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Medieval Encounters 23 (2017) 106–123 Jewish, Christian and Muslim Culture

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Some Features of the Old Castilian Alfonsine

Translation of ʿAlī Ibn Khalaf’s Treatise on the
Lámina Universal
Emilia Calvo
Department of Semitic Filology, University of Barcelona, Gran Vía 585, 08007
Barcelona, Spain
ecalvo@ub.edu

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to present some features of the treatise on the lámina universal,
an astronomical instrument devised by ʿAlī ibn Khalaf, an eleventh-century Andalusi
mathematician and astronomer who belonged to the scientific circle of Ṣāʿid al-
Andalusī. ʿAlī ibn Khalaf was a contemporary of Ibn al-Zarqālluh (al-Zarqālī, Azarquiel),
also a mathematician and astronomer working under Ṣāʿid’s patronage, and the inven-
tor of the instrument known as azafea. Both instruments, the lámina universal and
the azafea, are universal instruments devised to overcome the limitations of the stan-
dard astrolabe. The only text describing ʿAlī ibn Khalaf’s instrument is the thirteenth-
century old-Castilian Alfonsine translation, which has not been studied in detail up to
now, although some preliminary studies have been published. The present study deals
with some linguistic and technical difficulties of the text. In many passages, it seems to
follow literally the grammatical structure of the Arabic language while in others, the
lack of technical terms forced the translators to resort either to a literal transcription
of the original Arabic terminology or, in some cases, to approximate translations that
make the text somewhat difficult to follow. The paper provides additional information
related mainly to the astronomical parameters and the technical vocabulary used in the
translation.

Keywords

Alfonso X El Sabio – Alfonsine translations – ʿAlī ibn Khalaf – Andalusi astronomers –

astrolabe – azafea – lámina universal – Ṣāʿid al-Andalusī – Toledo – universal
astronomical instruments

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi 10.1163/15700674-12342244

ʿ Alī Ibn Khalaf ’ s Treatise on the Lámina Universal 107

Introduction

The aim of this paper is to present some features of the treatise on the lámina
universal. This name refers to an astronomical instrument devised by ʿAlī ibn
Khalaf, an eleventh-century Andalusi mathematician and astronomer who
belonged to the scientific circle of Ṣāʿid al-Andalusī. The latter was a histo-
rian of science and ideas and a mathematical scientist with a special inter-
est in astronomy. In 1068, Ṣāʿid was appointed chief religious judge (qāḍī) of
Toledo, an office he held until his death. His interest in the history of science,
and science itself, especially astronomy, led him to patronize the work of con-
temporary scientists as well as to compose several scientific works himself.
Ṣāʿid’s only extant book, Al‐Taʿrīf bi‐ṭabaqāt al-umam (Exposition of the genera-
tions of nations), from 1068, deals with the “history of science,” describing the
achievements of the Indians, Persians, Chaldeans, Egyptians, Greeks, al‐Rūm
(“Byzantines” and other Christians), Arabs, and Jews.1
ʿAlī ibn Khalaf was a contemporary of Ibn al-Zarqālī (Azarquiel),2 also a
mathematician and astronomer working under Ṣāʿid’s patronage and the
inventor of the instrument known as azafea. Both instruments, the lámina

1  Abū l-Ḥasan ibn Aḥmar al-Ṣaydalānī. See Ṣāʿid Al-Andalusī, Tabaqāt al-Umām, ed. Ḥayāt Bū
ʿAlwān (Beirut: Dār al-Ṭalī’a, 1985). French translation by Régis Blachère, Livre des catégories
des nations (Paris: Larose, 1935). English translation by Semaʿan Salem and Alok Kumar, 2nd
ed. (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1997), 180; David A. King, “On the Early History
of the Universal Astrolabe in Islamic Astronomy, and the Origin of the Term ‘Shakkaziyya’
in Medieval Scientific Arabic,” Journal for the History of Arabic Science 3 (1979): 244–257,
reprinted in Islamic Astronomical Instruments (London: Aldershot, 1987); Julio Samsó, Las
Ciencias de los Antiguos en al-Andalus (Madrid: Mapfre, 1992), 180–187; Roser Puig, “Ibn Jalaf
al-Ṣaydalānī,” in Biblioteca de al-Andalus (Almería: Fundación Ibn Tufayl, 2004), 3:28–29;
Roser Puig, “ʿAlī Ibn Jalaf,” in The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers (hereafter B.E.A.),
ed. Thomas Hockey et al. (New York, NY: Springer, 2007), 34–35. On Ṣāʿid, see Lutz Richter-
Bernburg, “Ṣāʿid al-Andalusī,” in B.E.A., 1005–1006.
2  Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm b. Yaḥyā al-Naqqāsh, known as Ibn al-Zarqālluh or al-Zarqālī. See Ṣāʿid
Al-Andalusī, Tabaqāt al-Umām, 180; José M. Millàs Vallicrosa, Estudios sobre Azarquiel
(Madrid-Granada: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1943–1950; repr., Toledo:
Diputación Provincial de Toledo: Instituto Politécnico F.P. Azarquiel, 1993); Juan Vernet,
“al-Zarqali,” in Dictionary of Scientific Biography, ed. Charles C. Gillispie, 16 vols. (New York:
Scribner, 1970–1980), 14:592–595; Julio Samsó, Las Ciencias de los Antiguos, 71–240; Julio
Samsó, “al- Zarqālī,” in The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 13 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 1960–2012), 11:461–
462; Emilia Calvo, “Ibn al-Zarqālluh,” in Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology
and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures, ed. Helaine Selin (Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1997), 415–416;
Roser Puig, “Zarqālī,” in B.E.A., 1258–1260. On the azafea, see José M. Millàs Vallicrosa, “Un
ejemplar de azafea árabe de Azarquiel,” Al-Andalus 9 (1944): 111–119.

