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{{Short description|Persian astronomer (903–986)}}
{{Redirect|Azophi|the lunar crater|Azophi (crater)}} {{Redirect|Azophi|the lunar crater|Azophi (crater)}}
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{{Infobox person {{Infobox person
| name='Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi | name = ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṣūfī
| image = Al-Sufi depicted in Albrecht Dürers 'The Northern Celestial Hemisphere' (1515).jpg
| image=2-abd-al-rahman-al-sufi.jpg
| caption = Al-Ṣūfī, as depicted in ]'s ] ''Imagines coeli septentrionales cum duodecim imaginibus zodiaci '' (1515)
| birth_date=7 December, 903
| native_name = عبدالرحمن الصوفي
| birth_place=], ]
| native_name_lang = fa
| death_date=25 May, 986 (aged 83)
| birth_date = {{Birth date|903|12|7|df=y}}
| death_place=], ]
| birth_place = ], ], ]
| residence=], ], ], ], now ]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|986|5|25|903|12|7|df=y}}
| ethnicity=]
| death_place =
| occupation=] | occupation = ], ]
| era=] | era = ]
| notable_works=]
| notable_works = '']'' ("''The Book of Fixed Stars''")}}
}}<!-- Unsourced image removed: ] -->


''''Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi''' ({{lang-fa|عبدالرحمن صوفی}} {{lang-ar|أبوالحسين عبدالرحمن بن عمر الصوفي}}) (December 7, 903 in ] – May 25, 986 in ], Iran) was a ]<ref>]. ''Ikhbar al-'ulama' bi-akhbar al-hukama'' ("''History of Learned Men''"). In: ''Άbdul-Ramān al-Şūfī and his Book of the Fixed Stars: A Journey of Re-discovery'' by Ihsan Hafez, Richard F. Stephenson, Wayne Orchiston (2011). In: Orchiston, Wayne, ''Highlighting the history of astronomy in the Asia-Pacific region: proceedings of the ICOA-6 conference. Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings.'' New York: Springer. ISBN 978-1-4419-8161-5. "''... is the honored, the perfect, the most intelligent and the friend of the King Adud al-Dawla Fanakhasru Shahenshah Ibn Buwaih. He is the author of the most honored books in the science of astronomy. He was originally from Nisa and is of a Persian descent."</ref><ref>Robert Harry van Gent. ''''. "The Persian astronomer Abū al-Husayn ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn ‘Umar al-Sūfī was born in Rayy (near Tehrān) on 7 December 903 and died in Baghdād on 25 May 986 ... the Persian astronomer Abū al-Husayn ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn ‘Umar al-Sūfī who was commonly known by European astronomers as Azophi Arabus". University of Utrecht, Netherlands. Retrieved 2014-1-11</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Selin | first = Helaine | title = Encyclopaedia of the history of science, technology, and medicine in non-western cultures | publisher = Springer | location = Berlin New York | year = 2008 | isbn = 9781402049606 | page=160 | accessdate=2 December 2016 | quote=Al-Sūf ī was an astronomer in the Arabic–Islamic area. He was of Persian origin, but wrote in Arabic, the language of all science in that time.}}</ref> ] also known as ''''Abd ar-Rahman as-Sufi''', ''''Abd al-Rahman Abu al-Husayn''', ''''Abdul Rahman Sufi''', or ''''Abdurrahman Sufi''' and, historically, in the ] as '''Azophi''' and '''Azophi Arabus'''.<ref>Robert Harry van Gent. ''''. "The Persian astronomer Abū al-Husayn ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn ‘Umar al-Sūfī was born in Rayy (near Tehrān) on 7 December 903 and died in Baghdād on 25 May 986 ... the Persian astronomer Abū al-Husayn ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn ‘Umar al-Sūfī who was commonly known by European astronomers as Azophi Arabus". University of Utrecht, Netherlands. Retrieved 2014-1-11</ref> The ] and the minor planet ] are named after him. Al-Sufi published his famous '']'' in 964, describing much of his work, both in textual descriptions and pictures. ] reports that his work on the ] was carried out in Shiraz. He lived at the ] court in ]. '''ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṣūfī''' ({{langx|fa|عبدالرحمن الصوفی}}; 7 December 903{{snd}}25 May 986) was a Persian ].<ref>]. ''Ikhbār al-ʿulamāʾ bi-akhbār al-ḥukamāʾ'' ("''History of Learned Men''"). In: ''ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṣūfī and his Book of the Fixed Stars: A Journey of Re-discovery'' by Ihsan Hafez, Richard F. Stephenson, Wayne Orchiston (2011). In: Orchiston, Wayne, ''Highlighting the history of astronomy in the Asia-Pacific region: proceedings of the ICOA-6 conference. Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings''. New York: Springer. {{ISBN|978-1-4419-8161-5}}. " is the honored, the perfect, the most intelligent and the friend of the King Adud al-Dawla Fanakhasru Shahenshah ibn Buwayh. He is the author of the most honored books in the science of astronomy. He was originally from Nisa and is of a Persian descent."</ref><ref name="Gen">{{cite web |last1=van Gent |first1=Robert Harry |title=Biography of al-Sūfī |url=https://webspace.science.uu.nl/~gent0113/alsufi/alsufi_biography.htm |publisher=] |access-date=11 January 2014}}</ref> His work '']'' ("''The Book of Fixed Stars''"), written in 964, included both textual descriptions and illustrations. The Persian ] ] wrote that al-Ṣūfī's work on the ] was carried out in ]. Al-Ṣūfī lived at the ] court in ].


