Alkindi (abu-Yusuf Ya'kub ibn Ishak ibn Sabbah al-Kindi), who died c. 870, is one of the greatest names in the history of Arabic learning. He is known as "The Philosopher of the Arabs" and was the teacher of the great Persian astrologer Abu Ma'shar. Alkindi (using the common Latin spelling of his name) worked in the famous House of Wisdom erected by the Caliph Al-Mansur in Baghdad (founded 762) for the purpose of promoting the Arab's assimilation of Indian, Greek and Persian science. He translated the works of Aristotle and other Greeks into Arabic and many books are attributed to him on a diverse range of subjects. These include works on philosophy, politics, mathematics, medicine, music, astronomy and astrology.
On the Stellar Rays concentrates on a clear exposition of a doctrine of magic, written at a time when magic was both accepted and practised, and written by someone who believed in it. As such it provides a reliable reference point to study of magic and related subjects.
The translation will appeal to those interested in magic, astrology, physics and psychology. According to Alkindi these are all interwoven. More than this anyone interested in the development of science in the West and the philosophy of science in general will find this work of particular importance as will those concerned with the great debate of religion versus science.
This work exemplifies the ninth century Islamic scientist's interest in the occult. Indeed, it clearly shows the application of what we today recognise as the scientific approach to a subject that is generally not regarded as being scientific. Alkindi, is attempting to provide a rational basis for magic. This Moslem interest in the occult arts was passed to Western Latin Christendom in the twelfth century as part of the "New Science" (being the Occult Arts and Aristotelian Science) where it initiated intellectual and scientific currents which eventually spawned the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century.
The rational basis that Alkindi gives to magic is founded on the assertion that all terrestrial things emit "rays" which exist everywhere simultaneously thereby permitting the magician who understands these things to effect change at a distance.
These "rays" of terrestrial things are related to the rays of the stars and planets, thus heaven and earth exist in a reciprocal relation to each other. More than this the human voice can effect change. Thus the arts of the Trivium (Grammar, Logic and Rhetoric) have esoteric/magical correlates and perhaps most importantly, by concluding that the magician can exploit these insights without the involvement of any higher power Alkindi's scientific magic is made wholly secular.
The work has been translated from Latin onto English by the professional astrologer and LatinistRobert Zoller. It is a new revised 2nd edition of the first Latin tract originally published by the Golden Hind Press for Project Hindsight in 1993. The Zoller translation is the only one available to the English reader.