medieval encounters 23 (2017) 106–123

108 Calvo

­universal and the azafea, are devised to overcome the limitations of the astro-
labe: they are universal—that is to say, useful—for any given latitude. Both are
constructed using the same projection system, resulting in a similar design.
They are based on a dual stereographic meridian projection of each celestial
hemisphere that superimposes the projection of one half of the celestial sphere
onto the projection of the other half.3 However, there are some features that
differentiate them so that they must be considered as two completely differ-
ent instruments. Maybe the most evident difference is that, while Azarquiel’s
azafea does not need a rete to be functional, ʿAlī ibn Khalaf’s instrument uses a
rete that displays half of a coordinate system together with some star pointers.
The treatise on the use of Azarquiel’s azafea is preserved in several original
Arabic copies in addition to the Alfonsine Castilian translation and, therefore,
its characteristics are well known and have been studied thoroughly.4 Quite
the opposite is the case of ʿAlī ibn Khalaf’s instrument. The only text describ-
ing it is the thirteenth-century Old Castilian Alfonsine translation, since, to our
knowledge, there is no extant copy of the original Arabic text of this treatise,
and therefore, the Alfonsine translation constitutes its only witness.
This Castilian translation has not been studied in detail up to now, although
some preliminary studies have been published. In a previous paper, the main

3  On the projection of the azafea, see Roser Puig, Al-shakkāziyya de Ibn Naqqāsh al-Zarqālluh:
Edición, traducción y estudio (Barcelona: Universidad de Barcelona Instituto “Millás Vallicrosa”
de Historia de la Ciencia Á rabe, 1986), 45. On the lámina universal, see Emilia Calvo, “La
lámina universal de ʿAlī ibn Jalaf (S. XI) en la versión alfonsí y su evolución en instrumentos
posteriores,” in Ochava Espera y Astrofísica, ed. Mercè Comes, Honorino Mielgo, and Julio
Samsó (Barcelona: Universidad de Barcelona Instituto “Millás Vallicrosa” de Historia de
la Ciencia Á rabe, 1990), 221–38. For a comparison between them, see Julio Samsó, “Sobre
el trazado de la azafea y de la lámina universal: Intervención de los colaboradores alfon-
síes,” Al-Qanṭara 8 (1987): 29–43; David King, “Universal Solutions to Problems of Spherical
Astronomy from Mamluk Egypt and Syria” in A Way Prepared: Essays on Islamic Culture in
Honor of Richard Bayly Winder, ed. Farhad Kazemi (New York & London: New York University
Press, 1988), 153–184 at 160–163; and Françoise Charette, Mathematical Instrumentation in
Fourteenth-Century Egypt and Syria: The Illustrated Treatise of Najm al-Dīn al-Miṣrī (Leiden:
Brill, 2003), 103–108.
4  On the azafea, see also Roser Puig, “Concerning the ṣafīḥa šakkāziyya,” Zeitschrift für
Geschichte der arabisch-islamischen Wissenschaften 2 (1985): 123–139; Roser Puig, “El Taqbīl
ʿalà risālat al-ṣafīḥa al-zarqāliyya de Ibn al-Bannāʾ de Marrakuš,” Al-Qanṭara 8 (1987): 45–64;
Roser Puig, Los Tratados de Construcción y Uso de la Azafea de Azarquiel (Madrid: Instituto
Hispano Árabe de Cultura, 1987); and Emilia Calvo, “La Risālat al-ṣafīḥa al-muštaraka ʿalà
al-šakkāziyya de Ibn al-Bannā de Marrākuš,” Al-Qanṭara 10 (1989): 21–50.

medieval encounters 23 (2017) 106–123

ʿ Alī Ibn Khalaf ’ s Treatise on the Lámina Universal 109

issues regarding the construction of the instrument were analysed.5 The pres-
ent study will provide additional information related mainly to the param-
eters used and the technical vocabulary of the translation. More specifically,
it will deal with some linguistic and technical difficulties of the text. In most
passages, it seems to follow literally the grammatical structure of the Arabic
­language.6 Besides, the lack of technical terms in the target language at the
time of translation forced the translators to resort either to a literal transcrip-
tion of the original Arabic terminology or, in some cases, to approximate trans-
lations that make the text somewhat difficult to follow.

