THE CERTITUDE OF ASTROLOGY: THE SCIENTIFIC

METHODOLOGY OF AL-QAB�S� AND ABU MA�SHAR1

CHARLES BURNETT
WarburgInstitute, London

To us the 'certitude of astrology' seems to be a contradiction of

sense. What could be more uncertain than predictions concerning
the future? But if astrology is to be regarded as a science, it must
be based on premises that are accepted as true, and from which
rational deductions can be made. This article investigates the kinds
of proofs that writers on astrology considered appropriate to their
subject. It starts with sketching the discussion of Ptolemy (2nd
century A.D.) who wrote on astrology in the context of his interest
in the science of the stars and the mathematical sciences as a
whole. The influence of Ptolemy can be seen in the textbooks of
Arabic astrologers, such as cumar ibn al-Farrukhan (late eighth
century), Abu Ma'shar (787-886 A.D.) and al-Qabisi (mid-tenth
century), as well as in scholars whose interests extended far beyond
astrology, such as al-Kindi (ca. 800-after 870 A.D.) and Kushyar ibn
Labbdn (ca. 1000 A.D.). In all cases astrology is regarded as being
as much a science as any other discipline, and the question hinges
on what kind of arguments can be used in this science. It is in
particular in descriptions of false astrologers (al-Qabisi) or in argu-
ments against different kinds of critics of astrology (Abu Ma'shar)
that the correct methods of argumentation are formulated. In
exploring these arguments, one can see not only the level of so-
phistication of discussion concerning the validity of astrology, but
also the criteria of what constitutes a true astrologer.

1. Astrology according to Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos

The classical exposition of the fact that astrology is a science and

the investigation of what kind of science it is, are given by Ptolemy

' This article

deliberately retains the informal style of its presentation at the
birthday party of David King on 17 November 2001. I havc benefited from the
convivial discussions on that occasion and from the helpful commcnts subse-
quently of Peter Adamson, Sonja Brentjes, David Juste and Dimitri Gutas.
 199

in his Tetrabiblos.`-' He begins by describing two kinds of astronomi-

cal prediction (astronomias prognõstikon), one of which is that by
which we can predict the movements of the planets and stars in
relation to each other and to the earth; the second by which we
predict the changes on earth which these movements bring about.
The first is mathematical astronomy, which can be expounded by
means of demonstration (apodeiktikõs). The second, astrology, is
not as sure as the first, but is nevertheless susceptible of being
investigated in a properly philosophical way (kata ton harmozonta
philosophlai tropon). The first thing to be established therefore is
"that astrology is knowable, and to what extent"-this being the
title of the second chapter of the Tetrabiblos (Hoti katalepte he di'as-
tronomias gnõsis, kai mekhri tinos) . That it is knowable is indicated
by what is apparent from the regular occurrence of the same effects
of the sun and the moon, and of other regular occurrences ob-
served by farmers, sailors and herdsmen. To raise these obser-
vations to the level of a science, however, one needs to add an
accurate knowledge of the movements of the heavenly bodies.
Ptolemy's conclusion is that if someone is "capable of determin-
ing, both scientifically (phusik6s-I.e. using arguments from rea-
sons which are based on likelihood) and by successful conjecture
(eu.siokh6s-this suggests an element of intuition) the distinctive
mark of quality resulting from the combination of all the factors
<involving the movements of the planets>, what is to prevent him
from being able to tell on each given occasion the characteristics
of the air from the nexus of relations of the phenomena at the
time-for instance, that it will be warmer or wetter? Why can he
not, too, with respect to an individual man, perceive the general
quality of his temperament from the circumstances surrounding
the time of his births Ptolemy then enumerates the grounds for
criticism of astrology: 1) the mistakes of bad astrologers, and 2)
the fact that their desire for financial gain influences their pro-
nouncernents.
He ends by mentioning two factors that weaken the scientific
value of astrology:

II
adapt the translation found in Ptolemy, Tetrabiblo.s,ed. and trans. F. E.
Robbins (Cambridge, Mass. 1971); the Greek quotations come from the new
edition of the Greek text under the title Apotelesmatika,ed. W. Hühner (Stuttgart
and Leipzig, 1998).
i
Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos,I, 2, ed. Hiibner, 8-9, trans. Robbins, 11 and 13.
200

1) The truth value of any science depends on the quality of its

subject-matter, which in the case of astrology is the ever-chang-
ing elements of the sublunar world. Therefore it is conjectural
(eikastikos) and not very dependable (diabebaiotikos) . (This
makes the 'physical' investigation-phusikos-difficult) .
2) The same configuration of the heavens is never exactly re-
peated-not at least within the lifetime of a single observer.
(This casts doubt on the value of observation).

He then states that, even if it is not always dependable, astrology

merits an aesthetic appreciation.

