View source for Saʿd al-Aḫbiya

{{DISPLAYTITLE: ''Saʿd al-Aḫbiya'' (سَعْد الأَخْبِيَة)}}

Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
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[[File:Khiba ai generated.png|thumb|Arabian ''ḫibāʾtent''. image inspired by [https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/pnp/matpc/01100/01108v.jpg a century old photo in Matson collection in Library of Congress]. (CC BY Khalid AlAjaji 2026).]]
'''Saʿd al-Aḫbiya''' (Arabic: <span lang="ar" dir="rtl">سَعْد الأَخْبِيَة</span>, “The Lucky Star of the Tents”) is an Arabic asterism corresponding to stars in the constellation [[Aquarius]].

==Provenance, Etymology, History==
===Variants===

The indigenous Arabic name <span lang="ar" dir="rtl">سَعْد الأَخْبِيَة</span> (''Saʿd al-Aḫbiya'') is recorded by ibn Qutayba, al-Ṣūfī, ibn ʿĀṣim al-Ṯaqafī, and al-Marzūqī. In later European and modern scholarly literature, the name occurs in several Latin-script forms:
* ''Saʿd AlAchbiya'', Hyde. In VLUGH BEIGHI Tabulas Stellarum fixarum Commentarii (p. 43)<ref name="hyde"/>
* ''Saʿd el-achbija'', Ideler (p. 195, 289)<ref name="ideler"/>
* ''sad al-achbija'', Schjellerup (p. 190).<ref name="Schjellerup"/>
* ''Sadachbia'', Allen (p. 52).<ref name="Hinckley"/>
* ''saʿd al-aḫbiya'', Kunitzsch, (entry 257,1, p. 100)<ref name="Kunitzsch1961"/>

===Etymology===

''Al-Aḫbiya'' (<span lang="ar" dir="rtl">الأَخْبِيَة</span>, "the small tents") is the plural of Ḫibāʾ, 
''Lisān al-ʿarab'' defines ''al-Aḫbiya'' (<span lang="ar" dir="rtl">الأَخْبِيَةَ</span>), from the root <span lang="ar" dir="rtl">خبي</span>, as follows:<ref name="lisan"/>
<blockquote><p dir="rtl">«الخِباءُ مِنَ الأَبنية: وَاحِدُ الأَخْبية، وَهُوَ مَا كَانَ مِنْ وَبَر أَو صُوفٍ وَلَا يَكُونُ مِنْ شَعَر، وَهُوَ عَلَى عَمُودَيْنِ أَو ثَلَاثَةٍ، وَمَا فوقَ ذَلِكَ فَهُوَ بَيْت.»</p></blockquote>

;English
<blockquote>“A ''Ḫibāʾ'' is a type of dwelling: its plural is ''aḫbiya''. It is a small shelter made of camel wool or sheep’s wool, rather than [goat] hair, and supported on two or three poles; a structure with more poles than this is a ''bayt''.”</blockquote>

The ''saʿd'' element is the ordinary word for good fortune. Ibn Faris says: "s.v. (س ع د)"<ref name="maqayees"/>
<blockquote><p dir="rtl">«(سَعَدَ) السِّينُ وَالْعَيْنُ وَالدَّالُ أَصْلٌ يَدُلُّ عَلَى خَيْرٍ وَسُرُورٍ، خِلَافَ النَّحْسِ. فَالسَّعْدُ: الْيُمْنُ فِي الْأَمْرِ. وَسُعُودُ النَّجْمِ عَشْرَةٌ: مِثْلُ سَعْدٍ بُلَعَ، وَسَعْدٍ الذَّابِحِ. وَسُمِّيَتْ سُعُودًا لِيُمْنِهَا. هَذَا هُوَ الْأَصْلُ.»</p></blockquote>

A second explanation of the name as narrated by ibn Qutayba and others:
<blockquote dir="rtl">
«ويقال: بل سمّى سعد الأخبية لأنه يطلع فى قبل الدفاء فيخرج من الهوام ما كان مختبئا.»
</blockquote>

;English translation
<blockquote>
“It is also said that it was called ''Saʿd al-Aḫbiya'' because it rises shortly before the warm weather, when the noxious creatures come out of their winter hiding places. ”
</blockquote>

The second explanation is not a rival etymology but a second motivation for the same word, and Ibn ʿĀṣim preserves the concrete observation on which it rests, on the authority of al-Kalābī (p. 74):<ref name="thaqafi"/>

<blockquote dir="rtl">
«هَوَامُّ الأرض تكمن ثلاثة أشهر الشتاء، ولا يخرج منها شيء من جحره، فإذا طلع سعد الأخبية كان أول خارج منها '''الضبّ''', فإنه يرى في هذا الوقت قد خرج إلى باب جحره، وأصلح ما كان خرب منه، فيفرح الناس برؤيته ويقولون: قد دنا الدفء.»</blockquote>