==Biography== ==Biography==
ʿAbd al-Rahmān al-Ṣūfī (full name: Abū’l-Ḥusayn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿUmar ibn Sahl al-Ṣūfī al-Rāzī){{sfn|Kunitzsch1988}} was one of the nine famous Muslim astronomers.{{citation required|date=April 2023}} He lived at the court of ] ] in ], and worked on translating and expanding ], especially the '']'' of ]. He made corrections to Ptolemy's star list, and his estimations of star ] and ] deviated from those by Ptolemy; just over half of al-Ṣūfī's magnitudes being identical to Ptolemy's.{{sfn|Schaefer|2013}} A Persian, al-Ṣūfī wrote in ], the ] of the scientific Muslim world.{{sfn|Selin|1997|p=160}}


Al-Ṣūfī was a major contributor to the translation into Arabic of the ] astronomy that had been centered in ], ]. His was the first to attempt to relate the ] with the traditional ] star names and ]s, which were completely unrelated and overlapped in complicated ways.{{citation required|date=April 2023}}
'Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi was one of the famous nine Muslim astronomers. His name implies that he was from a ] background. He lived at the court of Emir ] in Ispahan, ], and worked on translating and expanding ] astronomical works, especially the '']'' of ]. He contributed several corrections to Ptolemy's ] list and did his own ] and ] estimates which frequently deviated from those in Ptolemy's work.

He was a major translator into Arabic of the ] astronomy that had been centered in ], ], the first to attempt to relate the ] with the traditional ] star names and ]s, which were completely unrelated and overlapped in complicated ways.


==Astronomy== ==Astronomy==
Al-Ṣūfī made his astronomical observations at a latitude of 32.7N° in Isfahan.{{sfn|Schaefer|2013}} It has been claimed that he identified the ],{{citation required|date=April 2023}} but this seems to be a misunderstanding of a reference to some stars south of Canopus which he admits he has not seen.{{sfn|Hafez|Stephenson|Orchiston|2011}} He also made the earliest recorded observation of the ] in 964, describing it as a "small cloud".{{sfn|Ridpath}} This was the first ] other than the ] to be mentioned in writing.<ref name="Bri">{{cite web |title=Andromeda Galaxy |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Andromeda-Galaxy |website=Britannia |access-date=13 January 2023}}</ref>
{{further information|Book of Fixed Stars}}
] from ''The Depiction of Celestial Constellations'']]


