E.g., the impressive work of SaidS.StephensonF. R.RadaWafiq, “Records of solar eclipses in Arabic chronicles”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, lii (1989), 38–64; StephensonF. R.SaidS., “Precision of medieval Islamic eclipse measurements”, Journal for the history of astronomy, xxii (1991), 195–207; idem, “A survey of eclipse observations recorded in medieval Arabic chronicles”, ibid., 297–310; idem, “Records of lunar eclipses in medieval Arabic chronicles”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, lx (1997), 1–34, which are all summarized in StephensonF. R., Historical eclipses and the Earth's rotation (Cambridge, 1997), 431–93.
2.
Note the comments of EddyJohn, “Review of Stephenson and Clark's Applications of early astronomical records”, Journal for the history of astronomy, xi (1980), 203, where he asks why they did not use the Arabic material very much, though he follows in their footsteps in “Ancient data in modern astronomy”, in SwarupG.BagA.K.ShuklaK.S. (eds), History of Oriental astronomy (Cambridge, 1987), 257–9.
3.
See Kennedy'sE. S. comments on the literature of comets: “Comets in Islamic astronomy and astrology”, Journal of Near Eastern studies, xvi (1957), 44–51. There is very little else on comets per se, other than the general comments in Encyclopedia of Islam2, ed. by BosworthC. E.et alii (Leyden, 1960–), s.v. “Nudjum” (P. Kunitzsch). On historical comets overall, see MarsdenBrian, Catalog of cometary orbits (Cambridge, Mass., 1975); KronkGary, Comets: A descriptive catalog (Hillside, N.J., 1984); MoorePatrickMasonJohn, The return of Halley's Comet (New York, 1984); SchoveD. J., Chronology of eclipses and comets AD 1–1000 (Woodbridge, 1984) [this study needs to be used cautiously, as there are no references given to the Arabic material]; YeomansDonald, Comets: A chronological history of observation, science, myth and folklore (New York, 1991); EdbergStephenLevyDavid, Observing comets, asteroids, meteors and the zodiacal light (Cambridge, 1994); SchaafFred, The comet of the century (New York, 1997); and Kronk'sGary forthcoming book, Cometography (thanks to him for allowing me to have access to the relevant material). The subject of meteor showers is covered in RadaW. S.StephensonF. R., “A catalogue of meteor showers in medieval Arab chronicles”, Quarterly of the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, xxxiii (1992), 5–16; for some comments on this article, see KidgerMark, “Some comments on the identification of medieval meteor showers recorded by the Arabs”, ibid., xxxiv (1993), 331–4. Material collected by Rada and Stephenson will not be reproduced here.
4.
E.g., in IyasIbn, Bada'i’ al-zuhur fi waqa'i’ al-duhur (Cairo, 1984), ii, 333. In al-Mufaddal b. Abi al-Fada'il, History of the Mamluk sultans in Patrologia orientalis, xii, 434–5, a star is said to have appeared when the 'Abbasid caliph was proclaimed in Egypt in 1259, which is unknown from other sources. Comments about the relative use of hagiographical material and other questionable sources appear in Number 1 and the Appendix.
5.
The name shows that the Arabs did not know where to place them, since najm is usually a star, while kawkab is usually a planet. Therefore, they are either “stars with tails” or “planets with tails”, with no real consistency.
6.
I thank Professor George Saliba for verifying this: personal communication of 9 January 1998.
7.
Bakhshal, Ta'rikh Wasit (Baghdad, 1967), 173.
8.
Schaaf, Comet of the century (ref. 3), 167.
9.
RadaStephenson, op. cit. (ref. 3), 9–10, and 11 (nos. 1–2).
10.
See ConradLawrence, “Abraha and Muhammad”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 1 (1987), 225–40.
11.
PalmerAndrew, The seventh century in West-Syrian chronicles (Liverpool, 1993), 194, quoting from (a) Dionysius of Tell-Mahre and Agapius of Manbij; and (b) Agapius. Compare Ho Peng Yoke, “Ancient and medieval observations of comets and novae in Chinese sources”, Vistas in astronomy, v (1962), 169 (no. 255).
12.