;English
<blockquote>“The vermin of the earth lie hidden through the three months of winter, and none of them comes out of its burrow; and when Saʿd al-Akhbiya rises, the first of them to come out is '''spiny-tailed lizard, ''the ḍabb''''', which is seen at that time to have come out to the mouth of its burrow and repaired what had fallen in of it — and people rejoice at the sight of it and say: the warmth is near.”
</blockquote>

''Lisān al-ʿarab'' from the root <span lang="ar" dir="rtl">سعد</span> says:<ref name="lisan"/>
<blockquote dir="rtl">
«سُمِّيَتْ سَعْدَ الأَخبية لأَنها إِذا طَلَعَتْ خَرَجَتْ حشَراتُ الأَرض وهوامُّها مِنْ جِحَرتها، جُعِلَتْ جِحَرتُها لَهَا كالأَخبية.»
</blockquote>

;English
<blockquote>
“It was named Saʿd al-Aḫbiya because, when it rises, the insects and the creeping creatures of the earth come out of their holes, their holes having been made like tents for them.”
</blockquote>

''Lisān al-ʿarab'' gives the attempt in the tradition to hold both readings at once: Here جُعِلَتْ جِحَرتُها لَهَا كالأَخبية is explanatory: the creatures’ burrows (jiḥarah, singular jiḥr) are conceived as their ''aḫbiyah''—their tents, shelters, or temporary dwellings.


;English
<blockquote>“Saʿada: The consonants sīn, ʿayn, and dāl form a root denoting goodness and joy, the opposite of ill fortune. Thus, saʿd means auspiciousness or good fortune in a matter. The fortunate stars (suʿūd al-najm) are ten, such as Saʿd Bulaʿ and Saʿd al-Dhābiḥ. They were called suʿūd because of their auspiciousness. This is the fundamental meaning.”</blockquote>

===Sources===
Ibn Qutayba, Ibn ʿĀṣim, and al-Marzūqī place ''Saʿd al-Aḫbiya'' below ''Saʿd al-Bihām'' (θ and ν Pegasi). Ibn Qutayba and Ibn ʿĀṣim further describe it as a small, rounded group of stars, resembling a loop of the ''ribq''. By contrast, al-Ṣūfī identifies ''Saʿd al-Aḫbiya'' with the stars forming the cord of the southern Fish of [[Pisces]]. This divergence may suggest that al-Ṣūfī did not receive the tradition describing ''Saʿd al-Aḫbiya'' as a rounded group, and therefore interpreted the asterism as the long stellar line representing the rope itself.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col" style="width: 60%;" |Sources
! scope="col" style="width: 40%;" |Charts
|-
| '''Ibn Qutayba (d. 276 AH / 889 CE)''' places ''Saʿd al-Aḫbiya'' among the stellar features near the ''al-Suʿūd'' (p. 79).<ref name="qutayba"/>

;Original Arabic
<blockquote dir="rtl">
«ثم سعد الأخبية. وهو أربعة كواكب متقاربة. واحد منها فى وسطها. وهى تمثل برجل بطّة. ويقال إن السعد منها واحد. وهو أنورها. والثلثة أخبيته. ويقال: بل سمّى سعد الأخبية لأنه يطلع فى قبل الدفاء فيخرج من الهوام ما كان مختبئا. وهذا التأويل أعجب إلىّ»
</blockquote>

;English translation
<blockquote>
“Then [comes] ''Saʿd al-Aḫbiya''. It consists of four closely grouped stars, one of them in their midst. They resemble the leg of a duck. It is said that only one of them is the ''saʿd'', namely the brightest, while the other three are its ''aḫbiya'' (‘tents’).
It is also said that it was called ''Saʿd al-Aḫbiya'' because it rises shortly before the warm weather, when the noxious creatures come out of their winter hiding places. This interpretation is more appealing to me.”
</blockquote>
|rowspan=4| [[File:Master-pnp-matpc-04600-04679u.png|thumb|Tents of the Arabs. Matson photograph collection, Library of Congress  [https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/pnp/matpc/01100/01108v.jpg]. No known restrictions on publication.]][[File:saadakhbiya_chart.png|thumb|''Saʿd al-Aḫbiya'' as described in Anwāʾ sources and as idenified by al-Ṣūfī. (CC BY Khalid Al-Ajaji 2026).]]
|-
| '''Ibn ʿĀṣim al-Ṯaqafī (d. 403 AH / c. 1013 CE)''' gives a closely related account (p. 74).<ref name="thaqafi"/>

