On Historical Astrology: The Book of Religions and Dynasties (On the Great Conjunctions), Volume One: The Arabic Original

«The second part, on the sum of the matters of dynasties, their change, the conditions of the kings, and what pertains to them. It is in 8 chapters.» — el índice que la obra da de sí misma en su capítulo primero: la parte II trata de las dinastías, sus mudanzas y la condición de los reyes.

«The third part, on how to know the indications of the applications of the planets, and their mixtures with one another at the time of the revolutions of the years. It is in 6 chapters.» — la parte III, sobre las aplicaciones y mezclas de los planetas en las revoluciones anuales.

«The fourth part, on how to know the indications of the signs when they are ascendants of the Beginnings which we mentioned before, or when the years have arrived at them from one of the ascendants of the preceding Beginnings or from <one of> the positions of the conjunctions. It is in 12 chapters.» — la parte IV, sobre los signos como ascendentes de los *Beginnings*; los ángulos son del editor y marcan lo que él añade para dar sentido.

«The fifth part, on how to know the property of the indications of the planets by themselves, when they have predominance over the ascendants of any of the Beginnings, or when they have lordship of the year or lordship of the time-distribution; or when they, the northern and southern crossing points, 1 or the comets are parallel with each of the signs by mixture. It is in 7 chapters.» — la parte V, sobre la indicación propia de cada planeta, e incluye entre los indicadores los nodos y los cometas; la llamada a nota queda dentro de la cita porque el escaneo la imprime en el renglón.

«The sixth part, on how to know what terrestrial events arise from the influences of the celestial bodies at <the times of> the revolutions of the years from the transits of each one of them over each other. It is in 12 chapters.» — la parte VI, sobre los tránsitos de unos cuerpos celestes sobre otros en las revoluciones anuales.

«The seventh part, on how to know the indications for terrestrial events of the terminal sign or of one of the ascendants of the yearly revolutions, when one of the two coincides with a place in one of the 1 I.e. the ascending and descending nodes.» — la parte VII, sobre el signo terminal y el ascendente de la revolución; el tramo arrastra la nota de pie que el editor pone a los *crossing points*, y por eso se lee cortada.

«The eighth part, concerning the sum of the methods for knowing the indications of the celestial bodies on terrestrial events from the terminal points of the years and the conjunctions, and what pertains to them.» — la parte VIII, que la obra presenta como recapitulación de métodos.

«The discovery of the knowledge of the indications of celestial bodies on terrestrial events is obtained from natural movements, because they are the indications of the celestial bodies nearest to our senses.» — I.1 funda todo el sistema en los movimientos naturales, y la razón que da es de accesibilidad: son los más cercanos a los sentidos.

«Since natural movements do not go beyond three divisions, on looking at the order of the arrangement of the spheres of the superior planets and the difference of their periodical movements, we find that they also are divided into three divisions-the first is that of the superior planets arranged above the greater luminary, the second is the greater luminary, and the third» — I.1 deriva la división tripartita de los planetas de la división tripartita de los movimientos naturales; el guion largo antes de *the first* es del escaneo.

«Since the first of the natural movements moves round the middle, the second movement moves away from the middle, and the third movement moves towards the middle, 2 the first division of the superior planets and their influence is related to the first natural movement, which is round the middle.» — I.1 nombra los tres movimientos —alrededor del centro, desde el centro y hacia el centro— y engancha con el primero a los planetas superiores.

«Related to the superior planet furthest from the world of generation and corruption, i.e. to Saturn, is the indication for matters of Beginnings like religions, dynasties, and whatever lasts for a long time, since it is like the beginning for the other celestial bodies in terms of height.» — I.1 adjudica a Saturno los *Beginnings* —religiones, dinastías, lo duradero— y funda la adjudicación en su altura: es el más lejano del mundo de generación y corrupción.

«Related to the planet following it in order, i.e. to Jupiter, is the indication for laws and the like, which are the culminations in perfection for the other things which are preliminary and initiatory.» — I.1 adjudica a Júpiter las leyes, entendidas como el estado de perfección de lo que las religiones y dinastías solo inician.

