For medieval Muslim astrologers, Aries was one of the most important Zodiac, symbolizing life and destruction all in one. It was associated with kings and conquest, spring, and birth.

A thread on Aries in astrology from the Islamic world-

Those born under Aries or al hamal are said to be quick to anger, impulsive, fast to action, but difficulties with sustaining. They are generous, but haughty, friendly but demanding.

They fear abandonment.

Al Biruni says they are youthful, talkative, and sharp of tongue. They are another of the royal signs. They enjoy attention and are prone to rash action they may regret, but are courageous.

They are impatient.

Some are said to have oily skin, particularly if they are born with Venus placements.

Reputedly many have a small mark on their face, sometimes in the form of a scar, or on their hand.

They are also prone to overheating, fevers, or skin rashes in their youth.

Aries is described as masculine, diurnal, hot, dry, and choleric. Its season is spring.

Red and purple are good colors for them and they find their fortune on Tuesday and Thursday.

Many curl up when they sleep, or grip on to something

Ages 15, 18, and 30 are particularly difficult.

They are another of the lusty signs, but have few children.

An Aries in youth and immaturity is abrasive and ruthless.

An Aries who has grown wise is temperate and kindly.

They are good rulers, governors, leaders, crafts people who work with metals or their hands, spies, fighters, surgeons, and entertainers

They tend to be restless in work and distracted

Aries is said to be the home of Mars but the kingdom of the Sun.

You can see a depiction of Aries with its Lord Mars from the 14th C Kitab al Bulhan above in the first tweet.

Mars is normally painted with sword drawn in one hand and a decapitated head in the other

It is said Aries obeys Virgo and is friendly with Libra and Pisces. Aries tries to command Libra, but with difficulty.

Aries experience many crushes in their life & their fortunes wax & wane though they are blessed with long life. Their life has extreme swings in fortune either suffering greatly or thriving wonderfully.

The human body was divided up by the zodiac with Aries linked to the head

Muslim astrologers also designated parts of the world as governed by the Zodiac with Aries corresponding to Palestine, Babylon, and Persia.

Aries was a complicated sign in Islamic history on account of its association with Mars the destroyer and the Sun the life-giver.

Its importance is evident in it being the first sign of the Zodiac. Aries marked the beginning of the calendar with Spring

By the 10th century, the Persianate holiday Nowruz would be revived with old and new traditions and would be linked with Aries and the Spring Season

Aries would also mark the beginning of the building season, as the Sun exalted in Aries would represent good fortune for rulers.

In world astrology, the sun’s entrance into Aries would be used to cast the horoscope for the entire year to make predictions about the fortunes of kingdoms, warn of disasters, and foretell the coming weather

The method of using the ingress of the Sun into Aries seems to have been formalized under Mashallah and popularized by Abu Ma’shar who taught the method in the astrology of kingdoms and dynasties

Mashallah would link Aries to the ascension of the great leaders of Islam.

There would be some debate about the birth chart of Prophet Muhammad with some calculating Taurus, but Mashallah would emphasize the birth of Islam and its prophet when the Sun was in Aries

He would also pinpoint Muhammad ascending to Prophethood when the ascendant was on Aries

He would also link the Abbasids (his patrons) similarly to Aries, marking their founding by As Saffah and his own patron Al Mansur

Horoscopes of this kind were important political tool of legitimization. Mashallah’s horoscope links the Abbasids to the kingly prerogative of the prophet of Islam.

Mashallah would also link Aries to Imam Ja’far al Sadiq.

The inclusion hints to the earlier Abbasid attempts to court and capitalize on the Shiatul Ali, a relationship that soured with subsequent caliphs who will take the Imams as rivals, suppressing, poisoning, and arresting them

While the Sun as the king of the wandering stars would impart royalty to Aries, Mars its ruler would also confer destruction

Aries would be linked to conquest and calamity. Mars’ presence in Aries warned of fires, fevers, and war.

We see this particularly in magical work

A talisman made when Mars was in Aries in its hour would subdue enemies, wild animals, and elephants.