King Alfonso the Learned and His Quest for Enlightenment

Alfonso X was born in 1221 and was king of Castile from 1 June 1252 until 4 April
1284.7 He was an enlightened monarch who had a great interest in knowledge
in general and in the sciences in particular. Under his patronage, works of liter-
ary, legal, historical, as well as scientific content were compiled. Some of these
texts were original works, but in many cases, they consisted of translations of
Arabic scientific works into Castilian. In addition, we should say that, in some
cases, they are not mere translations, since we can find some pieces of infor-
mation added by the translators, as is the case with the two chapters on the
construction of ʿAlī ibn Khalaf’s universal instrument that were written by one
of Alfonso’s collaborators, Rabi Çag (Ishāq ibn Sīd), after the Arabic original
was lost.
These Alfonsine translations represent some of the first examples of
Spanish scientific language. In addition, some of these works were translated
later into Latin. Unlike what happens with most of the literary and historical

5  See Emilia Calvo and Roser Puig, “The Universal Plate Revisited,” in New Perspectives on the
History of Islamic Science, ed. Muzaffar Iqbal (London: Ashgate Publishing, 2012), 411–54.
Reprinted from Suhayl 6 (2006): 113–157.
6  On the literalism of the Alfonsine collaborators, see José M. Millàs Vallicrosa, “El literalismo
de los traductores de la Corte de Alfonso el Sabio,” in Estudios sobre Historia de la Ciencia
Española (Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1949), 349–358.
7  On Alfonso’s life, see H. Salvador Martínez, Alfonso X the Learned: A Biography (Leiden: Brill,
2010); Antonio Ballesteros, Alfonso X el Sabio (Barcelona: Salvat, 1963; repr., Barcelona: El
Albir, 1984); Julio Samsó, “Alfonso X the Wise,” in Medieval Science, Technology, and Medicine:
An Encyclopedia, ed. Thomas Glick et al. (New York: Routledge, 2005), 24–26; Julio Samsó,
“Alfonso X,” in B.E.A., 29–31; Robert I. Burns, Emperor of Culture: Alfonso X the Learned of
Castile and His Thirteenth-Century Renaissance (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania
Press, 1990).

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110 Calvo

works produced under Alfonso’s patronage, which are anonymous, in the case
of the scientific works, we have the names of the authors and translators in
almost all cases.
It is not clear who, besides the king, chose the works to be translated, even
though there is no doubt about his involvement and his keen interest in these
matters. Moreover, written scientific works imply that he had a huge library
in the Arabic language at his disposal, about which we have little information.
The production of this scientific corpus started around 1250 and coincided,
from 1260 until around 1269, with the compilation of the Alfonsine tables. We
know that a program of astronomical observations lasting approximately ten
years was launched in order to complete this work. Since these observations
resulted in the compilation of the tables, we can deduce that they were based,
to some extent, on direct observation. Thus, these tables would be the turning
point at which Latin astronomy ceases to be based on copying earlier models
and starts to develop original works, although their sources are, undoubtedly,
Arabic.8

The Translation and Elaboration of Arabic Scientific Texts: The

Alfonsine Collaborators

The king’s collaborators played a prominent role in producing these scientif-

ic works. There were Christians, Jews, and Muslims among them. The latter
include Bernardo the Arabian, a Muslim convert who collaborated with Don
Abraham on the revision of Azarquiel’s treatise on the azafea in Burgos in 1278.
Since he is called a “master,” we can deduce that he was an educated man.
Another prominent Muslim collaborator was Muḥammad al-Riqutī al-Mursī,
who possessed encyclopedic knowledge and who taught in Murcia at a school
sponsored by the monarch, although his involvement in the astronomical
works is not documented.9