«Related to the third of these planets in order, i.e. to Mars, is the indication for wars, strifes, and the like, being, as it were, the decline to the final ends of things, because the ends of things indicate destruction of their orderly arrangements after their perfection, and corruption of their regularity.» — I.1 adjudica a Marte las guerras como fase de declive, cerrando la serie comienzo-perfección-declive.

«That is, when one of them is deficient, this entails the decrease in perfection of the other two states, according to what natural things necessitate among the three states: beginning, perfection, and decline.» — I.1 hace solidarios los tres estados: la falta de uno rebaja a los otros dos.

«For wars in most cases do not happen except because of laws, and laws do not come into being except because of religions and dynasties.» — el argumento con que I.1 encadena los tres términos, y que en la obra hace las veces de teoría de la historia.

«If these states are arranged inversely, the case once more requires them to be connected» — I.1 se plantea la objeción del orden inverso y responde que la conexión se mantiene igual.

«because religions and dynasties do not function except by laws, and laws in most cases do not function except by wars.» — I.1 recorre la misma cadena en sentido inverso para mostrar que el orden no la rompe.

«For religions, dynasties, and laws occasion changes because of which plenty of differences occur; if the differences multiply, separation occurs; if separation occurs, wars take place.» — la secuencia causal que I.1 pone entre religión y guerra: cambio, diferencia, separación, guerra.

«Because of this, these three states are related to the superior planets, and they are like the beginnings of whatever secondary indications may follow them.» — I.1 justifica por qué los tres estados mayores caen bajo los planetas superiores: son primarios, y lo demás se les subordina.

«The greater luminary and its influences are related to the second, middle, natural movement, which is away from the middle, because of the closeness of its relation to it (for, in respect to the celestial bodies, it is the middle one in order, and the states related to it are intermediate between the first and the third movement) and because of the moderation of its movement.» — I.1 adjudica al Sol el movimiento medio por dos razones a la vez: su lugar central en el orden de los cuerpos y la moderación de su marcha.

«These indications are related to these three planets because of the need of the people of the religions and dynasties for marriages and clothes, since nature incites them to that;» — I.1 pasa a los planetas inferiores y funda su adjudicación en necesidades: matrimonios y vestidos para Venus.

«because of the need, in the case of laws-i.e. contracts and the Sharias-for writing and calculation, since all of them are carried out only by writing, and the organisations of the people of its times are classified only by calculation;» — la segunda necesidad, la escritura y el cálculo, que es la vía por la que Mercurio entra en el esquema; los guiones son del escaneo.

«and because of the need in the case of wars for journeys and change of locality, since this activity is carried out only by movement.» — la tercera necesidad, el desplazamiento, que engancha a la Luna con las guerras.

«So for this reason these three states are related to the inferior planets, since they are like secondaries owing to their connections to the primary states and the needs the primaries have for them.» — I.1 cierra la doble adjudicación: los mismos tres estados se reparten dos veces, entre superiores como primarios y entre inferiores como secundarios.

«Since the things from which to deduce advanced knowledge of the occurrences of general <types of event> and their particular instances in future times are gained from six elements, <here they are:> The first is from the celestial bodies' positions in the horoscopes of the revolutions of the years in which the conjunction of the two superior planets 4 occurs in the spring tropical sign, happening every 960 solar years.» — I.1 enuncia los seis fundamentos de la predicción y abre por el mayor: la conjunción de Saturno y Júpiter en el signo tropical de primavera, cada 960 años solares.

«The second is from the celestial bodies' positions in the horoscopes of the revolutions of the years in which their conjunction occurs when they shift from one triplicity to another, occurring every 240 solar years.» — el segundo fundamento: el cambio de triplicidad de la misma conjunción, cada 240 años.