;Original Arabic
<blockquote dir="rtl">
«وفي خمس وعشرين ليلة تخلو منه '''يطلع بالغداة''' سعد الأخبية، وهو أربعة كواكب '''متقاربة، واحد منها في وسطها''' يُمَثَّل برجل بطة، ويقال: إن السعد منها واحد، وهو أنورها، والثلاثة أخبية»
</blockquote>

;English translation
<blockquote>
"And when twenty-five nights of it have passed, ''Saʿd al-Akhbiya'' '''rises at dawn'''. It is four closely grouped stars, one of them in their midst, figured as a duck's foot. It is said that the ''Saʿd'' of them is one, the brightest, and the three are tents.".
</blockquote>
|-
| '''Al-Marzūqī (d. 421 AH / 1030 CE)''' gives the following account (vol. 1, p. 174).<ref name="marzuqi"/>

;Original Arabic 
<blockquote>
«وأمّا سَعْدُ الأَخْبِيَة: فثلاثة كواكب '''متحاذية'''، فوق الأوسط منها كوكب رابع، كأنها به في التمثيل رجل بطّة. وقيل: إنّ السّعد منها واحد، وهو أنورها وإنّ الثلاثة أخبية، وقيل: سمّي بالأخبية لأنه إذا طلع انتشرت [الهوام] فخرج منها ما كان مختبئا في البرد، لأنّ طلوعه في وقت الدّفاء.»
</blockquote>

;English translation
<blockquote>
“As for ''Saʿd al-Aḫbiya'', it consists of three stars '''aligned in a row''', with a fourth star above the middle one. In their configuration, they resemble the leg of a duck. It is said that only one of them is the ''saʿd''—the brightest—while the other three are its ''aḫbiya'' (‘tents’). It is also said that it was named al-Aḫbiya because, when it rises, the creeping creatures disperse: those that had been in hiding during the cold come out, since its rising occurs in the season of warmth.”
</blockquote>
متحاذية, “aligned in a row”: The reading is likely corrupt. Read متقاربة, “close together,” as in the parallel account: وهو أربعة كواكب متقاربة، واحد منها في وسطها. The emendation gives the expected description of the four-star group and avoids the implausibly restrictive sense “three stars aligned in a row.”
|-
| '''Al-Ṣūfī (d. 376 AH / 986 CE)'''<ref name="sufi1954"/>

;Original Arabic (description of Aquarius)

<blockquote><p dir="rtl">
«وتسمِّي التاسع الذي على ساعده الأيمن مع العاشر والحادي عشر والثاني عشر التي على يده اليمنى: سَعْدَ الأَخْبِيَةِ، وهو المنزل الخامس والعشرون من منازل القمر، سُمِّيَ بهذا الاسم لأنه من أربعة كواكب: ثلاثة منها على مثلث، '''وواحد في وسط المُثَلَّثِ وهو الحادي عشر''', فجعلوا هذا الواحد سعدًا والثلاثة له بمنزلة الخِبَاءِ، ويقال أيضًا إنه سُمِّيَ: سَعْدَ الأَخْبِيَةِ، لأنه إذا طلع، '''طاب الهواء'''، وخرج ما كان من الهوام مختبئًا تحت الأرض من البرد في الشتاء»
</p></blockquote>

;English translation

<blockquote><p>
“It calls the ninth, which is on his right forearm, together with the tenth, eleventh and twelfth which are on his right hand: ''Saʿd al-Aḫbiya, the twenty-fifth station of the moon. It was so named because it consists of four stars: three of them on a triangle, '''and one in the middle of the triangle, which is the eleventh'''; they made this one the ''Saʿd'' and the three stand to it as a tent. It is also said that it was called ''Saʿd al-Aḫbiya'' because when it rises '''the air turns pleasant''' and there comes out what had been hidden of the vermin under the ground from the cold in winter.”
</p></blockquote>

'''Al-Ṣūfī names the enclosed star by its number in his catalogue of Aquarius: the eleventh = '''ζ² Aqr'''. The four are his nos. 9, 10, 11, 12 = '''γ, π, ζ², η Aquarii'''.
|}

====Stars Identification====

''Saʿd al-Aḫbiya'' isidentified as the four stars '''γ, π, ζ², η Aquarii'''. All primary sources are in agreement.

==IAU Working Group Star Names==

In 2026, the name Saad was suggested as a star name being a member star of ''Saʿd al-Aḫbiya'' historical asterism. It is suggested to be used for ζ² Aqr. 

WGSN decided in ... 202x to name  ... ...