8  On the Alfonsine tables, see José Chabás and Bernard R. Goldstein, The Alfonsine Tables of
Toledo (Dordrecht: Springer, 2003), 15–18; Emmanuel Poulle, Les tables alphonsines avec les
canons de Jean de Saxe (Paris: C.N.R.S., 1984); Emmanuel Poulle, “The Alfonsine Tables and
Alfonso X of Castille,” Journal for the History of Astronomy 19 (1988): 97–113; John D. North,
“Just Whose Were the Alfonsine Tables?” in From Baghdad to Barcelona: Studies in the Islamic
Exact Sciences in Honour of Prof. Juan Vernet, ed. Josep Casulleras and Julio Samsó, 2 vols.
(Barcelona: Instituto “Millás Vallicrosa” de Historia de la Ciencia Árabe, 1996), 1:453–475.
9  For the Muslim collaborators, see Julio Samsó, “Dos colaboradores científicos musulmanes
de Alfonso X,” Llull 4 (1981): 171–79. For the Jewish collaborators, see Norman Roth, “Jewish
Collaborators in Alfonso’s Scientific Work” in Burns, ed., Emperor of Culture, 59–71; David

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ʿ Alī Ibn Khalaf ’ s Treatise on the Lámina Universal 111

There were various Christian contributors of whom only one, Garci Pérez,
seems to have been competent as an astronomer. We can also find the names
of Italian collaborators like John of Cremona or John of Messina.10 Some of
them were charged with translating into Latin works previously translated
into Old Castilian, such as the Tetrabiblos, Ptolemy’s astrological work, or the
Libro Conplido en los Iudizios de las Estrellas, a translation from Ibn Abī Rijāl’s
al-Kitāb al-Bāriʿ fī Aḥkām al-Nujūm. The presence of these collaborators in
Alfonso’s court coincides with the period in which he aspired to be crowned
Holy Roman Emperor.
The group of Jewish collaborators was certainly the greatest in number. They
collaborated both on the translations and on the creation of original works.
Among them, we can mention a translator, Yehuda ibn Moshe, as well as the
already-mentioned Ishāq ibn Sīd, known as Rabiçag, an astronomer, observer,
and constructor of astronomical instruments.11
Three large miscellaneous collections were produced with the help of these
collaborators. One of them contained works on magic, including the most
representative work, the Picatrix, a treatise on talismanic magic whose author
was from tenth-century al-Andalus. It was very popular in Renaissance Europe,
where it circulated in a Latin translation based on a previous Castilian version.
The second compilation is on astrology, and the third consists of astronomical
works collected under the title Libros del saber de astronomía.
Several other translations can be added to the ones already mentioned,
some of them on astronomy, such as Ibn al-Haytham‘s Fī hayʾat al-ʿalam (On
the Physical Configuration of the Universe)12 and al-Battānī’s al-Zīj al-Ṣābiʾ
(The Sabian Astronomical Handbook),13 others on astrology, such as Ptolemy’s
Tetrabiblos, the Libro Conplido, and the Libro de las Cruces (Book of the Crosses).
There are also some original works: the Alfonsine Tables and the Libro del
Cuadrante sennero (Book on the Sine Quadrant), which is not included among

Romano, “Le opere scientifiche di Alfonso X e l’intervento degli ebrei,” in Oriente e

Occidente nel Medioevo: Filosofia e Scienze. Convegno Internazionale 9–15 aprile 1969
(Rome: Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, 1971), 677–711, reprinted in De historia judía his-
pánica, 147–181 (Barcelona, 1991).
10  See, for instance, “John of Messina,” in B.E.A., 599.
11  On Ishāq ibn Sīd, Rabiçag, see Y. Tzvi Langermann, “Ibn Sid, Isaac ibn Sid,” in B.E.A., 570.
12  Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ḥasan (960–ca. 1040). On Ibn al-Haytham, see Y. Tzvi Langermann,
“Ibn al‐Haytham,” in B.E.A., 556–557. The translation of this work into Spanish, which the
king asked Don Abraham to do, is lost. An anonymous Latin translation is preserved. This
translation shows the interest in physical astronomy at Alfonso’s court.
13  Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Jābir ibn Sinān al-Ḥarrānī al-Ṣābiʾ (858–929). On
al-Battānī, see Benno Van Dalen, “Battānī,” in B.E.A., 101–103.

medieval encounters 23 (2017) 106–123

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the Libros del Saber.14 Although written by contributors under his patronage,
they were probably inspired by King Alfonso’s own personal interests.

