Mashallah ibn Athari
Mā Shā’ Allāh ibn Athari () (c. 740–815 AD) was an eighth-century Persian Jewish astrologer, astronomer, and mathematician. Originally from Khorasan he lived in Basra (present day Iraq) during the reigns of al-Manṣūr and al-Ma’mūn, and was among those who introduced astrology and astronomy to Baghdad in the late 8th and early 9th century. The bibliographer ibn al-Nadim in his "Fihrist", described him "as virtuous and in his time a leader in the science of jurisprudence, i.e. the science of judgments of the stars". He served as a court astrologer for the Abbasid Caliphate  and wrote numerous works on astrology in Arabic. Some Latin translations survive. The Arabic phrase "mā shā’ Allāh" indicates a believer's acceptance of God's ordainment of good or ill fortune. His name is probably an Arabic rendering of Hebrew "Shiluh" (), which is referenced in Genesis 49:10. Al-Nadim writes Mashallah's name "Mīshā", meaning "Yithru" "Jethro" (). Latin translators called him many variants such as "Messahala", "Messahalla", "Messala", "Macellama", "Macelarma", "Messahalah", etc. The crater Messala on the Moon is named after him. Biography. As a young man he participated in the founding of Baghdad for Caliph al-Manṣūr in  762 by working with a group of astrologers led by Naubakht the Persian to pick an electional horoscope for the founding of the city and building of an observatory. Attributed the author of over twenty titles, predominantly on astrology, his authority was established over the centuries in the Middle East, and later in the West, when horoscopic astrology was transmitted to Europe from the 12th century. His writings include both what would be recognized as traditional horary astrology and an earlier type of astrology which casts consultation charts to divine the client's intention. The strong influence of Hermes Trismegistus  and Dorotheus is evident in his work. Works Listed in Kitab al-Fihrist. Mashallah's treatise "De mercibus" ("On Prices") is the oldest known scientific work extant in Arabic and the only work of his extant in its original Arabic. Multiple translations into medieval Latin, Byzantine Greek and Hebrew were made. One of his most popular works in the Middle Ages was a cosmological treatise This comprehensive account of the cosmos along Aristotelian lines, covers many topics important to early cosmology. Postulating a ten-orb universe it strays from traditional cosmology. Mashallah aimed at the lay reader and illustrated his  main ideas with comprehensible diagrams. Two versions of the manuscript were printed: a short version (27 chapters) "De scientia motus orbis", and an expanded version (40 chapters) "De elementis et orbibus". The short version was translated by Gherardo Cremonese (Gerard of Cremona). Both were printed in Nuremberg, in 1504 and 1549, respectively. This work is commonly abbreviated to "De orbe". Chaucer's Source For Astrolabe Treatise. Mashallah's treatise on the astrolabe (p 10) is the first known of its kind. Later translated from Arabic into Latin ("De Astrolabii Compositione et Ultilitate"). The exact source of Geoffrey Chaucer's Treatise  on the Astrolabe (1391) in Middle English is undetermined but most of his ‘conclusions’ go back, directly or indirectly, to a Latin translation of Mashallah's work, called "Compositio et Operatio Astrolabii". Chaucer's description of the instrument amplifies Mashallah’s, and his indebtedness was recognised by John Selden in 1613 and established by Walter William Skeat. While Mark Harvey Liddell held that Chaucer drew on "De Sphaera" of John de Sacrobosco for the substantial part of his astronomical definitions and descriptions, the non-correspondence suggests his probable source was another compilation. Skeat's "Treatise of the Astrolabe" includes a  collotype MS facsimile of the Latin version of the second part of Mashallah’s work, which parallels Chaucer's. This is also found in R. T. Gunther's, "Chaucer and Messahala on Astrology". "De elementis et orbibus" was included in Gregor Reisch's "Margarita phylosophica" (ed. pr., Freiburg, 1503; Suter says the text is included in the Basel edition of 1583). Its contents primarily deal with the construction and usage of an astrolabe. In 1981, Paul Kunitzsch argued that the treatise on the astrolabe long attributed to Mashallah is in fact written by Ibn al-Saffar. Other astronomical and astrological  writings are quoted by Suter and Steinschneider. Texts & Translations. An Irish astronomical tract appears based in part on a medieval Latin version of Mashallah. Two-thirds of tract are part-paraphrase part-translation. The 12th-century scholar and astrologer Abraham ibn Ezra translated two of Mashallah's astrological treatises into Hebrew: "She'elot" and "Ḳadrut" (Steinschneider, "Hebr. Uebers." pp. 600–603). Eleven modern translations of Mashallah's astrological treatises have been translated out of Latin into English. Philosophy. Mashallah postulated a ten-orb universe rather than the eight-orb model offered by Aristotle and the nine-orb model that was popular in  his time. In all Mashallah's planetary model ascribes 26 orbs to the universe , which account for the relative positioning and motion of the seven planets. Of the ten orbs, the first seven contain the planets and the eighth contain the fixed stars. The ninth and tenth orbs were named by Mashallah the "Orb of Signs" and the "Great Orb", respectively. Both of these orbs are starless and move with the diurnal motion, but the tenth orb moves in the plane of the celestial equator while the ninth orb moves around poles that are inclined 24° with respect to  the poles of the tenth orb. The ninth is also divided into twelve parts which are named after the zodiacal constellations that can be seen beneath them in the eighth orb. The eight and ninth orbs move around the same poles, but with different motion. The ninth orb moves with daily motion, so that the 12 signs are static with respect to the equinoxes, the eighth Orb of the Fixed Stars moves 1° in 100 years, so that the 12 zodiacal constellations are mobile with respect to the equinoxes. The eight and ninth orbs moving around the same poles  also guarantees that the 12 stationary signs and the 12 mobile zodiacal constellations overlap. By describing the universe in such a manner, Mashallah was attempting to demonstrate the natural reality of the 12 signs by stressing that the stars are located with respect to the signs and that fundamental natural phenomena, such as the beginning of the seasons, changes of weather, and the passage of the months, take place in the sublunar domain when the sun enters the signs of the ninth orb . Mashallah was an advocate of the idea that the conjunctions of Saturn and Jupiter dictate the timing  of important events on Earth. These conjunctions, which occur about every twenty years, take place in the same triplicity for about two hundred years, and special significance is attached to a shift to another triplicity. References. Footnotes Citations Bibliography