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="lisan"><span dir="rtl">لسان العرب، ابن منظور (توفي 711 هـ)</span><br>
Ibn Manẓūr  (d. 711 AH/c. 1312 CE), ''Lisān al-ʿarab''</ref>
<ref name="maqayees"><span dir="rtl">أبو الحسين أحمد بن فارس بن زكريا القزويني الرازي (توفي 395 هـ)، معجم مقاييس اللغة، تحقيق: عبد السلام محمد هارون، دار الفكر، 1399 هـ - 1979 م، ستة أجزاء.</span><br>
Ibn Fāris, Abū al-Ḥusayn Aḥmad b. Fāris b. Zakariyyā al-Qazwīnī al-Rāzī (d. 395 H/ ~1004 AD), ''Muʿjam maqāyīs al-lugha'', critical edition by ʿAbd al-Salām Muḥammad Hārūn, Dār al-Fikr, 1399 H/1979 AD, 6 vols.</ref>
<ref name="qutayba"><span dir="rtl">أبو محمد عبد الله بن مسلم ابن قتيبة الدينوري المتوفى سنة 276هـ - 879م، كتاب الأنواء في مواسم العرب، دائرة المعارف العثمانية، حيدر أباد، الهند، 1375 هـ - 1956م.</span><br />
Ibn Qutayba ad-Dīnawarī, abū Muḥammad ʿabd Allah b. Muslim. d. 276 AH / 879 CE, ''Kitābu'l-Anwāʾ (on Meteorology of the Arabs)'', Dairatu'l-Maʿarifi'l-Osmania, Hyderabad - India 1956 CE/1375 AH</ref>
<ref name="marzuqi"><span dir="rtl">الإمام أبو علي أحمد بن محمد بن الحسن المرزوقي (توفي سنة 421 هـ)، الأزمنة والأمكنة، تحقيق د. محمد نايف الدليمي، عالم الكتب، بيروت، لبنان، 1422 هـ.</span><br>
Al-Marzūqī, Abū ʿAli Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. al-Ḥassan (d. 1030), ''Al-Azminah wa al-Amkinah'' (Times and Places), Edition by Dr. Mohammad Nayef al-Dulaymi, (Arabic print of the original book in 2002, World of Books, Beirut, Lebanon).</ref>
<ref name="Kunitzsch1961">Kunitzsch, Paul. 1961. ''Untersuchungen zur Sternnomenklatur der Araber.'' Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.</ref>
<ref name="thaqafi"><span dir="rtl">عبد الله بن حسين بن عاصم الثقفي (توفي 403 هـ)، الأنواء والأزمنة، تحقيق: د. نوري حمودي القيسي، د. محمد نايف الدليمي، دار الجيل، بيروت، لبنان، 1416 هـ.</span><br>
Al-Ṯaqafī, ʿabd Allah ibn Ḥusayn ibn ʿāṣim (d. 403 AH/ c. 1013 CE), ''Al-Anwaʾ wa al-Azmina'', critical edition by Dr. Nūrī al-Qaysī and Dr. Moḥammad Nayef al-Dulaymī, Dar al-Jīl, Beirut, Lebanon, 1416 H/1996 AD.</ref>
<ref name="sufi1954"><span dir="rtl">أبو الحسين عبدالرحمن بن عمر الرازي المعروف بالصوفي (المتوفى سنة 376 هـ/986م)، كتاب صور الكواكب الثمانية والأربعين، الطبعة الأولى بمطبعة مجلس دائرة المعارف العثمانية، حيدر أباد الدكن، الهند، 1375 هـ - 1954 م.</span><br />
Abūl-ḥusayn ʿabdur-Raḥmān aṣ-Ṣūfī. d. 376 AH / 986 CE, ''Ṣuwaru'l-Kawākib'', The Dairatu'l-Maʿarifi'l-Osmania, Hyderabad - Deccan - India, 1373 A.H./1954 A.D.</ref>
<ref name="ideler">Ideler, Ludwig, ''Untersuchungen über den Ursprung und die Bedeutung der Sternnamen'',Berlin 1809</ref>
<ref name="Schjellerup">Ṣūfī, ʻAbd al-Raḥmān ibn 'Umar, 903-986. ''Description Des étoiles Fixes''. traduction littérale avec des notes par H. C. F. C Schjellerup. St. Pétersbourg: Commissionnaires de lÁcadémie Impériale des sciences, 1874.</ref>
<ref name="hyde">Hyde, Thomas, Tabulæ Long[itudinis] ac Lat[itudinis] Stellarum Fixarum, Oxford: Henry Hall, 1665</ref>
<ref name="Hinckley">Richard Hinckley Allen, Star Names — Their Lore and Meaning, Dover edition, 1963.</ref>
}}
 
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