Kitāb al-milal wa-al-duwwal كتاب الملل والدوّل Abū Ma‘shar أبو معشر

Content

Major treatise on historical astrology by Abū Ma‘shar Ja‘far ibn Muḥammad ibn ‘Umar al-Balkhi (أبو معشر جعفر بن محمد عمر البلخي; d. ca 886).

The text is divided into eight parts (مقالات) in sixty-three chapters (فصول), not ninety-three chapters as erroneously stated in this manuscript (f. 1v, line 4, transcribed below). There are diagrams of three horoscopes (ff. 113v and 114r).

Begins (f. 1v, lines 2-5):

هذا كتاب في جمل من دلالات الأشجاص العلوية على الأحداث السفلية

الكائنة في عالم الكون والفساد من جهة فسادها صلاحها عند طلوع المبادئ

القرانية أو غيرها وهي ثمان مقالات وثلاثة وتسعون فصلًا تأليف أبي معشر

جعفر بن محمد وهو المسمى بكتاب الملل والدول ...

Ends (f. 117, lines 20-22):

... فإذ قد أتينا على ما أردنا وصفه فلنكمل الفصل الثاني من المقالة

الثامنة مع إكمالنا جملة الكتاب بعون الله وتأييده والحمد لله وحده وصلى الله على

سيدنا محمد وعلى آله صحبه وسلم

Extent and format

Ff. 1r-117r

It is part of

Three treatises on astrology, astronomy and time-keeping

302 images

Ref: Or 7716

Written in

Arabic in Arabic script

Type

Manuscript item

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: Oriental Manuscripts

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

Or 7716, ff 1r-117r

History of this record

Date(s)

17th century (CE, Gregorian)

Related material

Select Bibliography

Editions of Arabic text and Latin version, and English translation:

• Abū Ma‘shar, On Historical Astrology, The Book of Religions and Dynasties (On the Great Conjunctions) , ed. and trans. by Keiji Yamamoto and Charles Burnett, 2 vols, (Leiden: Brill, 2000)

Study:

• Yamamoto, Keiji, 'Abū Ma‘shar Ja‘far ibn Muḥammad ibn ‘Umar al-Balkhi' in The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers , Thomas Hockey et al., eds., (New York: Springer, 2007) p. 11

Subjects

Astrology--Early works to 1800Astronomy--Early works to 1800

People & organisations

Abū Ma'shar

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Kitāb al-milal wa-al-duwwal كتاب الملل والدوّل Abū Ma‘shar أبو معشر, British Library: Oriental Manuscripts, Or 7716, ff 1r-117r, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/node/9569> [accessed 9 March 2025]

Link to this record

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