The Libros del Saber de Astronomía

The most important astronomical collection compiled under Alfonso is the

one known as the Libros del saber, which consists of sixteen treatises.
The first of these is the Libro de la ochava espera (Book on the Fixed Stars, lit.
“Book on the Eighth Sphere”), based on the Kitāb Ṣuwar al-kawākib (Book of
Constellations) by al-Ṣūfī.15 The remaining treatises describe the construc-
tion and use of different instruments, such as analogue calculators, the pur-
pose of which is the graphic resolution of problems in spherical astronomy.16
Among the instruments described in the Libros del saber we find the celestial
globe, the plane and spherical astrolabe, the azafea, the lámina universal, the
instrument of ataçir,17 the equatorium, and the sundial.
One of the main objectives of the king in compiling all these materials is
stated clearly in the general prologue to the Libros del saber. The author want-
ed to present this learning in a clear framework in order to make it more ac-
cessible for the reader. This is the reason why, in many cases, the works were
reorganized and illustrated in the translations. Thus, although the content is
directly dependent on Arabic sources, in its structure and presentation (for ex-
ample, in its illustrations) we find certain original features that appear in a sys-
tematic way in the Alfonsine works. One of their characteristics is the search
for perfection, which led to successive reworking of most of the translations in-
cluded in this compendium. Some authors describe it as two “drafting stages.”
The first would have been made up of early versions of the books on the fixed
stars (1254), on the espera redonda or dell alcora (the celestial globe, 1259), and
the azafea (undated). The text of this first stage has not survived. The second
stage is represented by the text in the codex compiled in the Alfonsine scrip-
torium, composed in 1276–1277. There, in addition to reviewing pre-existing

14  On Alfonso’s scientific endeavour, see also Evelyn S. Procter, The Scientific Works of the
Court of Alfonso X of Castile: Patron of Literature and Learning (Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1951).
15  Abū al-Ḥusayn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿUmar (903–986). On al-Ṣūfī, see Paul Kunitzsch,
“Ṣūfī,” in B.E.A., 1110.
16  It is edited by Rico y Sinobas. See Manuel Rico y Sinobas, Libros del saber de astronomía
del rey D. Alfonso X de Castilla, 5 vols. (Madrid: tip. De Eusebio Aguado, 1863–1867), 3:1–132.
17  This term derives from the Arabic tasyīr, “astrological progression.”

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ʿ Alī Ibn Khalaf ’ s Treatise on the Lámina Universal 113

translations and creating new versions of them, some new books were added.
Most of them were composed ex novo by the Jew Rabiçag, who actually pro-
duced them while compiling the Alfonsine Tables (1262–1272), as stated in the
foreword to these Tables.18

The Libro de la lámina universal: The Old Castilian Alfonsine

Translation of ʿAlī ibn Khalaf’s Text on His Universal Instrument

The Book of the lámina universal is one of the undated books, but, since it is in-
cluded in the Libros del saber, whose compilation was carried out towards the
end of Alfonso’s reign, we can assume that it belongs to the last period of
the king’s translation activity. It is contained in folios 83v–109r of Codex
Villaamil 156 of the Library of the Universidad Complutense in Madrid. It is
included just after the treatise on the astrolabe and is followed by the treatise
on Ibn al-Zarqālī’s Azafea zarqaliyya.
The book consists of two sections: one of them is devoted to the construc-
tion of the instrument and occupies folios 83v–87r of the manuscript. It is fol-
lowed by the second part, on the use of the instrument, on folios 87r–109 r. This
is a common division in the treatises included in the Libros del saber, as well as
in their Arabic originals. The first of these two sections is considered to be an
original draft of one of the collaborators of the king, Rabi Çag, since the author
of the Arabic treatise on the use of the astrolabe had not written a treatise on
its construction. The treatise on use is attributed to ʿAlī ibn Khalaf, described
in the text as a geometer and astronomer.
The book on the construction of the lámina universal has been previously
studied in depth,19 and therefore I will focus here on some features of the trea-
tise on the use of this universal instrument.

18  See Inés Fernández-Ordóñez, “El taller historiográfico alfonsí: La Estoria de España y la
General Estoria en el marco de las obras promovidas por Alfonso el Sabio,” in El Scriptorium
alfonsí: De los Libros de Astrología a las “Cantigas de Santa María,” ed. Jesús Montoya and
Ana Rodríguez (Madrid: Fundación Universidad Complutense, 1999), 4.
19  See Emilia Calvo, “La labor de difusión de la cultura árabe por parte de Alfonso X y su
contribución a la formación del lenguaje científico: Los Libros del saber de astronomía,” in
La Civilización Islámica en Al-Andalus y los aspectos de tolerancia (Casablanca: Centro de
Estudios Al-Andalus y de Diálogo entre Civilizaciones, 2003), 27–42; and Calvo and Puig,
“The Universal Plate.”

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114 Calvo

Structure and Contents of the Treatise on the Use of Ibn Khalaf’s

Lámina Universal as Presented in the Old Castilian Translation

The calculations that can be performed with this lámina universal are de-
scribed in one section of the treatise, which is divided into five parts. The first
part consists of twelve chapters. The first of them describes the knowledge
necessary for handling the plate:

• Calendrical: days and months of the Christian and Arabic calendars

• Arithmetical: numbers, how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide, and how
to find the square root
• Astronomical-astrological: zodiacal signs, lunar mansions, stars and planets

• Interpolation: in order to obtain the coordinates of a point located between
two meridians or between two parallels
• The section of the plate where it is more difficult to get a good result from

that procedure: on the polar section and the centre of the plate the projec-
tion becomes more difficult to handle because the space between lines is
narrower (Figure 1).

