error played a role in Maimonides’ identifi cation of the Egyptians with
the Sabians and with al-Filaha al- nabatiyya.
Maimonides repeatedly declares that he has read “[the Sabians’] books,
translated into Arabic, which are in our hands today.”^71 These books
represent, in his opinion, only a small fraction of the Sabian literature,
most of which was never translated into Arabic or is no longer extant. In
Guide of the Perplexed, he notes in detail the books he has read, promis-
ing the reader that “I shall mention to you the books from which all that
I know about the doctrines and opinions of the Sabians will become clear
to you.”^72 Maimonides’ reading list includes books most of which are
known to us, at least in the sense that they are also mentioned by other
authors. The most important among them are al-Filaha al- nabatiyya^73
and the Book of Tumtum,^74 but he also mentions the Book of Istimakhis,^75
two books of Ishaq al-Sabi,^76 a book of charms attributed to Hermes,
and a book of talismans attributed to Aristotle, as well as “The Book of
the Degrees of the Sphere,”^77 and a book known as “Kitab al- Sarab.”^78
These are works on astrology, magic, and theurgy, whose origin is Indian,^79
Hermetic, or pseudo- Aristotelian literature. They were apparently known
(^71) Guide 3.29 (Dalala, 374:26, 380:16; Pines, 514, 521); see also “Epistle on Astrology,”
Epistles, 281.
(^72) Guide 3.29 (Dalala, 378:11– 12; Pines, 518). See also Guide 3.37 (Dalala, 395:28,
397:3–4, 399:8; Pines, 540, 542, 544).
(^73) Some scholars maintain that the composition of this book indeed goes back to the pre-
Islamic period. See, for instance, F. Sezgin, GAS, 4:307, 318– 29; T. Fahd, “Retour à Ibn
Wahshiyya,” Arabica 16 (1969): 83– 88; Peters, “Hermes and Harran” (reprinted by Sav-
age Smith), 64. Others claim that the book was written after the rise of Islam. See, for ex-
ample, A. von Gutschmid, “Die nabatäische Landwirtschaft und ihre Geshwister,” ZDMG
15 (1861): 1– 110; Th. Nödecke, “Noch Einiges über die ‘nabatäische Landwirtschaft’,”
ZMDG 29 (1875): 445– 55; M. Ullmann, Natur-und Geheimwissenschaften im Islam (Le-
iden, 1972), 441– 42. According to Hämeen- Anttila (The Last Pagans of Iraq, 24) the origi-
nal text was written in Syriac, “just before the Islamic conquest or at the beginning of the
Islamic period. Even a very late date, more or less coinciding with the beginning of the
translation movement... cannot be ruled out.” It should, however, be noted that Maimo-
nides was confi dent of the book’s ancient origin, and the thorny question regarding its actual
origins is thus peripheral to our topic.
(^74) See A. Hauber, “Tomtom (Timtim)= Dandamis = Dindymus,” ZDMG 63 (1909): 457– 72;
Ullmann,Natur-und Geheimwissenschaften im Islam, 299– 300, 381.
(^75) See Ullmann, Natur-und Geheimwissenschaften im Islam, 374; Burnett, “Arabic, Greek
and Latin Works on Astrological Magic,” 85– 86.
(^76) For more on Ishaq al-Sabi, see C. Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabische Literatur, 1: 399.
(^77) Kitab Daraj al- falak; see Ullmann, Natur-und Geheimwissenschaften im Islam, 329 ff.
(^78) On these books, see Chwolsohn, Die Ssabier, 1: 697– 716; Munk, Le Guide des égarés, 2:
239–42; Ullmann, Natur-und Geheimwissenschaften im Islam, 329– 30; Burnett, “Arabic,
Greek and Latin Works on Astrological Magic,” 87.
(^79) Or at least infl uenced by Indian literature; see D. Pingree, “Indian Planetary Images and
the Tradition of Astral Magic,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institute 52 (1989):
1–13, esp. 9.