سورة الصافات

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): If he had not been knowledgeable in the science of the stars, he would not have looked at them.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Mufaddal ibn Umar narrates from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that he said [regarding Ibrahim (peace be upon him)]: "He cast a glance at the stars and said: إِنِّی سَقِیمٌ [Indeed I am ill]. That Allah restricted his look to a single glance is because the first glance does not cause error, only the second glance does. As the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said to Ali (peace be upon him): 'O Ali (peace be upon him)! The first glance is in your favour, and the second glance is against you and not in your favour.'"

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah, Blessed and Exalted, created Ruh al-Qudus (the Holy Spirit), and there is no creation closer to Him than it — not that it is the most noble of His creation. So whenever [Allah] decides on a matter, He casts it to it, and then it hands it over to the stars (the Imams (peace be upon them)), and they act upon it.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abd al-Malik ibn A'yan said, I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "I am afflicted with this science (astrology). When I have some task, I cast the ascendant and look at it; if it shows evil, I sit still and do not go after my task, and if it shows good, I go." The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "Does your need get fulfilled in that case?" I said: "Yes!" He said: "Burn your books."

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): Whenever the stars are mentioned, keep silent [and do not speak without knowledge].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): In the book al-Ihtijaj of Tabarsi a lengthy hadith is narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him), some passages of which are as follows: A questioner said to the Imam: "What do you say about the science of astrology?" He said: "It is a science whose benefits are few and whose harms are many, for by it one cannot ward off calamities nor avoid distresses. If the astrologer informs of an affliction, he has no power to flee from the divine decree, and if he informs of some good, he cannot hasten its arrival, nor can he escape harm. The astrologer, by means of his science, contends with Allah, for he claims that he repels Allah's decree from His creation."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Sa'id ibn Jubayr that a dihqan (landlord) from among the dihqans of Persia met with Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him), and after offering his congratulations he said to him: "O Amir al-Mu'minin! The rising stars have been overturned [have become ill-omened], and even the auspicious stars have, through these ill-omens, become inauspicious; and when a day such as this comes, it is incumbent upon the wise man to remain in hiding. This day of yours is a difficult day, in which two stars have been overturned, and from your constellation fires have blazed forth, and it is not fitting for you to go to war." So Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) said: "Woe unto you, O dihqan who reports from signs and warns of the decrees! What is the tale of the master of Libra and the tale of the master of Cancer? And how many rising stars are there from Leo? How many hours have passed since the rising of the [other] moving bodies? And what is [the distance] between the hidden stars and the shining stars?" He said: "I shall reckon it," and he gestured with his hand to his sleeve and drew from it an astrolabe, gazing into it. Then the Imam smiled and said: "Do you know what happened last night? A house collapsed in China, and the tower of Majin was breached, and the wall of Sarandib fell, and the commander of the Roman army retreated toward Armenia, and the leader [ruler] of the Jews went missing in Ayla, and the ants in Wadi al-Naml were roused and set in motion, and the king of Africa died. Did you know of these things?" He said: "No, O Amir al-Mu'minin!" Then he said: "Last night seventy thousand worlds were made felicitous, and in every world seventy thousand were born, and tonight the same number will die, and this man is among them" — and he gestured with his hand toward Sa'd ibn Mas'ada al-Harithi, who was a spy of the Kharijites in the army of Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him). That accursed one supposed the Imam was saying "Seize him," so he did violence to himself and died. Then the dihqan fell into prostration. Then Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) said: "Shall I not quench you from the spring of divine guidance?" He said: "Yes indeed [certainly], O Amir al-Mu'minin." So he said: "I and my companion are neither of the East nor of the West; we are the manifestations of the axis (pole) and the signs of the heavens. As for your saying انْقَدَحَ مِنْ بُرْجِکَ النِّیرَانُ [fires have blazed forth from your constellation] — you were bound to judge by it in my favour, not against me. As for its light and radiance, that is with me; and as for its burning and its flames, they are far from me. This is a deep question — if you are a reckoner, reckon it."