The second chapter describes the different parts that make up the instrument
and their respective names, which coincide with the ones given in the chapters
on the instrument’s construction.20 The rest of chapters give instructions of a
practical kind, mainly how to put marks on the lines engraved on the plate ac-
cording to the instructions given in the following chapters.
The second part consists of sixty-three chapters and is devoted to the calcu-
lations related to any degree of the ecliptic. In the first place, how to locate it
on the plate and, then, how to determine its coordinates:

• Equatorial: declination, right, and oblique ascension

• Related to the ecliptic: longitude and latitude
• Related to the horizon: altitude and azimuth, rising amplitude
• Geographical calculations: latitude and co-latitude
• Timekeeping: daytime and nocturnal arcs, equal and unequal hours
• Astrological calculations: the four cardines of any horoscope, the division
of the twelve houses according to Ptolemy and Hermes

20  See Calvo and Puig, “The Universal Plate,” 418–430.

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ʿ Alī Ibn Khalaf ’ s Treatise on the Lámina Universal 115

Figure 1 Front of the Lámina Universal. MS Villaamil 156.

Library of the Universidad Complutense, Madrid,
fol. 84 v.

The third part consists of fifty-eight chapters devoted to calculations related

to the sun. They can be understood as the application of the general rules de-
scribed in the previous part for any degree of the ecliptic, to the concrete case
of the degree of the sun, and are, therefore, quite repetitive. The few novelties
are related specifically to the sun: shadows, calculation and conversion, merid-
ian altitude of the sun and related calculations, solstices and equinoxes, and
observation and determination of the four cardinal points. The redundancy
of these chapters, as well as the existence of some mistakes similar to those
found in other treatises included in the Libros del saber, leads one to consider
the possibility that all or part of this part is original to the Alfonsine circle and
not a mere translation.
The fourth part consists of sixty-four chapters, devoted mainly to calcula-
tions related to the stars. The calculations dealt with there are the following:

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116 Calvo

(i) Geographical:
• Difference of longitudes and latitudes between two places
• The four cardinal points and the azimuth from one place with respect
to another
(ii) Timekeeping:
• Calculation of the morning and evening twilight
(iii) Astrological:
• Nativities and projection of rays

The last chapter is devoted to knowing whether a planet is direct or retrograde.

Finally, the fifth part is devoted almost exclusively to the moon. It consists of
twelve chapters devoted to the following calculations:

• Lunar longitude and latitude

• Lunar distance to the nodes
• Lunar rising and setting
• The degree with which the moon rises or sets
• The equal hours elapsed in function of the lunar altitude
• The hour of conjunction and opposition
Some Features of the Back of the Lámina Universal (Figure 2)

This part of the instrument is called “faz de la yguacion del Sol” (side of the
Sun’s equation). It is divided by the two perpendicular diameters into four
equal parts: the quadrants; the lines and the numbering coincide with the dis-
position of the basic elements on the back of an astrolabe.

The Zodiacal Calendar

The zodiacal calendar is a set of two circles that allows one to find the equiva-
lence between the day of the month and the degree of the zodiacal sign:

(1) The circle of the zodiacal signs and their divisions is a concentric cir-
cle divided into 360º. These divisions are grouped in sections of 30º cor-
responding to each sign. The name of the signs is written below.
(2) The circle of the months and the days is an eccentric circle divided
into 365 parts corresponding to the days of the Roman calendar. Below it,
there is the number of the days that correspond to every Roman month.

medieval encounters 23 (2017) 106–123

ʿ Alī Ibn Khalaf ’ s Treatise on the Lámina Universal 117

Figure 2 Back of the Lámina Universal. Ms. Villaamil 156.

Library of the Universidad Complutense. Madrid,
fol. 85 v.

When one compares the values given in the text of the treatise and the ones
found in the drawing that accompanies the text in the manuscript, some dis-
crepancies between them can be noted (Table 1).
These inconsistencies between the text and the drawing are possibly due to
the fact that the author of the drawings was different from the author of the
translation.