=== Astrolabe ===
He identified the ], which is visible from ], though not from Isfahan; it was not seen by Europeans until ]'s voyage in the 16th century.<ref name="obspm">{{cite web | title=Observatoire de Paris (Abd-al-Rahman Al Sufi)
Al-Ṣūfī also wrote about the ], finding numerous additional uses for it: According to American Near Eastern scholar Adam L. Bean, Al-Ṣūfī's work reportedly described over 1000 different uses in areas as diverse as ], ]s, ], ], ]keeping, ] and ] prayer.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bean |first=Adam L. |author-link= |url= |title=Encyclopedia of Time: Science, Philosophy, Theology, & Culture |date=2009 |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-4129-4164-8 |editor-last=Birx |editor-first=H. James |editor-link=H. James Birx |page=59 |language=en |chapter=Astrolabes |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3ddWSxmi9cC&pg=PA59}}</ref><ref name="Win">{{cite web |last1=Winterburn |first1=Emily |title=Using an Astrolabe |url=https://muslimheritage.com/using-an-astrolabe/ |website=Muslim Heritage |publisher=Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation, UK (FSTCUK) |access-date=22 January 2008 |date=2005}}</ref>
| url=http://messier.obspm.fr/xtra/Bios/alsufi.html | accessdate=2007-04-19 | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20070416144810/http://messier.obspm.fr/xtra/Bios/alsufi.html| archivedate= 16 April 2007 |deadurl= no}}</ref><ref name="obspm2">{{cite web | title=Observatoire de Paris (LMC) | url=http://messier.obspm.fr/xtra/ngc/lmc.html | accessdate=2007-04-19 | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20070417234827/http://messier.obspm.fr/xtra/ngc/lmc.html| archivedate= 17 April 2007 | deadurl=no}}</ref> He also made the earliest recorded observation of the ] in 964 AD; describing it as a "small cloud".<ref name="NSOG">{{cite book |last=Kepple |first=George Robert |author2=Glen W. Sanner |title=The Night Sky Observer's Guide |volume=1 |publisher=Willmann-Bell |date=1998 |isbn=0-943396-58-1 |page=18}}</ref> These were the first ] other than the ] to be observed from Earth.


===''{{transliteration|ar|Kitāb ṣuwar al-kawākib}}'' ("''The Book of Fixed Stars''")===
He observed that the ] plane is inclined with respect to the ] and more accurately calculated the length of the ]. He observed and described the stars, their positions, their ]s and their colour, setting out his results constellation by constellation. For each constellation, he provided two drawings, one from the outside of a celestial globe, and the other from the inside (as seen from the earth).
{{Further|The Book of Fixed Stars}}
] ], 1131 CE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Atbaş |first1=Zeynep |title=Artistic Aspects of Sultan Bayezid II's Book Treasury Collection: Extant Volumes Preserved at the Topkapı Palace Museum Library (Treasures of Knowledge: An Inventory of the Ottoman Palace Library (1502/3-1503/4) (2 vols)) |date=1 August 2019 |publisher= Brill |pages=161–211 |doi=10.1163/9789004402508_005}}</ref>]]
Al-Ṣūfī published ''{{transliteration|ar|Kitāb ṣuwar al-kawākib}}'' ("'']''") in 964, and dedicated it to Adud al-Dawla, the ruler of ] at the time.{{sfn|Hafez|Stephenson|Orchiston|2011}} This book describes 48 constellations and the stars within them.{{citation required|date=April 2023}}


Al-Ṣūfī compared Greek constellations and stars as described in ]’s '']'' with Arabic ones,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Atbaş |first1=Zeynep |title=Artistic Aspects of Sultan Bayezid II's Book Treasury Collection: Extant Volumes Preserved at the Topkapı Palace Museum Library (Treasures of Knowledge: An Inventory of the Ottoman Palace Library (1502/3-1503/4) (2 vols)) |date=1 August 2019 |publisher= Brill |page=195 |doi=10.1163/9789004402508_005}}</ref> linking those that were the same.{{sfn|Cavin|2011}}{{page needed|date=April 2023}} He included two illustrations of each constellation, one showing the orientation of the stars from the perspective outside the ], and the other from the perspective of looking at the sky while standing on the Earth. He separated them into three groups; 21 seen from the north, 15 seen from the south, and the 12 ] constellations. He included a complete set of ], that included the names and numbers of the individual stars in each of the 48 constellations, and each star's ], ], and location north or south of the ].{{sfn|Hafez|Stephenson|Orchiston|2011}}
Al-Sufi also wrote about the ], finding numerous additional uses for it: he described over 1000 different uses, in areas as diverse as ], ]s, ], ], ]keeping, ], ] prayer, etc.<ref name=Winterburn>{{cite web|author=Dr. Emily Winterburn (])|url=http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=529|title=Using an Astrolabe|publisher=Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation|date=2005|accessdate=2008-01-22}}</ref>


