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KENNEDY & ID 1974 - Habash al-Hasib on the qibla

Article · January 1974

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 HISTORIA MATHEMATICA 1 (1974), 3-11

A LETTEROF AL-B-iRijNl
HABASHAL-ViiSIB’S ANALEMMA
FORTHE QIBLA
BY ENS, KENNEDY, AMERICAN UNIV, OF BEIRUT
AND BROWN UNIVERSITY
AND YUSUF ‘ID, DEBAYYAH CAMP, LEBANON

SUMMARIES

Given the geographical coordinates of two points

on the earth's surface, a graphical construction is
described for determining the azimuth of the one
locality with respect to the other. The method is due
to a ninth-century astronomer of Baghdad, transmitted
in a short Arabic manuscript reproduced here, with an
English translation. A proof and commentary have been
added by the present authors.

Etant don&es les coordin6es gkographiques de deux

points sur le globe terrestre, les auteurs dkrient
une construction graphique pour trouver l'azimuth d'un
point par rapport 2 l'autre. La mbthode est contenue
dans un bref manuscrit, ici transcrit avec copie
facsimilaire et traduction anglaise, d'un astronome
de Baghdad du ne,uvibme sikle. Les auteurs ajoutent
une demonstration et un commentaire.

1. INTRODUCTION
This paper presents a hitherto unpublished writing by the
celebrated polymath of Central Asia, Abii al-Rayhgn Muhammad b.
Ahmad al-BiGi, the millenial anniversary of whose birth was
commemorated in 1973. For information on his life and work the
reaaer may consult item [3] in the bibliography.
 4 E.S. Kennedy, Y. ‘Id HM1

The unique manuscript copy of the text is Cod.. Or. 168(16)*

in the collection of the Bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit of
Leiden. We thank the authorities of this library for calling it
to our attention, and for supplying microfilms. The Arabic text
is reproduced in facsimile, with their permission, because
occasional words are hard to read or missing completely, and
other readers may supply restorations better than ours.
The subject of the treatise is a favorite topic of medieval
Islamic astronomers, the azimuth of the qibla. When making his
five daily prayers, the pious Muslim is enjoined to face toward
Mecca, the qibla. To do this it suffices if he knows the
cardinal directions at his station, and the angle between any
one of these and the great circle joining Mecca to his locality.
The angle in turn can be determined if the terrestrial coordinates
of Mecca and the locality are known. Thus the ascertaining of
the direction of prayer is essentially a problem in spherical
geometry, for which solutions abound in the literature. Some of
these have been studied in modern times. The resulting publica-
tions have been listed under [B], [ll], [12], and [13] in the
bibliography.
For the most part the solutions are trigonometric and the
results are numerical, obtained by calculations based on tables
of functions. By contrast, the technique explained here is
graphical. The line of the qibla is actually laid out in a
scale drawing. This descriptive-geometric type of solution for
such problems originated in Hellenistic times and is known as an
analemma. It played a considerable role in medieval astronomy,
and additional examples are turning up continually (see, e.g.,
[51, [61, [121, and [13]). Furthermore analemmas can be used to
prove complicated relations in spherical trigonometry, as has
been done in [7], [B], and [9].
AbR al-RRyhan presents a number of methods of determining the
qibla in two of his books. In the Tagdid ([2], pp. 241-255 in
the English translation) he gives five, one of which is an
analemma, and in the &Gin ([l], pp. 522-528) there are two,
including one analemma. All of these are different from the
analemma explained here, which Bir%i says he found in a treatise
on the qibla by vabash al-Hasib al Marwazi (fl. 850, see [14],
p. 12), a prominent astronomer who worked for the Abbasid

*Listed thus on p. 432 of Bibliotheca Universitatis Leidensis,

Codices Manuscripti VII, Handlist of Arabic Manuscripts in the
Library of the University of Leiden. .., compiled by R. Voorhoeve,
Leiden, 1957. On p. 240 of “L’Oeuvre d’al-Beruni, Essai
Bibliographique,” Mglanges de 1'Institut Dominicain d'Etudes
Orientales 2(1955), Cairo, D. J. Boilot lists it as RG 180, MS
Leyde 1007. The authors thank the referee for pointing out this
discrepancy and several errors in the draft of the paper.
HMl Letter of Al-Biriini 5

caliph al-Ma’mti. This work of Habash is not extant, but two

versions of his astronomical handbook (zIj) are available, and
in one of them, Yeni Jami (Istanbul) MS 784, 20, ff. 194v-195v,
is an analemma for the qibla which turns out to be that of our
text. However, the figure is lettered differently from ours, and
the language is by no means identical, the explanation in the
zij being considerably more prolix. A second analemma follows,
which seems to us to be invalid.
Habash says nothing about a proof, and Biriini states that it
is self-evident. We feel that this is by no means the case, but
at considerable effort have worked out the proof given in Section
3 below.
We consider this analemma to be particularly elegant, and
well suited to the needs, say, of an architect laying out the
ground plan of a new mosque, and desirous of locating the mi+-Zib,
the niche which indicates the qibla for the congregation.