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): At the time of setting out for the battle with the Khawarij, in the month of Safar in the year 38 AH, a person, foretelling by way of knowledge of the stars, said: "If you set out at this hour, you will not be victorious, and I have made this calculation through the science of astrology." The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "You suppose that you are aware of the hour that if someone sets out in it he will suffer no harm, and you frighten [people] away from the hour that if someone sets out in it harm will befall him. Whoever affirms your words has denied the Qur'an, and has made himself independent of seeking Allah's help in attaining beloved goals and being safeguarded from unpleasant things. It would be fitting for the one who acts upon your command to praise you instead of Allah, because — according to your claim — you have guided people to the hour in which they obtain their benefits and remain safe from harm and loss." Then he turned to the people and said: "O people! Beware of learning the science of astrology for false predictions, except that amount of astronomy that you need for navigating the sea and travelling in the desert, for astrology draws you to soothsaying, and soothsaying to sorcery, and the astrologer is like the soothsayer, and the soothsayer is like the sorcerer, and the sorcerer is like the disbeliever, and the disbeliever is in the fire of Hell. Set out in the name of Allah and with His help."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ali ibn Asbat narrates that Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: Between me and a man who was an astrologer there was a piece of land in common. He kept delaying the division so that he could choose an hour that, in his own view, would be auspicious for him and inauspicious for me. Eventually we divided it, and the good portion fell to me. The astrologer, out of distress, struck the back of one hand on the other and said: "I have never seen anything like today." I said: "Did you not make use of your knowledge?" He said: "With my knowledge of astrology I chose an inauspicious hour for you and I myself went out at an auspicious hour, yet the better portion fell to you." I said: "Would you like me to tell you a hadith which my father narrated to me from his father? My father said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: 'Whoever wishes that Allah remove from him the inauspiciousness of his day, let him open his day with charity; Allah, through this charity, will remove from him the inauspiciousness of that day. And whoever wishes that the inauspiciousness of his night be removed, let him begin his night with charity.' And I, when I set out, gave charity."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Hisham al-Khaffaf said: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said to me: "How much do you know of the science of the stars?" I said: "In Iraq there is no one more versed in the science of the stars than me." He said: "How does the celestial sphere revolve?" I took my night-cap off my head, spun it around and said: "Like this." He said: "If the revolution of the sphere were as you say, then why is it that the stars Banat al-Na'sh, al-Jady and al-Farqadan have never been seen revolving toward the qibla on a single day?" I said: "By Allah! Up to now I have not paid attention to this, nor have I heard anyone versed in the reckoning of the stars mention anything about it." He said: "What is the ratio of the light of the star al-Sukayna to al-Zuhara (Venus)?" I said: "Until now I have not heard the name of this star, nor has anyone else named it." He said: "Subhan Allah! You have altogether dropped an entire star — so how then do you reckon?" He said: "What is the ratio of the light of al-Zuhara (Venus) to the moon?" I said: "No one knows except Allah." He said: "What is the ratio of the light of the moon to the sun?" I said: "I do not know." He said: "You have spoken the truth." He said: "How is it that two armies meet, and in each of them there is an astrologer; the astrologer of this army predicts victory for his own troops, and the astrologer of the other army does the same for his own troops. Then, after the encounter and the battle, one flees and the other is victorious — what benefit was there in the science of the stars?" I said: "By Allah! This too I do not know." He said: "You have spoken the truth. The basis of the reckoning is correct, but no one can grasp it unless he knows the birth dates of all people."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abd al-Rahman ibn Sayabah said: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him), "May I be your ransom! People say that looking into the stars is not permissible, and this astonishes me. If it harms my religion, then I have no need of anything that harms my religion; but if it does not harm my religion, then by Allah, I have a liking for it and a liking for looking into it." He said, "It is not as they say — it does not harm your religion [meaning: it does harm your religion as well]." Then he said, "You look into something of it (the science of the stars) of which the greater part cannot be grasped and the little part yields no benefit, and you reckon by [merely] the ascendant of the moon." Then he said, "Do you know how many minutes [distance] there are between Jupiter (al-Mushtari) and Venus (al-Zuhrah)?" I said, "No, by Allah!" He said, "Then do you know how many minutes there are between Venus and the moon?" I said, "No, by Allah!" He said, "Then do you know how many minutes there are between the sun and Virgo (al-Sunbulah)?" I said, "No, by Allah! I have never heard it from any of the astrologers." He said, "Then do you know how many minutes there are between Virgo (al-Sunbulah) and the Preserved Tablet (al-Lawh al-Mahfuz)?" I said, "No, by Allah, I have never heard it from any astrologer." He said, "Between each one of these and its counterpart there are sixty or seventy minutes" — Abd al-Rahman was uncertain. Then he said, "O Abd al-Rahman! This is a reckoning such that, if a man calculates it and hits upon it [reckons it precisely], he will recognise the single reed in the middle of the thicket, and the number of what is to its right, and the number of what is to its left, and the number of what is behind it, and the number of what is in front of it, so that not a single reed of the thicket remains hidden from him."