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fire in it, so that, if its material [extends] to the earth, all its parts steadily catch fire from one another and in this way are seen columns of fire [extending] from the earth to the sky. The following section (mlgci) of K. d-zalgt? is based on the section of Cand. quoted above.60 K. d-zalgE, ms. Bod. Or. 467, 12v 1-9 (underlice: agreement with Cand.): Ad\ -. dm 4e- ,A& e4,L &- &ii+ * . d\ e*ruMa.4Ad+auaW+&*qtr*e.*&- -+ -+ma * -- .&LL ++ .+ . +& *a+ *a= enW+ ~ . + d w r ~ ~ 1 1 p a & v p 3 ~ ~ u & a +- Fd,-a zalgii: (2) men dukkyatii kebritiinayatii 'ep-E dqin baa& keh-tiinayt?, w-men zalliqay kawkak sarnmuhtiint? metnabrshin, ak s&gg d-men haw da-lcel meneh ddeq kl'd gshapa. (3) w-h&anna 'ammudt? d - n b-duk ~ duk meQdn, (5) mdlon den b-laylawatii, d-hay d-bimfima men nuhreh d-shemsha meQappE nuhrhon. (-) w-zabnatii kad 'hhnin ndm? d-ak hdilen men at? metdMn, w-benyint3 mshape mawqdin. "Ray: (2) Eram_-=-MSLiSe into theaiudare ki- bright stars, - i m n e aboveit without contact. (3) Inthisxapmhmm of lightare in some places, (5) -, because d u r i n w obscures their light. (-) Sometimes when such lights grow strong, they are driven by winds and bum various buildings." In the following passage of the Butynun, the part marked (ii), which has no equivalent in Ibn Sini's K. al-shifa", is found sandwiched between two passages closely based on the Shifi" .61 But. Mete. 4.3.4: eb+ b Lea. e- e- h . W- e& ~e aah ++ r Q 4 ~ r a ~ ~ ~ A r c w t k . A r ~ W * ~ ~ *+.&ddrQ4e*ew+-.&+d*-.- . +- &- r~o- e h -a d&a hau& &a1 L &e rnhaggegin den Mb &p pehe baa&, w-abbiilt? heshshokt? ba-shmayya (ii) w-it emat d-'em keh-tiinaya d-saggi lbid men arc& sdeq, wa-l-rawrna 'ellaya metmaw, kad 'eqq- bar'a qbic. w-rn d-dAqa men hem, 'ammu& d-nufi men ar'a la-shmayya 60 The order of presentation is different in Cd. and Zolgt?. Whereas the order in Cd. is "shooting stars etc." (120.7- 121.3, "comets" (121.6-122.2), "conflagratien" (yq-, 122.3-8). Milky Way (122.9-123.8), in Zolgt?, BH talks about '%ornets" at a much earlier point (ms. Bod. Or. 467, 10v ult-llr 8) and this is followed by discussions of windlwhirlwind (llr 8-16). rainbow etc. (1 1r 16-1 1v 16) and thunderflightning etc. (1 1v 17-12v I ) before we reach the shooting stars (12v 1-9) and the Milky Way (12v 9-14). - The last part of the passage quoted here ("sometimes when such lights ...") corresponds to the discussion of the "conflagration" at Cd. l22.X. 6 1 The sentences (i) and (ii) correspond. respectively to Ship' Mete. 74.8-9 and 74.14- 15: 4 iu,tLJIJc&l&JL~IrLJ... .WI jilk.iils,i~~~i,Jl jcs~~~~;i&,-.;(~&- .&Ul L&lI iJWl gl,Yl A, .el+!, *.JI ILL A, JlhcYl
THE GRECO-SYRIAC AND ARABIC SOURCES OF BARHEBRAEUS MINERALOGY 245 mew da-mtih. (iii) w-hden man iitwatti 'al nihe wa-glizut mefd w-kurhSne mmitiint hammime w-yabbishe mshawdcSn. ... (i) They also cause illusions of chasms in the air and of dark porches in the sky. (ii) Sometimes a very thick sulphureous exhalation rises from the earth and reaches the upper heights, while its m t is fixed to the earth, when it catches fire from the aether, there appears a coluhrn of fire extending from the earth to the sky. (iii) These signs portend winds, drought and fatal, 'hot' and 'dry' diseases. It is to be noted that Barhebraeus talks here of "sulphureous" exhalation as in Cad and Zalgt?, and of the column extending "from the earth to the sky" as in Tggrat t@grata. The sentence here may therefore be one which Barhebraeus put together on the basis of his earlier works. The fact that Barhebraeus inserts this sentence into a passage otherwise based on Ibn Sina shows again the interest he had in this phenomenon of the "column of fire". The reason for this interest is not difficult to guess. Barhebraeus probably has in mind the "column of fire" of the Exodus narrative (Ex. 13.21). It is probably for the same reason that the phrase "column of fire" occurs in some other Oriental works dealing with Aristotelian meteorology for which Jewish or Christian authors we= responsible, as in the Arabic version of Arist. Mete. by the Christian Y*yi b. al-Bitriq (ob. ca. 830) and in the Hebrew translation of that Arabic version by Samuel b. Tibbon, as well as in a compendium of Aristotelian meteorology attributed to Hunain b. 1shQ6' In the Arabic version by Ibn al-Bipiq, it is difficult to find any points of similarity with the passages of Barhebraeus' works quoted above beyond the coincidence of the phrase "column of fire". Passages where there are at least some further points of contact with the passages quoted above may be found in a work of a Jewish author (who converted to Islam in his old age), namely in the K. al-muctabar of Abii 'I-Barakat Hibat All& b. 'Ali b. Malka al-Baghdiidi (ca. 1 077-after 1 l64/5). Abu'l-Bdt, K. al-mu'tabar [Hyderabad (1357-8 h.)] 11.222.1 1- 16: JUK )C;II iJ ".i J1# + dl JLSI Jl &Ldl c+Jl jCiJJl jkJI j l& 1 j-1 y b -4 JI G a l + JL+ .-;La ,L3 I+b &I Iil &I LJ&l JI &b +i i& a,~, ~4 )I;! &LdI -- a+ 2 &I Jl J>, &dl di j 4- JC;Ildy -1 Jl &I ,p 2bJI ... w- 4 1 , @I & dX .11- .-;La These all [i.e. shooting stars, comets, etc.] arise from mixed smoky vapour rising to the upper parts of the atmosphere until it reaches the proximity of the circle [sphere] of fire and is kindled in the same way as [when] rising smoke is kindled by fire above it and 62 Ibn al-Bipiq [Petahis] 30.8, 11, 31 .lo, [Schoonheim] 1. 207, 210, 222; Ibn Tibbon [Fontaine] 1.321.324. 335 ('~vnrSd Csh). - The phrase in these instances apparently represent "w" of Arist. 341b 2, 26. - Hunain, Comp. [Daiber] 294, 303, 305, 306; Moses b. Kepha, Paris 241, I%v b25 (tr. 642.2).
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