Shams al-Dīn al-Samarqandī’s Astronomical works: the chapter on hayʾa from Laṭāʾif al-Ḥikma in addition to a Chapter on the Determination of the Divisions of Temporal Hours; and the Table of Lots

Ghalandari, Hanif; Amini, Hassan

doi:10.22059/jihs.2026.418286.371919

Shams al-Dīn al-Samarqandī’s Astronomical works: the chapter on hayʾa from Laṭāʾif al-Ḥikma in addition to a Chapter on the Determination of the Divisions of Temporal Hours; and the Table of Lots

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research/Original/Reqular Article

Authors

Hanif Ghalandari ¹

Hassan Amini ²

¹ Faculty Member, Institute of the History of Science, University of Tehran

² postdoctoral researcher, IMT, Lucca, Italy

10.22059/jihs.2026.418286.371919

Abstract

Shams al-Dīn al-Samarqandī (7th-8th century AH / 13th century CE) is best known for his contributions to logic and for his geometrical treatise Ashkāl al-Taʾsīs. His extant writings on astronomy, however, demonstrate his thorough command of the astronomical sciences of his time. His astronomical corpus ranges from a commentary on the Almagest, a highly specialized work on mathematical astronomy, to short treatises on astrology. This article first surveys al-Samarqandī’s extant astronomical writings and then presents critical editions of three astronomical texts on the basis of the surviving manuscript witnesses: (1) the chapter on hayʾa from Laṭāʾif al-Ḥikma; (2) A Chapter on the Determination of the Divisions of Temporal Hours; and (3) the Table of Lots. The second treatise concerns the conversion between equinoctial and temporal (unequal) hours, whereas the Table of Lots belongs to the tradition of astrology. The chapter on hayʾa in Laṭāʾif al-Ḥikma, by contrast, is a concise introduction to the science of hayʾa (the configuration of the heavens) in both structure and content. Its inclusion within an encyclopaedic work designed to encompass a wide range of disciplines further highlights the broadly educational character of ʿilm al-hayʾa, especially as presented in concise introductory treatises.

Keywords

Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī

equinoctial hours

ʿilm al-hayʾa

Laṭāʾif al-Ḥikma

Leiden University Library, MS Or. 1066

Lots (Arabic Lots)

Shams al-Dīn al-Samarqandī

temporal hours

Subjects