The contribution of Husayn Vaciz-i Kashifi to the transmission of astrological texts

Abstract

Iranian Civilization Fostered an Interest in Astrology Starting from Pre-Islamic times. Thanks to the studies of David Pingree and R. Lemay and, more recently, of George Saliba, Charles Burnett, A. Panaino, and E. Raffaelli, we are on firm ground regarding the development of astrological knowledge in the Islamic world, and specifically the contribution to it of pre-Islamic Iranian civilization. As for the Persian texts in the field, even though they have been studied to a much lesser extent than those written in Arabic, they contain rich materials which shed further light on the socio-cultural context of science in the Iranian world during the Islamic period.