KhalidAlAjaji: Create New page for the Arabic asterism al-Hanʿa.

2026-11-08T11:34:27Z

Create New page for the Arabic asterism al-Hanʿa.

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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Al-Hanʿa}}

{{See also|Al-Ǧawzāʾ}}

Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
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[[File:Alhanaa.png|thumb|The Arabic lunar station ''al-Hanʿa'' (الهَنْعَةُ), ‘the Bend (in the neck)’. CC BY, Khalid Al-Ajaji, 2026.]]

''Al-Hanʿa'' (الهَنْعَةُ), ‘the Bend (in the neck)’, is the sixth Arabic lunar station, identified with γ and ξ Geminorum.<ref name="khalid2021sufi"/> Ibn Qutayba and Ibn ʿĀṣim describe it as two white stars a whip’s length apart, following [[Al-Haqʿa]] in the Milky Way.<ref name="qutayba"/><ref name="thaqafi"/> The names ''[[al-Zirr]]'' and ''[[Al-Maysān|al-Maysān]]'' are associated with the pair, although the quoted sources do not specify which name belongs to which star.<ref name="qutayba"/><ref name="khalid2021sufi"/>

==Concordance, Etymology, History==
''Al-Hanʿa'' is recorded in the ''anwāʾ'' works of Ibn Qutayba, Ibn ʿĀṣim al-Ṯaqafī and al-Marzūqī, and in al-Ṣūfī’s ''Kitāb al-kawākib'', where al-Ṣūfī identifies it with the seventeenth and eighteenth stars of Ptolemy’s Gemini, at the feet of the following Twin.

'''Arabic name'''

* ''al-Hanʿa'' (الهنعة) “the Bend”<ref name="qutayba"/><ref name="thaqafi"/><ref name="marzuqi"/><ref name="khalid2021sufi"/>

'''Associated names'''

* ''al-Zirr'' (الزر) “the Button” and ''al-Maysān'' (الميسان) “the Strutting One”, names associated with the pair<ref name="qutayba"/><ref name="thaqafi"/><ref name="marzuqi"/><ref name="khalid2021sufi"/>; see [[al-Zirr]] and [[Al-Maysān]]

'''Historical European transcriptions'''

* ''Al Henʿa'', Hyde (1665)<ref name="hyde"/> (''Commentarii'', p. 35).
* ''El-henʿa'', Ideler (1809)<ref name="ideler"/> (p. 156, note 4).
* ''al-hanat'', Schjellerup (1874)<ref name="Schjellerup"/> (pp. 144–145).
* ''Al Hanʿah'', Allen (1963)<ref name="Hinckley"/> (p. 234).
* ''al-hanʿa'', Kunitzsch (1961)<ref name="Kunitzsch1961"/> (no. 114, p. 64).

===Etymology===
{| class="wikitable"
! scope="col" style="width: 16%;" | Name
! scope="col" style="width: 42%;" | English
! scope="col" style="width: 42%;" | Arabic
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|''Hanʿa''
|In ''Lisān al-ʿArab'', s.v. ''h-n-ʿ'' (هنع),<ref name="lisan"/> we read:
<blockquote>
'''''Al-hanaʿ''''': a drooping and twisting of the neck; alternatively, a drooping, twisting, and shortness of the camel’s neck and shoulder. It is also defined as a downward bending of the neck at its midpoint. […] Both '''''al-hanʿa''''' and ''al-hanaʿa'' denote a branding mark placed on the hollow of a camel’s neck.
</blockquote>
|dir="rtl"|جاء في «لسان العرب»، مادة «هنع»:
<blockquote>
«الهَنَع: تَطامن والتِواء فِي العُنُق، وَقِيلَ: فِي عُنق الْبَعِيرِ والمَنْكِبِ وقِصَرٌ، وَقِيلَ: الهَنَع تَطَامُنُ العُنُق مِنْ وسَطِها. […] والهَنْعة والهنَعة جَمِيعًا: سِمة مِنْ سِماتِ الإِبل فِي مُنْخَفِضِ الْعُنُقِ.»
</blockquote>
|}