Another talisman crafted when Aries is ascendant and depicting the planetary lord riding a lion holding a decapitated head would grant the wearer the power to do good AND evil

The contradictory powers of life and destruction are wonderfully illustrated in an anecdote about building a new city:

When the Fatimid caliph, Al Mu’izz conquered North Africa he selected a settlement as the site of his new fortress.

He summoned his astrologers to elect an auspicious time, just like Baghdad.

The astrologers set up a series of ropes with bells on them so they could alert the builders when to begin. Turning their eyes to the horizon, they awaited an auspicious time.

Unfortunately for them, a large bird happened to land on the rope ringing the bells. The builders hearing the signal, began work.

To the horror of the astrologers, Mars was rising! In alarm they shouted, “Al Qahir, Al Qahir” “The Vanquisher, the Vanquisher!”

The caliph however took it as a fortunate sign, for he had after all conquered North Africa under the auspices of Aries.

Thus he named named his city, Al Qahira, or Cairo

Aries’ connection to kings leads to an interesting coincidence; a good number of Muslim rulers have been Aries in Islamic history.

Caliphs Al Mansur, Al Mahdi, Al Amin, al Wathiq, Al Mutawakkil and a dozen more were linked to Aries.

Ottoman Sultans Mehmed the Conqueror, Ahmed I, Suleiman II, Abdulhamid I, and a few others were also liked to Aries.

The two most famous Aries were the Abbasid Al Amin and the founder of the Timurids, Timur.

Al Amin succeeded his father Harun al Rashid on the condition that he would later pass the throne to his brother Al Ma’mun.

Al Amin would betray the agreement, burning the succession documents and sending an army to attack Al Ma’mun.

He was a lusty caliph who spent his time with his male and female lovers and was quick to irritation. If singers sang songs he didn’t like, he’d flog them.

He spent his days putting down rebellion after rebellion before Al Ma’mun finally retaliated in the Abbasid civil war.

Al Amin was warned by his astrologers of the inauspicious timing, but in typical Aries fashion ignored them.

On the other hand, the Virgo Al Ma’mun carefully plotted with his astrologers and generals and was victorious.

Al Ma’mun’s general offered safe passage to Al Amin if he handed over the seal of rule, but Al Amin once more ignoring the advice of his counselors tried to slip away on a boat with the seal.

He was caught and became one of the few Abbasid rulers executed in the city itself.

Timur on the other hand would take Aries as the sign of conquest. His astrologers would style him the Lord of Conjunctions, based on the beneficence of Venus and Jupiter conjunction in his chart while Aries and Capricorn would justify his imperial conquest.

Calling himself the Sword of Islam, Timur saw his conquest as the restoration of the Mongol rule and the custodianship of religion.

Timur would launch his military campaigns when the Sun entered Aries, taking Spring and Aries season as his sign.

In fact, it when he broke this tradition with a winter campaign he ended up dying.

He established a vast empire and set the stage for a new type of empire built upon military prowess and legitimized by their armies.

Aries as the sign of life and war reflected not only in the timing decision of rulers, but the cosmological understanding of history.

Abu Ma’shar would postulate all of life began when the planets aligned in Aries.

Thus each year began with the Sun in Aries as a smaller scale of the origins of time itself.

This theory created a cycle of time, beginning with Aries and ending with Pisces on the calendar, but also in world history.

Life began in Aries and would end in Pisces.

The Imam Musa Al Kazim would offer an alternate theory saying all life began when the Sun was in Aries and the other planets in their exaltations.

Aries would therefore come to represent the beginning of all life.

For historians these theories once more gesture to the great synthesis of thought in medieval Islam. We can link many of the associations of Aries and its dignities to their Hellenic origin.

While the theory of the origin of the world in Aries, the dividing up into planetary cycles of fardarat, and the subsequent method of casting horoscope for the Aries ingress are drawn from Persianate sources.

For the Medieval Muslim astrologers, Aries became the contradictory sign of conquest, of monumental buildings and arrogant kings, of the birth of a new cycles, and life itself.

If you want to know more about the astrological cycles and its connection to the apocalypse I’ve posted a podcast episode on patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonhistory 

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On Saturday I’ll add a bibliography-thread of my sources and further readings.