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Mu'alla ibn Khunays said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the stars, whether it (astronomy) is true. He said, "Yes. Allah the Mighty and Majestic sent Jupiter (al-Mushtari) down to the earth in the form of a man, and he took a man from the non-Arabs as his pupil and taught him the science of the stars until he thought he had grasped it all. Then he said to him, 'Look — where is Jupiter?' He said, 'I do not see it in the firmament and I do not know where it is.' So he set him aside and took the hand of a man from India and taught him until he thought he had mastered it, and said to him, 'Look — where is Jupiter?' He said, 'My reckoning indicates that you yourself are Jupiter.' He let out a cry and died, and his knowledge passed to his family, and the knowledge of the stars is there."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) was asked about the science of the stars. He said, "None knows it except a household of the Arabs and a household of the Indians."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) — in refutation of one who denied the Creator, whose majesty is glorious, because he supposed that everything is perceivable through the five senses, and that if [the Creator] existed He would have to be perceived through them — said: I said, "Tell me, do the people of your lands know anything of the science of the stars?" He said, "You are heedless of the knowledge of the people of my lands regarding the stars; no one is more learned in it than they are." He said: I said, "Tell me, how did they come by knowledge of the stars, when the stars are among the things that are perceived neither by the senses nor by thought?" He said, "By a reckoning which the wise men (the scholars) established and passed down as an inheritance to the people. So when you ask one of their scholars about a thing, he takes the measure of the sun and considers its state and the state of the moon, and what of misfortunes is manifest in the constellations and what of good fortunes is hidden in them, and then he calculates, and concerning the child he does not err; he informs of every mark that is in that child without ever having seen him." I said, "How does calculation enter into the births of people?" He said, "Because all people are born only under [the reckoning of] these stars; and for this reason, once the hour, the day, the month, and the year in which the child is born are known, the calculation does not go astray." I said, "You have described an astonishing science; if it is true as you have said, there is nothing in the world more precise or greater than it. As you say, by this [science] the little child comes into the world, and his marks and the time of his death and what will befall him in his life are known. Is this not a calculation by which all the people of the world — whoever exists among mankind — are born?" He said, "I have no doubt of it." I said, "Come, let us look with our intellects into whether it is right that people should have learned this from one another, that people are born under these stars." If you say, "The scholars are the very ones who established this calculation, and the courses of these stars became known, and the ill-omened stars were distinguished from the auspicious, and the near from the far, and the slow from the swift, and their positions in the sky and beneath the earth [became known] — six of them shining in the sky and six hidden beneath the earth, and likewise the seven planets move according to the reckoning of these stars" — the heart will not accept, and the intellect will not indicate, that a creature of the earth could have such mastery over the sun as to know in which constellation it is, and in which constellation the moon is, and in which these misfortunes and good fortunes are, and when the rising and when the setting occur — while they (the stars) are suspended in the sky, and [some are] beneath the earth, and when the sun's light veils them the [earthly being] does not see them. Unless it be supposed that this wise man ascended to the sky and there came to know these things. Then I said, "Suppose [the wise man] did go up to the sky — is there any way for him but to travel along with each one of these constellations and stars, from where it rises to where it sets, then move on to the next and do the like, until he has gone through the last of them? For some of them traverse the sky in thirty years, and some in less than that. And is there any way for him but to roam through the regions of the sky until he knows the rising-points of their auspicious and their ill-omened stars, and is certain of them? And suppose he could do all that, until he was done with what is in the sky — would the reckoning of what is in the sky hold for him, so that he could establish the reckoning of what is in the earth and what is under it, and know it as he had seen with his own eyes in the sky? You already know that the courses [of the stars] under the earth are on a different pattern from their courses in the sky, and that their reckoning and their fine details cannot be known except by knowing that of them which is hidden. For it is fitting that one know at what hour of the night the