Alfarasalkamil

Al Faras al Kamil (the complete horse) in the earliest copies of as-Sufi's manuscript (12th century), reconstruction by Khalid Al-Ajaji for Stellarium.

Alfarasalkamil (الفرس الكامل), "The Complete Horse", is a modern star name given by the IAU in May 2025. It resembles an old and now obsolete constellation in as-Sufi,.

Etymology and History

The Indigenous Arabian constellations of The Horse and The Camel next to the adopted Syrian constellation of the Love Goddess with a Fish (Andromeda) in an al-Sufi manuscript dating AH 519/ 1125 CE, copied by 'Ali bin 'Abd al-Jalil bin 'Ali bin Muhammad. Islamic Arts Biennale 2025 exhibition: of al-Faras al-Kamil and al-Naqa. (Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar. MS.2.1998), study by Emilie Savage-Smith (2013).

In contrast to the ancient Greek constellation "The Horse" (now called Pegasus) which has always been depicted halved, this constellation of A Horse in as-Sufi is smaller and complete. It overlaps only partially with Pegasus. It is certainly attested in as-Sufi but its origin is currently unclear:

Perhaps it was al-Sufi's creation, or perhaps contemporary with him. Alternatively, it might be even earlier but unreported previously. It is even possible that the Arabian tradition roots in or connects to the Babylonian one which had a horse (ANŠE.KUR.RA) in that area of the sky, but we don't know where exactly: it must be north of the Pegasus-square and the identification suggestions range from the Cas/Peg-area to Cep/Dra north of Cygnus. The most telling reference is MUL.APIN line I i 30 (which carries almost no information on the position, but the other texts are too broken to derive anything). The Arabian الفرس (al Faras) could at least be inspired by a Babylonian predecessor.

Mythology

In MUL.APIN, the Horse (ANŠE.KUR.RA) belongs to the entourage of the storm daemon UD.KA.DU₈.A, and the group likely designated the stormy season for astronomers of the 2nd millennium BCE, as its heliacal rise occurs in the same time of the year that the Greek Aratus announces as stormy season (with totally different asterisms).

IAU Working Group on Star Names

The name was discussed and approved by the IAU WGSN in 2025.

Reference

• References (general)
• References (early modern)
• Ian Ridpath's website (Star Tales )