EXPLANATION OF THE EQUALIZATION OF THE MANSIONS, AND OF THE AUGUST HOROSCOPE OF HIM WHO IS BELOVED BY THE EVERLASTING IMMORTAL ONE.

As it will be recorded in the description of the horoscope of the prince of beings in what mansions various stars were situated at that time, it will be proper in this place to premise that the sphere of spheres has been divided into twelve equal portions, called mansions, each of which in its turn consists of thirty degrees. Any degree rising in the east at the moment of a man’s birth on the horizon of the place of his birth is called the degree of his ascendant, and the mansion wherein this degree is goes by the name of the mansion of the ascendant of his nativity, used in casting his horoscope. The ecliptic is divided into twelve signs [of the zodiac].

The other division is into six great circles, one of which is the horizon, and the other the meridian; the remaining ones are inclined, and each of them is from half the eastern nocturnal arc in the ascendant divided into three equal parts, which is a well-known method. All circles passing through the north and south pole intersect also on the meridian. The horizon and the meridian are each divided into twelve equal parts, which method is called ‘Markaz mukhaffifah’ [lightened centre].

The import of the twelve houses [mansions] is as follows: The first refers to the body, soul, and life of the infant. The second to his property, means, and auxiliaries. The third to sect, religion, to short journeys, to brothers and sisters, and to all relatives. The fourth to the termination of affairs, to landed property, and houses. The fifth to children, loved ones, to gifts, messages, and embassies. The sixth to slaves and servants, and to the maladies of his cattle. The seventh to wives, partners, and enemies turning up against him. The eighth to death, inheritance, fever, danger, and to lost property. The ninth to a dis­tant journey, to science, to stories, to dreams, and to his house. The tenth to dignity, nobility, and exquisite cir­cumstances. The eleventh is the mansion of hopes and friends. The twelfth is the mansion of great quadrupeds and of enemies harbouring guile in their hearts; lastly of fetters and poison.

It is well known to astrologers that the position of a star may be singular, according to its mansion. Thus, for instance, it may be in the tenth mansion, but according to the equalization in the ninth or eleventh house. The author has cast the horoscope of an individual, some of the stars being in the eleventh mansion, but according to the equalization in the ninth; this, however, is a rare case. That cruel man’s name was A’bd-ul-Fattâh, who accord­ingly suffered, during the reign of the present monarch of Islâm—may Allah perpetuate his sway—capital punish­ment for a crime he had committed. Some persons of this class still survive, and it is hoped that the same fate will overtake them.

The object of this preamble having been accomplished, we here state that several astronomical observers well acquainted with the niceties of such calculations have, after authenticating them, ascertained that the joy-bringing ascendant of his lordship the refuge of prophecy—u. w. b. —was in the twentieth degree of Capricorn, and that from the position of this mansion on the horizon, the evidence whereof suffers no contradiction, the place of nativity and the fact became known that his powerful religion will from day to day, till the last judgment, increase, and be con­firmed in its high dignity. The position of the regent of the ascendant—i.e., of Saturn or of Jupiter, who is the source of happiness—in the mansion of the Scorpion—i.e., the eleventh, wherein the august ascendant was situated— means that every material or spiritual advantage, or imaginary and real felicity, covered by the possessor of this nativity, will be easily and readily obtained without the trouble of expectation. The world-illuminating sun had taken its noblest position in Aries, which is the fourth ascendant, in order to promulge the situation of his high prospects to the Arabs and to foreigners; the being of Mars in that place with the sun was a sign that whoever disobeys his prophetic lordship will be laid low by the scimitar of wrath. The lovely Venus was in Pisces, its mansion of honour with Mercury—known to astronomers as the patron of rhetorics—embracing each other, and announcing in eloquent strains that the possessor of this ascendant will become the noblest blessing of religions and beliefs. The moon, by whose means* memorable events take place in the upper and the nether worlds, had taken her position in the first degree of the Balance, which is the tenth mansion [or sign of the zodiac], as an evidence that the memorials of his religion and institutions will fill the length and breadth of the earth. The head [of the moon?], which means augmentation, was in Gemini, its noblest place—i.e., the sixth mansion, which, as has already been stated, refers to servants and slaves—to indicate that the nations will become obedient to him; and the tail [of the moon?], which portends loss and misery, selected the twelfth place, so that no land may be left in the inhabited quarter of the earth for the enemies of the founder of the illustrious religion to dwell in.

Some chroniclers ascribe the just-mentioned astronomical data to Abu Moa’shar, who was, during the reigns of several Khalifahs of the Abbasside dynasty, one of their astronomers. The same chroniclers, though they relate that the blessed ascendant of his lordship the prophet was in the constellation of Capricorn, nevertheless maintain in their writings that his august birth took place when the the Mountain-goat [sic] was rising.* This, however, is an evident mistake, because, according to the universal con­sensus of mathematical scholars, the Mountain-goat, which is one of the lucky mansions of the moon, pertains to the Balance, and not to Capricorn; therefore this error may, perhaps, be attributed to the transcriber, but Allah knows best!

Other astronomers relate that the sign of the Balance was the joyful ascendant of his lordship, and that the Sun, Venus, and Mercury were in Scorpio according to the equalization of the ascendant; and Mars in Cancer, and the moon in Leo. The author has been informed by an excellent individual celebrated for his knowledge of astronomy, that the horoscope of his prophetic lordship— u. w. b.—has been rectified as a model because only the night, and not the precise time of the birth, was known, which agreed with the twentieth degree of Capricorn, as stated above. Saturn and Jupiter were in the third degree of Scorpio, Mars in the twentieth of Cancer, and the moon in the eighteenth of the same sign. The sun and Venus were in Taurus, and Mercury in Aries.

It is plain to the mind of every unprejudiced reader that whatever has been here related concerning the observations on the horoscope of the holy individual to whom the allocu­tion Lao lâkâ* was addressed, is based on the axioms of those who consider the destinies of all human beings to depend upon the positions of the celestial bodies. Those who have acquired certainty in spiritual matters say that:

Distich:

He who from old enjoyed the favour of the Lord Has all the celestial bodies to obey his behests.

The author is in possession of a distich pertaining to the replica of the ballad called ‘The Sea of the Righteous,’ which he considers proper to insert in this place.

Distich:

Whoever can prognosticate from the upper bodies good or evil, Though he be Abu Moa’shar, is himself unlucky and evil.