] errors within the 35 surviving copies of ''The Book of Fixed Stars'' have caused the value of the magnitude for a particular star to vary from manuscript to manuscript.{{sfn|Orchiston|Green|Strom|2014}}{{page needed|date=April 2023}}{{sfn|Knobel|1885}} Al-Ṣūfī organized the stars in each of his drawings into two groups: those that form the image depicted, and others that are in close proximity to the image. He identified and described stars not included by Ptolemy, but he did not include them in his own star charts. Stating that his charts were modelled after Ptolemy, he left the stars excluded in Ptolemy's catalogue out of his charts as well.{{sfn|Hafez|Stephenson|Orchiston|2011}}
==Sufi Observing Competition==
{{main article|Sufi Observing Competition}}


To allow for the longitudinal placement of the stars within constellations having changed over the eight centuries since the ''Almagest'' was written, Al-Ṣūfī added 12° 42' to all the longitudes values provided by Ptolemy.{{sfn|Upton|1933}} Al-Ṣūfī differed from Ptolemy by having a three level scale to measure the magnitude of stars instead of a two level scale. This extra level increased the precision of his measurements. His methodology for determining these magnitude measurements cannot be found in any of his extant texts.{{sfn|Schaefer|2013}}
Since 2006, Astronomy Society of Iran – Amateur Committee (ASIAC) hold an international ] in the memory of Sufi. The first competition was held in 2006 in the north of ] Province<ref>http://www.asiac.ir/en/news/?NewsID=-333647997</ref> and the second was held in the summer of 2008 in Ladiz near the Zahedan. More than 100 attendees from Iran and Iraq participated in the event.<ref></ref>


Despite the importance of ''The Book of Fixed Stars'' in the ], it took more than 1000 years until the first partial English translation of the book was published in 2010.<ref>{{Cite thesis|last=Hafez|first=Ihsan|date=October 2010|title=ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṣūfī and his book of the fixed stars: a journey of re-discovery|url=https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/28854/|journal=James Cook University|pages=2–4|type=phd}}</ref>{{better source|date=April 2023}}
==Gallery==

<gallery class="center">
==Legacy==
File:Constellation Taureau - al-Sufi.jpg|Constellation ]
File:Constellation Crabe - al-Sufi.jpg|Constellation ] ] from ''The Depiction of Celestial Constellations'']]
Al-Ṣūfī's astronomical work was subsequently used by many other astronomers, including ] who was both a prince and astronomer.{{sfn|Hafez|Stephenson|Orchiston|2011}}
File:Constellation lièvre - al-Sufi.jpg|Constellation ]

File:Constellation Gemeaux - al-Sufi.jpg|Constellation ]
The ] and the minor planet ] are named after Al-Ṣūfī.{{citation required|date=April 2023}}
File:Folio 165 from manuscript of as-Sufi treatese on the fixed stars. 1009-10. Bodleian Library, Oxford..jpg|Constellation ]

File:Azophi Ophiuchus.jpg|Constellation ]
The Astronomy Society of Iran – Amateur Committee has held international ]s in memory of the astronomer. The first competition was held in 2006 in the north of ] Province,<ref>{{cite web |title=A night full of memories; the first Sufi competition |url=http://www.asiac.ir/en/news/?NewsID=-333647997 |publisher=Nojum Magazine |access-date=7 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091020013951/http://www.asiac.ir/en/news/?NewsID=-333647997 |archive-date=20 October 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and the second was held in the summer of 2008 in ] near the ]. More than 100 attendees from Iran and Iraq participated in these events.<ref> </ref>
</gallery>

] commemorated Al-Ṣūfī's 1113th birthday on 7 December 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://doodles.google/doodle/abd-al-rahman-al-sufis-azophi-1113th-birthday/|title=Abd al-Rahman Al-Sufi's (Azophi) 1113th Birthday|date=7 December 2016}}</ref>


==See also== ==See also==
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]


==References== ==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}} {{reflist|group=note}}