«The third is from the celestial bodies' positions in the horoscopes of the revolutions of the years in which the conjunction of the two malefics 5 occurs in Cancer, and from the period of their conjunction in it, occurring every 30 years.» — el tercer fundamento, ya no de los dos superiores sino de los dos maléficos en Cáncer, cada 30 años.

«The fourth is from the celestial bodies' positions in the horoscopes of the revolutions of the years in which their6 conjunction occurs in each sign, happening every 20 years.» — el cuarto fundamento: la conjunción menor, de veinte en veinte años.

«The years between the conjunctions of the two may increase or decrease in the beginning of Aries, in the triplicities, or in each 4Saturn and Jupiter.» — la reserva que I.1 pone a sus propias cifras: los intervalos crecen o menguan; el tramo arrastra la nota del editor que identifica a los dos superiores.

«If Saturn and Jupiter conjoin by mean <motion> at the beginning of a certain sign of the triplicity and their next conjunction occurs at the end of an arc which amounts to 242 degrees, 25 minutes, 17 seconds, 10 thirds, and 6 fourths and in each sign in which they conjoin they add 2 degrees, 25 minutes, 17 seconds, 10 thirds and 6 fourths to the point at which they conjoined in the preceding sign, 9 they will have 13 conjunctions in the signs of one triplicity.» — I.1 da el arco exacto entre dos conjunciones de Saturno y Júpiter y de él deduce cuántas caben en una triplicidad: trece.

«This is a greater length of time than the amount which we determined, 10 especially if their conjunction at the beginning of any sign of the triplicity to which they move occurs in less than 54 minutes; 11 then they conjoin in that triplicity 13 times.» — la condición que da trece conjunciones: que la primera caiga antes de los 54 minutos del signo.

«If their conjunction at the beginning of any sign of the triplicity is in more than 56 minutes, 33 seconds, 1812 thirds and 48 fourths, they conjoin in that triplicity 12 times.» — la condición inversa, que da doce; la cifra *1812* es la lectura del escaneo, que pega el número de la llamada a nota.

«If they conjoin in one triplicity 12 times and in another 13, they conjoin in the two triplicities 25 times.» — la suma con que I.1 encadena dos triplicidades.

«Between one conjunction and another there are 19 years, 314 days, 14 hours, 23 minutes, 37 seconds, 18 thirds, 6 fourths, and 48 fifths by the mean solar year, which is 365 days without the addition of a quarter.» — el intervalo medio entre dos conjunciones, dado hasta los quintos y referido a un año solar medio de 365 días sin el cuarto.

«If you multiply these 50 conjunctions by the time between one conjunction and another and its fractions, that amounts to 996 years.» — el producto con que I.1 obtiene el ciclo mayor: cincuenta conjunciones dan 996 años.

«If both conjoin in a triplicity 12 times, their <last> conjunction arrives at 29 degrees, 3 minutes, 26 seconds, 1 third and 12 fourths, and there is a remainder up to the completion of 30 degrees.» — I.1 muestra que doce conjunciones no agotan el signo y deja el resto a la vista.

«If they conjoin in less <degrees> than that, they must conjoin 13 times <in the same triplicity>.» — la consecuencia de ese resto: una conjunción decimotercera.

«For example, let the conjunction be at the beginning of the fifth <sexagesimal place> 16 of Cancer.» — el modo de exponer de I.1 es por ejemplo trabajado, y aquí lo abre en Cáncer.

«If the degrees and their fractions between one conjunction and another are added to that according to what we said, their <next> conjunction occurs in 2 degrees, 25 minutes, 17 seconds, 10 thirds, and 6 fourths of Pisces.» — primer paso del ejemplo: de Cáncer a Piscis.

«If the degrees and their fractions between two conjunctions are added to these values, their conjunction occurs in 4 degrees, 50 minutes, 34 seconds, 20 thirds, and 12 fourths of Scorpio.» — segundo paso: de Piscis a Escorpión, con el mismo incremento.