2. TRANSLATION OF THE TEXT

In this translation and in Figure 1 words or letters enclosed
in parentheses are not in the text, but have been added to assist
the reader. Square brackets, however, indicate restorations to
the text. Arabic letters on the figure have been transcribed
according to the system given in [4].

f. 136r

12 A Copy of the
Letter (kit&) of
Abii al-Rayhan to
Sa’id
it 13 may God have
mercy on the two
of them.
 6 E.S. Kennedy, Y. ‘Id HM1

f. 136~

line
1 In the name of God, the Merciful the Compassionate; may
God bless and save Muhammad and his companions (?).
2 I found, may God lengthen the life of the noble Shaykh my
lord and my ruler,
3 in the handwriting of Muhammad bin al-Khidr, andcAli bin
al-Rabi'and Muhammad bin'<Abd al-<AzIz
4 al-Hashimi the-treatise (riszla) of Habash al-HRsib on the
azimuth of the qibla (giving a method) different from what
was
in the treatise (risa'la) of the Shaykh on the azimuth of the
qibla. So I showed it to my lord the noble Shaykh
Abel Naqr Mansiir bin <AlI, the Associate (?) of the
Commander of the Faithful, may God support him. He said
that which [Habash al-@sib] mentioned and upon which he
based the proof,
thus I (AbR al-Rayhan) found it. He (Habash) said, after
the conditions were mentioned:
HMl Letter of Al-Biruni 7

line
9 We take (an arc) AZ equal to the latitude of our locality
and ZH equal to the latitude of Mecca,
10 and ZT equal to the difference in longitude (between the
two localities). Join T (to) E and produce
11 diameter ZEK, and draw HMY parallel to ZEK (the text says
parallel to TEK), and take its midpoint
12 at M, and ES equal to HM, and draw from S line
13 SO perpendicular to HMY. Then we draw from point 0 line
OFQ
14 parallel to AG, and line OLN parallel to DB, and we take
with the compass
15 the length of LN; we put one of its ends at the center E
and the other end
16 where it cuts line OFQ. Let it be point F, and we draw
from E
17 a line which passes through F and ends at C on the circle;
it will be

f. 137r
8 E.S. Kennedy, Y. 'Id HMl

line f. 137r
1 the line of the qibla, and arc CD is its distance from the
north-south line (DB). The difference
2 between this (method) and that which is in (the work on)
the azimuth of the qibla by the Shaykh, may God support
him, is that here the latitude
3 of Mecca is taken from point Z, which is the end (point)
of the latitude
4 of our locality, and that there (i.e., in the other
treatise) it

Figure 1

5 is taken from point A. (Here) the amount LN is taken by

the compass but there it
6 is taken equal to OL, which has no utility,
The'proof of what
7 ybash said is evident. And so I wanted to inform the
Shaykh in order to put it in writing (?, i.e., to get it
on the record) that he have it at hand (? a word is
partially effaced). Peace (be upon you).
HMl Letter of Al-Biriini 9

3. PROOF THAT THE CONSTRUCTION IS VALID

In Figure 1, transcribed from the text, the point E is the
projection of the local zenith on the horizon plane of the given
locality, and AG and DB are the cardinal directions through E.
It will be shown that in this construction, F is the projection
of the zenith of Mecca on this plane, hence arc DC is the required
azimuth. To demonstrate this it will suffice to show that
1) OL is the distance from the zenith of Mecca to the
vertical plane through AG, and that
2) EF is the distance from the zenith of Mecca to the line
through E normal to the horizon plane.
To do this consider Figure 2, which represents the situation
on the celestial sphere and in its interior. To avoid making
this drawing look even more complicated, we have placed the zenith
of Mecca to the east of the given locality, although in the text
and on Figure 1 it is to the west. Note that on the meridian
circle the distance from the zenith of the locality (P) to the
parallel of latitude through the zenith of Mecca (M) is $P-$M,
the distance between this parallel and the equator being $M.
These arcs have been laid off as AH and HZ in the construction.
It is as though the plane of the meridian circle had been rotated

Figure 2
10 E.S. Kennedy, Y. 'Id HMl

about DB down into the horizon plane so that ZK and HY are

diameters of the celestial equator and the parallel of Mecca
respectively, and MY is the radius of the latter. Returning to
Figure 2, we observe that a normal dropped from the zenith.of
Mecca to the equatorial plane at S will make the length of SE
equal the day-circle radius, and SE has been so constructed on
Figure 1. Moreover, the arc TZ has been constructed equal to the
longitude difference AA, so the sector TZE with its point S
corresponds in every way to the sector with arc AA, center E and
point S marked in Figure 2. In the latter figure the projection
of S on the meridian plane is U. Its analogue has been indicated
by the same letter on Figure 1. In Figure 2 a line through U
perpendicular to the equatorial plane intercepts the plane of
the parallel of Mecca at 0. The line UO on Figure 1 represents
this line in proper magnitude and disposition. In Figure 2 the
distance from 0 to the vertical line through E is OL. It is
determined on the analemma by drawing OL perpendicular to AE.
This is condition 1.
To complete the demonstration, note that the magnitude
required for condition 2, the distance (in Figure 2) from the
zenith of Mecca to EP, is the radius of a horizontal small circle
(not shown on the figure) with center at L. This radius appears
on Figure 1 as the line LN.