rising one rises, and at what hour of the night the setting one sets and is hidden; and it is not right for the student of this knowledge to be alone [in it] if the reckoning is to be correct. And how is that possible for him, while they (the stars) are under the earth and he is on its surface, unable to see what is beneath it? Unless it be supposed that this wise man entered into the darknesses of the lands and the seas, and travelled with the stars and the sun and the moon in their courses just as he had travelled in the sky, until he saw with his own eyes what of them lies under the earth, as he had seen what of them lies in the sky." He said, "Did I say to you that anyone ascended to the sky and had power over it, that you should say he entered the earth and the darknesses, and even beheld the stars and their courses?" [The Imam said:] I said, "Then how did this science, which you supposed the scholars established, come about? And all people are born under it, and how did they come to know this reckoning — and it (the reckoning) is older than they are?" He said, "What I find correct to say is: that each of the people learned the knowledge of these stars suspended in the sky through the teaching of another." I said, "Then you must say: this [science] was taught to him by a wise being who knows the affair of the sky and the earth and is its Manager." He said, "If I said this, then I would have acknowledged the Allah whom you claim. And I only know that this reckoning [of this science] must have a teacher. And if I were to say that one of the people of the earth learned this without a teacher from among the people of the earth, that would be a false statement. But the knowledge of the earth is with us only through the senses, whereas the knowledge of the senses does not attain to the stars, which are suspended — sometimes hidden [so that they cannot be perceived by the senses] and sometimes rising; they run beneath the earth as they run in the sky. The senses do no more than look at the rising one when it rises and at the setting one when it sets. As for their reckoning and their fine details and their auspicious and their ill-omened and their swift and their slow — that the senses have no power to grasp." I said, "Tell me: if you were a learner and seeker of this reckoning, would you rather have it described to you and learn it from one of the people of the earth, or from one of the people of the sky?" He said, "From the people of the sky, since the stars are suspended in it, of which the people of the earth have no knowledge." I said, "Then reflect with the finest attention, and let not caprice overcome you. Do you not know that when the people of the world are born under [the reckoning of] these stars, [then] the stars existed before mankind? Once you acknowledge that, it becomes broken for you to take the knowledge of them from a scholar among them, when the scholar — and they — were born under [the reckoning of] the stars after them, and the stars were created before them." He said, "Yes." I said, "And likewise the earth was before them?" He said, "Yes." I said, "Because had the earth not been created, it would not have been possible for people or any other creatures to be upon it — unless they had wings — since there would be no settled place for them to take refuge in, nor any dwelling for them to return to. And likewise the celestial sphere existed before the stars and the sun and the moon, for were it not for the sphere, the constellations would not revolve, and would not rise at one time and descend at another." He said, "Yes, it is as you have said. I acknowledge that the Creator of the stars under whose [reckoning] people are born is the Creator of the sky and the earth, for had there been no sky and no earth, there would be no revolution of the sphere. It is not fitting that your intellect should fail to guide you to the fact that He who created the sky is the same as He who created the earth and the sphere and the revolution and the sun and the moon and the stars." He said, "I bear witness that the Creator is one. But I do not know how they arrived at this reckoning until they knew it, and at this cycle and its correctness. Were I to know of the reckoning what you know, I would confess my ignorance, and that would be easier for me — but I want you to add for me further explanation." I said, "I shall inform you by way of this myrobalan (ihlilaja) that is in your hand, and by way of the medicine which is your craft and the craft of your fathers." Up to his statement: [The Imam said:] [The man] said, "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, having no partner; and that He is the Creator of the deadly poisons and the ravaging vermin, and of all plants and trees, and their Planter and Grower, and the Fashioner of bodies, and the Driver of the winds, and the Subjugator of the clouds; and that He is the Creator of the diseases that stir in man, like the deadly poisons that flow in his limbs and bones, and [He is] the settler of the diseases and of the remedies that cure them; He knows the spirit, and the flow of the blood and its divisions in the veins and its connection with the nerves and the limbs and the sinews and the body; and He knows what of heat and cold reforms it (the body), and He is knowing of every limb and what is in it; and He is the One who set these stars and their reckoning, and He is the Knower of them, and the One who indicates their ill-fortunes and good fortunes, and what will come of the newborns; and the governance is one, it does not vary; it is continuous between the sky and the earth and what is in them. [The governance] is joined together."