al-Ḥamal

Authors: Khalid Al-Ajaji

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The Arabic constellation al-Ḥamal (الحَمَل) ‘the Lamb’. CC BY, Khalid Al-Ajaji, 2026.

Al-Ḥamal (الحَمَل, ‘the Lamb’) is an Arabic constellation depicting a lamb. It consists of al-Šaraṭān as the horns, al-Aybasān as the two front legs, al-Buṭayn as the belly, and al-Ṯurayyā as the fat tail.

Concordance, Etymology, History

Al-Ḥamal (الحَمَل) is recorded in the primary anwāʾ works of Ibn Qutayba, Ibn ʿĀṣim al-Ṯaqafī, and al-Marzūqī, as well as in the astronomer al-Ṣūfī’s Kitāb al-kawākib.

Variants Arabic

• Al-Ḥamal (الحَمَل) “The Lamb”

Variants Latin / European

• AlHamal, Hyde (1665) (p. 30).
• El-hhamel, Ideler (1809) (p. 132).
• al-hamal, Schjellerup (1874) (pp. 34, 134).
• Al Ḥamal, Allen (1963) (p. 78).
• al-ḥamal, Kunitzsch (1961) Kunitzsch does not give the name a separate entry, but mentions it in alyat al-ḥamal, baṭn al-ḥamal, qarnā al-ḥamal, and raʾs al-ḥamal (nos. 9, 63, 220, 242).

Etymology

Name	English	Arabic
Al-Ḥamal	In Lisān al-ʿArab, s.v. ḥ-m-l (حمل), we read: “Al-ḥamal means ‘a lamb’; it is also said to mean a young sheep no older than a ǧaḏaʿ [a young sheep approximately six to ten months old, according to differing lexicographical accounts] […]. Al-Ḥamal is the first of the zodiacal signs. It begins with al-Šaraṭān, the two horns of al-Ḥamal, followed by al-Buṭayn, consisting of three stars, and then al-Ṯurayyā (the Pleiades), which is the fat tail of al-Ḥamal. These stars, arranged in this configuration, are called Ḥamal (‘the Lamb’).”	جاء في «لسان العرب»، مادة «حمل»: «والحَمَل: الخَرُوف، وَقِيلَ: هُوَ مِنْ وَلَدِ الضأْن الجَذَع فَمَا دُونَهُ […]. والحَمَل: بُرْج مِنْ بُروج السَّمَاءِ، هُوَ أَوَّل الْبُرُوجِ أَوَّلُه الشَّرَطانِ وَهُمَا قَرْنا الحَمَل، ثُمَّ البُطَين ثَلَاثَةُ كَوَاكِبَ، ثُمَّ الثُّرَيَّا وَهِيَ أَلْيَة الحَمَل، هَذِهِ النُّجُومُ عَلَى هَذِهِ الصِّفَةِ تُسَمَّى حَمَلًا.»

Sources and Identification

Ibn Qutayba

Ibn Qutayba (d. 276 AH / 889 CE), Hyderabad edition (1956) (pp. 17, 20, 23):

English

Arabic

Ibn Qutayba said: “The first of these [the lunar stations] that they enumerate is al-Šaraṭān. It is the first of the northern stations. Al-Šaraṭān consists of two stars, said to be the two horns of al-Ḥamal (the Lamb).” He also said: “Next comes al-Buṭayn. It consists of three faint stars resembling three hearthstones. These stars are said to be the belly of al-Ḥamal.” He also said: “Next comes al-Ṯurayyā. It is said to be the fat tail of al-Ḥamal.”

قال ابن قتيبة: «فأول ما يعدون منها [أي من منازل القمر] الشرطان. وهما أول الشآمية. والشرطان كوكبان. يقال إنهما قرنا الحمل.» وقال: «ثم البُطَيْن. وهو ثلاثة كواكب خفية كأنها أثافىّ. ويقال إنها بطن الحمل.» وقال: «ثم الثُّرَيَّا. ويقال إنها ألْيَة الحمل.»