The third chapter of the Tetrabiblos shows how astrology is also

beneficial, for it always helps to be prepared for what is likely to
happen in the future, and one can often take preventative meas-
ures to avoid harms, as doctors do in respect of diseases. The usual
course of a disease is parallel to the usual effect of a planet, but
very often the doctor can divert that course-and so can the as-
trologer. Ptolemy stresses that man is not subject to the inevitable
control of fate:
We should not believe that separate events attend mankind as the result of
the heavenly cause as if they had been originally ordained for each person
by some irrevocable divine command and destined to take place by neces-
sity without the possibility of any other cause whatever interfering.'
He concludes the third chapter by saying that "Even though prog-
nostication is not entirely infallible (aptaistos), its possibilities have
appeared worthy of the highest regard
Ptolemy's discussion is eminently sensible, and he is very honest
in not saying that astrology is a science established on irrefutable
proofs and demonstrations, in line with Aristotle's account in the
Analytica posteriora of what a science should be.6

2. The Early Arabic Tradition

The Tetrabiblos had a formative influence on Arabic astrology. It

was known in several versions, arriving both through a Greek-

4 Ibid., I, 3, ed. Hiibner, 15-16, trans. Robbins, 23.

5 Ibid., I, 3, ed. Hiibner, 20, trans. Robbins, 31.
6 For the
philosophical discussion of proof in Greek and Arabic see the article
by Gerhard Endress in this volume.
 201

Syriac route, and via Middle Persian.' In Arabic discussions con-

cerning the scientific status of astrology and the kind of arguments
it uses one can see the influence of Ptolemy's statements, but also
departures from them.
One of the earliest astrologers writing in Arabic is 'Umar ibn al-
Farrukhan (late eighth century), who was responsible for translat-
ing a paraphrase of the Tetrabiblos from Middle Persian. Near the
beginning of his Book on Conjunctions and the Revolution of the Years,
he promises that he will explain the subject matter "in a way that
satisfies whoever is trained in rational demonstrations and syllogisms
(al-bardhin zua-L qiyasat al-'aql'iya)."8 Now, bardhin are equivalent to
apodeixeis-which is just what Ptolemy does not associate with as-
trology. However, since the astrologer must be trained in astro-
nomy, which is apodeictic, 'Umar may mean no more than that his
work is intended only for those astrologers who know their as-
tronomy well. The word qiyasat, which I have translated here as
'syllogisms', is more problematic, because it can have several mean-
ings. Its significance in astrological contexts, however, becomes
clearer when one turns to another Arabic astrologer who is better
known as a philosopher: Ya'qüb ibn Ishaq al-Kindi, the ninth-cen-
tury 'philosopher of the Arabs'.
When al-Kindi writes on predicting the weather, he rejects the
way of 'tradition' (unfortunately we have only the Hebrew and the
Latin versions; 'tradition' is 'credulitas' in Latin) and undertakes
to use, rather, syllogism and demonstration (The Hebrew word for
'syllogism' is cognate with the Arabic 'qiyas', and there is no doubt
that 'demonstration' is The text shows clearly how he
uses these two methods: for him the 'demonstration' is the obvi-
ous experience-such as the Sun's warming as it comes closer to
us (i.e. in summer).'° The method of qiyas enables us to say that

7 See F.
Sezgin, Geschichtedes arabischenSchrifttums,vol. VII (Leiden, 1979), 41-
8.
$ For the full passage see Burnett and Yamamoto, Abu Macšar on Historical
Astrology,2 vols. (Leiden, 2000), I: 586.
For editions and translations of the relevant Hebrew and Latin texts of al-
Kindi's Letter on Moistures and Rain (De mutation temporum), see G. Bos and C.
Burnett, Scientific WeatherForecasting in the Middle Ages: The Writings of al-Kindï
(London, 2000), see especially 97, 161 and 263.
10Cf. al-Kindi, Letter on Moisturesand Rain,
chapter 1, 29-40 (Bos and Burnett,
ScientificWeatherForecasting,101-2, 265-6and 330-3). Similar statements are found
in al-Kindi's Letteron the ProximateEfficientCauseof Cenerationand Corruption,where
al-Kindi adds that the Sun's motion and our observation of it are reckoned
202

the planets cause more heat when they are at the lowest points of
their epicycles. One can express this argument as a syllogism: the
Sun warms us when it is closer to us; the Sun is a planet; there-
fore, any planet warms us when it is closer to us. This is not a very
convincing syllogism, and it would perhaps be better to interpret
qiyas here as 'analogy'.
A century and a half later, Kushyar ibn Labbdn, at the beginning
of his introduction to astrology, writes that:
The first division of the science of the stars is that for which there is geo-
metrical demonstration (burlaan handasiya)...the second is the science that
is grasped by experience (tajriba) and analogy (qiyas)...Most people reject
the second science and claim that it concerns things that happen by acci-
dcnt and there is no demonstration in it. But we say that, so far as accidents
are concerned, when it lasts long or occurs in most circumstances, then they
have the force of demonstration (burhan)...We see and know well that the
Sun warms, and we have had long experience that the Moon humidifies. The
seasons of the year change and their weather differs in heat, coolness, mois-
ture and rain according to the application of the Sun to the planets, the
application of the planets to the Sun, and the application of one to another.
Thus <the doctrines of astrology> should not be rejected even if there is no
demonstration in it.11