«English, Arabic and Latin texs. Includes bibliographical references and index. Contents: v. I. The Arabic original - Kitab al-milal wa-d-duwal (The book of religions and dynasties)-v. 2. The Latin versions- -De magnes conjunctionibus (On the great conjuctions).» — el mismo asiento declara las tres lenguas del conjunto y reparte los dos volúmenes: el uno es el árabe, el dos las versiones latinas; el sic de *texs* y *magnes* es del escaneo.

«In astrological texts predictions are set out in the form of protases and apodoses.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] abren el prefacio con la forma lógica que atribuyen a todo texto astrológico: prótasis y apódosis, condición y consecuencia.

«When protases based on astronomical and meteorological phenomena have apodoses concerning general matters, such as floods, famines, and earthquakes etc., they belong to natural astrology, or celestial omens, a genre which had frequently been practised by Babylonians before the Hellenistic period.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] definen la astrología natural por el tipo de apódosis —inundaciones, hambrunas, terremotos— y la datan entre los babilonios antes del helenismo.

«When celestial phenomena derived from mathematical astronomy are introduced into protases and personal matters are predicted, this is called personal or horoscopic astrology, or genethlialogy, which appeared in Egypt in the Hellenistic period, under Babylonian influence.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] separan la astrología horoscópica por dos rasgos: prótasis calculada por astronomía matemática y apódosis sobre asuntos personales; la sitúan en el Egipto helenístico bajo influencia babilónica.

«The Greeks also brought mathematical astronomy to bear on general matters, resulting in general astrology.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] adjudican a los griegos el cruce de la astronomía matemática con los asuntos generales, del que sale la astrología general.

«In Sasanian Persia a new genre of astrology appeared, which was, however, ultimately descended from Greek mathematical astrology.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] hacen descender de la griega la novedad persa sasánida, y no la presentan como invención independiente.

«The relevant Arabic writings that survive are attributed to the following authors, listed chronogically: Zaradust, Gamasb, Masa'allah, Kankah al-Hindi, 'Umar ibn al-Farru1J.an, Sahl ibn Bisr, al-Kindr, an-NayrizI, al-Battanr, Ibn Kibriya' an-NawbalJtr, as-Sigzr, Ibn Magfir, lbn Ahr r-Rigal, and Mul;tyI d-Drn al-MagribI.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] listan los catorce nombres a quienes se atribuye la literatura árabe conservada del género, empezando por los dos sabios persas legendarios, Zaradust y Gamasb; los nombres van tal cual los imprime el escaneo y no se cotejaron contra el facsímil.

«The most highly developed form of this genre however appears in the work edited in these volumes, which is generally attributed to the most prolific writer on astrology in Arabic, Ahli Ma'Sar Gacfar ibn Mul;tammad ibn 'Umar al-BallJ.I» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] adjudican a la obra que editan la forma más desarrollada del género y usan la fórmula *generally attributed*, no la de autoría cierta; la cita se corta antes de las fechas porque ahí el guion de corte se une y fabricaría una cifra.

«We are much indebted to David Pingree who provided some copies of the Arabic manuscripts, carefully read the whole text and gave us valuable suggestions.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] declaran la deuda con David Pingree, que es además codirector de la serie en que sale el volumen.

«Our special thanks go to Michio Yano who has offered continuous support and encouragement to our study.» — el segundo agradecimiento nominal del prefacio.

«Our work could not have been done without the financial support of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the British Academy, which allowed Charles Burnett to work in Japan.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] declaran el sostén material de la edición y la estancia de Burnett en Japón que la hizo posible.

«Kamigamo, Kyoto October, 1999» — el prefacio se firma en Kioto en octubre de 1999, un año antes del copyright que imprime la plana de derechos; las dos fechas se consignan sin arbitrar.

«Abu Ma'Sar Gacfar ibn MuJ.iammad ibn 'Umar al-BalBI {known as Albumasar in the West) is the best-known astrologer of the Middle Ages.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] abren la introducción con la doble nomenclatura del autor, árabe y latina; la grafía del nombre es la que devuelve el escaneo y no se cotejó contra el facsímil.

