G78 Ibn Qotaybah's Adah al KiitiU on Arabic Astronomy. [Dec, 



stand symctrically with the eyes, the other are before them. The Arabs 

 make nearly as much of this mansion as they make of the Pleiades. 



10. Jabhah (the forehead of the lion), three bright stars, the mid- 

 dling one is farthest to the east, they form therefore a triangle with long 

 sides and a short base. South of them is a bright very red star called 

 the heart of the lion **»ill v^ 5 - The astronomers place this mansion 

 in the shoulder of Leo. The nawo of this mansion causes high 

 winds. 



11. Zobrah, also called \ifij^\ and e^t/sr'l and *~i(l ci^s, two 

 bright stars two cubits asunder east and west, extending along the 

 equator. They are called harathan (incisions in the bow to receive 

 the string) because they look like holes in the heaven. Below these two 

 stars are nine lesser ones called hair^*-^. These eleven stars together 

 are compared with the mane on the back of the lion and called zobrah. 

 The Arabs say &\&j=>* ff v=JS7 s*)u\j&. *\ ^Js lit — "when the harathan 

 rise the small dates of the Hijaz are eaten." 



12. Cirfah, a bright star, it is considered to be the v^ of the lion, 

 which is explained to ujjuoa?| Uj ; close and almost connected with this 

 star are seven very small stars. This mansion is called cirfah, for when 

 it rises with the dawn (in March) the heat returns, and when it sets, the 

 cold ; it is therefore said to be the gate of time. Astronomers place it 

 on the tail of Leo. 



13. 'Awwa, five bright stars having the figure of J from north to 

 south ; four of them are in a line and one turn up. This mansion is 

 also called the buttocks of the lion t^a^i/j). The Bedouins also 

 likened it to a dog who goes behind the lion. Astronomers place it in 

 the breast of Virgo. 



14. The unarmed simak (Spica virginis) is a bright bluish star. On 

 its side is another bright star called the simak, with a spear (Arcturus), 

 for it has a small star in front considered to be its spear. Both simaks 

 are of the first magnitude. The unarmed simak is towards the south of 

 the armed, ^j^ «-A**». The name simak (a thing with which another 

 thing is raised) has been given to these two stars, because they are near 

 the zenith. The astronomers place the simak in the Spica, I;** ; some 

 times the moon takes up his mansion in four stars in front of the unarmed 

 simak, called &»3fl \jsbP 3 (buttocks of the lion) or u£UJl J*,* (seat of 