Kashyar then gives as an example the use of medicines that are

known to be effective, even if the reason for their effect is not
known.
So Kushyar would seem to use burh?zn in the same sense as al-
Kindi, and qualifies it as 'geometrical' in the context of the math-
ematical science of astronomy.
The scientific viability of astrology and the importance of as-
trologers being scientists is stressed at greater length by the two au-
thors I should like to concentrate on in this article: Abu Ma'shar
and al-Qabisi. I shall begin with al-Qabisi, although he is later in
time, in order to reserve the most honoured place for Abu
Ma'shar, the most prolific and influential Arabic astrologer.

3. Al-Qabisi and Abu Ma'shar

Al-C?abisi served Sayf ad-Dawla, the Hamdanid Emir of Aleppo who

ruled from 944-66. His most popular work is the k. al-mudkhal ild

"amongst the strongest proofs (dala'il) of the efficacy of astrology" Rasa'il al-Kindi
al-Falsaftyah (ed. Abü Ridah, 2 vols. (Cairo, 1950-53), I: 226, lines 12 ff). I am
grateful to Peter Adamson for this reference.
"
Kusyar ibn Labbdn, Introductionto Astrology,I, 1, ed. and trans. M. Yano (To-
kyo, 1997), 6-9 (translation adapted).
 203

sinit'at ahkam al-nujüm ("The Book on the Introduction to the

Craft of Astrology") which survives in several Arabic manuscripts
and in a Latin translation of which there are more than two hun-
dred manuscripts. But he has more to say about astrology as such
and the status of the astrologer in his risala fi miihlin al-munajjimïn
mimman huwa muttasim bi-hadha 1-ism ("The Treatise on the Test-
ing of Those Who Call Themselves Astrologers"). Both works are
dedicated to Sayf ad-Dawla, and their prefaces give some impres-
sion of the court atmosphere in which al-Qabisi worked. 12
In the preface to the Testing al-Qabisi says that the prince is sur-
rounded by people who call themselves 'astrologers', among whom
some are competent, others incompetent, and others deceitfully
pretend to be astrologers. Because of the number especially of the
last class, al-Qabisi has decided to draw up a list of questions cov-
ering the whole range of the science of the stars in order to test
self-professed astrologers. But he insists that the document should
be kept secret by the prince, because the answers are also pro-
vided, and if someone were to get hold of the answers, he could
learn them off by heart, and then, when put to the test, rely on his
memory rather than on working things out on the spot. Thus "the
wise man and the ignorant would be equal."
In the same preface al-Qabisi describes the different kinds of
people who call themselves astrologers:
1 )The first is the 'complete astrologer', who is able to work out
everything himself, using his own intelligence: "He has read the
Almagest and demonstrated the movements of the planets, and
their forms, sizes, and distances one from another, with rational
demonstrations, and he does not need a book or tables." If he
wants to construct a table (of planetary movements) he can do
so, but will do this by making his own direct observations, not
by adapting earlier tables.
2) The second is the man who is competent in his craft, but does
not seek the rational demonstrations that underpin the knowl-
edge. He knows the requisite facts, but "he does not know the
indications or demonstration of them."

12Both texts are in the

process of being edited and translated by Keiji Yama-
moto, Michio Yano and myself. The translated excerpts below are from this work
in progress. The fullest article on al-Qabisi up to now is R. Arnzen, "Vergessene
Pflichtlektare: al-Qabisis astrologische Lehrschrift im europaischen Mittelalter,"
Wissenschaften13 ( 1999-2000),93-128.
Zeitschrift furGeschichteder arabisch-islamischen
This concentrates on al-Qabljl's k. al-mudkhal..
204

3) The third is the one who has learnt particular astrological tech-
niques off by heart, but has no idea of their relation to other
techniques. "He is like a blind man whom a man endowed with
eyesight has put into a certain place, but he does not possess it
<as a tenant>." This is the characteristic of most of those who
take on this art in his time.
4) The fourth kind are those who rely entirely on instruments.
These, according to al-Qabisi, know nothing about astrological
theory and practice, but spend their time using astrolabes, de-
termining the direction of the qibla, and doing other such
things. 13