«He was born in Balh in the Persian province of IJurasan in 787 A.D. and died in al-Wasit in central Iraq in 886 A.D.» — la datación biográfica que dan [Yamamoto y Burnett]: nacimiento en Balh, en el Jurasán persa, y muerte en al-Wasit, en el Iraq central.

«The details of Abu Ma'sar's death 'after he had passed the age of 100' are given in the Fihrist.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] remiten al Fihrist para la noticia de la muerte y le adjudican al mismo repertorio la frase sobre los cien años cumplidos.

«his pupil Abu Sa'!d Sagan states that Abu Ma'sar did not possess the horoscope of his birth.» — el dato que [Yamamoto y Burnett] recogen de su discípulo Abu Sa'id Sagan, y que deja al astrólogo más famoso del género sin carta natal propia.

«It is unclear how much he owed to his early life in Balb, which had close contacts with India and further East.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] declaran el límite de lo que se puede afirmar sobre la deuda india del autor, en vez de resolverlo.

«Recent scholars have accused Abu Ma<sar of plagiarising al-KindI because of the resemblance of a section of the work edited here to a risiila ('letter') of al-KindI.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] consignan la acusación de plagio que otros estudiosos le hacen, y la localizan en el parecido entre una sección de esta obra y una *risala* de al-Kindi.

«A complete edition of this risiila as Appendix III below, should demonstrate that straightforward plagiarism is not at issue.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] objetan esa acusación por vía documental: imprimen entera la *risala* como apéndice III para que se compare.

«His best-known work, both in the Middle Ages and in later periods, is his Great Introduction to Astrology» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] señalan cuál de sus obras tuvo más fortuna, y no es la que editan aquí.

«This work, of which two versions appear to have been written, in 848 and 876 respectively, was translated into Latin twice in the twelfth century (in 1133 and 1140) and the Arabic and Latin texts have recently been edited by Richard Lemay.» — la historia editorial de la Gran Introducción según [Yamamoto y Burnett]: dos redacciones árabes, dos traducciones latinas del siglo XII y la edición de Richard Lemay.

«The doctrine of the return of all the heavenly bodies to the place where they originated (the World Year) and the implication that each return brings about a similar, if not the same, sequence of earthly events can already be found in ancient Greek thought.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] remontan al pensamiento griego antiguo la doctrina del *World Year* y su corolario: que cada retorno trae una secuencia de sucesos terrestres semejante.

«However, the immense length of the World Year made the actual prediction of events (and the verification that the same events did occur) impossible, and this doctrine had no effect on Greek astrological practice.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] señalan el límite práctico de la doctrina entre los griegos: el ciclo es tan largo que ni se predice ni se verifica, y por eso no tuvo efecto en su práctica.

«The same idea of vast periods of time determined by the returns of the heavenly bodies arose in Indian astrology, but in this case the principle of division was established, the largest measurement being that of the kalpa of 4,320,000,000 years» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] adjudican a la astrología india la novedad que hizo utilizable la idea: dividir el ciclo, con el *kalpa* como unidad mayor.

«It appears that this proliferation of time periods and their application to practical astrology was due primarily to Persian astrologers in the Sasanian period.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] adjudican a los astrólogos persas sasánidas el paso de la especulación al uso práctico de los periodos.

«This is witnessed by the fact that the earliest writings on the genre are Arabic texts either translated from Persian and attributed to Persian sages such as Zoroaster (Zaradust) and Gamasb, or written by astrologers of Persian extraction in the Islamic realm.» — el argumento con que [Yamamoto y Burnett] sostienen esa adjudicación: los escritos más antiguos del género son o traducciones del persa atribuidas a Zoroastro y Gamasb, o de astrólogos de estirpe persa.

«The latter include two of the astrologers who were involved in determining the horoscope for the foundation of Baghdad in 762, Masa'allah and 'Umar ibn al-Farru!J.an.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] anclan ese linaje persa en un hecho fechado: los astrólogos de la fundación de Bagdad en 762.

