Hadith record

549. Ahmad Bin Muhammad, And Ali Bin Muhammad, together from Ali Bin Al-Hassan Al-Taymi, from Muhammad Bin Al-Khataab Al-Wasity, from Yunus Bin Abdul Rahman, from Ahmad Bin Umar Al-Halby, from hammad Al-Azdy, from Hisham Al-Khaffaf who said: Abu Abdullah (asws) said to me: ‘How is your insight into the stars (astrology)?’ I said, ‘There is no one left in Iraq with more insight into the stars than I’. So he (asws) said; ‘How is the rotation of the ‘الْفَلَكِ’ universe in accordance to you?’ So I took off my cap from my head and rotated it. (Imam (asws) said) ‘If the matter was as you are saying it to be, so what do you make of Al-Na’ash, and Al-Jaday, and Al-Faqadayn? They are not being seen to rotate in a day from the time in the direction?’ I said, ‘By Allah (azwj), this is something that I do not understand, not had I heard anyone from the people of the calculation mention it’. So he (asws) said to me: ‘What is the proportion of light of Al-Sukayna from Al-Zuhra Venus)?’ I said, ‘By Allah (azwj), this is a star which I have not heard of, nor have I heard anyone from the people mentioning it’. So he (asws) said; ‘Glory be to Allah (azwj)! So you have dropped (ignored) a whole star, so what is your calculation based upon?’ Then (Imam (asws)) said: ‘So what is the proportion of illumination of Al-Zuhra (Venus) from the moon is?’ I said, ‘This is a thing which no one knows except Allah (azwj) Mighty and Majestic’. He (asws) said; ‘So what is the proportion of the moon from the sun in its illumination?’ I said, ‘I do not know this’. He (asws) said; ‘You speak the truth’. Then said: ‘So what about the two armies which meet each other in accordance to this calculation, and in accordance to that calculation, and the calculator of this one calculated victory for this army, and the calculator of that one calculated victory for that army, then the two of them met, so one of them defeats the other, so now where would be the bad luck?’ I said, ‘By Allah (azwj), I do not know that’. He (asws) said: ‘You speak the truth. The origin of the calculation is true, but no one knows that except the one who knows the birth of creatures, all of them’.

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.