An engraving by Albrecht Dürer, from the title page of the De scientia motus orbis (Latin version with engraving, 1504). As in many medieval illustrations, the compass here is an icon of religion as well as science, in reference to God as the architect of creation.

Masha'allah ibn Atharī (c.740-d.815 AD) was an eighth century Iraqi Jew astrologer and astronomer from the city of Basra (now located in modern day Iraq) who became the leading astrologer of the late 8th century. The Arabic phrase ma sha`a allah indicates acceptance of what God has ordained in terms of good or ill fortune that may befall a believer. His name is usually Latinized as Messala or Messahalla. The Messala crater, on the Moon, is named after him. Mashallah may refer to: Mashallah ibn AtharÄ«, an 8th century Arab astronomer Mashallah, mashaLlah, mashAllah, or other spelling of the Islamic expression mashaAllah Category: ... Image File history File links Durer_astronomer. ... Image File history File links Durer_astronomer. ... Albrecht Dürer (pronounced /al. ... a compass In drafting, a compass (or pair of compasses) is an instrument]] used by mathematicians and craftsmen in for drawing or inscribing a circle or arc. ... Events October 26 - An earthquake strikes Constantinople, causing much damage and death. ... Events An iconoclastic synod is held. ... Iraqi Jews constitute one of the worlds oldest, and historically most important, Jewish communities. ... Hand-coloured version of the anonymous Flammarion woodcut (1888). ... For other uses, see Astronomy (disambiguation). ... This article is about the city of Basra. ... Arabic can mean: From or related to Arabia From or related to the Arabs The Arabic language; see also Arabic grammar The Arabic alphabet, used for expressing the languages of Arabic, Persian, Malay ( Jawi), Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Urdu, among others. ... For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ... Messala is a lunar crater of sufficient dimension to belong to the category of walled plains. ... This article is about Earths moon. ...

As a young man he participated in the founding of Baghdad in 762 by working with a group of astrologers led by Naubakht the Persian to pick an electional horoscope for the founding of the city. He wrote over twenty works on astrology, which became authoritative in later centuries at first in the Middle East, and then in the West when horoscopic astrology was transmitted back to Europe beginning in the 12th century. Baghdad (Arabic: ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ... Nobakht Ahvazi (also spelled Naubakht in many a literature) and his sons were Astronomers from Ahvaz in Persia. ... Electional astrology (called Muhurt or Muhurtha in Hindu astrology) concerns itself with finding the best time to do a particular activity. ... A horoscope calculated for January 1, 2000 at 12:01:00 A.M. Eastern Standard Time in New York City, New York, USA (Longitude: 074W0023 - Latitude: 40N4251). In astrology, a horoscope is a chart or diagram representing the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, the astrological aspects, and... Horoscopic astrology is a form of astrology which uses a horoscope or chart to gain information from the position of cosmic bodies. ...

Mashallah wrote works on Astral sympathies, otherwise known as astrology. The task of astrologers such as him and Naubakht was to optimize such influences. Hand-coloured version of the anonymous Flammarion woodcut (1888). ... Nobakht Ahvazi (also spelled Naubakht in many a literature) and his sons were Astronomers from Ahvaz in Persia. ...

His real name was probably Manasseh or Jethro, and Latin translators named him Messahala (with many variants, as Messahalla Messala, Macellama, Macelarma, Messahalah). He flourished under the Caliph al-Mansur, and became one of the earliest astronomers and astrologers of the Islamic era. Science historian Donald Hill writes that Mashallah was originally from Khorasan.^[1] pooperson he was the first bisexual man to have a heshe baby This article is abliph Al Mansur of Baghdad. ... Khorasan (Persian: خراسان) (also transcribed as Khurasan and Khorassan; Horasan in Turkish) is a region located in eastern Iran. ...

Of his over 20 works, few remain. Only one of his writings is still extant in its original Arabic, but there are many medieval Latin and Hebrew translations. One of his most popular books in the Middle Ages was the De scientia motus orbis, translated by Gherardo Cremonese. Mashallah's treatise De mercibus (On Prices) is the oldest extant scientific work in Arabic.^[2] Gerard of Cremona (Italian: Gherardo da Cremona; Latin: Gerardus Cremonensis; 1114 – 1187), the Italian translator of Arabic scientific works was most famous as the translator of Ptolemys Astronomy from Arabic texts found in Toledo. ...

He also wrote treatises on Astrolabes (p 10). The De scientia motus orbis is probably the treatise called in Arabic "the twenty-seventh," printed in Nuremberg in 1501, 1549. The second edition, De elementis et orbibus coelestibus, contains 27 chapters. The De compositione et utilitate astrolabii was included in Gregor Reisch: Margarita phylosophica (ed. pr., Freiburg, 1503; Suter says the text is included in the Basel edition of 1583). Other astronomical and astrological writings are quoted by Suter and Steinsehneider. A 16th century astrolabe. ... Gregor Reisch (born at Balingen in Wurtemberg, about 1467; died at Freiburg, Baden, 9 May 1525) was a German Carthusian humanist writer. ...

An Irish astronomical tract also exists based in part on a medieval Latin version. Edited with preface, translation, and glossary, by Afaula Power (Irish Texts Society, vol. 14, 194 p., 1914). The notable 12th century scholar and astrologer Abraham ibn Ezra translated two of Mashallah's astrological treatises into Hebrew: She'elot and Ḳadrut (Steinschneider, "Hebr. Uebers." pp. 600-603). One work is available in English: On Reception, translated by Robert Hand^[3] from the Latin edition by Joachim Heller of Nuremberg in 1549. Rabbi Abraham Ben Meir Ibn Ezra (also known as Ibn Ezra, or Abenezra) (1092 or 1093-1167), was one of the most distinguished Jewish men of letters and writers of the Middle Ages. ... Robert Hand (born December 5th, 1942 in Plainfield, New Jersey) is a prominent practicing astrologer, author, translator, and lecturer. ... Nuremberg (German: ) is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. ...

Notes

Will Durant William James Durant (November 5, 1885–November 7, 1981) was an American philosopher, historian, and writer. ...

References

• Jewish Encyclopedia - Mashallah
• James Holden, A History of Horoscopic Astrology, American Federation of Astrologers, Tempe, AZ, 1996. ISBN 0-86690-463-8 Pgs. 104-107

• "An Irish Astronomical Tract" translates by unknow, Two-thirds of the tract are part paraphrase and part translation of a Latin version of an Arabic treatise by Messahalah. University College of Cork in Ireland (Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh)

• An Irish Astronomical Tract

See also

Masha'Allah or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masha'Allah MashaAllah (ما شاء الله) is an Arabic phrase evoked by Muslims to indicate appreciation for an aforementioned individual or event. ...

• Jewish views of astrology
• Arab and Persian astrology