=== Sources and Identification ===

==== Ibn Qutayba ====
'''Ibn Qutayba (d. 276 AH / 889 CE)''', Hyderabad edition (1956)<ref name="qutayba"/> (p. 42):
{| class="wikitable"
! scope="col" style="width: 50%;" | English
! scope="col" style="width: 50%;" | Arabic
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|dir="ltr"|<blockquote>
Then '''''al-Hanʿa''''': two white stars a whip’s length apart, following ''al-Haqʿa'', in the Milky Way, […] '''One of the two stars is called ''al-Zirr'' and the other ''al-Maysān'''''.
</blockquote>
|dir="rtl"|<blockquote>
«ثم '''الهنعة''' وهي كوكبان أبيضان بينهما قيد سوط، على إثر الهقعة، في المجرّة، … '''ويقال لأحد الكوكبين الزرّ وللآخر الميسان'''.»
</blockquote>
|}

==== Al-Ṣūfī ====
'''Al-Ṣūfī (d. 376 AH / 986 CE)''', ed. Khalid Al-Ajaji (2021)<ref name="khalid2021sufi"/>, Gemini:
{| class="wikitable"
! scope="col" style="width: 50%;" | English
! scope="col" style="width: 50%;" | Arabic
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|dir="ltr"|<blockquote>
They call the seventeenth and eighteenth stars, situated on the feet of the following Twin, '''''al-Hanʿa''''', the sixth lunar station. The two are also called '''''al-Maysān''''' and '''''al-Zirr'''''; it is also reported that one is ''al-Maysān'' and the other ''al-Zirr''.
</blockquote>
|dir="rtl"|<blockquote>
«وتُسَمِّي السابع عشر والثامن عشر اللذين على قدمي التوأم التالي: '''الهَنْعَةَ'''، وهو المنزل السادس من منازل القمر، '''ويُسَمَّيَانِ: المَيْسَانَ والزِّرَّ'''، وقد روي أن أحدهما هو المَيْسَانُ والآخر الزِّرُّ.»
</blockquote>
|}

==== Ibn ʿĀṣim al-Ṯaqafī ====
'''Ibn ʿĀṣim al-Ṯaqafī (d. 403 AH / 1013 CE)''', ed. al-Qaysī and al-Dulaymī (1996)<ref name="thaqafi"/> (p. 91):
{| class="wikitable"
! scope="col" style="width: 50%;" | English
! scope="col" style="width: 50%;" | Arabic
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|dir="ltr"|
<blockquote>
The month of Ḥazīrān, which the non-Arabs call June

[…]
On the twenty-second night of the month, '''al-Hanʿa''' rises. It is the first of the asterisms whose rising marks the season of intense summer heat. It consists of two white stars, a whip’s length apart, following al-Haqʿa in the Milky Way and lying between it and the Outstretched Foreleg. One of the two stars is called al-Zirr, and the other al-Maysān.
</blockquote>
|dir="rtl"|
<blockquote>
«شهر حزيران وهو عند العجم يونيه

[…]
وفي اثنتين وعشرين ليلة تخلو منه '''تطلع الهنعة'''، وهي أول طوالع فصل القيظ، '''وهي كوكبان أبيضان بينهما قيد سوط على أثر الهقعة في المجرة'''، وبين الذراع المبسوطة، '''يسمى الكوكب الواحد الزر، والآخر: الميسان'''»
</blockquote>
|}

==== Al-Marzūqī ====
'''Al-Marzūqī (d. 421 AH / 1030 CE)''', ed. al-Dulaymī (2002)<ref name="marzuqi"/> (vol. 1, p. 168):
{| class="wikitable"
! scope="col" style="width: 50%;" | English
! scope="col" style="width: 50%;" | Arabic
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|dir="ltr"|<blockquote>
As for '''al-Hanʿa, it is two stars a whip’s length apart, following al-Haqʿa, and because they fall short of it it was called al-Hanʿa'''. […] Ibn Kunāsa said: '''al-Hanʿa is called al-Zirr and al-Maysān'''.
</blockquote>
|dir="rtl"|<blockquote>
«وأمَّا '''الهَنْعَةُ: فكوكبان بينهما قيد سوط، وهما على أثر الهَقْعَةِ، ولتقاصرها عنها سُمِّيَتْ: الهَنْعَةَ'''. […] وقال ابن كناسة: '''يقال للهَنْعَةِ: الزِّرُ والمَيْسَانُ'''»
</blockquote>
|}

==== Star identifications ====
The identifications from al-Ṣūfī’s account follow the table of Gemini in Khalid Al-Ajaji’s 2021 edition of ''Kitāb al-kawākib''.<ref name="khalid2021sufi"/>

