Al Faras ( الفرس )

Al Faras الفرس is Arabic for The Horse.

Etymology and History

al-Faras in Adams (2018), pp. xx-xx.

Adams interprets the term الفرس, al-Faras, in al-Qutayba as a constellation that differs from the (later) Arabic translations of the Greek term and identifies a smaller figure northwest of the Ίππος (The Horse in Pegasus).

al-Faras in Laffitte (2012, 2025).

Laffitte collated all Arabic translations from the Greek. The original constellation in Greek was named The Horse (Ίππος), and only some of the cases are interpreted with wings (Pegasus).

al-faras, The Horse, is an Indigenous Arabian constellation (drawing Laffitte 2012). Names in contemporary catalogs (Ίππος > al-Faras, ap. ms. de St-Pétersbourg)

Reading Variants B19.

• Ίππος / / al-Faras al-Ṯānī, « le Second Cheval » (Ḥağğāğ)
• al-Faras, « le Cheval » (Isḥāq, Battānī)
• al-Faras al-A^cẓam, « le Grand Cheval » (Isḥāq, Ṣūfī)
• al-Faras al-Muğannaḥ, « le Cheval ailé » (Bīrūnī)
• Buruṭūs ( ?) (Battānī)

Individual Star Names

Arabic (original)	Arabic transliteration	French (Laffitte 2025)	English	Author	identified star
	Ğanb al-Faras	le Flanc du Cheval	The Flank of the Horse	Battānī	α Peg
	Kitf al-Faras	l’Épaule du Cheval	The Shoulder? of the Horse	Bīrūnī	α Peg
	Mankib al-Faras	l’Épaule du Cheval	The Shoulder? of the Horse	Battānī	β Peg
	Ẓahr al-Faras	le Dos du Cheval	The Back of the Horse	Battānī	γ Peg
	al-Matan	le Paleron	The Shoulder Blade	Bīrūnī	γ Peg
	Matan al-Faras	le Paleron du Cheval	The Shoulder Blade of the Horse	Marrākušī	γ Peg
	Ṭaraf al-Ğanāḥ	le Bout de l’Aile	the tip? of the wing	Bīrūnī	γ Peg
	Ğanāḥ al-Faras	l’Aile du Cheval	The Wing of the Horse	Battānī	γ Peg
	Ğanāḥ	Aile	The Wing	Miṣrī	γ Peg
	Mankib al-Faras	l’Épaule du Cheval	The Shoulder of the Horse	Battānī	δ Peg
	al-Nayra	la Brillante	The Bright One	Bīrūnī	= α And
	Surrat al-Faras wa-ḥuwwa	l’Ombilic du Cheval	The Navel of the Horse	Marrākušī	= α And
	Ğaḥlafat al-Faras	la Lippe du Cheval	The Lip of the Horse	Battānī	ε Peg
	Fum al-Faras	la Gueule du Cheval	The Snout of the Horse	Marrākušī	ε Peg

Names in contemporary catalogs

Arabic (original)	Arabic transliteration	French (Laffitte 2025)	English	Author	identified stars
	ᶜUnuq al-Faras	le Cou du Cheval	The Neck of the Horse	Marrākušī	ζ Peg
	Rukbat al-Faras	le Genou du Cheval	The Knee of the Horse	Marrākušī	η Peg
	Ra’s al-Faras	la Tête du Cheval	The Head of the Horse	Marrākušī	θ Peg
	al-Kaᶜb al-Ayman	la Cheville droite	The Right Ankle	Bīrūnī	ι Peg
	Rukbat al-Faras	Le Genou du Cheval	The Knee of the Horse	Miṣrī	ι Peg
	al-Kaᶜb al-aysar	la Cheville gauche	The Left Ankle	Bīrūnī	κ Peg
	al-Kaᶜb al-aysar min al-Faras	la Cheville gauche du Cheval	The Left Ankle of the Horse	Marrākušī	κ Peg
	Ṣadr al-Faras	la Poitrine du Cheval	The Breast of the Horse	Marrākušī	λ Peg
	al-Rukbat al-aysar	le Genou gauche	The Left Knee	Bīrūnī	π Peg

Reference

Kunitzsch, Paul. 1961. Untersuchungen zur Sternnomenklatur der Araber. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.

al-Ṣūfī, Abū al-Ḥusayn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿUmar. 1981. Kitāb ṣuwar al-kawākib al-thamāniya wa al-arbaʿīn. Beirut: Dār al-Āfāq al-Jadīda.