The Zodiac in Ahmedī's Iskandarnāma: A Comparative Study with Classical Islamic Astronomy and Aja'ib al-Mahluqat

This article aims to examine the references to zodiac signs in Iskandarn & amacr;ma, a mesnevi by Ahmed & imacr; and one of the significant works of 14th-century classical Turkish literature, within both cosmological and literary contexts. The study addresses the historical origins of the zodiac signs, their position within classical Islamic astronomy, and the functions they undertake in Ahmed & imacr;'s text. The introduction provides a general framework on astronomy, followed by an analysis of the term burc and the couplets mentioning the twelve zodiac signs in Iskandarn & amacr;ma. In this way, the astronomical knowledge of the 14th-century Islamic world is revealed through the conceptions of Ahmed & icirc;, who stands out as both a poet and a thinker. For comparative purposes, Aja'ib al-Mahluqat, which was translated or adapted in the Ottoman realm during the 15th century, has also been examined. This work is, in fact, a variant of the original text written in the 13th century by Zakariyya al-Qazwini, reflecting the cosmological and astronomical knowledge of its time while containing elements associated with the B & amacr;tini intellectual tradition. Furthermore, it is known that the work drew upon the Kit & amacr;b Suwar al-Kaw & amacr;kib al-Th & amacr;bita "Book of Fixed Stars" by the 10th-century astronomer 'Abd al-Ra'm & amacr;n al-S & umacr;fi. In this work, al-S & umacr;fi adapted Ptolemy's star catalogue in the Almagest into Arabic, adding his observations and systematically recording the stars' positions, brightness, and mythological descriptions. In this context, the zodiac descriptions in Iskendername and the zodiac conception in Aja'ib al-Mahluqat are examined comparatively; however, the primary focus of the study remains on the zodiac depictions in Iskandarn & amacr;ma as a literary work.