Palmer, Chronicles (ref. 11), 197, quoting from Michael the Syrian, Chronique, transl. by ChabotJ. (Paris, 1901), ii, 471: “Ensuite une grande comète apparut de nouveau, le soir, pendant 41 jours; puis d'autres apparurent en face de celle-ci pendant sept jours. Elles commencèrent au mois d'eloul de l'année 995”; and see Bar-Hebreus, Chronography, transl. by BudgeE. A. W. (Oxford, 1932), i, 102. Since this appearance of Halley's Comet apparently affected the course of the revolt of the Muslims of the Hijaz, and terrified the Syrian soldiers sent to subdue them, it is very possible that an aside of Khalifa b. Khayyat, Ta'rikh (Najaf, 1967), i, 229, where he says “God sent the heavens against them …” could refer to this (it is uncertain what exactly he means by this, though), and may have been mentioned in the Rish Melle: BrockS. B. (transl.), “Book XV of Ris Melle”, Jerusalem studies in Arabic and Islam, ix (1987), 63, s.v. “portents in the skies”.
13.
Mu'afa b. Zakariyya al-Nahrani al-Jariri, al-Jalis al-salih, ed. by Ihsan 'Abbas (Beirut, 1987), iii, 70; and compare Anton Heinen, Islamic cosmology: A study of as-Suyuti's al-Hay'a al-saniya fi l-hay'a as-sunniyya (Beirut, 1982), 153, where a slightly different variant appears.
14.
Palmer, Chronicles (ref. 11), 207, quoting from Michael the Syrian.
15.
(a) Palmer, Chronicles (ref. 11), 45, quoting from an anonymous chronicle of disasters dated a.d. 716; (b) Bar-Hebreus, op. cit. (ref. 12), i, 93; and compare Ho, op. cit. (ref. 11), 170 (no. 264).
16.
Agapius of Manbij, Kitab al-'unwan (ed. VassilievA., in Patrologia orientalis, viii), 508; compare Theophanes, Chronicles, transl. by TurtledoveHarry (Philadelphia, 1982), 102.
Nu'aym b. Hammad, Kitab al-fitan (Beirut, 1993), 132–3.
22.
Theophanes, Chronicles (ref. 6), 120: “In the same year a brilliant apparition appeared in the east for ten days and again in the west for twenty-one”.
23.
Agapius, op. cit. (ref. 16), 542.
24.
Dating this appearance is based on the assumption that the previous part of the text actually refers to 143/760. If so, then this is the comet mentioned by Theophanes, Chronicles (ref. 6), 122 for 145/762: “In this year an apparition appeared in the east, and Fatima's son was killed”, meaning the rebel Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya, who revolted in Nov.–Dec. 762. The dates given in the text would correspond to 28 July 28–mid-October 762 and in this way the appearance of the comet was apparently the deciding factor in his decision to revolt. Compare Rada and Stephenson, op. cit. (ref. 3), 11 (no. 3).
25.
A Yemenite tribe, which had converted to Judaism, and then to Islam, and had a reputation for wisdom.
26.
Nu'aym, op. cit. (ref. 21), 132–3.
27.
KhayyatKhalifa b., ii, 452 (tasaqatat); al-AthirIbn, al-Kamil fi al-ta'rikh (Leyden, 1851–76), v, p. 583; al-JawziIbn, al-Muntazam fi al-ta'rikh (Beirut, 1992), viii, 102 (both tanatharat). al-Ya'qubi, Ta'rikh (ed. Houtsma, Leyden, 1883), ii, 458 gives “falling stars”. Theophanes, Chronicles (ref. 6), 124 says: “In March of the same year a great many stars were seen falling from the sky, so that everyone who saw them suspected that this was the end of the age”, and compare Umberto Dall'Olmo, “Meteors, meteor showers and meteorites in the Middle Ages”, Journal for the history of astronomy, ix (1978), 123–34, p. 126; RadaStephenson, op. cit. (ref. 3), 11 (no. 4); and Ho, op. cit. (ref. 11), 171 (no. 277).
28.
See Ho, op. cit. (ref. 11), 171 (no. 277). Perhaps that of 26 May — 25 July 770 (no. 279) is not out of the question either.
29.
al-Kindi, “al-Risala fi mulk al-'Arab”, ed. by LothO., in Morgenlandische Forshungen: Festschrift H. Fleischer (Leipzig, 1875), 278–9 (there are some difficulties with the date, since the author places it with the revolt of Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya in 145/762; however the comparison with Ho, op. cit. (ref. 11), 171 (no. 278) seems to clarify the issue).
30.
al-Tabari, al-Mansur and al-Mahdi, transl. by KennedyHugh (New York, 1990), xxix, p. 88; al-JawziIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), viii, 203; and compare Dall'Olmo, op. cit. (ref. 27), 126 for the year 776.