As we see, al-Qabisi lays great emphasis on the fact that the 'com-
plete astrologer' uses 'rational demonstrations'-barahin al-'aqliya.
Elsewhere in this preface he says that his opponent does not have
a rational argument or demonstration (4ujja zua burhan) to refute
what he opposes or to affirm what he maintains (Arabic, lines 32-
5). In the Introduction to Astrology al-Qabisi refers his reader to his
own book "on the confirmation of the craft of astrology" gi ithbat
jinli'ai ahkam al-nujum) which he had written in answer to an at-
tack on astrology by a certain 'Ali ibn IlSd. 14This text of his, he
claims, had sufficient argumentation (ihtijdjlratiocinationes) for the
defence of astrology. Unfortunately, it is no longer extant.
However, his distinguished predecessor, Abu Ma'shar (787-886),
is credited by the tenth-century bibliographer, Ibn al-Nadim, and
the latter's successor Ibn al-Qiftï, with writing a work of almost the
same title as al-Qabisi's apologetic work: k. fi ithbat 'ilm sina`at
ahkam al-nujum ("The Book on the Confirmation of the Scientific
Validity of the Craft of Astrology").15 This work, too, is not extant.

'BThe
qibla is the direction of Mecca, to which every Muslim should pray. For
this specifically Islamic application of the science of the stars see D. King, "The
Sacred Direction in Islam: A Study of the Interaction of Religion and Science in
the Middle Ages," InterdisciplinaryScienceReview 10 (1985), 315-28, and and M.
Rius, La Alquibla en al-Andalusy al-Magribal-Aqsà (Barcelona, 2000).
" Introduction, 1 [4], lines 11-12. The
readings of the manuscripts vary at this
point. One manuscript (MS Cambridge, University Library, Gg. 3-19) gives naqd
('refutation' <of the treatise of `Ali ibn `Isa>'), which is implied by the Latin trans-
lation 'destructio', but most of the other manuscripts give variants that suggest
yuq4i or luq4i-'<the treatise of"Ali ibn 'ls>> is judged'. Another possibility (not,
however, given in any of the manuscripts) is naqdi-`my refutation <of the trea-
tise of 'Ali ibn `Isa>'.
15
Sezgin, Geschichtedes arabischenSchrifttums,VII: 150.
 205

However, its contents may be similar to those included in Abu

Ma'shar's principal work, k. al-mudkhal ila 'ilm ahkam al-nujum
("The Book of the Introduction to the Science of Astrology"
known as "The Great Introduction"). For, the fifth chapter of the
first book is entitled, precisely, "on the argumentation concerning
the confirmation of (astrological) judgements gi l-ifttijaj 'ald tathbit
al-ahkam) and a refutation of those who think that the planets'
movement has no power and no indication for the things coming
to be in this world" ( zua-l-radd C ala man zr/ ama anna al-kazuakib la
quwwa li-harakatiha wa la dalala laha 'ala al-ashyd' al-ka'ina ft hadha
al-`alam) .'s
But, before looking at this chapter, one should observe how Abu
Ma'shar describes astrology itself, at the beginning of his text. He
follows the example of Ptolemy in starting by describing the two
divisions of the science of the stars, including an appreciation of
their aesthetic quality: "Concerning the stars and their movements
there are two species of science, which are wonderful to contem-
plate and great in significance." The first is the 'science of the
whole', which he describes in terms of its contents: the quality and
quantity of the higher spheres and the spheres of the planets, and
so on. The second is the science of astrology. This is "the knowl-
edge of the nature of every planet and every sphere and the prop-
erty of their indications, and what arises and happens as a result
of the powers of their different movements, and their natural im-
print on this world which is under the sphere of the Moon, in
respect to the difference of seasons and the alteration of the 'na-
tures'-i.e. fire, air, water and earth-and <the planets' imprint>
on the individual animals, vegetables and minerals which arise
from these 'natures'. Information on this second species, which is

"' For a
philosophical analysis of Abu Ma'shar's arguments in this chapter, see
P. Adamson, "Abu Ma'shar, al-Kindi and the Philosophical Defence of Astrology"
(in the press). The potential for such an analysis was indicated by Richard Lemay
in his Abu Ma'shar and Latin Aristotelianismin the TwelfthCentury (Beirut, 1962),
part 1, chapter 2; his study, however, was based only on the Latin translations.
Independently of Lemay, J.-C. Vadet, in an unjustly neglected article ("Une d6-
fense de l'astrologie dans le Madhal d'Abu Ma'shar al Balhi," Annales Islamotogz-
ques 5 (1963), 131-80) situated Abu Ma'shar's arguments within the context of
Arabic and Persian traditions, using the Arabic text in Paris, Bibliothcque na-
tionale de France, ar. 5902. The translations in the following paragraphs are taken
from a translation of the Great Introduction at present being prepared, which will
supplement the editions of the Arabic and Latin texts made by Richard Lemay:
Abu Ma 'šar al-Balhi, Liber introductorii maloiis ad scientiamfudiciorum astrorum, 9
vols. (Naples, 1995-6).
206

