Mashallah ibn Athari
| Masha'allah ibn Athari | |
|---|---|
| Born | 740 Basra, Abbasid Caliphate, Iraq |
| Died | 815 (aged 75) Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate, Iraq |
| Occupation | Astronomer |
Masha'Allah ibn Atharī (c.740–815 CE) was an eighth-century Persian Jewishastrologer and astronomer from the city of Basra (located in Iraq) who became the leading astrologer of the late 8th century. According to Ibn al-Nadim in his Fihrist, Mashallah was "a man of distinction and during his period the leading person for the science of judgments of the stars". He served as a court astrologer for the Abbasid caliphate, and wrote a number of works on astrology in Arabic, some of which have only survived in Latin translations. Science historian Donald Hill writes that Mashallah was originally from Khorasan.
The Arabic phrase ma sha`a allah indicates acceptance of what God has ordained in terms of good or ill fortune that may befall a believer. Ibn al-Nadim said Mashallah's name was Mīshā, meaning Yithro (Jethro). Latin translators also called him Messahala (with many variants, such as Messahalla, Messala, Macellama, Macelarma, Messahalah).
The crater Messala on the Moon is named after him.
As a young man he participated in the founding of Baghdad for Caliph Al-Mansur in 762 by working with a group of astrologers led by Naubakht the Persian to pick an electional horoscope for the founding of the city. He wrote over twenty works on predominantly astrology, which became authoritative in later centuries at first in the Middle East, and then in the West when horoscopic astrology was transmitted back to Europe beginning in the 12th century. His writings include both what would be recognized as traditional horary astrology and an earlier type of astrology which casts consultation charts to divine the client's intention. It is also known that his work was heavily influenced by Hermes Trismegistus and Dorotheus. Only one of his writings is still extant in its original Arabic, but there are many medieval Latin, Byzantine Greek and Hebrew translations. His treatise De mercibus (On Prices) is the oldest extant scientific work in Arabic.
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