== References==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* ]. ''Ikhbār al-ʿulamāʾ bi-akhbār al-ḥukamāʾ'' (''History of Learned Men''). In: ''ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Şūfī and his Book of the Fixed Stars: A Journey of Re-discovery'' by Ihsan Hafez, Richard F. Stephenson, Wayne Orchiston (2011). In: Orchiston, Wayne, ''Highlighting the history of astronomy in the Asia-Pacific region: proceedings of the ICOA-6 conference. Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings''. New York: Springer. {{ISBN|978-1-4419-8161-5}}. "… is the honored, the perfect, the most intelligent and the friend of the King Adud al-Dawla Fanakhasru Shahenshah Ibn Buwaih. He is the author of the most honored books in the science of astronomy. He was originally from Nisa and is of a Persian descent."
* {{cite book |last1=Cavin |first1=Jerry D. |title=The Amateur Astronomer's Guide to the Deep-Sky Catalogs |date=2011 |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-4614-0656-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=obLAoHOVodAC}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hafez |first1=Ihsan |last2=Stephenson |first2=Richard |last3=Orchiston |first3=Wayne |editor1-last=Orchiston |editor1-first=Wayne |editor2-last=Nakamura |editor2-first=Tsuko |editor3-last=Strom |editor3-first=Richard G. |title=Highlighting the History of Astronomy in the Asia-Pacific Region |date=2011 |publisher=] |isbn=978-14419-8-161-5 |pages=121{{ndash}}138 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319183952 |chapter=Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi and his Book of the Fixed Stars}}
*{{cite book |last1=Kepple |first1=George Robert |last2=Sanner |first2=Glen W. |title=The Night Sky Observer's Guide |date=1998 |publisher=Willmann-Bell |isbn=0-943396-58-1 |edition=|volume=1}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Knobel |first1=E. B. |title=On Al Sufi's star magnitudes |journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |date=1885 |volume=45 |issue=8 |pages=417{{ndash}}425 |publisher=]|doi=10.1093/mnras/45.8.417 |bibcode=1885MNRAS..45..417K |doi-access=free }}
* {{cite encyclopedia | last=Kunitzsch| first=P. |author-link=| title=ʿAbd-al-Raḥmān b. ʿOmar Ṣūfī | url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/abd-al-rahman-b-omar-sufi | encyclopedia=] | year=1988 }}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Orchiston |editor1-first=Wayne |editor2-last=Green |editor2-first=David A. |editor3-last=Strom |editor3-first=Richard |title=New Insights From Recent Studies in Historical Astronomy: Following in the Footsteps of F. Richard Stephenson: A Meeting to Honor F. Richard Stephenson on His 70th Birthday |date=2014 |publisher=] |isbn=978-3-319-07614-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YfyWBQAAQBAJ&q=Abd+al-Rahman+al-Sufi&pg=PA143}}
* {{cite web |last1=Ridpath |first1=Ian |title=Star Tales: al-Şūfī's nebulae| url=http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/alsufi.html#nebulae}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Russell |editor1-first=G.A. |title=The 'Arabik' Interest of the Natural Philosophers in Seventeenth Century England |date=1994 |publisher=E.J. Brill |location=Leiden; New York; Cologne |isbn=9004098887 |url=https://archive.org/details/StudiesInIntellectualHistory/Bsih047Russell-ThearabickInterestOfTheNaturalPhilosophersInSeventeenth-centuryEngland/page/n1/mode/2up?view=theater |language=|series=Brill's Studies in Intellectual History}}
* {{cite journal |last=Schaefer |first=Bradley E. |date=2013 |title=The Thousand Star Magnitudes in the Catalogues of Ptolemy, Al Sufi, and Tycho are All Corrected for Atmospheric Extinction |journal=Journal for the History of Astronomy |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=47{{ndash}}A91 |doi=10.1177/002182861304400103 |issn=0021-8286 |bibcode=2013JHA....44...47S |arxiv=1303.1833 |s2cid=119202231}}
* {{cite book |last1=Selin |first1=Helaine |title=Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures |date=1997 |publisher=] |location=Berlin; New York |isbn=978-1-4020-4960-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofh0000unse/page/n5/mode/2up |url-access=registration }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Upton |first1=Joseph M. |title=A Manuscript of "The Book of the Fixed Stars" by ʿAbd Ar-Raḥmān Aṣ-Ṣūfī |journal=Metropolitan Museum Studies |date=1933 |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=179{{ndash}}197 |doi=10.2307/1522800 |trans-title=|jstor=1522800}}


== External links == == External links ==
* * - illustrations from copies of ''The Book of Fixed Stars'', and information and links relating to the work (self-published, in Italian)
* *
* *
* *
* * – with comprehensive bibliography and list of known manuscripts.


