Al-Biruni on the Twelve Houses

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Al-Biruni on the Twelve Houses

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We now proceed to consider the conditions in the signs from their relation to the horizon which we have already referred to as the houses...

Al-Biruni
Book of Instructions

Introduction
Special Indications of the Houses Relating to Nativities
Indications Relating to Horary Questions

Introduction

The Kitab al tafhim li awa'il sina'at al tanjim, the Book of Instructions in the Elements of the Art of Astrology, often known as the Tafhim, was written in 1029 and thus is not an example of Renaissance astrology. Nevertheless, this book by the famous Islamic scientist Al-Biruni provides an excellent overview of the mathematics, astronomy and astrology of the advanced Islamic civilization of the Middle Ages.
It was this "New Science", imported into Europe in the 11th and 12th centuries, that formed the basis of the astrology practiced in the Renaissance. Despite a certain trend towards both innovation and return to Greek and Roman sources, Renaissance astrology is essentially Islamic astrology. Those familiar with medieval and Renaissance astrology will note some interesting idiosyncrasies in Al-Biruni's assignment of items to various houses.

Selections from Abu'l-Rayhan Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Al-Biruni's

Book of Instructions in the Elements of the Art of Astrology

[1029 A.D] translated 1934 by R. Ramsay Wright.

Section 461

Dallat a11ati takhussu 1i'1-mawlid

SPECIAL INDICATIONS OF THE HOUSES PECULIAR TO NATIVITIES

TOP

First House

Soul, life, length of life, education, native land.

Second House

Suck1ing,nutriment,disaster to eyes if over-taken by ill-luck, livelihood,household requisites, assistants profession of children.

Third House

Brothers, sisters, relations, relations in-law, jewels, friends, migration, short journeys, intelligence, knowledge, expertness in religious law.

Fourth House

Parents, grandparents, descendants, real estate, fields, houses, water-supply, knowledge of genealogy; what succeeds death and what happens to the dead.

Fifth House

Children, friends, clothes, pleasure, joy, little acquisition of property, accumulated wealth of father, what was said of him at his burial service.

Sixth House

Sickness, defects of body, overwork, if unfortunate accident to legs, loss of property, disease of internal organs, slaves, maids, cattle.

Seventh House

Women, concubines, giving in marriage, marriage-feasts, contentions, partnership, losses, lawsuits.

Eighth House

Death and its causes, murder, poisoning, evil effects of drugs on body, inheritance, wife's property, expenditure, poverty, extreme indigence, feigning death.

TOP

Ninth House

Travel,re1igion,piety,fate,seriousness, attainment of knowledge from the stars and divination, philosophy, survey1ng, sharp discernment, trustworthiness, interpretation of visions and dreams.

Tenth House

Rule of Sultan, government with council of nobles, absolute authority, success, in business, commerce, professions, well-behaved children, liberality.

Eleventh House

Happiness, friends, enemies, concern for next world, prayer and praise, friendship of women, love, dress, perfume, ornaments, commerce, longevity.

Twelth House

Enemies, misery, anxieties, prison, debt, fines, bail, fear, adversity, disease, prenatal fancies of mother, cattle, harbours, slaves, servants, armies, exile, tumults.

Section 462

Dalalatha allati yataf'adi ila'l-mitsa'il.

INDICATIONS RELATING TO HORARY QUESTIONS

TOP

First House

Asking horary questions, important public matters, nobility, advancement in rank, witchcraft and spells.

Second House

Examining the querent, lending and borrowing, counting friends, arrival of stranger, enemies or friends, mandate of emir, winds when they blow.

Third House

Secrets and news and commentaries, well-born ladies, journeys by water.

Fourth House

Old and hidden things, treasures, thieves' hiding-places , schools, fortresses, fetters, dismissal from office, opening abscesses, lancing and cautery, stepfather, prison.

Fifth House

Messengers, right guidance, bribery, rectitude, distant places, poor harvests, securing the wealth of the ancients, feasts, food and drink.

Sixth House

Lost and escaped, some lost trifle which does not turn up, affairs of women and eunuchs, suspicion, hatred, calumny, violence, dissipation, deceit, terrors, prison, enemy, poverty, moving from place to place.

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Seventh House

The absent, thief, places where travelers assemble, treasure, death of contemporaries, foreign travel, sudden murder [for a trifle], denial, obstinacy, claiming a right, cheapness and dearness.

Eighth House

Buried, and hidden treasure, things ruined or lost or old, middens and rubbish-heaps, sickness of friends, lawsuits without a case, folly, contention, pride, dullness or the market, leisure.

Ninth House

Failure, abandoned business, books, information, ambassadors, miracles, roads, brothers-in-law.

Tenth House

Kings, notables, judges, the celebrated in all classes, amir and his conduct in office, things newly legitimized, wine, step-mother.

Eleventh House

The treasury of the sultan, its officials, trouble in the office, foreigner's child, servant's child, (read 'abd) things which are sound, beautiful, advantageous, the beginnings of affairs, friendship of the great, bribery, food.

Twelfth House

Fugitives, writers, those who neglect devotion, a precious gem, prisoners, the matter which preceded the question, property of oppressors, thieves, lost property, scorn, envy and fraud.

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Copyright 2001, Christopher Warnock, All Rights Reserved.