«'Umar wrote an as yet unpublished work entitled Kitab al-qiranat wa-tab-wil as-sinin ("The book on conjunctions and the revolution of the years")» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] consignan la obra inédita de 'Umar ibn al-Farrujan sobre conjunciones y revoluciones de los años.

«It is to this rich Indian, Sasanian and Arabic tradition that Abu Ma'sar's writings on historical astrology belong.» — la conclusión con que [Yamamoto y Burnett] cierran el recuento de precedentes y sitúan al autor dentro de una tradición triple, no como iniciador.

«The complete manuscripts of the first work which were consulted, are [I. l] Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale ar. 2588/1 (ff. 4h_29h) and [I. 2] Istanbul, Fatih 3426/3 (ff. 90b-126a).» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] declaran uno por uno los testigos manuscritos que consultaron para cada obra del corpus atribuido.

«Pingree refers to this work as no. 9 in DSB, I, pp. 36-7, and F. Sezgin as no. 3 in Geschichte, VII, pp. 142-3.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] cruzan cada obra con los dos repertorios de referencia, el de Pingree y el de Sezgin.

«The MSS [I. 3) Oxford, Bodleian Marsh 618/4 (ff. 174a_194h) and [I. 4] Escorial 918/1 (ff. lb-lOb) do not contain the last four chapters and abridge books IV and V.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] describen la mutilación de dos testigos: sin los cuatro últimos capítulos y con los libros IV y V abreviados.

«This work was translated into Latin in the 12th century, and published, given the title Flores, at Augsburg by Erhard Ratdolt in 1488.» — la fortuna latina de otra de las obras atribuidas: traducida en el siglo XII y estampada en Augsburgo por Erhard Ratdolt en 1488 con el título *Flores*.

«This Latin version is evidently the text preserved in [I. 3, 4], in which books IV and V are abridged a little.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] emparejan la versión latina con la rama abreviada de los manuscritos árabes, y no con la completa.

«Among the manuscripts of the second work, only [II. 1] Oxford, Bodleian Hyde 32/1 (ff. 1a-25a) has a division of chapters, which is as follows:» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] advierten que la división en capítulos no es del texto sino de un solo testigo.

«As for fragments, [II. 9] Princeton, Yahuda 4144/4 [Mach 5055] (ff. 93h_99a) corresponds to ch. 13 and the additional chs 1-7.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] identifican hasta los fragmentos sueltos y dicen a qué capítulos corresponden.

«The last and largest work is the original text of this present edition.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] cierran el catálogo de las obras de astrología histórica atribuidas al autor señalando cuál de ellas editan: la última y la mayor.

«The earliest reference to the work is in the Fihrist of Ibn an-Nadim (ca. 987), who reported that Abu Ma'Sar wrote a k. al-Qiranat ("Book of conjunctions", hereafter [N-1]) for lbn al-Bazyar and a k. al-Qiranat wa-tafiawfl sinf l-'alam ("Book of conjunctions and the revolutions of the world-years", hereafter [N-2]) which was also called an-Nukat.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] fechan en el Fihrist de Ibn an-Nadim, hacia 987, la mención más antigua, y de ahí sale el nudo de la atribución: el primer libro se habría escrito PARA Ibn al-Bazyar.

«reported that lbn al-Muktaff had read the statement of Ibn al-Gahm, "The intellect of Abu Ma'sar was not equal to the writing of ... the book on conjunctions, ascribed to Ibn al-Bazyar" .» — la objeción antigua que [Yamamoto y Burnett] recogen sin suscribirla: Ibn al-Gahm niega que el ingenio del autor alcanzara para ese libro, y lo adscribe a Ibn al-Bazyar.

«Since manuscript [II. 1] has the title k. al-Qiranat and most of the MSS of The Indications have qiranat in their titles, [N-1] does not necessarily refer to The Book of Religions and Dynasties.» — [Yamamoto y Burnett] objetan la identificación fácil: el título que da el Fihrist lo llevan también otras obras, así que no basta para adjudicar.