Thread by @aaolomi

Medieval Muslims were fascinated with moon and stars often making reference to them in stirring poetry, coy metaphors, and in subtle meanings. These references to the heavenly bodies are immensely illustrative of the astral knowledge of the time period.

A thread-

One of the most common celestial metaphors was references to the Moon.

In a panegyric, the poetess Umm Sinan bint Khaythama writes:

“Here is Ali, he is like the crescent surrounded
By stars of good fortune in the sky” (trans: Boullata)

Here the poet invokes a famed astrological conjunction between the Moon and the auspicious planets, Jupiter and Venus to praise Ali ibn Abi Talib.

Marwan ibn Abi Hafsa links Jibra’il to the Moon in verse. He writes:

Can you efface the stars of the sky
With your hands or can you conceal heaven’s crescent?
Or can you deny a saying from your Lord,
Which the [Angel] Jibril conveyed to the Prophet to recite? (trans: Boullat)

The connection of the moon to Jibra’il would feature prominently in the cosmology of medieval Islamic writers, particularly those of an astrological & esoteric bent. Among thinkers like al-Buni and Ibn Arabi, Jibra’il is the planetary angel of the Moon and the angel of revelation

There are even references to the Mansions of the Moon, a unique lunar zodiac likely of Indic origin and adopted by the Arabs.

The Umayyad poet al-Akhtal al-Taghlibi wrote these lovelorn verses:

“How can the doctor cure me of this painful anguish,
While Barra is with al-Awar ibn Bayan?
You should have tried to arouse and chase the bird with cries on the night you came to marry!

You should have recognized the Moon was passing between al-Thurayya and al-Dabaran” (trans: Abbasi)

The ancients viewed al-Thurayya as an auspicious mansion, though one not ideal for marriage and al-Dabarn was inauspicious. The Moon’s passage between these two mansions was an ill-omen for love and marriage.

We find similar verses about eclipses.

The legendary woman poet, Umm al-Bara lamented the death of Ali ibn abi Talib with the following:

The Sun suffers eclipse because of the death of our Imam, the best of all creatures, the fairest judge (trans: Abbasi)

Ibn Zakariyya reports when Muhammad ibn Tahir predicted his coming death based on an eclipse, he was proven right.

His brother composed these verses in lament:

“The moon was eclipsed together with the prince,
The moon disappeared and the prince fell,
The light of the moon returned and reappeared
But the light of the prince is never to come back”

We also have other celestial metaphors.

Ibn al-Rumi recounts the praise-worthy moderation of the vizier Sulayman ibn Wahb as a balance of Venus and Mercury:

“Whenever his Venus is about to act foolish from excess of joy, his
Mercury tells him: control yourself.
And whenever his Mercury is about to become too serious, his Venus
Says: enjoy yourself” (trans: Abbasi)

Venus was the planet of joy and pleasure while Mercury was the planet of learning and study. The astrological metaphor portrays a well-balanced influence of the two in ibn Wahb’s life.

Celestial metaphors were also used to praise whole regions.

Al-Nisapuri writes:

“Is it the breeze from the North, or the gentle breeze from the East that calls on us? Or is it my Zaynab’s shadow that comes to visit us? Or is it the auspicious ascendant of our land that makes the benefic star rise up and bestows happiness upon us?”

The famed city of Nishapur was reputed to have Jupiter on the ascendant in its horoscope.

The practice of assigning zodiac signs and planets to regions and cities would be widespread in the medieval Islamic world as a way of organizing their geography.

The practice of casting horoscopes for their foundation would also be widespread.

Finally, let's close as we began: with a conjunction of the Moon with the auspicious stars.

Famously, the 14th century Hafez invokes celestial symbols in his poetry. He evocatively writes:

"I said, what use the wine, for one as old as I
You said, it wets your spring of youth, which has gone dry
I said, when will the master beside his bride lie
You said, when the conjunction of Moon and Jupiter is nigh"

Conjunctions of the Moon and Jupiter were considered auspicious omens under whose light the wise could couple to birth an important child.

The use of celestial metaphors is useful for us as historians.

Firstly, it tells us of the deep fascination medieval Muslims had with the celestial and heavenly.

To gaze upon the heavens was to gaze upon the majesty of God and to study the motion of the heavenly bodies was to study the design of God.

We can also see the importance of astrological meaning drawn from such celestial events.

These poems indicate a high level of knowledge among the literate classes when it came to astrology and astronomy.

The listeners knew what Venus meant, understood what a conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter signified.

They hint at a truly popular level of astrological and astronomical knowledge unique to this time period, moreso than what came before them and after them.

I’ll cover more on Islamic history in future threads!