Al-Ṣūfī

Al-Ṣūfī (d. 376 AH / 986 CE), ed. al-ʿAǧǧāǧī (2021), Aries, Taurus:

English	Arabic
Al-Ṣūfī discusses al-Šaraṭayn, al-Buṭayn, and al-Ṯurayyā. He clearly rejected both the description of al-Buṭayn given by the authors of the anwāʾ works and the identification of al-Ṯurayyā as the fat tail of al-Ḥamal. For him, al-Ḥamal was the Greek constellation, and he did not accept that the Arabic figure of the Lamb could differ from it. He said: “As for the Arabs, the accounts of their names for some of the stars within and outside the figure differ. Some report that they call the two bright stars on the horn al-Šaraṭayn, al-Šaraṭ, and al-Šarṭ. This is the first lunar station.” He also said: “They call the seventh star, at the root of the fat tail, [together with] the eighth, the leading star of the three on the fat tail, and the faint eleventh star, in the thigh, al-Buṭayn, and also al-Baṭn. These stars form a nearly equilateral triangle on the belly of al-Ḥamal. This is the second lunar station. Many authors of anwāʾ books mistakenly supposed that al-Buṭayn consisted of stars among the four outside the figure, behind al-Nāṭiḥ. They therefore reported that it lay to the right of al-Mankib, by which they meant the shoulder of al-Ṯurayyā. For they regarded the shoulder of al-Ṯurayyā as the two stars on the foot of the figure holding the head of the Ghoul—the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth stars of that constellation. These four stars are far from the figure of al-Ḥamal, and were therefore called ‘the stars outside the figure’.” He also said: “All of them stated in their books that al-Ṯurayyā lies on the fat tail of al-Ḥamal (the Lamb).”	قول الصوفي في الشرطين والبطين والثُّريَّا، ومن الواضح أنه لم يقبل أن يكون البطين كما وصف أصحاب الأنواء، ولا أن تكون الثُّرَيَّا هي ألية الحَمَل لأن الحمل عنده هو الصورة اليونانية، ولم يقبل أن تكون صورة الحمل العربية مختلفة، قال: «وأما العرب فقد اختلفت الرواية عنها في بعض كواكب الصورة والخارجة عن الصورة، فروى بعضهم أنها تُسَمِّي الاثنين النيِّرين اللذين على القرن: الشَّرَطَيْنِ والشَّرَطَ والشَّرْطَ، وهو المنزل الأول من منازل القمر.» وقال أيضًا: «وتُسَمِّي السابع الذي على منشأ الألية [مع] الثامن المتقدم من الثلاثة التي على الألية مع الحادي عشر الخفي الذي في الفخذ وهي على مثلث شبيه بالمتساوي الأضلاع على بطن الحمل: البُطَيْنَ والبَطْنَ أيضًا، وهو المنزل الثاني من منازل القمر. وظنَّ كثير من مؤلفي كتب الأنواء أن البُطَيْنَ هو من الكواكب الأربعة الخارجة عن الصورة خلف الناطح، ولذلك حكوا أنه على يمين المنكب، أرادوا بذلك منكب الثُّرَيَّا؛ لأن عندهم أن منكب الثُّرَيَّا هو الاثنان اللذان على رجل ممسك رأس الغول، وهما الخامس والعشرون والسادس والعشرون من كواكبه، وهذه الأربعة هي بعيدة عن صورة الحمل ولذلك سميت الخارجة عن الصورة.» وقال أيضًا: «وكلهم ذكروا في كتبهم أنها على أَلْيَةِ الحَمَلِ.»
The Arabic constellation al-Ḥamal and the Greek constellation Aries. CC BY, Khalid Al-Ajaji, 2026.

