Things that fly in the Horse

One of the most well known early Islamic works on horses is the Kitāb al-Khayl (Book of horses) written by Abū ‘Ubayda (d.822 CE).  In it he features a chapter called “The names of things that fly in the horse“.  

Below I’ve listed the 16 terms that he includes in this chapter and their literal meaning and the part of the horse they refer to as recorded in the many other chapters of the Kitāb al-Khayl by Abū Ubayda. 

Arabic

Transcription

Literal meaning

Part of horse

عُصْفُورٌ

uṣfūr

Any small bird(s)

Parietal crest (on the muzzle)

هَامَةٌ

hāma

Owl that visits burial places

Bregma or crown

ذُبَابٌ

  dhubāb

Fly

Point of the ear

صُرَدٌ

ṣurad

Black bird with a white belly

The white hair that appears after a healed saddle sore

فَرَاشَةٌ

Farāsha

Moth/ Butterfly

Muscle beneath the tongue

يَعْسُوبٌ

ya’sūb

The king of the bees/male bee

a blaze that ends before the nostrils and extends no further than the beginning of the forehead

سَمَامَةٌ

samāma

Mountain-swallow

A whirl in the middle of the neck of the horse (on the side of the neck)

نَاهِضٌ

nāhiḍ

A young bird whos wings have become complete and is able to fly

Deltoid (shoulder muscle)

صَقْرٌ

ṣaqr

Hawk

Whirl on the back behind the place of the liver

قَطَاةٌ

qaṭā

Sand grouse

The loin

غُرَابٌ

ghurāb

Crow

Sacroilliac joint

زُرٌّ

zurr

A species of sparrow

Socket (of upper arm bone)

خَرَبٌ

kharab

Male bustard

A whirl on the flank

نَسْرٌ

nasr

Vulture/ sometimes eagle

Frog

زُرَّقٌ

zurraq

Sparrow-hawk

Whiteness in the hair of the forelock or feathers

سَحَاةٌ

Saḥa

Bat

A vein in the lower part of the tongue