{{Islamic astronomy}} {{Islamic astronomy}}

{{Authority control}} {{Authority control}}


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Latest revision as of 12:25, 2 December 2024

Persian astronomer (903–986) "Azophi" redirects here. For the lunar crater, see Azophi (crater).

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṣūfī
عبدالرحمن الصوفي
Al-Ṣūfī, as depicted in Albrecht Dürer's woodcut Imagines coeli septentrionales cum duodecim imaginibus zodiaci (1515)
Born(903-12-07)7 December 903
Rey, Jibal, Abbasid Caliphate
Died25 May 986(986-05-25) (aged 82)
Occupation(s)Astronomer, mathematician
EraIslamic Golden Age
Notable workKitāb ṣuwar al-kawākib ("The Book of Fixed Stars")

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṣūfī (Persian: عبدالرحمن الصوفی; 7 December 903 – 25 May 986) was a Persian astronomer. His work Kitāb ṣuwar al-kawākib ("The Book of Fixed Stars"), written in 964, included both textual descriptions and illustrations. The Persian polymath Al-Biruni wrote that al-Ṣūfī's work on the ecliptic was carried out in Shiraz. Al-Ṣūfī lived at the Buyid court in Isfahan.

Biography

ʿAbd al-Rahmān al-Ṣūfī (full name: Abū’l-Ḥusayn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿUmar ibn Sahl al-Ṣūfī al-Rāzī) was one of the nine famous Muslim astronomers. He lived at the court of Emir 'Adud al-Dawla in Isfahan, and worked on translating and expanding ancient Greek astronomical works, especially the Almagest of Ptolemy. He made corrections to Ptolemy's star list, and his estimations of star brightness and magnitude deviated from those by Ptolemy; just over half of al-Ṣūfī's magnitudes being identical to Ptolemy's. A Persian, al-Ṣūfī wrote in Arabic, the lingua franca of the scientific Muslim world.

Al-Ṣūfī was a major contributor to the translation into Arabic of the Hellenistic astronomy that had been centered in Alexandria, Egypt. His was the first to attempt to relate the Greek with the traditional Arabic star names and constellations, which were completely unrelated and overlapped in complicated ways.

Astronomy

Al-Ṣūfī made his astronomical observations at a latitude of 32.7N° in Isfahan. It has been claimed that he identified the Large Magellanic Cloud, but this seems to be a misunderstanding of a reference to some stars south of Canopus which he admits he has not seen. He also made the earliest recorded observation of the Andromeda Galaxy in 964, describing it as a "small cloud". This was the first galaxy other than the Milky Way to be mentioned in writing.

Astrolabe

Al-Ṣūfī also wrote about the astrolabe, finding numerous additional uses for it: According to American Near Eastern scholar Adam L. Bean, Al-Ṣūfī's work reportedly described over 1000 different uses in areas as diverse as astronomy, astrology, horoscopes, navigation, surveying, timekeeping, Qibla and Salat prayer.

Kitāb ṣuwar al-kawākib ("The Book of Fixed Stars")

Further information: The Book of Fixed Stars
“Sign of Sagittarius” by al-Sufi in his book Ṣuwar al-kawākib al-thābita, Artuqid Mardin, 1131 CE.

Al-Ṣūfī published Kitāb ṣuwar al-kawākib ("The Book of Fixed Stars") in 964, and dedicated it to Adud al-Dawla, the ruler of Buwayhid at the time. This book describes 48 constellations and the stars within them.

Al-Ṣūfī compared Greek constellations and stars as described in Ptolemy’s Almagest with Arabic ones, linking those that were the same. He included two illustrations of each constellation, one showing the orientation of the stars from the perspective outside the celestial globe, and the other from the perspective of looking at the sky while standing on the Earth. He separated them into three groups; 21 seen from the north, 15 seen from the south, and the 12 zodiac constellations. He included a complete set of star charts, that included the names and numbers of the individual stars in each of the 48 constellations, and each star's longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates, magnitude, and location north or south of the ecliptic.

Scribal errors within the 35 surviving copies of The Book of Fixed Stars have caused the value of the magnitude for a particular star to vary from manuscript to manuscript. Al-Ṣūfī organized the stars in each of his drawings into two groups: those that form the image depicted, and others that are in close proximity to the image. He identified and described stars not included by Ptolemy, but he did not include them in his own star charts. Stating that his charts were modelled after Ptolemy, he left the stars excluded in Ptolemy's catalogue out of his charts as well.

