Arabic astrology and astronomy, also known as Falaq (Falak), represented a vital missing link in the history of the astrological tradition.

The Middle East, the land of the 'Philosophers of the Ancient World', were revered as wise men from a golden age of enlightenment and learning.

At its most exalted level, astrology was seen as a precious remnant from a time when people had lived in conscious harmony with their celestial origins.

The Middle East had always been interested in astronomy and astrology from their beginnings in Chaldea. The stars were still used for navigation in the desert, and the Moon still regulated the calendar.

With the Arab expansion of knowledge in philosophy, arts and sciences, more than ever, astronomy and astrology continued to exercise a major presence in the middle eastern world.

Al-Kindi, Abu Mashar, Al-Biruni, Ibn Arabi to name a few, were famous for taking astronomy, astrology and numerology to unprecedented greater heights.

They created innovations of there own, adding extra leverage to their predictive capabilities. They gave a scientifically sound basis to astrology, being scientist themselves. The astrological applications expanded to cover more domains in individual and collective society.

The Arab empire extended from southern Spain to southwest China, and lasted for more than 800 years.

They traveled all the known world, evaluating all the knowledge they came across, under a sound spiritual and scientific basis.

The philosophical foundation to Arabic astrology was laid down by Al-Kindi.

He was regarded as one of the most learned men of his time, and emulated a philosophy of 'Cosmic Sympathy', linking the Macrocosm and Microcosm. Correspondences between celestial configurations and events on earth demonstrated the Unity and Wholeness of Creation.

According to Al-Kindi, spirituality, astrology, physics and psychology are all interwoven.

He also stated that all terrestrial things emit 'rays' which exist everywhere simultaneously, thereby permitting the one who understands these things to effect changes.

These 'rays' are related to the rays of the stars and planets, thus heaven and earth exist in a reciprocal relation to each other.

One of the greatest mystics in history, was the Andalusian Sufi Master, Ibn Arabi.

From his earliest youth he displayed remarkable intellectual and spiritual aptitude, and associated with Sufi mystics and philosophers.

His astronomical teaching is based on the primordial principle, of the absolute 'Unity of All Existence'.

He contended that Astrology was for the serious investigator, who is determined to get to the root of all underlying principles, while ensuring a practical application of astronomy to our human use.

In Andalusian Spain, Kabbalah mysticism experienced a revival unparalleled in Jewish history. This brought again into the forefront the science of Numerology and Astrology.

A major figure in this process was Rabbi Abraham Ezra, born in Toledo, in Andalusian Spain.

He lived a life of a rich literary activity, and gained the reputation of being a distinguished poet and thinker.

He fulfilled the great mission of making accessible, to the Jews of Christian Europe, the treasures of knowledge enshrined in the works of the Arabs, which he had brought with him from Spain.

In his philosophical thought, astrology had an important place in his view of the world, and wrote various works on mathematical and astronomical subjects.

In the early 10th Century, the Chinese emperor Taizu, of the Song dynasty, was credited with the advancement of the study of astronomy and its related disciplines. In 961, the Emperor Taizu appointed an Islamic astrologer named Ma Yize, as the chief official to take charge of the government observatory. Ma Yize specialized in Arabic astronomy, especially in astrology.

Ma Yize's ancestry was of Arabic origin, coming from the 'Western Territory', which was situated in an area between northeastern Yemen and the northeastern Sultanate of Oman in the Arabic Peninsula.

When Ma Yize was in China, he assisted Wang Chuna in compiling several important astrological works, including the 'Yingtianli' (Calendar of Corresponding Heavens).

His job was to provide observation, and computation of the regularities in celestial phenomena, using the Arabic methods.

His findings were used by Wang Chuna in the compilation of 'Yingtianli', which was completed in 963.

The calculation, based on a 7-day week system similar to that in the Arabic calendar, was first adopted in this document, which was the most important occurrence in the history of Chinese calender methods.

Ma Yize was made a hereditary noble, and his sons later succeeded his position with the Imperial Observatory.

Ma Yize translated many works of Arabic mathematical astronomy into Chinese, including:

• 'Kitab al-Zij', by Al-Battani
• 'Al-Zij Al-Sabi', (The Sabian Tables)
• 'Kitab Matali', (The Ascensions of the Signs of the Zodiac), by Al-Buruj
• 'Kitab Aqdar Al-Ittisalat', (On the Quantities of the Astrological Applications)

Emperor Taizu, of the Ming Dynasty, in the first year of his reign, integrated Han and Arabic astrology.

That year, the Ming government summoned for the first time, muslim astronomy specialists from the upper Mongolian capital of Yuan, to come south and become officials of the newly established national astronomical observatory in Beijing. There were fourteen of them.

In order to enhance accuracy in methods of observation and computation, Emperor Taizu reinforced the adoption of parallel calendar systems, the Han and the Arabic.

In the following years, the Ming Court appointed several astrologers from Arabia to hold high positions in the Imperial Observatory. They wrote many books on Arabic astrology and also manufactured astronomical equipment based on the Arabic system. The astrolabe was made for observing the stars, and the apparatus was installed on a hill in northern Nanjing.

The translation of two important works into Chinese were also completed: 'Zij', and 'Al-Madkhal fi Sinaat Ahkam al-Nujum', (Introduction to Astrology).