Nasi'

Nasiʾ (Arabic: ٱلنَّسِيء, an-Nasīʾ, "postponement"), also Romanized Nasii, or Nasie, was an aspect of the pre-Islamic Arabian calendar, mentioned in the Quran in the context of the "four forbidden months".

[1] In pre-Islamic Arabia, the decision of "postponement" had been administered by the Banu Kinanah,[2] by a man known as the al-Qalammas (pl.

[4][1][2] According to this view, nasīʾ is related to the pagan practices of the Meccan Arabs, where they would alter the distribution of the forbidden months within a given year without implying a calendar manipulation.

[5] Thus the Encyclopaedia of Islam concludes, "The Arabic system of [Nasīʾ] can only have been intended to move the Hajj and the fairs associated with it in the vicinity of Mecca to a suitable season of the year.

"[6] This interpretation is also corroborated by an early Sabaean language inscription, where a religious ritual was "postponed" (ns'ʾw) due to war.

According to the context of this inscription, the verb ns'ʾ has nothing to do with intercalation, but only with moving religious events within the calendar itself.

This interpretation was first proposed by the Muslim astrologer and astronomer Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi (787–886),[3] and later by al-Biruni (973 – after 1050),[7] al-Mas'udi (c. 896–956), and some Western scholars.