4. INDIVIDUALS NAMED IN THE TEXT

In addition to Habash, five persons are named in the body of
the treatise. The best known of these is Abii Nasr Mansiir, a
Khwarazmian like Birfini whose teacher he was. An able astronomer
and mathematician, Abii Nasr is best remembered for his version of
the Spherics of Menelaos, [9].
Muhammad b. 'Abd al-CAziz al-Hashimi was the author of a zxj,
and he observed an eclipse from Raqqa on the Euphrates in 932
(see [14], p. 181, and [2], the English commentary, Section 66).
The individual referred to as Muhammad b. al-Khidr may have
been H&mid b. KhiQr al-KhujandI, a friend of Biri%iis who
directed a famous observatory near modern Tehran (see [14], p.
74, and [2], the English commentary, Section 66).
The Sacid to whom the letter is addressed perhaps was Ahmad
b. Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Jalil, abCi Sa'id al-Sijzi ([14], p. 80),
who was known to Birilni.
Finally, the closest we can come to "Ali b. al-Rabi' is the
I$imid b. 'Ali, Abti al-Rabi' al-WHsiti named in [14], p. 40.
 HMl Letter of Al-Bikini 11

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Al-Birtii, Al-Q&fin al-MasCcdY, 3 vols., Hyderabad-Dn., 1954-

56.
2. Al-Biriini,
Tahdid nihzyzt al-amain li tagbib ma&fit
al-masskin. The text was published as Vol. 8 of Majalla
maChad al-makhciitzt al-carabiya, Cairo, 1962. A Russian
translation and commentary by P. G. Bulgakov (the editor of
the text edition) is Vol. 3 of Izbrannye proizvedenia,
Tashkent, 1966. An English translation by Jamil Ali is The
Determination of the Coordinates of Cities, al-B7ri%7's
Tahdid al-Amakin, Beirut, 1967. A commentary to the text by
E. S. Kennedy is being published by the American University
of Beirut.
3. Article on Biriini in the Dictionary of Scientific Biography
Vol. 2, pp. 147-158, New York, 1970.
4. Hermelink, H., and Kennedy, E.S., "Transcription of Arabic
Letters in Geometric Figures," Journal of the American
Oriental Society, Vol. 82(1962), p. 204.
5. Kennedy, E. S., "Al-Biruni on Determining the Meridian,"
The Mathematics Teacher, Vol. LVI(1963), pp. 635-637.
6. Kennedy, E. S., "Al-Biruni's Graphical Determination of the
Local Meridian," Scripta Mathematics, Vol. 24(1959), pp.
251-255.
7. Kennedy, E.' S., and Sharkas, Haydar, "Two Medieval Methods
for Finding the Obliquity of the Ecliptic," The Mathematics
Teacher, Vol. 55(1962), pp. 286-290.
8. King, David A., "Spherical Astronomy in the Bairni Zij of
Ibn Yiinus," to appear.
9. Krause, M., "Die SphPrik von Menelaos aus Alexandrien in der
Verbesserung von Abfi Nasr ManSur b. cAli b. cIr?iq,"
Abhandlungen der Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu GC)ttingen,
Philol.-hist. Kl., 3. Folge, No. 17, Berlin, 1936.
10. Neugebauer, O., "On the 'Hippopede' of Eudoxus ,I' Scripta
Mathematics, Vol. 19(1953), pp. 225-229.
11. $hv, C., "Abhandlung von al-Fad1 b. IjPtim an-NairIzI:
Uber die Richtung der Qibla," Sitzungsberichte der
mathematisch-physikalischen Klasse der Bayerischen Akademie
der Wissenschaften, 1922, pp. 55-68.
12. Schoy, C., "Abhandlung des al-Hasan ibn al-Haitam (Alhazen)
iiber die Bestimmung der Richtung der Qibla," Zeitschrift der
deutschen morgenl2ndischen Gesellschaft, Bd. 75(1921), pp.
242-253.
13. Schoy, C., article "Kibla" in the Encyclopedia of Islam
(first edition), Vol: 2, pp. 985-989, Leiden and London,
1913-1934.
14. Suter, H., "Die Mathematiker und Astronomen der Araber und
ihre Werke," Abhandlungen zur Geschichte der mathematischen
Wissenschaften. .., X. Heft, Leipzig, 1900.

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