Book ID: CBB822447403

On Astronomia: An Arabic Critical Edition and English Translation of Epistle 3 (2015)

unapi

The Epistles of the Brethren of Purity' is an encyclopedic compendium, probably composed in tenth-century Iraq by a society of adepts with Platonic, Pythagorean, and Shi'i tendencies. Its 52 sections ('epistles') are divided into four parts (Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Sciences of the Soul and Intellect, and Theology). The current volume provides an edition, translation, and notes to Epistle 3 ('On Astronomia'), which forms one of the 14 sections on Mathematics. The content is a mixture of elementary astronomy and astrology, but it is not a beginner's textbook. Rather, the purpose is to use examples from those disciplines to provide spiritual, moral, and soteriological guidance. Thus the Epistle uses the argument from design to show the necessity for a Creator who made the harmonious universe; this wondrous design is then employed by the authors as a model, providing humans with a paradigm for proper ethical, political, and even economic conduct; and the study of Astronomia helps the soul achieve ultimate happiness as it seeks to throw off the shackles of this mundane world and oppressive body in favour of the purity of the celestial realm.0Although by no means typical of Islamic astronomical literature, Epistle 3 of the Brethren of Purity gives a window into a fascinating and intriguing group operating during the early period of Islam who sought to continue and adopt one of the esoteric strands of Hellenistic philosophy within an Islamic context, meshing astronomy, astrology, Platonic-Pythagorean philosophy, Quranic and Biblical quotations, and anecdotes from the lives of the Abrahamic prophets

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Reviewed By

Review B. R. Goldstein (2017) Review of "On Astronomia: An Arabic Critical Edition and English Translation of Epistle 3". Suhayl: Journal for the History of the Exact and Natural Sciences in Islamic Civilisation (pp. 362-366). unapi

Review Petra G. Schmidl (2016) Review of "On Astronomia: An Arabic Critical Edition and English Translation of Epistle 3". Early Science and Medicine: A Journal for the Study of Science, Technology and Medicine in the Pre-modern Period (pp. 357-359). unapi

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Authors & Contributors
Gamini, Amir Mohammad
Ghalandari, Hanif
Ragep, Sally P.
Mozaffari, S. Mohammad
Baffioni, Carmela
Fatemeh Keyghobadi
Concepts
Arab/Islamic world, civilization and culture
Astronomy
Hay'a (Heavenly Configurations)
Philosophy
Cosmology
Arabic language
Time Periods
Medieval
13th century
15th century
Safavid dynasty
Ancient
16th century
Places
Persia (Iran)
Hellenistic world
Mediterranean region
Central Asia
Spain
Poland
Institutions
Ikhwān al-Ṣafā'
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