the science" of astrology, is obtained through the first species of

the science of the stars, which is the science of the universe.""
Now Abu Ma'shar goes on to describe the scientific methodol-
ogy used in astrology: "Most of the science of astrology is obvious,
clear and in front of our eyes. The part of it that is not obvious
(zahir) is inferred by means of clear analogies (qiyasat wlidiha) from
the science of the natures of things (i.e. physics) and from what is
obvious from the powers of the movements of the planets over this
world."'9
Given the closeness of the philosophical terminology of Abu
Ma'shar and al-Kindi, I think we are justified in translating qiyasat
here as 'analogies' ,20 and this interpretation would seem to be
corroborated from what we read in the fifth chapter of the first
part. Here Abu Ma'shar establishes the validity of astrology by re-
futing in turn the objections of ten kinds of critics, several of which
can be identified amongst his contemporaries. The first kind are
not named, but they deny that the planets have any indication for
natural events that take place in the sublunar world. Abu Ma'shar
evokes qiyas ('analogy') to refute this view. It is accepted by all
scholars that "when any substance moves naturally, natural
changes in something other than it, but connected to it by nature,
result from its natural movement. So, if natural changes in some-
thing other than it, but connected to it by nature, result from its
natural movement, then the mover is the cause of those changes
and the latter are caused by it."21 For the analogy (qiyas), the obvi-
ous example of fire is used: the natural movement of fire is burn-
ing ; the substance connected to fire by nature is the combustible
object; the natural change in that object is combustion; therefore,
fire is the cause of combustion in the combustible object. In the

"
Throughout his work Abu Ma'shar varies between describing astrology as a
'science' calm) and a 'craft' It remains to be determined whether the
variation is detcrmined by the context and/or deliberate.
Abu Ma'shar, Great Introduction, I, 2, ed. Lemay, II: 6-7 and V: 7-8.
19Ibid.,
Lemay, II: 7, lines 122-4, and V: 8, lines 210-2.
20For the similarities between Abu Ma'shar and al-Kindi, see Burnett and Ya-
mamoto, Abu Ma',far on HistoricalAstrology,I: 606-9, and Adamson, "Abu Ma'shar,
al-Kindi and the Philosophical Defence of Astrology." Vadet, "Une defense de
1'astrotogie," 141-3, while identifying Abu Ma'shar's arguments as "les diverses
formes de raisonnement par analogie" (= qiyas), sees this as an indication of the
continuation of Abu Ma'shar's previous activity as a hadith scholar, in which he
would have used such arguments.
21Ibid., Abu Ma'shar, Great Introduction, ed.
Lemay, II: 30, and V: 33-4.
 207

same way, the natural movement of the heavenly bodies is to ef-

fect change from one element into another; the elemental world
is connected to the heavenly bodies by nature; therefore the heav-
enly bodies are the cause of the changing of the elemental world
in respect to coming-to-be and passing-away.
The second kind of critic consider that the planets have indica-
tions for universal things, like the four elements, fire, air, water
and earth, and for the change of one of them into another, and
for genera and species as a whole, but not for individuals. Abu
Ma'shar has two arguments (4ujjatdn) with which to refute these
critics. The first is that it is precisely the changes of the elements
that effect the differences between every individual. Abu Ma'shar
then couches his argument in the form of a syllogism:
1 ) Genus, species, the four elements and coming-to-be and pass-
ing-away are found in every individual.
2) The planets indicate the genus, species, the four elements and
coming-to-be and passing-away.
3) Therefore, the planets indicate separate individuals.

The second argument is that genera and species are only collec-
tions of individuals (here Abu Ma'shar is implying a rejection of
the real existence of genera and species as Platonic forms). There-
fore, when a planet indicates a genus, it also indicates the individu-
als belonging to that genus.
The third kind are "some of those who engage in rational en-
quiry and disputation" (qazum min ahl al-nazar They
claim that the stars cannot indicate the possible (contingent). This
is the argument that Abu Ma'shar spends the most time over. If
the stars cannot indicate the possible, then the whole of astrology
would seem to be invalidated, since astrological prediction con-
cerns only those things which may or may not happen. One does
not consult an astrologer to find out whether fire will burn or
whether snow will be cold, but only in respect to things which may