To allow for the longitudinal placement of the stars within constellations having changed over the eight centuries since the Almagest was written, Al-Ṣūfī added 12° 42' to all the longitudes values provided by Ptolemy. Al-Ṣūfī differed from Ptolemy by having a three level scale to measure the magnitude of stars instead of a two level scale. This extra level increased the precision of his measurements. His methodology for determining these magnitude measurements cannot be found in any of his extant texts.

Despite the importance of The Book of Fixed Stars in the history of astronomy, it took more than 1000 years until the first partial English translation of the book was published in 2010.

Legacy

Sagittarius from The Depiction of Celestial Constellations

Al-Ṣūfī's astronomical work was subsequently used by many other astronomers, including Ulugh Beg who was both a prince and astronomer.

The lunar crater Azophi and the minor planet 12621 Alsufi are named after Al-Ṣūfī.

The Astronomy Society of Iran – Amateur Committee has held international Sufi Observing Competitions in memory of the astronomer. The first competition was held in 2006 in the north of Semnan Province, and the second was held in the summer of 2008 in Ladiz near the Zahedan. More than 100 attendees from Iran and Iraq participated in these events.

Google Doodle commemorated Al-Ṣūfī's 1113th birthday on 7 December 2016.

See also

Notes

References

  1. Al-Qifti. Ikhbār al-ʿulamāʾ bi-akhbār al-ḥukamāʾ ("History of Learned Men"). In: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṣūfī and his Book of the Fixed Stars: A Journey of Re-discovery by Ihsan Hafez, Richard F. Stephenson, Wayne Orchiston (2011). In: Orchiston, Wayne, Highlighting the history of astronomy in the Asia-Pacific region: proceedings of the ICOA-6 conference. Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings. New York: Springer. ISBN 978-1-4419-8161-5. "… is the honored, the perfect, the most intelligent and the friend of the King Adud al-Dawla Fanakhasru Shahenshah ibn Buwayh. He is the author of the most honored books in the science of astronomy. He was originally from Nisa and is of a Persian descent."
  2. van Gent, Robert Harry. "Biography of al-Sūfī". University of Utrecht. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  3. Kunitzsch1988.
  4. ^ Schaefer 2013.
  5. Selin 1997, p. 160.
  6. ^ Hafez, Stephenson & Orchiston 2011.
  7. Ridpath.
  8. "Andromeda Galaxy". Britannia. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  9. Bean, Adam L. (2009). "Astrolabes". In Birx, H. James (ed.). Encyclopedia of Time: Science, Philosophy, Theology, & Culture. SAGE. p. 59. ISBN 978-1-4129-4164-8.
  10. Winterburn, Emily (2005). "Using an Astrolabe". Muslim Heritage. Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation, UK (FSTCUK). Retrieved 22 January 2008.
  11. Atbaş, Zeynep (1 August 2019). Artistic Aspects of Sultan Bayezid II's Book Treasury Collection: Extant Volumes Preserved at the Topkapı Palace Museum Library (Treasures of Knowledge: An Inventory of the Ottoman Palace Library (1502/3-1503/4) (2 vols)). Brill. pp. 161–211. doi:10.1163/9789004402508_005.
  12. Atbaş, Zeynep (1 August 2019). Artistic Aspects of Sultan Bayezid II's Book Treasury Collection: Extant Volumes Preserved at the Topkapı Palace Museum Library (Treasures of Knowledge: An Inventory of the Ottoman Palace Library (1502/3-1503/4) (2 vols)). Brill. p. 195. doi:10.1163/9789004402508_005.
  13. Cavin 2011.
  14. Orchiston, Green & Strom 2014.
  15. Knobel 1885.
  16. Upton 1933.
  17. Hafez, Ihsan (October 2010). ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṣūfī and his book of the fixed stars: a journey of re-discovery. James Cook University (phd). pp. 2–4.
  18. "A night full of memories; the first Sufi competition". Nojum Magazine. Archived from the original on 20 October 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
  19. رقابت صوفي، درآمدي بر سال جهاني نجوم
  20. "Abd al-Rahman Al-Sufi's (Azophi) 1113th Birthday". 7 December 2016.

Bibliography

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