'IdhariIbn, al-Bayan al-mughrib fi akhbar al-Andalus wa-l-Maghrib (Leyden, 1948), ii, 85; and compare Dall'Olmo, op. cit. (ref. 27), 127, who dates this as 8 May 839 (correcting the date from 838 in Rada and Stephenson, op. cit. (ref. 3), 11 [no. 5]).
al-JawziIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), xi, 252 (reading wa-lahu in place of wa-la).
36.
al-JawziIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), xi, 283; and compare al-AthirIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), vii, 80 and TaghribirdiIbn, al-Nujum al-zahira fi akhbar al-Misr wa-l-Qahira (Cairo, 1949), vi, 182; and compare RadaStephenson, op. cit. (ref. 3), 11 (nos. 6a–6b, where they give the date of 17 Oct).
37.
al-QasimIbn, Ghayat al-amani fi akhbar al-qatar al-yamani (Cairo, 1967), i, 158; and compare al-Mas'udi, al-Muruj al-dhahab (French transl., Les prairies d'or by de MaynardBarbier C., Paris, 1874), vii, 230.
38.
al-JawziIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), xii, 287; al-AthirIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), vii, 450; and compare StephensonF. R.ClarkD., Applications of early astronomical records (Oxford, 1978), 33; and Ho, op. cit. (ref. 11), 177 (no. 313).
39.
Eutychius of Alexandria, Annales (Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalum li/7, ed. by CheikoL.de VauxCarra B.ZayyatH.; Louvain, 1960), 73.
40.
al-JawziIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), xiii, 33; and compare NewtonRobert R., Medieval chronicles and the rotation of the Earth (Baltimore, 1972), 678, 683 (from Leonis, a Byzantine historian); and see RodgersR. F., “Newly discovered Byzantine records of comets”, The journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, xlvi (1952), 177–80, p. 178 for a translation; and Ho, op. cit. (ref. 11), 178 (no. 321).
41.
'IdhariIbn, op. cit. (ref. 33), i, 138.
42.
al-JawziIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), xiii, 50. It is possible that this is the comet mentioned by Ho, op. cit. (ref. 11), 178 (no. 322).
43.
al-JawziIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), xiii, 123; and note al-Mas'udi, op. cit. (ref. 37), iii, 282, which unfortunately gives no details whatsoever.
44.
Schaaf, Comet of the century (ref. 3), 169.
45.
al-AthirIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), viii, 75; compare Dall'Olmo, op. cit. (ref. 27), 127, who lists a date of 13 Feb. 913; and RadaStephenson, op. cit. (ref. 3), 12 (no. 13).
Anonymous, Kitab al-'Uyun wa-l-hada'iq (Baghdad, 1972), ii, 123.
58.
The name zubaniya al-'aqrab (the horns of the scorpion) is also the name of several stars in Libra as well (α and β Librae): HeuterG., “Star names: Origins and misconceptions”, Vistas in astronomy, xxix (1986), 237–51, p. 246 and see LaneE., An Arabic-English lexicon (London, 1867), s.v.
59.
(a) al-JawziIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), xiv, 19; al-AthirIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), viii, 391; (b) 'IdhariIbn, op. cit. (ref. 33), ii, 210; it is possible that this is the same as the comet mentioned by Ho, op. cit. (ref. 11), 179 (no. 335) for the months of Aug.–Sept.
60.
al-JawziIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), xiv, 64; al-AthirIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), viii, 476; it is possible that this is the comet mentioned by Ho, op. cit. (ref. 11), 180 (no. 338) for Sept. 12.
61.
Eutychius (with the continuation of Yahya b. Sa'id), op. cit. (ref. 39), 111.
62.
'Uyun (ref. 58), ii, 193; compare Dall'Olmo, op. cit. (ref. 27), 127–8 for the years 950 or 952.
al-Maqrizi, op. cit. (ref. 67), i, 267; Eutychius (with the continuation of Yahya b. Sa'id), op. cit. (ref. 39), 172.
70.
al-AthirIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), ix, 155; compare Dall'Olmo, op. cit. (ref. 27), 128 for the year 998.
71.
al-JawziIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), xv, 32.
72.
al-AthirIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), ix, 178.
73.
Eutychius (with the continuation of Yahya b. Sa'id), op. cit. (ref. 39), 190; compare al-AthirIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), ix, 190; al-JawziIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), xv, 49; Bar-Hebreus, op. cit. (ref. 12), i, 183; GoldsteinB. R., “Evidence for a supernova of A.D. 1006”, The astronomical journal, lxx (1965), 105–14; PorterN., “The nova of 1006 in European and Arabic sources”, Journal for the history of astronomy, v (1974), 99–104; and ClarkD. H.StephensonF., The historical supernovae (Oxford, 1977), 120–2.
