق الى المغرب او من المغرب الى المشرق ولا يصحّ غير هذين الوجهين فاذا ابتدأ فى الاقبال دلّ على حوادث تحدث فى العالم وكذلك اذا ابتدأ فى الادبار دلّ على حوادث اخر قد حدثت بعلّة الاقبال والادبار، واعلم مع ذلك انها لفلك البروج لا للفلك المستقيم.

ṣinā'at al-ta'thīr: 'the craft of influence' (operations exerting effects). al-falak al-mustaqīm, 'the right sphere': apparently the sphere of the equator (daily motion) as opposed to the ecliptic; sense uncertain.