Ibn ʿĀṣim al-Ṯaqafī

Ibn ʿĀṣim al-Ṯaqafī (d. 403 AH / 1013 CE), ed. al-Qaysī and al-Dulaymī (1996) (pp. 79, 81, 83):

English

Arabic

Ibn ʿĀṣim al-Ṯaqafī said concerning the month of Nīsān, known among non-Arabs as April: “When sixteen nights of this month have elapsed, al-Šaraṭān rises. Its two stars are the horns of al-Ḥamal (the Lamb).” He also said: “When one night remains of this month, al-Buṭayn rises. It consists of three faint stars resembling three hearthstones, between al-Šaraṭayn and al-Ṯurayyā. It is said that al-Buṭayn is the belly of al-Ḥamal, hence its name. They sometimes use the non-diminutive form, calling it al-Baṭn (‘the Belly’).” He also said concerning the month of Ayyār, known among non-Arabs as May: “When twelve nights of this month have elapsed, al-Ṯurayyā (the Pleiades) rises in the morning. It is called al-Naǧm (‘the Star’), a proper name that has come to refer especially to al-Ṯurayyā. Thus, when people say, ‘al-Naǧm has risen’ or ‘al-Naǧm has set,’ it is understood that they mean al-Ṯurayyā. It is also called al-Naẓm (‘the String’). It is the best known of the lunar stations, with six visible stars and many faint stars accompanying them. It is said to be the fat tail of al-Ḥamal.”

قال ابن عاصم الثقفي في شهر نيسان وهو عند العجم إبريل: «وفي ست عشرة ليلة تخلو منه يطلع الشرطان وهما قرنا الحمل.» وقال أيضًا: «وفي ليلة تبقى من هذا الشهر يطلع البطين، وهو ثلاثة كواكب خفية كأنها أثافي، بين الشرطين والثريا، ويقال: إن البطين بطن الحمل، وبه سمي، وقد يتكلمون به مكبّراً فيقولون: البطن.» وقال أيضًا في شهر أيار وهو عند العجم مايو: «وفي اثنتي عشرة ليلة تخلو منه تطلع الثريا بالغداة، ويقال لها: النجم، والنجم اسم علم لها قد غلبت عليه، فإذا قيل: طلع النجم وغاب النجم، عُلم أنها هي، وتسمى أيضاً: النظم، وهي أشهر منازل السماء، ونجومها ستة ظاهرة، معها نجوم كثيرة خفية، ويقال: إنها ألية الحمل.»

Al-Marzūqī

Al-Marzūqī (d. 421 AH / 1030 CE), ed. al-Dulaymī (2002) (vol. 1, p. 167):

English

Arabic

Al-Marzūqī said: “They say that the two stars of al-Šaraṭān are the two horns of al-Ḥamal (the Lamb).” He also said: “As for al-Buṭayn, it consists of three faint stars resembling the dots of the letter ṯāʾ (ث). It follows al-Šaraṭayn and lies in front of al-Ṯurayyā. They sometimes use the non-diminutive form, calling it al-Baṭn (‘the Belly’), and claim that it is the belly of al-Ḥamal.” He also said: “They say that al-Ṯurayyā is the fat tail of al-Ḥamal.”

قال المرزوقي: «ويقولون الشرطان قرنا الحمل.» وقال أيضًا: «وأمَّا البُطَيْنُ، فثلاثة كواكب خفيّة كأنها نُقَطُ الثاء، وهو على أثر الشَّرَطَيْنِ بين يَدَي الثُّرَيَّا، وقد يتكلمون به مكبرًّا، فيقولون: البَطْنَ، ويزعمون أنّه بَطْنُ الحَمَلِ.» وقال أيضًا: «ويقولون: الثُّرَيَّا أَلْيَةُ الحَمَلِ.»

Star identifications

The identifications below are proposed by Khalid al-Ajaji on the basis of the descriptions in the anwāʾ works, as discussed in the Aries and Taurus chapters of his critical edition with commentary of the Poem of the Stars.

Name	Part of the Constellation	Identification
Al-Šaraṭān	The two horns	α, β Ari
Al-Aybasān	The two front legs	α, β Tri
Al-Buṭayn	The belly	35, 39, 41 Ari
Al-Ṯurayyā	The fat tail	Pleiades

Discussion

al-Aybasān

The name al-Aybasān appears as al-Anīsān in printed editions of the anwāʾ works, whose authors do not mention any connection with al-Ḥamal. The relationship between the stars of al-Aybasān (α and β Tri) and al-Ḥamal is discussed on the al-Aybasān page.