Note 126 — The Thirteenth New Year’s Feast

On Saturday, the 18th (Ābān), the camp was at Rāmgaṛh. For some nights before this there appeared, at three gharīs before sunrise, in the atmosphere, a (luminous) vapour in the shape of a pillar.126 At each succeeding night it rose a g͟haṛī earlier. When it assumed its full form, it took the shape of a spear (ḥarba), thin at the two ends, and thick in the middle. It was curved like a sickle, and had its back to the south, and its face to the north. It now showed itself a watch (pahar) before sunrise. Astronomers took its shape and size by the astrolabe, and ascertained that with differences of appearance (?) it extended over twenty-four degrees. It moved in high heaven, but it had a movement of its own, differing from that of high heaven, for it was first in Scorpio and afterwards in Libra. Its declination (ḥarakat-i-ʿarẓ?) was mainly southerly. Astrologers call such a phenomenon a spear (ḥarba) in their books, and have written that its appearance portends weakness to the kings of Arabia, and points to their enemies prevailing over them. God knows! Sixteen nights after this phenomenon, a star showed itself in the same quarter. Its head was luminous, and its tail was two or three yards long, but the tail was not luminous. It has now appeared for eight nights; when it disappears, the fact will be noticed, as well as the results of it.