The Shadow Square

The shadow square is also found on the back of the instrument. It allows one
to convert angles measured in degrees into trigonometric units expressed as
digits (a Castilian term?) in such a way that 45º equal twelve digits, which is the
maximum value. It is composed of two sides: the converse shadow for angles

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118 Calvo

Table 1 Comparison of the the Values Given in the Text of the Treatise and the Ones Found in
the Drawing that Accompanies the Text in the Manuscript

1st day of the month Text Degree of the sign Drawing

January 19° Capricorn 21°

February 22° Aquarius 22°
March 19° Pisces 19°
April 19° Aries 20°
May 18° Taurus 20°
June 18° Gemini 21°
July 16° Cancer 21°
August 16° Leo 21°
September 16° Virgo 22°
October 16° Libra 21°
November 17° Scorpio 21°
December 17° Sagittarius 21°

between 0 and 45º and the extended shadow for angles between 45 and 90º.
The values corresponding to the angle of altitude given for each of the twelve
digits are shown in Table 2.

Some Features of the Rete

The rete of the lámina universal is divided into two halves by a horizontal
diameter called andamio (a literal translation from the Arabic mamarr), i.e.,
meridian. One half shows a half set of markings corresponding to the me-
ridians and parallels of declination of equatorial coordinates, and the other
half shows some star pointers for stars from the northern and southern hemi-
spheres (Figure 3).
In Chapter 1.1, the treatise gives a list of stars to be engraved on the rete
(Table 3).21

21  The text adds “et las otras estrellas que son puestas en la red” (and other stars that are
engraved on the rete).

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ʿ Alī Ibn Khalaf ’ s Treatise on the Lámina Universal 119

Table 2 Values Corresponding to the Angle of Altitude

Given for Each of the Twelve Digits

Digit Solar altitude

1 4;50°
2 9;30°
3 (missing)
4 18;26°
5 22;34°
6 26;33°
7 30;18°
8 30;43°
9 36;54°
10 39;49°
11 42;30°
12 45°

Figure 3 Rete of the Lámina Universal. Ms. Villaamil 156. Library

of the Universidad Complutense. Madrid, fol. 86 v.

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120 Calvo

Table 3 A List of Stars to Be Engraved on the Rete of the Lámina Universal

Old Castilian Arabic name Modern star name

Buytre Cayente al-nasr al-wāqiʿ Vega (α Lira)

Alahabor al-shiʿrā al-ʿabūr Sirius (α Canis Major)
Algumeyça al-ghumayṣāʾ Procyon (α Canis Minor)
Alayot al-ʿayyūq Capella (α Auriga)
Ombro de Gemini mankib al-jawzāʾ Betelgeuse (α Orion)
Pie de Gemini rijl al-jawzāʾ Rigel (β Orion)
Alrramech al-simak al-rāmiḥ Arcturus (α Bootis)
Cor de Leon qalb al-asad Regulus (α Leo)
Boca del Peç Meridional fam al-ḥūt Fomalhaut (α Piscis austrinus)
Cabeça Dalgol rāʾs al-ghūl Algol (β Perseus)
Arridf al-ridf Deneb (α Cignus)

Some Parameters Provided in the Treatise on the Lámina Universal

Most of the parameters used in this treatise are documented in other astro-
nomical treatises compiled in al-Andalus. This is the case for the value adopted
for the obliquity of the ecliptic, 23;30º (chapter 2.2). This is clearly a rounded
value, convenient for making calculations with the instrument.22
Morning and evening twilights are calculated using the parallel to the hori-
zon of value 18º together with the nadir of the degree of the Sun (chapter 4.58).23
The obliquity of the lunar orbit on the ecliptic: 5º (chapter 5.4) is a Ptolemaic
value. Finally, among the calculations described in the text, an absence can
be detected, since there is no chapter devoted to determining the azimuth of
the qibla. This is a calculation usually found in this kind of treatise in Arabic

22  On the obliquity of the ecliptic in al-Andaus, see, for instance, the treatise on the uni-
versal astrolabe plate devised by Ibn Bāṣo in Emilia Calvo, Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn
Bāṣo: Risālat al-ṣafīḥa al-jāmiʿa li-jamīʿ al-ʿurūḍ (Tratado sobre la lámina general para
todas las l­atitudes): Edición crítica, traducción y estudio (Madrid: Consejo Superior de
Investigaciones Científicas, 1993), 63, 179, and 132.
23  This is equivalent to the use of the value -18º for the actual degree of the sun. This is a
parameter usually found in Andalusi treatises on instruments. See, for instance, Ramón
Martí and Mercè Viladrich, “En torno a los tratados de uso del astrolabio hasta el siglo XIII
en al-Andalus, la Marca Hispánica y Castilla,” in Nuevos estudios sobre astronomía espa-
ñola en el siglo de Alfonso X (Barcelona: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas,
1983), 9–74 at 25.