74.
al-JawziIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), xv, 67.
75.
al-JawziIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), xv, 77.
76.
al-JawziIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), xv, 91.
77.
Eutychius (with the continuation of Yahya b. Sa'id), op. cit. (ref. 39), 247.
78.
al-AthirIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), ix, 356; compare RadaStephenson, op. cit. (ref. 3), 14 (no. 19), who give an incorrect date of Rajab (= Aug.–Sept).
79.
al-JawziIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), xv, 197; al-AthirIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), ix, 393; compare Dall'Olmo, op. cit. (ref. 27), 128, who dates a meteor to 31 Oct. 1029.
80.
al-JawziIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), xv, 227; compare Dall'Olmo, op. cit. (ref. 27), 128 for 28 July 1031.
81.
(a) al-AthirIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), ix, 439; (b) al-JawziIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), xv, 242; and compare Bar-Hebreus, op. cit. (ref. 12), i, 194. One should note that both Dall'Olmo, op. cit. (ref. 27), 128, 129 and Newton, op. cit. (ref. 40), 707 record instances of dragons being observed in celestial events.
There must be some error here, since the author gives a Christian date which translates to 13 Feb. 1060. It is difficult to tell which one is correct, unless once again there is a mix-up in the names of the Christian months.
These names are difficult to identify. One would assume that Coptic is the language from which they are derived (since the writer is a Coptic ecclesiatic); however, it would appear that the Arabic or Syriac meanings of safud/safudo, “spit, dart, a poker”, and fanus, “a torch, lantern, lamp” (from the Greek phanos), are sufficient.
94.
al-Muqaffa'Severus b., History of the Patriarchs of the Egyptian Church (transl. by al-Masih'AbdAtiyaBurmester; Cairo, 1943), ii, pp. 181–2 (original), p. 276 (trans.) [the transl. is mine]; and compare Rodgers, op. cit. (ref. 40), 179 for the Byzantine records. For a discussion of the brightness, see MarcusJosephSeargentDavid, “Dust forward scatter brightness enhancement in previous apparitions of Halley's Comet”, Proceedings of the 20th ESLAB Symposium on the Exploration of Halley's Comet, 1986, 359–62.
95.
In Cometography (ref. 3), Kronk notes Chinese accounts that compare the comet to the planet Venus, which would imply a magnitude of about −4.5, at the margin of daylight visibility. Marcus (personal communication and Marcus and Seargent, op. cit. (ref. 94)) comments that due to forward scatter geometry in the interval 1066 April 18–24, the comet's brightness, with its 1986 appearance considered as a baseline, could have been markedly enhanced in 1066, to magnitude −7 on the evening of April 22, −4.5 on April 23 and −2.5 on April 24.
96.
Personal communication of 16 April 1998.
97.
al-JawziIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), xvi, 96; compare Dall'Olmo, op. cit. (ref. 27), 128 for this year.
98.
al-JawziIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), xvi, 234; al-AthirIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), x, 141. This is a difficult text and the translation is uncertain, since there seem to be some errors in the printed version.
99.
al-QasimIbn, op. cit. (ref. 37), i, 270.
100.
al-AthirIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), x, 271. If this was a meteor shower, then compare Dall'Olmo, op. cit. (ref. 27), 129 for Oct. 1097. However, since tradition Number 89 apparently remembered this event as a comet, this is unlikely.
101.
al-AthirIbn, op. cit. (ref. 27), x, 414–15; al-Jawzial-Sibt b., Mira'at al-zaman (Haydarabad, 1951), viii, 16 (except that he dates it to Jumada ii, i.e., Feb.–March 1106, which is consistent with the account in Newton, op. cit. (ref. 40), 673 (from Sigebertus), and 683 (from Fulcher of Chartres), and see Dall'Olmo, op. cit. (ref. 27), 130).
Encyclopedia of Islam2 (ref. 3), s.v. “Manazil” (P. Kunzitsch).
118.
al-Maqrizi, al-Suluk li-ma'rifat duwal al-muluk (Cairo, 1972), i, 516–17; and compare Ho, op. cit. (ref. 11), 193 (no. 436); and Newton, op. cit. (ref. 40), 672, 674, 680.
119.
al-Yunini, Dhayl mira'at al-zaman (Haydarabad, 1955), ii, 322. It is possible that the mention of a comet after the death of the Mongol ruler Hulegu (8 Feb. 1265) refers to this comet: “During those nights a terrifying comet appeared every night, and after a few nights, when the comet had disappeared, Hulegu Khan died.” Khwandamir, Habib al-siyar (transl. by ThackstonW. M.; Sources of Oriental Languages and Literatures 24, Harvard; Cambridge, Mass., 1994), iii, 58. However, there are obvious difficulties with this identification.