22This is the
reading of MS Leiden, Bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit, Or. 47,
p. 28, and of the majority of the Arabic manuscripts (see Abu Ma'shar, Great In-
troduction,ed. Lemay, VI: 428; the reading is wrongly reported as qawm min ahl al-
nazar al-jadal ibid., II: 85) and implied by the Latin translation 'quorumdam
disputantium' (ed. Lemay, V: 36, line 1253). Only one manuscript, Istanbul,
Carullah, 1508, has qawm min ahl al-hadith zua-L-nazar("some traditionalists and
theoreticians"), the reading favoured by Lemay, II: 85-6 (critical apparatus to
Great Intrnduc.tion,I, 5, p. 32, line 725).
208

or may not happen, such as whether it will rain tomorrow, or

whether someone will walk tomorrow. Abu Ma'shar does not re-
fute these critics with a direct argument. Rather, he mentions that
certain astrologers and many ancient philosophers (qawm min ashab
al-nujum wa kathir main al-mutafalsafïn al-awwalin) who "were prov-
ing the indication of the stars over things coming to be in this
world with a necessary proof" (tathbitan wajiban), denied that there
was such a thing as the 'possible', but stated that there was only
the 'necessary' and the 'impossible'. If this were true, the defence
of astrology would be quite straight-forward, since one could say
that the movements of the stars necessarily caused every change in
this world, and nothing was left to chance. Astrology would be-
come an apodeictic science. Abu Ma'shar, however, strongly de-
fends the reality of the possible, adducing the many arguments
(hujjat) in the refutation (naqd) of Aristotle. Having established
that there is possibility alongside necessity and impossibility, and
having described different kinds of possibility, Abu Ma'shar at last
tackles the arguments of the third kind of critic directly. The stars,
he says, indicate all three states: the necessary, the possible and the
impossible.
There is no problem in demonstrating how the stars indicate
necessary natural events (as has already been shown in answer to
the previous two kinds of critic). The indication of what is possi-
ble, on the other hand, relates especially to the question of human
choice. For it is in reference to things which may or may not hap-
pen that a man makes a decision or asks the advice of someone
else, to avoid meeting with harms or impediments. Moreover, only
man has the power of choice, since brute animals act only by na-
ture or instinct, and the stars, though they have rational souls, do
not need to choose between different actions, because there are
no harms that they have to avoid. However, although men have
free choice and can deliberate and ask advice, their decisions are
still determined by the stars, which have indications for their ani-
mal and rational souls as well as over their bodies.23
The fourth kind of critic are the people who speculate on the
science of the universe Cilm al-kull), which Abu Ma'shar explains

23Adamson ("Abu Ma'shar, al-Kindi and the

Philosophical Defence of Astrol-
ogy") explains Abu Ma'shar's apparently contradictory opinion here as being that
of "compatabilism-the view that free will and determinism are compatible," a
view that hc also detects in the philosophy of al-Kindi.
 209

as being "the science of the spheres and their conditions" (i.e. as-
tronomy or cosmology)." These deny any influence of the stars
except over the seasons. Abu Ma'shar dismisses their position sum-
marily, by pointing out that influence over the seasons implies
influence over the four elements, and hence one is back with the
necessary arguments brought forward against the first two kinds of
critics. He goes on to say how useless is "the knowledge of the
universe" without astrology, its fruit; for people without knowledge
of astrology are no different from "those who have drugs and com-
pound medicines, but do not know how to use them, nor for which
treatments and prophylactic measures these drugs and medicine
are good."25
The fifth group are also skilled in astronomy, but reject astrol-
ogy on the grounds that it cannot be subjected to experimental
demonstration, a weakness that Ptolemy had already pointed out.
Since the same configuration of the heavens does not occur ex-
cept after thousands of years, no individual observer can discover
whether a particular configuration always causes a particular effect.
Abu Ma'shar's answer to this is that the knowledge of the natures
and indications of the stars is the result of the accumulation of ex-
periences of wise men from ancient times onwards, and that such
knowledge has been acquired by qiyas (analogy/comparison), i.e.
both by analogy from the obvious (such as the Sun's influence on
heating and the Moon on moistening), and by comparison be-
tween present experiences and experiences of wise men of previ-
ous generations. This has resulted not only in one's being able to
predict accurately the movements of the planets, but also one's
ability to predict the effects of their movements; for all recorded
experiences of this effect have functioned as "examples and para-
digms (ayrethila wa i'tzbdrdt)".1' When wise men considered time
after time what the planets were indicating, "they worked out by
analogy (qasat) what was hidden from them, and the indications

24Abu Ma'shar is
presumably referring to the students and authors of texts in
the 'ilm al-hay'a tradition, which was inimical to astrology; see G. Saliba, "The
Social Context of Islamic Astronomy," l3ulletin of the Royal Institute for Inter faith
Studies (Amman), in the press; see also F. J. Ragep, Nasir al-Din al-!'usa'sMemoiron
Astronomy,2 vols. (New York, 1993), I: 29-33, and Saliba, "The Role of the Astrolo-
ger in Medieval Islamic Society," Bulletin d'études oyientales44 (1993), 45-68.
25Abu Ma'shar, Great Introduction, ed.
Lemay, II: 39, lines 890-2, and V: 44,
lines 1558-63.
26Ibid., II: 41, line 946, and V: 46, line 1649.
210

