Yahya ibn Adam said: "On the nineteenth day of September, the day and night are equal, and the sun declines at that time at three feet. Then, every fourteen days, it increases by one foot, until the nineteenth day of December; for on that day, the sun declines at nine and a half feet. Then the feet decrease; they decrease by one foot every fourteen days, until the nineteenth day of March, when the sun declines on that day at three feet. Then the shadow decreases every thirty-seven days until the nineteenth day of June, when the sun declines at half a foot. Then the shadow increases every thirty-six days by one foot (1), until the nineteenth day of September, when the day and night are equal on that day, and the sun declines on that day at three feet."

• I asked Ahmad about a man learning the lunar mansions (manazil al-qamar)? He saw no harm in it. I said: "They look at clusters of stars and liken them to animals and the like, such as Aries and Taurus?" He said: "That is how the Arabs were," and he saw no harm in a man saying: "So much of the night has passed, and so much remains."

• I asked Ishaq about a man learning the lunar mansions? He said: "I hope there is no harm in it." I said: "What if he learns the names of the stars by which one is guided, such as al-'Ayyuq (Capella), al-Nasr (the Eagle/Vega), al-Jadi (the Kid/Polaris), the two al-Farqadain (the two Bears), and the like?" He said: "Whatever among them is used for guidance; there is no harm in that."

1306 - 'Ubayd Allah ibn Mu'adh narrated to us, saying: My father narrated to us, saying: Abu 'Awanah narrated to us, from Layth, from Mujahid, that he saw no harm in a man learning the lunar mansions.