 found in their books especially in the books of meteorology from their stories about the arabs and their narrators things about the houses and other planets that were clearly corrupt and if i had mentioned them the book would have been long and useless. i resolved many times to show and expose that but i would be overcome by slackness in one case and by occupations that would distract me from my goal in another until god almighty blessed me with the service of the great king adud aldawla and i did not find in his presence may god increase its majesty any astrologer who knew anything of the fortyeight figures that ptolemy mentioned in his book known as the almagest in their true form nor anything of the planets in the figures according to the doctrine of the astrologers or the doctrine of the arabs except a little and i did not find for any of the scholars who preceded me in any of the arts a book whose authors knowledge is reliable
ووجدت فى كتبهم من التخلف، ولا سيما فى كتب الأنواء من حكاياتهم عن العرب والرواة عنهم، أشياء من أمر المنازل وسائر الكواكب ظاهرة الفساد، ولو ذكرتها، لطال الكتاب بلا فائدة. عزمت مرات كثيرة على إظهار ذلك وكشفه، فكان يعترينى فتور فى حال، وأشغال تصدنى عن المراد فى اخرى، إلى أن شرقى الله تعالى بخدمة الملك الجليل عضد الدولة ولم أجد بحضرته، زاد الله فى جلالتها، من المنجمين من يعرف شيأ من الصور الثمانى والأربعين التى ذكرها بطلميوس فى كتابه المعروف بالمجسطى على حقيقتها، ولا شيئا من الكواكب التى فى الصور على مذهب المنجمين ولا على مذهب العرب إلا اليسير ولم أجد لمن تقدمنى من العلماء أيضا فى أحد الفنين كتابا يوثق بمعرفة مؤلفه 