Known in Arabic as Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm, or The Goal of the Sage, The Picatrix is one of the most substantial surviving works of medieval astral magic. Compiled in Arabic in al-Andalus during the tenth century, the text draws upon a wide range of earlier philosophical, astrological and magical traditions. Its sources reflect ideas transmitted across the Greek, Egyptian, Persian, Indian, Arabic and other intellectual worlds.

At the centre of the work is the relationship between the heavens and the terrestrial world. The Picatrix describes a cosmos in which celestial influences may be understood and directed through astrology, carefully constructed images, talismans, ritual observances and the properties assigned to particular materials. Timing is essential: planets, zodiacal signs and astrological configurations are repeatedly considered in determining the conditions under which an operation should be performed.

Across four books, the text discusses the nature of magic, the construction of talismans, planetary correspondences, magical images, suffumigations and compounds, prayers and invocations, spirits associated with celestial bodies, and the philosophical principles believed to explain magical action. Far from being simply a collection of spells, it attempts to place these practices within a broader understanding of nature, astrology and the structure of the cosmos.

The Arabic work entered medieval Europe through translation. At the command of Alfonso X of Castile, it was translated from Arabic into Castilian in 1256, with a Latin version following soon afterwards. The Latin Picatrix circulated among European readers and became an important channel through which Arabic astral magic entered the intellectual and occult traditions of the Latin West.

Its authorship remains uncertain. The work was long attributed to the Andalusian scholar Maslama al-Majriti, but that attribution is not securely established. Modern scholarship instead treats Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm as an anonymous or uncertainly attributed medieval Arabic compilation.

For the history of magic, The Picatrix is particularly valuable because of its scale. It preserves a complex synthesis of astrology, philosophy, ritual practice and talismanic magic, providing an important record of how magical and philosophical traditions moved between the Arabic-speaking world and medieval Europe.