al-Anwa fi Mawasim al-Arab li Ibn Qutayba al-Dinawari
- Author died
- 276 AH
- Editions
- al-Anwa fi Mawasim al-Arab li Ibn Qutayba al-Dinawari
Al-Anwa fi Mawasim al-Arab (The Anwa' and the Seasons of the Arabs), often known simply as Kitab al-Anwa, is a 9th-century treatise on traditional Arab astronomical lore, meteorology, and seasonal cycles composed by the Abbasid polymath Ibn Qutayba al-Dinawari (d. 276 AH / 889 CE) .
Background and Religious Framing
Arab traditions regarding anwa' (the heliacal risings and settings of asterisms associated with changes in weather and rain) formed a major genre of early Arabic lexicography and literature . Ibn Qutayba composed the work to document the heritage of the pre-Islamic and early Arabs concerning celestial observations, seasons, and weather forecasting, while explicitly contextualizing these practices within an orthodox Islamic theological framework .
In the introductory section, Ibn Qutayba clarifies the distinction between two interpretations of attributing rain to stellar settings (anwa'):
- Permissible observational reckoning: Treating the setting of a star merely as a time marker ('alam and waqt) for expected seasonal rainfall created by God, analogous to associating cold with winter or heat with summer . He supports this distinction by citing statements from Ibn Abbas and Umar ibn al-Khattab .
- Prohibited Jahili belief: Believing that the star itself possesses causal agency in generating clouds and bringing rain . He cites prophetic hadiths warning against attributing divine sustenance to astral causality, such as: ثلاث من أمور الجاهلية: الطعن في الأنساب، والنياحة، والأنواء ("Three matters belong to Jahiliyya: slander of lineage, lamentation for the dead, and belief in anwa'") .
Structure and Contents
The book is arranged methodically to cover celestial bodies, lunar stations, seasonal calendars, meteorological phenomena, and navigation:
- The Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions (Manazil al-Qamar): The core part of the treatise examines each of the twenty-eight mansions in detail, beginning with al-Sharatan (the horns of Aries) and al-Butayn, followed by al-Thurayya (the Pleiades), al-Dabaran, al-Haq'ah, al-Han'ah, al-Dhira', al-Nathrah, al-Tarf, al-Jabhah, al-Zubrah, al-Sarfah, al-'Awwa', al-Simak, al-Ghafr, al-Zubana, al-Iklil, al-Qalb, al-Shawlah, al-Na'a'im, al-Baldah, Sa'd al-Dhabih, Sa'd Bula', Sa'd al-Su'ud, Sa'd al-Akhbiyah, al-Fargh al-Awwal, al-Fargh al-Thani, and al-Hut (also called al-Risha') . For each mansion, Ibn Qutayba describes its stellar composition, its appearance in the night sky, dates of rising and setting, its reputation for rain, associated rhymed proverbs (asja'), and lines of classical poetry .
- The Seasons and Pastoral Life: The book defines the four seasons (spring, summer, autumn, and winter), their seasonal stars, and the calendar timings for nomadic pastoral movements—when bedouins ventured into the desert searching for grazing land (irtiyad al-kala') and when they returned to permanent desert wells (hudur al-miyah) .
- Cosmology and Other Celestial Bodies: Ibn Qutayba outlines the zodiac signs (buruj), the celestial sphere (al-falak), the celestial pole (al-qutb), the Milky Way (al-majarra), the wandering planets (al-khunnas), the Sun and Moon, twilight and dawn, and prominent non-mansion constellations and stars, including the Great and Little Bear (Banat Na'sh), Canopus (Suhayl), and their surrounding asterisms .
- Winds and Meteorology: Ibn Qutayba discusses the four cardinal winds, their specific directions of blowing, and their classification into rain-bearing/fecundating winds (lawaqih) and sterile/dry winds (hawa'il / 'aqim) . He also records signs of rain and cloud formations, the interpretation of lightning, and methods for navigating by the stars across desert terrain .
Method and Sources
Ibn Qutayba's method blends philological exposition with observational descriptions. He drew heavily upon the linguistic transmissions and poetry recorded by early philologists such as Ibn al-A'rabi, al-Asma'i, and Mu'arrij al-Sadusi . He cites verses from major pre-Islamic and early Islamic poets—such as Imru' al-Qays, Dhu al-Rumma, al-Ra'i al-Numayri, Adi ibn al-Riqa', and al-A'sha—to explain celestial terminology, star movements, and seasonal imagery .
In his own work Kitab al-Ma'ani al-Kabir, Ibn Qutayba explicitly cross-referenced this treatise by the title Kitab al-Anwa .
Transmission and Reception
Kitab al-Anwa was widely transmitted and cited across Islamic scholarship:
- Ibn al-Nadim listed it in al-Fihrist among the notable authored works on anwa' .
- In al-Andalus, it was transmitted along authentic transmission paths recorded in Ibn Khayr al-Ishbili's Fahrasa, including the transmission line through Qasim ibn Asbagh from Ibn Qutayba, and another through Ahmad ibn Marwan al-Maliki from Ibn Qutayba .
- Later scholars made extensive use of its material; lexicographers like Ibn Sidah cited its definitions and meteorological descriptions, and al-Suyuti quoted its rhymed weather proverbs (asja') in al-Mizhir .
- In his manual of municipal market oversight (Nihayat al-Rutba fi Talab al-Hisba), Abd al-Rahman ibn Nasr al-Shayzari stated that muezzins should consult Ibn Qutayba's Kitab al-Anwa in order to accurately determine the break of dawn .
- The astronomer Abu al-Rayhan al-Biruni acknowledged the work, remarking upon its distinctive emphasis on the visible appearances and positions of stars ('ilm manazir al-nujum) rather than solely rain lore .
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