A CRITICAL MIND 139
its historical context, and argue that it always designates pseudo- science
and the philosophy that is based on it.
Perhaps the most important context in which Maimonides develops the
concept of hadhayan is his discussion of the Sabians.^67 Although Mai-
monides provides some chronological and geo graphical landmarks for
the identifi cation of the Sabians, these actually indicate that he does not
identify the Sabians as a specifi c nation with an identifi able religion of
its own. Rather, Maimonides uses the name saba as a generic name for
all idolatrous religions, past and present.^68 In the Guide of the Perplexed
(3.29–49), Maimonides summarizes the theoretical contours of what he
calls “the nation of al-saba.” A common feature of the religion of this
“nation” is the belief in spirits that control the material world and
whose actions can be infl uenced by human behavior.^69 This belief results
in the development of a complex theurgical system, in which astrology,
magic, alchemy, and knowledge of the occult are treated as noble sci-
ences, both scientifi cally and religiously.^70 Maimonides mentions several
books from which he claims to have learnt about the Sabian religion.
These books contain the supposedly scientifi c information required for
the theurgical practices, as well as historical and mythological tales and
accounts.
For Maimonides, everything in the Sabian system contradicts his idea
of balanced, scientifi c thought: their historical writings and their myths
are ridiculous nonsense; their science is a sham. They claim to deal with
philosophical matters, such as the eternity of the world; but, he says, they
“tell most ridiculous lies that show a great defi ciency of intellect and...
they are more remote from philosophy than any other man and are ex-
tremely ignorant.”^71 When Maimonides speaks specifi cally about their
myths, he calls them khurafat.^72 This word was regularly used by the phi-
losophers as a technical term, to denote myths in the Platonic sense; but
(^67) According to Gellman, Maimonides repeats this word in this context no fewer than seven
times. Gellman, who deals with this cluster only in the last note of his article, admits that it
does not fi t his thesis (ibid., 328, note 23).
(^68) See chap. 4, above.
(^69) See also Pines, “On the Concept of ‘Spirits.’ ”
(^70) On astral magic, see Schwartz, Astral Magic in Medieval Jewish Thought, 11– 21. On
Sabian astral magic and its role in Maimonides’ thought, see Schwartz, ibid., 92– 110; and
see R. Leicht, Astrologumena Judaica: Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der astrlogischen
Literatur der Juden (Tübingen, 2006), esp. 295 ff.
(^71) Guide 3:26 (Dalala, 376:5– 6; Pines, 516).
(^72) Guide 3:26 (Dalala, 379:9; Pines, 519 [where the word is translated as “fables”]); see
alsoDalala, 380:7; Pines, 520.