When the Scorpion Climbs

Evolutions of Arabic Saj’a Rhymes for Forecasting Seasonal Times

Abstract

Traditional naked-eye astronomy was a rich element of Arab culture that figured prominently in the daily lives of herdsmen, farmers and fishermen, and others (Varisco 2000). These cultural practices were passed down from ancestors to successors, and the knowledge was preserved through oral poetry and rhymed prose, both of them ancient and honored Arab traditions. Abbasid (750-1258 CE) historians were the first to document traditional Arab astronomical knowledge, the most complete extant work being the Kitab al-Anwā’ (1956) of Ibn Qutayba (d. 889 CE). His work and the remnants of other works (see Ibn Sīda 1898-1903; al-Marzūqī 1914; Quṭrub 1985; and al-Ṣūfī 1981) reveal the breadth of application of local star knowledge to the prediction of seasonal weather changes that in turn forecast various elements of floral, faunal and social cycles (Henninger 1954; Pellat 1955; Varisco 1991).

Observed in the waxing twilight of dawn, the cosmical settings of stars were culturally significant and featured strongly in poetry and the Qur’ān, but heliacal risings were prevalent within the medium of rhymed prose (sajʿ). Possibly a precursor to the first forms of classical Arabic poetry, sajʿ featured a rhyme at the end of each phrase without any internal meter or required number of syllables. Within the context of heliacal risings, sajʿ was formulaic, beginning with the phrase, “When [star] rises, …” The rhymed phrases that followed this opening connected the seasonal time of the heliacal rising of the star or asterism with characteristics of the floral, faunal and social activities that were undertaken during that time. This structure made pieces of sajʿ easy to transmit and remember, preserving the intimate knowledge of life in the desert among the Arabs, who observed “the blowing of the winds, the rising of the stars, and the changing of the seasons” (al-Marzūqī 1914, 2:179-180). Attributions of authorship were never identified within the literature that remains extant, indicating that the these rhymed prose sayings developed organically out of Arabian society.

In this paper, the author examines the development of rhymed prose over time for the celestial complex of the Scorpion (al-ʿaqrab) as an example of the ongoing social process of construction of these pieces of rhymed prose and their evolving utility for seasonal forecasting. Over time, there developed pieces of sajʿ for the Scorpion as a whole and for each of its four constituent parts: the Pincer (az-zubānā), the Crown (al-iklīl), the Heart (al-qalb), and the Raised Tail (ash-shawla). The sajʿ for the Scorpion provides insight into the processes of change in social astronomical systems that continue to evolve over time rather than remaining static. As such, these living skies of Arabia are windows into the integral roles that indigenous astronomies play within a society.