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A zairja ( ar, زايرجة; also transcribed as ''zairjah'', ''zairajah'', ''zairdja'', ''zairadja'', and ''zayirga'') was a device used by medieval Arab
"Scrambling T-R-U-T-H: Rotating Letters as a Material Form of Thought"
/ref>
Chapter 6 section 28
/ref> He suggests that rather than being supernatural it works "from an agreement in the wording of question and answer ... with the help of the technique called the technique of 'breaking down'" (i.e. algebra). By combining number values associated with the letters and categories, new paths of insight and thought were created. According to Ibn Khaldun the most detailed treatment of it is a pseudographical work ''Za'irajah of the World'' attributed to as-Sabti, which contains operating instructions in hundreds of lines of verse, beginning: A manuscript in
An extract from Ibn Khaldun featuring illustrations of the dial of the zairja
{{Authority control Arabic script Language and mysticism Objects used for divination History of astrology
A zairja ( ar, زايرجة; also transcribed as ''zairjah'', ''zairajah'', ''zairdja'', ''zairadja'', and ''zayirga'') was a device used by medieval Arab astrologer
Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...
s to generate ideas by mechanical means. The name may derive from a mixture of the Persian words ''zāycha'' ( fa, زايچه "horoscope; astronomical table") and ''dāyra'' ( "circle").Link, David. "Scrambling TRUTH: rotating letters as a material form of thought." Variantology 4 (2010): 215-266"Scrambling T-R-U-T-H: Rotating Letters as a Material Form of Thought"
/ref>
Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldun (; ar, أبو زيد عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن خلدون الحضرمي, ; 27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732-808 AH) was an Arab
The Historical Muhammad', Irving M. Zeitlin, (Polity Press, 2007), p. 21; "It is, of ...
described zairja as: "a branch of the science of letter magic, practiced among the authorities on letter magic, is the technique of finding out answers from questions by means of connections existing between the letters of the expressions used in the question. They imagine that these connections can form the basis for knowing the future happenings they want to know."Ibn Khaldūn. 1958 The Muqaddimah: An introduction to history. Translated from the Arabic by Franz Rosenthal. 3 vols. New York: PrincetonChapter 6 section 28
/ref> He suggests that rather than being supernatural it works "from an agreement in the wording of question and answer ... with the help of the technique called the technique of 'breaking down'" (i.e. algebra). By combining number values associated with the letters and categories, new paths of insight and thought were created. According to Ibn Khaldun the most detailed treatment of it is a pseudographical work ''Za'irajah of the World'' attributed to as-Sabti, which contains operating instructions in hundreds of lines of verse, beginning: A manuscript in
Rabat
Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populatio ...
recounts Ibn Khaldun's introduction to the machine by Al-Marjānī in 1370 (772 AH), and claims that it was a traditional and ancient science. When Ibn Khaldun expressed skepticism, the pair asked the instrument how old it was, and the machine told them it was invented by the prophet Idris (identified with the Biblical Enoch
Enoch () ''Henṓkh''; ar, أَخْنُوخ ', Qur'ān.html"_;"title="ommonly_in_Qur'ān">ommonly_in_Qur'ānic_literature__'_is_a_biblical_figure_and_Patriarchs_(Bible).html" "title="Qur'ānic_literature.html" ;"title="Qur'ān.html" ;"title="o ...
).
It has been suggested that Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
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From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
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* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
-Majorca
Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean.
The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bale ...
n mystic Ramon Llull
Ramon Llull (; c. 1232 – c. 1315/16) was a philosopher, theologian, poet, missionary, and Christian apologist from the Kingdom of Majorca.
He invented a philosophical system known as the ''Art'', conceived as a type of universal logic to pro ...
became familiar with the zairja in his travels and studies of Arab culture, and used it as a prototype for his invention of the '' Ars Magna''.Mind as Mosaic, The Robot in the Machine, Bruce H. Hinrichs, pp. 196–197
In "Scrambling T-R-U-T-H: Rotating Letters as a Material Form of Thought", David Link provides a clear description and a full history of the device with a representation of the Arabic letters involved.
References
External links
An extract from Ibn Khaldun featuring illustrations of the dial of the zairja
{{Authority control Arabic script Language and mysticism Objects used for divination History of astrology