that they wanted became correct for them."2? Abu Ma'shar stresses
the importance of "careful observation and discov-
ery in the present time" (al zuujud al-J:taq,ir). 28
The sixth kind are arithmeticians who are sceptical about the
practice of astrology because they have tried to make calculations
using different astronomical tables, but have found serious discrep-
ancies between the tables. Abu Ma'shar does not deny that discrep-
ancies occur, but, first of all, claims that differences of a few
minutes or even of a whole degree are not significant in astrologi-
cal judgements, which take into account so many other factors
(such as the nature of the planets, the lords of the signs, the lati-
tude of the place etc.). Then he says that astrologers are not re-
sponsible for the accuracy of the tables anyway, and once again
brings in the analogy of doctors: doctors need to know the nature
of each medicine, but the collection of the ingredients of the
medicine and their manufacture are the responsibility of druggists.
Abu Ma'shar, nevertheless, advocates the use of accurate astro-
nomical instruments to check the measurements given in astro-
nomical tables.
The seventh kind of critic are those who have tried to master as-
trology but have failed, and so have rejected the science simply out
of envy of those who are successful in it.
The eighth kind are those who pretend to be doctors. They are
not real doctors, because, if they were, they would realise that
medicine is based on astrology (as Abu Ma'shar had demonstrated
in chapter 2 of the same book of his Great Introduction). Rather,
they seek only financial gain from their profession of medicine.
Like al-Qabisi's third kind of astrologers, they may be experts in
only one particular branch of medicine, such as eye-medicine or
surgery. The true doctor, on the other hand, must have a compre-
hensive knowledge of the theory of medicine and must have thor-
oughly read the books of the authorities on the subject, in which
he will discover how medicine depends on astrology. Abu Ma'shar
does, however, add a practical consideration, which presumably
reflects actual practice in his time: "the doctor should only treat a
patient for whom the astrologer has seen, from the indications of
the planets, that his life has not yet reached its end, and that he
will benefit from the treatment and recover from his illness. If the

1' Ibid., II: 41, lines 947-8, and V: 46, lines 1651-3.
2HIbid., II: 41, line 955, and V: 6, lines 1663-4.
 211

astrologer does not see life or recovery from his illness for him,
then there is no point in the doctor's treatment of this patient."29
The ninth kind of critic are the common populace who respect
wealth rather than knowledge. When they see that a man can pros-
per quite nicely without knowing medicine or any other science,
they do not see the point of studying. But since knowledge is what
distinguishes man from beast, true praise should be given only to
men who increase in knowledge; and the most excellent human
knowledge is that of things to come, which preeminently belongs
to the science of the stars.
In his description of the final kind of critic Abu Ma'shar waxes
eloquent about the conditions of his own society in a way that gives
a foretaste of the criticisms of al-Qabisi. For this last critic, too,
belongs to the common crowd, who are either duped or rendered
sceptical by the activity of those who pretend to be astrologers. For,
Abu Ma'shar says, "their thought and discernment are faulty, and
they refuse to frequent the learned and learn from them. They
only read some books, difficult in meaning, which they do not
understand, or books written by people whose knowledge cannot
be trusted."lo Like al-Qabisi's false astrologers they practise pre-
tension (al-tamwih) and deceit, and appeal to the gullible among
society: women (who are by nature feeble-minded), those suffer-
ing from misfortunes, and those excessively desirous of wealth or
power. They give favourable predictions merely out of a desire to
be rewarded, a criticism Ptolemy too had levelled against some
astrologers. Unfortunately, the bad repute such false astrologers
bring upon the profession redounds upon the true astrologers.
But this should not dissuade the honest practitioner from pursu-
ing true knowledge, which brings its own satisfaction.

29Ibid., II: 45, lines 1035-7, and V: 51, lines 1820-5. This
co-operation of as-
trologcrs and doctors in dealing with an illness is implied by the illustration of an
Arabic doctor ('Achim medicus') and an astrologer ('astrologus') at the bedside
of William II, king of Sicily, as he died (1189 A.D.), in a manuscript of Pietro da
Eboli's Liber ad HonoremAugusti, Bern Burgerbibliothek, 120, fol. 4r, reproduced
in T. C. van Cleve, The EmperorFrederickII of Hohenstaufen,Immutator Mundi (Ox-
ford, 1972), plate 8; cf. also the chapters of the Liber novemiudicum (a work put
together in the late twelfth century from translations of Arabic astrological texts),
VI, ch. 15-18 (MS Vienna, 6sterreichische Nationalbibliothek, cvp. 2428, fols
35r-36r), on whether the patient will be healed by the intervention of a doctor
("Utrum ab introducto medico sanetur").
3°Abu Ma'shar, Great Introduction, ed.
Lemay, II: 46, lines 1076-9, and V: 53,
lines 1898-1904.
212

