680 Ibn Qotaybafi s Adah al KdtW on Arabic Astronomy. [Dec. 



21. Baldah — a round fissure in the heaven without a star. Baldah 

 means in the Bedouin dialect a fissure in the ground, <Jcj$\ ^yo &*.y. 

 This fissure is surrounded by six small stars resembling a bow ; some 

 people call them, ^yaof (ostrich's nest), for not far from it are other 

 stars called l^aj (eggs) by the Bedouins. The moon sometimes makes 

 her stage in the odAa. Astronomers place the baldah in the forehead 

 of Sagittarius. 



22. So'ud, (luck,) so called because they bring rain. There are 

 four sa'd : 1st. — Sa'd dzabih — two small stars less than a cubit asunder 

 north and south. Astronomers place it into the horn of Capricorn. 



23. 2d. Sa'd bola' — two stars as far asunder as the above mentioned. 

 Astronomers place it in the heel of Aquarius. The epithet devouring 

 is given to this constellation, because at its nawo the rivers and wells 

 being full the earth devours its own water. 



24. 3d. Sa'd al-so'ud (luck of lucks). According to some, two stars, as 

 the above, and according to others three, one is bright, the others smaller. 

 Astronomers represent them in the breast of Aquarius. Sometimes 

 the moon makes her stage in the jj^wUJl **«Jl ; the Bedouins say : 

 c5^J A*/*** <JO**V|J *j* ^ j*oa.\ j sj+y**. cKv-jli j>j**J| <x*^» ^XJo t^l 

 PJL&° & "When the sa'd al-so'ud rises, all which is frozen melts, and 

 trees and shrubs come to life again." 



25. 4th. — Sa'dal-akhbiyah. Some are of opinion that this mansion is 

 marked by one star which is surrounded by three others. The latter form 

 a triangle, and are the tent Ui., of the former star, which is considered to 

 be the sa'd. Others considered the central star as the pole of the tent. 

 Astronomers place this mansion on the eastern shoulder of Aquarius. 



26. Farazh al-moqaddam, also called farazh al-awwal and farazh 

 al-a'la — two bright stars apparently about five cubits asunder. Astro- 

 nomers place it into the northern hip of the horse. 



27. Farazh al-mowakhkhar, also called the second or lower (i. e. 

 southern) farazh or dalw. Two stars resembling the preceding ; one is 

 north and the other is south. Astronomers place them in the hind 

 quarter of the horse. The moon sometimes stops short and takes up 

 her mansion in the middle of the ^'j^, and sometimes in the «— d*U\%&U 



28. Hut, c^sn, also called *l£> — consists of eighteen small stars which 

 have the shape of a fish, whose head is towards the north and the tail 

 towards the south. To the east of this is a star of the first magnitude 



