Foretelling the future with Islamic divination

[Divination]. Al-Kitab al-Mubarak [The blessed book].

€ 7.500,00

A manuscript of Islamic divination and geomancy from the 17th century. Illustrated with several charts and ritual diagrams, the work leads a reader through the use of abjad calculations, provides tables of talismanic and magical symbols, and addresses the Seven Seals, with their powers and attributes. Copied by the scribe Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Haqir in 1622 CE, this work provides an interesting snapshot of early 17th century folk traditions and divination techniques. As with many works on the subject, much of the text is devoted to the interpretation of the signs it describes, along with other esoteric arts.

One such practice, called geomancy in the West, can be traced back to an Arabic origin, the term itself being derived from the ancient Greek "geômanteía", the Greek a translation of the original Arabic "ilm al-raml". As its name suggests, it is the art of foretelling from dots or lines randomly marked upon the ground or on paper. While geomancy was adopted widely (it was popular enough to be occasionally banned during the European Renaissance), other practices are distinctive in the Arabic tradition, such as using the numerical value assigned to each Arabic letter to calculate the future through the numerical value of names and words.