120.
I did not discover a comet at this date in the Muslim sources, but one is mentioned in Ho, op. cit. (ref. 11), 183 (no. 365). Obviously the Muslim records included mention of this comet somewhere.
121.
See above, Number 72.
122.
I did not discover a comet at this date, nor is one listed in the sources known to me. Ho, op. cit. (ref. 11) lists one for 25 July 1156: P. 189 (no. 409).
123.
al-'Ayni, 'Iqd al-jinan fi ta'rikh ahl al-zaman (Cairo, 1988), ii, 340–41.
124.
al-Maqrizi, Suluk, i, 863.
125.
There is a lacuna of three or four words in the text.
126.
al-'Ayni, op. cit. (ref. 123), iii, 426.
127.
There is a difficulty here, since Kanun II (a Christian month) corresponds to January. Perhaps the author meant Tishrin I (= October).
al-DinRashid, The successors of Ghenghis Khan (transl. by BoyleJ.; Persian Heritage Series, Columbia; New York, 1971), 330; orig. Jawami' al-tawarikh (Tehran, 1338 a.h.), 679.
130.
HughesDavid, “The position of the Earth at previous apparitions of Halley's Comet”, Quarterly journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, xxvi (1985), 513–20, 516.
131.
al-Maqrizi, Suluk, iii, 28.
132.
(a) al-'AsqalaniHajar Ibn, Inba' al-ghumar (Beirut, 1986), i, 195; (b) ShuhbaQadi Ibn, Ta'rikh (Damascus, 1994), ii, 505; and compare Ho, op. cit. (ref. 11), 199 (no. 474).
133.
HajarIbn, op. cit. (ref. 132), i, 269.
134.
HajarIbn, op. cit. (ref. 132), ii, 57; ShuhbaQadi Ibn, op. cit. (ref. 132), iii, 62; and compare Ho, op. cit. (ref. 11), 199 (no. 477).
135.
ShuhbaQadi Ibn, op. cit. (ref. 132), iii, 217; al-FuratIbn, Ta'rikh (Beirut, 1936–42), ix, 9–10; and compare Dawudal-Sayrafi'Ali b., Nuzhat al-nufus (Cairo, 1970), i, 153, which has a slightly different account.
136.
(a) HajarIbn, op. cit. (ref. 132), iii, 81; (b) ShuhbaQadi Ibn, op. cit. (ref. 132), iii, 372; al-FuratIbn, ix, 254; al-Sayrafi, op. cit. (ref. 135), i, 338 (with slight variations); and compare Ho, op. cit. (ref. 11), 200 (no. 483).
(a) al-Maqrizi, Suluk, iv, 829; (b) IyasIbn, op. cit. (ref. 4), ii, 132.
140.
HajarIbn, op. cit. (ref. 132), viii, 199; al-Maqrizi, Suluk, iv, 834–35; IyasIbn, op. cit. (ref. 4), ii, 135. The ships delivering the pilgrims to the hajj would stop on the sea-shore periodically.
141.
(a) IyasIbn, op. cit. (ref. 4), ii, 152; (b) al-Maqrizi, Suluk, iv, 905; and compare Ho, op. cit. (ref. 11), 202 (no. 505).
142.
IyasIbn, op. cit. (ref. 4), ii, 333.
143.
Khwandamir, Habib al-siyar (ref. 119), iii, 381.
144.
IyasIbn, op. cit. (ref. 4), iii, 68; and compare Ho, op. cit. (ref. 11), 206 (no. 530).
145.
IyasIbn, op. cit. (ref. 4), iii, 97.
146.
IyasIbn, op. cit. (ref. 4), iv, 164.
147.
Nu'aym, op. cit. (ref. 21), 422; compare Dall'Olmo, op. cit. (ref. 27), 126, listing a sign in the sky for the year 786.
148.
al-QasimIbn, op. cit. (ref. 37), i, 136; this event was still remembered six centuries later in common discourse: Khwandamir, Habib al-siyar (ref. 119), iii, 179.
149.
The spelling here is a little unusual, but is accepted as a variant: Lane, Lexicon, s.v.; and GrafG., Verzeichnis Arabischer Kirchlicher Termini (CSCO 147, Louvain, 1954), 84. Easter during this year fell on 1 April, which constitutes something of a problem. However, there are some difficulties with the tables consulted, and the next year's Easter of 20 April would be a perfect match. This remains a question-mark.
