oye GentleIllen Arabic Studies on Science and Literary Culture

304 THOMAS BAUER
wa-huwa al-akhtabu lawni wajhihi wa-udhunayhi wa-manäkhirihi.47
Other shades of dark mayaiso be subsumed under the term adham. The
difference between ashqar and ahmar/kumayt is explained by al-BastI
as follows:
~I{0~J..:üi~ ~i} ~..;=-i~I{01!~.:J~ J ~~ J..:ü~~~\ Lf.!J.;J~
48.~ ~ ..) i
~ ~ \J.o 'Y"'"
This is exactly the difference between the bay with its black mane, tail,
and points, and the chestnut. Five of our nine authors differentiate
between both. Dappled horses may be reckoned among the one or the
other colours according to the dominating colour. This is the reason
why only three of our authors treat ablaq as a category of its own.
The following chart lists the horse colours (note that kumayt =
ahmar) portrayed in nine 'parades' of the late Ayyubid and the early
Mamluk period. The lines are arranged according to the date of birth
of the author. The numbers indicate the sequence in which the different
colours are treated.
--
ashhab adham akh