The Astronomical Observatories of Jai Singh c5.28

c5.28

Praise be to God, such that the minutely discerning genius of the profoundest geometers in uttering the smallest particle of it, may open the mouth in confession of inability; and such adoration, that the study and accuracy of astronomers who measure the heavens, on the first step towards expressing it may acknowledge their astonishment and utter insufficiency. Let us devote ourselves at the altar of the King of Kings—hallowed be his name—in the book of the register of whose power the lofty orbs of heaven are only a few leaves; and the stars and that heavenly courser the sun, a small piece of money in the treasury of the empire of the Most High. If he had not adorned the pages of the table of the climates of the earth with the lines of rivers, and the characters of grasses and trees, no calculator could have constructed the almanac of the various kinds of seeds and of fruit which it contains. And if he had not enlightened the dark path of the elements with the torches of the fixed stars, the planets and the resplendent sun and moon, how could it have been possible to arrive at the end of our wishes, or to escape from the labyrinth and the precipices of ignorance.