Жұлдыздар кітабы: Әбд әр-Рахман әс-Суфидің астрономиялық трактаты

Astronomical text by Abd al Rahman Al Sufi

The Book of Fixed Stars (كتاب صور الكواكب , literally The Book of the Shapes of Stars) is an astronomical text written by Abd al Rahman al Sufi (Azophi) around 964. Following the translation movement in the 9th century AD, the book was written in Arabic, the common language for scholars across the vast Islamic territories, although the author himself was Persian. It was an attempt to create a synthesis of the comprehensive star catalogue in Ptolemy’s Almagest (books VII and VIII) with the indigenous Arabic astronomical traditions on the constellations (notably the Arabic constellation system of the Anwā’). The original manuscript no longer survives as an autograph, however, the importance of tradition and the practice of diligence central to Islamic manuscript tradition have ensured the survival of the Book of Stars in later made copies.

The treatise was written in the Persian city of Shiraz, for the patron and Buyid emir ‘Adud al Dawla. Although al Sufi made his longitudinal calculations correct for the year 964 only, the work remained highly influential, functioning as the standard text on Arabic astronomy to be consulted in all Islamic territories and faithfully copied for many centuries after its production. Since it was only correct for the single year of 964, the Book of Fixed Stars was intended to serve a broader educational purpose, rather than being concerned with the mathematical technicalities of astronomy. Medieval Islamic astronomers also drew from Sanskrit and Middle Persian sources to learn "methods for calculating the position of heavenly bodies, and for creating tables recording the movement of the sun, the moon, and the five known planets." In the context of this shift to observational and theoretical astronomy set in motion by the translation movement, and with al Sufi himself being an observational astronomer, the Book of Fixed Stars comprises an important organisation and revision of classical knowledge from antiquity (the first of its kind), and some of the earliest surviving examples of visual documentation of celestial bodies observable by the naked eye. The interest in cataloging the stars also stems from the nature of worship in Islam. The religion requires that its members are able to locate Mecca so that they may pray in the right direction, and to also be able to determine the correct times for prayer. This is not to say that this text was the first illustrated manuscript ever created, as there are many illustrated fragments that have been found and studied, most notably the Fustat fragments. The increased availability of paper, which was much cheaper than parchment, drove the production of books in the Islamic world.

In his introduction, al Sufi dedicates the work to his patron 'Adud al Dawla and outlines the sources he has used to write the book. These sources, including a number of treatises and objects which are now lost, serve as important indicators and records of the knowledge ('ilm) production at the time. For instance, the introduction lists the names of 3 authors (Ibn Kunasa, Ibn al 'Arabi, Abu Hanifa al Dinawari) and their treatises concerning pre Islamic Bedouin traditions, all of which are now lost.

The Book of Fixed Stars follows the 48 Ptolemaic constellations described in the Almagest, with a chapter dedicated to each individual constellation. Each chapter is split into 4 subsections. The latter view can be explained by accounts of al Sufi's drawing process, whereby the author carefully fitted a thin sheet of paper on top of a celestial globe and then directly copied the constellation outlines and star positions from the engravings. The inclusion of this globe view of each constellation also suggests that the Books of Fixed Stars was intended to be used by owners of celestial globes, and many surviving globes from the 13th and 14th Centuries include statements attesting to the treatise as an influential source. Although al Sufi names several sources in his introduction which contributed to the book's illustrations, none of these treatises nor celestial globes survive.

The work was highly influential and survives in numerous manuscripts and translations. The oldest manuscript was thought to be MS. Marsh 144 in the Bodleian Library, with a date of 1009 CE,and allegedly the work of the author's son, but this is now disputed, and has been re dated to the end of the 12th century. Manuscript MS 2.1198 in the Doha Museum is now considered the oldest, dated to 1125 CE. There is a thirteenth century copy in the British Library (Or. 5323). Its has the earliest known descriptions and illustrations of what he called "a little cloud", which is actually the Andromeda Galaxy. He mentions it as lying before the mouth of a Big Fish, an Arabic constellation. This "cloud" was apparently commonly known to the Isfahan astronomers, very probably before 905, and al Sufi attributes their discoveries in the text. This was the first galaxy to be observed, as distinct from a star cluster. It has been claimed that the first recorded mention of the Large Magellanic Cloud was given in the Book of Fixed Stars but this seems to be a misunderstanding of a reference to some stars south of Canopus which he admits he has not seen. and partially into English by Ihsan Hafez.

Text and French translation of Ṣūfī's introduction by J. J. A. Caussin de Perceval in Notices et extraits des manuscrits XII, Paris, 1831, pp. 236f. H. C. F. C. Schjellerup, Description des étoiles fixes par Abd al Rahman al Sûfi, St. Petersburg, 1874. Complete French translation from two late mss., with selected portions in Arabic. Ketāb ṣowar al kawākeb al ṯābeta, edited from five mss., and accompanied by the Orǰūza of Ebn al Ṣūfī, Hyderabad, India, 1954 (introduction by H. J. J. Winter). Facsimile edition of the Persian translation by Naṣīr al dīn Ṭūsī (Ayasofya 2595, autograph, from Uluḡ Beg's library), Tehran, 1348 Š./1969. Critical edition of Ṭūsī's translation by Sayyed Moʿezz al dīn Mahdavī, Tehran, 1351 Š./1972. The star nomenclature of the Castilian version, and of an Italian translation made from Castilian, was critically edited by O. J. Tallgren, "Los nombres árabes de las estrelas y la transcripción alfonsina", in Homenaje a R. Menéndez Pidal II, Madrid, 1925, with 'Correcciones y adiciones' in Revista de filología española 12, 1925, pp. 52f. The Italian translation was edited by P. Knecht, I libri astronomici di Alfonso X in una versione fiorentina del trecento, Saragossa, 1965. Partial English translation; Hafez, Ihsan (2010) Abd al Rahman al Sufi and his book of the fixed stars: a journey of re discovery. PhD thesis, James Cook University.