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ʿ Alī Ibn Khalaf ’ s Treatise on the Lámina Universal 121

sources. This absence can also be found in Alfonsine translations of

Arabic astronomical texts, such as the Treatise on the Spherical Astrolabe, based
on lbn al-Samḥ’s treatise on the planispheric astrolabe, which that also omits
this chapter, although the original Arabic treatise by Ibn al-Samḥ includes this
calculation in chapters 68, 69, 70 and 101.24

Technical Vocabulary

The literalism that we find in the translation of the treatise on the lámina uni-
versal is extended to the other texts in the Libros. In this sense, this treatise is
a good example of this phenomenon. We find words that are transcriptions of
Arabic words, with or without the article, like axataba, ataçir, alhogera, mada-
hara, zont. There are some technical words that are literal translations from the
Arabic original like empontizo, andamio, mudamiento, opposito, piértega.
In Table 4 some of these technical terms, present in the Castilian text, to-
gether with the English and Spanish translations, are given. In some instances,
the likely Arabic source for the Castilian term is given.

Table 4 Technical Terms in the Alfonsine Castilian Translation of ʿAlī ibn Khalaf’s treatise on
the Lámina Universal

Old Castilian Arabic English translation Modern Spanish

translation

alhogera, cabeçon hujra limb limbo

anchura saʿat al-mashriq rising amplitude amplitud ortiva

delorientamiento
anchura del saʿat al-maghrib setting amplitude amplitud occídua
ponimiento
andamio [mamarrat] mamarr equatorial meridian meridiano ecuatorial
archo del dia/de la qaws al-nahār/al-layl diurnal/nocturnal arc arco diurno/nocturno
noche
ataçir tasyīr astrological progresión astrológica
progression

24  See Mercè Viladrich, El “Kitāb al-ʿamal bi-l-asṭurlāb” (Llibre de l’ús de l’astrolabi) d’Ibn
al-Samḥ (Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, 1986), 62–66, 131–133, and 141.

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 122 Calvo

Table 4 Technical Terms in the Alfonsine Castilian Translation (cont.)

Old Castilian Arabic English translation Modern Spanish

translation

axataba shaṭaba sighting device/ pínula

pinnule
cerco del mediodía dāʾirat wasat meridian circle círculo meridiano
al-samāʾ
cercos de la altura/ de dawāʾir al-sumūt azimuthal circles círculos azimutales
los zontes
cercos de las ladezas dawāʾir al-mayl latitude circles círculos de latitud
cercos de las longuras dawāʾir al-ṭūl longitude circles círculos de longitud
cinculares
circulario/circular madār quinary divisions divisiones quinarias
(days, degrees) paralelo ecuatorial
equatorial parallel
comedio de local meridian circle meridiano del lugar
septentrión et
mediodía
demostrador murī index índice
empontizo muqanṭar almucantar almucantar
[almuqantarath]
estaciones istiqāma stations of the estaciones de los
enderezamiento planets the situation planetas (cuando un
in which planeta
(planeta endereçada) (kawkab mustaqīm) a planet is direct in es directo en su curso)
its course
faz de la yguación wajh iʿtidāl al-shams side of the zodiacal cara del calendario
del sol calendar (on the back zodiacal (en el dorso
of the plate) de la lámina)
ladeza ʿard latitude latitud
linna del medio çielo
de comedio de East West line línea Este-Oeste
oriente et occidente
longura ṭūl longitude/distance longitud/distancia
al yguador dell dia ila muʿādil al-nahār to the equator al ecuador
(declination) (declinación
mayor altura al- irtifāʿ al-kullī meridian altitude altura meridiana
del yguador del día li-muʿādil al-nahār of the equator del ecuador
(co-latitude) (colatitud)

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ʿ Alī Ibn Khalaf ’ s Treatise on the Lámina Universal 123

Old Castilian Arabic English translation Modern Spanish

translation

mayor declinacion al-mayl al-kullī maximum declinación máxima:

declination:
meridiano mayor anāra obliquity of the oblicuidad de la
ecliptic prime eclíptica primer
meridian meridiano
mudamiento inqilāb winter/summer solsticio de invierno/
yuernal/ uerenal solstice de verano
opposito naẓir nadir nadir
piertegas ponimiento ghurūb equatorial coordenadas
coordinates on the ecuatoriales de la red
rete setting ocaso
replectiones kusūr fractions fracciones (de hora)
rectificar ? rujūʿ observe observar
retragtamiento retrogadation retrogradación
(planeta retrograda) (kawkab rājiʿ) retrograde planet planeta retrógrado
sobimiento ṭulūʿ rising orto
sombra espandida al-ẓill al-mabsūṭ extended shadow sombra extensa
sombra retornada al-ẓill al-mankūs reversed shadow sombra conversa
yguador del día muʿādil al-nahār equator ecuador
ygualamiento iʿtidāl equinox equinoccio
zodiacho minṭaqat al-burūj zodiac zodíaco
zont, zonte samt azimuth azimut
zont de la cabeza samt al-ra‌ʾs zenith cenit

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