Book Three, chapter 8

1Chapter 8

2As for the Nabataeans, they claim that all action in the world belongs to the Sun alone; but since they knew that the Moon is a helper to it in its actions, without any need on its part for it or for any other, and likewise also the seven wandering ones, for they follow the Sun in action, following [it], and obey it willingly, and prostrate themselves to it and glorify [it] night and day, and they are for all time constant in obedience to it and persistent in pleasing it, in word and in deed.

3So all actions belong, in their view, to the Sun alone, and the rest of the seven share with it in some of its actions; and likewise the fixed stars are slaves to it, glorifying [it] and prostrating themselves, and they have a share in the actions, without [its] having any need of them. The sum of their prayer to the Sun, and of their words in it, is:

4Prayer, glorification, praise and magnification be to our Lord, the great and majestic luminary, the Sun, giver of life to every living thing on the face of the earth, illuminator of all by his light, enlightener of the world by his radiance, holder of the worlds by his power, lofty of place, mighty of dominion, filled with light and intellect and understanding and power and might and grandeur and good, originator of everything originated, extender of everything extended, giver of life to every living thing, strengthener of everything strong, generous in his actions, bountiful in his giving, powerful in his heaven. To him be peace, and extolling, magnification, grandeur, praise, worship and bounty; him we seek in our supplication; and to him we are sincere in our prayer, and by our worship of him we draw near to him with our intent. He is our support and our provision, our god and our treasure, the one we worship, our creator, our originator, our giver of life and the utmost of our hope. On him we have leaned our backs, and to his name we have surrendered, so his name has become a shield for us, a protective charm for us against our enemies, and a safeguard for us from all who plot against our purpose.

5And to his servant the Moon, the king, obedient to him, magnifying his might, prostrating to him, toiling constantly in his obedience, rendering to him his light and giving to him his power [pronoun ambiguous: whose light and whose power]; who is constant in his kingdom and his guidance, humbling himself before his greatness, hastening to his obedience, and in awe in it ever and perpetually, without slackening for the blink of an eye and without falling short for a single moment. Upon them both together be prayer and praise from us, for ever and ever and for the age of ages. Amen, amen.

6Abū Bakr ibn Waḥshiyya mentioned in the Nabataean Agriculture a prayer to Saturn, and that they say: 'Beware the evil of this god when he is in his fall, or westering from the Sun, or hidden by her rays, or in the middle of his retrogradation. Then pray to him this prayer which I shall mention, and fumigate his idol with old hides, fat, filth and a dead bat; and burn for him fourteen dead bats and as many mice, and take their ashes and prostrate upon it before his idol; and prostrate to him on a black rock or black sand, and seek refuge thereby from his evil.

7For he is the cause of the ruin of everyone ruined, the decay of everything that decays and the weeping of everyone who weeps; and he is the lord of all poverty, straitness, imprisonment, grief, avarice and wretchedness when he is angry. And when he is pleased he gives continuance and length of life, elevation of renown, rank and wealth, and he bequeaths that to the children and descendants and makes it everlasting in the posterity of the one given [it]. And his pleasure is in [his being] oriental, in the middle of direct motion, in the speed of his course, in his ascent and in his being at his apogee.'

8And he claimed that Ḍaghrīth prayed this prayer to Saturn and asked his idol about some matter, and the idol revealed to him what he wanted. And his prayer is that they say: 'Glorification from us, and magnification, prayer and worship, while we stand on our feet upright, to our god, the living, the ancient, who has ever been and ever shall be, alone in lordship over all things, who is ד ח ה ב [four letters in Hebrew script; reading uncertain], the everlasting in his heaven, effective in his power, unique in omnipotence, grandeur and greatness, encompassing all and having power over all;

9to whom belongs what is seen and what is not seen, and to whom belongs what is in the earth. He it is who supplied the earth from his life and gave it life, so it endured through his enduring; and supplied the water by his might and his power and made it endure, so it lasted through his lasting; and made the earth firm, so it stood firm for ever; and made the water flow like his flowing, so it flowed living like his life, cold like the taste of his dominion over the plants [sense uncertain]; and the earth became heavy, together with its enduring, like the heaviness of his motion. Had he willed, he would have made every thing otherwise than it is; but he is a sage, acting by the power of wisdom, knowing, his knowledge penetrating into all. Blessed are you, O lord of heaven and of what is other than it, and holy and pure are your noble names most beautiful. We worship you and pray to your eternity and your generosity, and we ask you by your names and by your eternity and your generosity that you make our intellects firm upon their path as long as we remain alive, and be gentle with our bodies after the parting of life, in decay, and drive the worms away from our flesh; for you are a merciful, ancient lord; there is no mercy for your harshness, and you are oppressive, you do not repent, long of reach, slow of effect in actions. You are the lord: whomever you give to, no withholder is able to withhold it from him, and no giver is able to give it when you withhold.

10You are the lord who is alone in lordship, single in your dominion with sovereignty, lord of the planets and of the stars that revolve in their circles, which are terrified at the sound of your motion and fear from dread of you. We ask you to make us safe from your wrath, to turn your assault away from us, and to have mercy on us [and spare us] from your great evil. O God, we ask you to turn your assaults away from us by your most beautiful names, by which whoever seeks access to your mercy, you have mercy on him. So have mercy on us, then [reading uncertain: make us content] by your power and your names, and by your high, lofty, mighty name [we adjure] you: we ask you to have mercy on us.

11This is the text of the words of Ibn Waḥshiyya from the Nabataeans, translated in the 'Agriculture'. We have mentioned this only because of the consensus of these earlier generations upon the worships of the planets and the taking on of their natures; and these matters are permitted among them in their religions and their laws. But in our community and our law, their use is unbelief, and for that reason the killing of the magician has been commanded in our community, because of his using what we have mentioned and his departing from the commands of our community.

12We have mentioned what we have mentioned of this only so as not to leave out any kind of the kinds of this result which we are on the way to revealing; and they are also accounts for revealing the doctrines of the ancients and their beliefs, and for keeping this holy community clear of these matters; so [this is] the excuse for that. And I enjoin whoever this book of mine comes to that he not let anyone see it; for in the world there are people who have no religion, whom acquaintance with such secrets as these would call to departure from the community and to the use of these things, whose revealing is forbidden and whose concealment and safekeeping is commanded among the sages.