As we have seen, Abu Ma'shar uses several arguments to support

astrology: analogies (qiyasat) within the field of natural science,
arguments (hujjat) from the field of logic (concerning necessity,
impossibility and possibility), examples and paradigms (amthila wa
i'tibarat) from personal experience and the experience of others,
and the results of careful observation (mu`ayana). However, he
studiously avoids, as far as I can see, the use of the word 'demon-
stration' (burhan) in respect to the scientific methodology used in
astrology. In this, he differs from al-Kindi, who, as we have seen,
considers that both qiyas and burhan can be used in the predictive
sciences.
What must be remembered is that Abu Ma'shar was immensely
influential, not only in Arabic, but also in the Latin culture of
Christendom, and not only amongst astrologers, but also amongst
philosophers and theologians. The first Latin translation was made
by John of Seville in 1133. John's translation is very literal, and in
the passage in chapter 2 where the two great sciences of astronomy
and astrology are described, John follows Abu Ma'shar in saying
that astrology "comprobcctur (i.e. 'is inferred'; John carefully avoids
using the terms for demonstration: 'probatur' or 'demonstratur')
ex scientia naturarum rerum ("from the science of the natures of
things" i.e. physics) et ex eo quod apparet" ("and from that which is
obvious").31 In 1140 another translation was made-by Hermann
of Carinthia-who is notorious for paraphrasing the Arabic texts
that he introduced to Latin readers, but who paraphrases in an
intelligent way. In the same passage he states explicitly what is only
implicit in Abu Ma'shar's Arabic: the first species of the science of
the stars is the species mathematica, the second, the naturalis.32 By
clearly distinguishing the two species in terms of one being 'math-
ematical', the other 'physical', Hermann does in fact come closer
to what Ptolemy himself had said when he distinguished between
the two as being carried out apodezktik5s and phuszkds respectively.
John of Seville's translation formed part of the comprehensive
corpus of Arabic scientific writings that were introduced into sev-
eral Western centres of learning from Toledo from the late twelfth
century onwards. Hermann's translation, on the other hand, prob-
ably reached Western audiences first through the schools of the
Ile de France (Chartres, Tours, Paris) and Norman England where

3' Abu Ma'shar, Great Introduction, I, 2, ed.

Lemay, V: 8, lines 212-3.
31Ibid., VIII: 4, lines 75-6 and 94.
 213

Latin humanism was cultivated: for the earliest extant fragment of

his work accompanies the late Classical Asclepius, Macrobius's com-
mentary on the Dream of Scipio and Martianus Capella's De nuptiis
Mercurii et PhilosoPhiae.33 Both translations proved to be influential
outside the sphere of astrology, being quoted at length by Roger
Bacon, Thomas Aquinas and others, in connection with questions
of natural causality, fate, and God's providence. 14
Abu Ma'shar's detailed arguments reflect and respond to differ-
ent approaches to science and philosophy in his time, while al-
Qabisi indicates the kinds of astrologers and pretenders to the art
that could be found in court circles in his time. Nevertheless, both
writers can be seen as heirs to a single tradition of thought, which
took its origins in the Tetrabiblos of Ptolemy and developed largely
independently of the religious or philosophical beliefs of a specific
community. I hope that I have shown that the arguments for the
scientific validity of astrology are interesting in their own right, and
that they merit further study.

ABSTRACT

Ab� Ma'shar (787-886) and al-Q�b�s� (mid-10th century) were active as-
trologers and defenders of the scientific character of their discipline.
They wrote works on criticisms brought forward against the discipline and
challenged practitioners whom they considered as detrimental for the
esteem and future fate of their science. Nevertheless, both writers can be
seen as heirs to a single tradition of thought, which took its origins in
Ptolemy's Tetrabiblios and developed largely independently of the reli-
gious or philosophical beliefs of a specific community. The arguments
developed for proving the scientific value of astrology are interesting in
their own right, and merit further study not only by historians of science
but also by historians of philosophy.

33MS
Edinburgh, University Library, no. 16 (see C. Burnett, "A Twelfth-Cen-
tury Latin Florilegium of Abu Ma'shar's Great Introduction,"in the press).
3' See Thomas
Aquinas, Summa contra gentiles, III, chapter 86, ed. L. Robles
Carcedo and A. Robles Sierra (Madrid, 1968), 346-7. For the pervasive influence
on Roger Bacon see J. Hackett, "Roger Bacon on Astronomy-Astrology", in Roger
Bacon and the Sciences:Commemorative Essays,ed. J. Hackett (Leiden, 1997), 175-98.
For the influence of Abu Ma'shar among other scholastic philosophers see the
description of the two branches of the science of the stars by the Averroist,
Boethius of Dacia in his De aeternitatemundi, lines 452-7, ed. G. Saj6 (Berlin, 1964),
48.