{| class="wikitable"
! Name
! Traditional description
! Al-Ṣūfī’s catalogue identification
! Modern identification
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|''Al-Hanʿa''
|Two stars a whip’s length apart, following ''al-Haqʿa''; Ibn Qutayba and Ibn ʿĀṣim describe them as white and place them in the Milky Way.
|Ptolemy’s Gemini nos. 17 and 18, at the feet of the following Twin.
|γ Gem (no. 17, HR 2421, HIP 31681) and ξ Gem (no. 18, HR 2484, HIP 32362).
|}

===Discussion===
'''The name and its witnesses.''' The sources identify ''al-Hanʿa'' as a pair of stars. Ibn Qutayba and Ibn ʿĀṣim describe them as white, a whip’s length apart, and following ''al-Haqʿa'' in the Milky Way. Al-Marzūqī gives the same separation and position after ''al-Haqʿa'', adding an explanation of the name.<ref name="qutayba"/><ref name="thaqafi"/><ref name="marzuqi"/> These three accounts use closely similar wording. Al-Ṣūfī identifies the pair as the seventeenth and eighteenth stars of Gemini, at the feet of the following Twin. He records the names ''al-Maysān'' and ''al-Zirr'', then reports that one star bears each name.<ref name="khalid2021sufi"/> None of the quoted passages specifies which name belongs to which member of the pair.

'''The three stars close to it.''' The Moon is said to descend by ''al-taḥāyī'', the three stars close to al-Hanʿa; see [[Al-Taḥāyī]].

'''The bow.''' In the description of the bow of ''al-Ǧawzāʾ'', the two stars of ''al-Hanʿa'' occupy the grip of the larger, eight-star asterism; see [[Qaws al-Ǧawzāʾ]].

==IAU Working Group on Star Names==
The two stars of al-Hanʿa have the following modern IAU-standardized names:<ref name="iaucsn"/>

* '''Alhena''' — γ Gem (HR 2421, HIP 31681), Ptolemy’s Gemini no. 17
* '''Alzirr''' — ξ Gem (HR 2484, HIP 32362), Ptolemy’s Gemini no. 18

These modern name assignments should be distinguished from the historical accounts quoted above, which do not explicitly assign ''al-Zirr'' to either member of the pair.

== Weblinks ==

* [https://exopla.net/star-names/modern-iau-star-names/ IAU Catalog of Star Names]

== References ==

{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="lisan">
لسان العرب، ابن منظور (توفي 711 هـ) 
Ibn Manẓūr (d. 711 H/~1312 AD), ''Lisān al-ʿarab''</ref>
<ref name="khalid2021sufi">[https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1s6JXzftwjMQ5rgZoGE3718EtBLBZtjzr كتاب الكواكب لأبي الحسين عبد الرحمن بن عمر الرازي المعروف بالصوفي (291-376)، تحقيق خالد بن عبد الله العجاجي.] 
[https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1s6JXzftwjMQ5rgZoGE3718EtBLBZtjzr ''Book of the stars'' by al-Ṣūfī (died 986): Critical edition with commentary by Khalid al-Ajaji, digital edition, 2021.]</ref>
<ref name="qutayba">أبو محمد عبد الله بن مسلم ابن قتيبة الدينوري المتوفى سنة 276هـ - 889م، كتاب الأنواء في مواسم العرب، دائرة المعارف العثمانية، حيدر أباد، الهند، 1375 هـ - 1956م. 
IBN QUTAYBA AD-DĪNAWARĪ, ABŪ MUḤAMMAD ʿABDULLAH B. MUSLIM. d. 276 A.H / 889 A.D., ''KITĀBU'L-ANWĀʾ (on Meteorology of the Arabs)'', DAIRATU'L-MAʿARIFI'L-OSMANIA, Hyderabad - INDIA 1956 A.D./1375 A.H.</ref>
<ref name="marzuqi">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. 
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">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. 
Al-Ṯaqafī, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥusayn ibn ʿĀṣim (d. 403 H/ ~1013 AD), ''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="Schjellerup">Al-Ṣūfī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿUmar (d. 986). ''Description Des étoiles Fixes''. traduction littérale avec des notes par H. C. F. C Schjellerup. St. Pétersbourg: Commissionnaires de l’Académie Impériale des sciences, 1874.</ref>
<ref name="ideler">Ideler, Ludwig, ''Untersuchungen über den Ursprung und die Bedeutung der Sternnamen'', Berlin 1809</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>
<ref name="iaucsn">IAU Catalog of Star Names (IAU-CSN), IAU Working Group on Star Names. [https://exopla.net/star-names/modern-iau-star-names/ online]</ref>
}}

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Al-Hanʿa - Revision history

KhalidAlAjaji: Create New page for the Arabic asterism al-Hanʿa.