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Ali A Olomi Profile picture
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11 Jun, 7 tweets, 1 min read
today Mars finally leaves its fall in Cancer and enters Leo

medieval astrologers of the Islamic world interpreted this as:

-Contest of wills
-Danger in the land of the Turks and Babylon
-Danger to and from beasts
-The rise of warmongers
-Danger and death to rulers old and new
-Excessive heat and drought
-Fires and burning
-Corruption among rulers
-Unrest among the people
-danger and death of youth
-Open conflict
This tells us a few things:

Firstly that despite advancements in calculations, astrology still was heavily observational in this time period.

They tracked Mars’ motion physically
Secondly the connection to war and unrest links Gemini (tension), Cancer (bloodshed), and Leo (conflict) together.

It is possible and likely this originated from an actual season of war when the Sun entered the summer months
Finally there is some difference in location. Abu Ma’shar designates the land of the Turks and Babylon in his significations while Al Biruni mentions Kabul, Jerusalem, and Central Asia more broadly
I should also mention Cancer, Leo, and Virgo were all linked to fires which leads me to think they also had a fire season
adding for “contest of wills” and Turkey. Seems fitting

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More from @aaolomi

Ali A Olomi Profile picture
9 Jun
Tomorrow is an eclipse.

For medieval people these celestial events were dramatic moments rife with anxiety.

One such eclipse was used by a prince to predict his own death.

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According to Ibn Zakariyya in the 9th century there was a prince named, Muhammad Ibn Abdallah Ibn Tahir. He was a regional governor and the commander of the elite forces of Baghdad.

He was also, like many elite and scholarly inclined Muslims of the era, an astrologer
One day while casting his annual horoscope, a solar revolution chart astrologers use to forecast the year ahead usually on their birthday, he noted a “qat”

This was a specialized technique combining calculated points known as Arabic lots, transits of planets, and the horoscope
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Ali A Olomi Profile picture
2 Jun
Throughout the centuries the jinn were said to inspire poets to verse and madness. As an elemental and invisible race, the jinn were master poets themselves and in turn taught their craft to others becoming mentors and muses to human poets.

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The jinn-inspired poet was a pre-Islamic feature as we have references to various poets and their invisible companions.

The “sha’ir” or poet often overlapped with the figures of the soothsayer and sorcerer.
One such figure was Fatima bint al Nu’man who was a seer and poet with a jinn lover.

Recorded by Ibn Sa’d, one day her jinn lover would not draw near her and she asked him what was the matter.

The jinn replied: the prophet who forbids adultery and wine has arrived.
Read 28 tweets
Ali A Olomi Profile picture
29 May
psychic phenomena in medieval Islamic writing is under more broadly spiritual powers. The things we call “psychic” are linked to either mystics or the practice of magic.

Ibn Khaldun mentions the purified heart of a mystic lifts the veil which grants them hidden knowledge
they are able to read the hearts of humans, to enter dreams, and are granted a hint of what is to come by the grace of God.

Many of these karamat are what we’d call psychic acts

We also see it in his description of magic and sorcerers
He provides several classifications of “magic” one of which is influencing the world without any tool or ritual but purely with the power of the mind

The mystic achieves spiritual and psychic power as a side effect of their purity while the magician from occult knowledge
Read 5 tweets
Ali A Olomi Profile picture
26 May
In Islamic cosmology, the universe is populated by angels and the earth is the home of humans and jinn alike. A race of intelligent, shape-shifting invisible beings, the djinn/jinn have a unique relationship to animals.

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The idea of jinn taking the form of animals is a pre-Islamic belief which was then Islamized.

Snakes, cats, camels, deer, and even types of birds were all linked to jinn.
A narration of Muhammad from Abu Tha’labah al Khashani relates jinn come in many forms: with wings, in the form of snakes, and those that wander.
Read 35 tweets
Ali A Olomi Profile picture
25 May
this was very common among medieval astrologers of the Muslim world

Caliphs frequently tested astrologers’ skills by making them discover hidden things

Two famous examples:
The Caliph Al Muwaffaq quizzed Abu Ma’shar and another astrologer asking them what he was thinking about.

Abu Ma’shar and the other astrologer cast their horoscopes and answered: he was thinking about the birth of an animal, a cow.

He affirmed they were right and then asked
What would be the color of the calf born to the cow?

Abu Ma’shar answered: black with white on the face.

The other astrologer said black with some white on the tail.

The calf was born back with white on their nose but its tail was covering the white so they both were right
Read 7 tweets
Ali A Olomi Profile picture
19 May
Throughout Islamic history women poets have used verse to stir the heart, memorialize their dead, make fun of their lovers, and praise the divine.

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Al-Khansa was a famous poet and early convert to Islam. Another poet said of her, “you are the finest poet of the jinn and humans.”

She composed stirring elegiac verses commemorating her fallen brothers and was reputed to be Prophet Muhammad’s favorite poet.
Upon hearing her poetry he was moved to tears.
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