by Robert Irwin
‘Your Majesty,’ the spokesman of the beasts continued, ‘we and our fathers were the inhabitants of the earth before the creation of Adam, forefather of the human race. We lived in the countryside and roamed the country trails. Our bands went to and fro in God’s country seeking sustenance and caring for themselves. Each one of us tended to his own affairs, kept to the place best suited to his needs – moor, forest, mountain, or plain. Each kind saw to its own. We were fully occupied in caring for our broods and rearing our young with all the good food and water God had allotted us, secure and unmolested in our own lands. Night and day we praised and sanctified God, and God alone.
‘Ages passed and God created Adam, father of mankind, and made him His viceregent on earth. His offspring reproduced, and his seed multiplied. They spread over the earth – land and sea, mountain and plain. Men encroached on our ancestral lands. They captured sheep, cows, horses, mules, and asses from among us and enslaved them, subjecting them to the exhausting toil and drudgery of hauling, being ridden, plowing, drawing water, and turning mills. They forced us to these things under duress, with beatings, bludgeonings, and every kind of torture and chastisement our whole lives long. Some of us fled to deserts, wastelands, or mountaintops, but the Adamites pressed after us, hunting us with every kind of wile and device. Whoever fell into their hands was yoked, haltered, and fettered. They slaughtered and flayed him, ripped open his belly, cut off his limbs and broke his bones, tore out his eyes; plucked his feathers or sheared his hair or fleece, and put him onto the fire to be cooked, or on the spit to be roasted, or subjected him to even more dire tortures, whose full extent is beyond description. Despite these cruelties, these sons of Adam are not through with us but must claim that this is their inviolable right, that they are our masters and we are their slaves, deeming any of us who escapes a fugitive, rebel, shirker of duty – all with no proof or explanation beyond main force.’
2
When the King heard this, he ordered a herald to carry the news throughout the kingdom and summon vassals and followers from all tribes of the jinn – judges, justices, and jurisconsults. Then he sat down to judge between the spokesmen for the animals and the advocates of men. First he addressed the leaders of the humans: ‘What have you to say of the injustice, oppression and usurpation with which you are charged by these beasts and cattle?’
‘They are our slaves,’ said the human representative, ‘we are their owners. It is for us as their lords to judge them, for to obey us is to obey God, and he who rebels against us is transgressing against God.’
The King replied, ‘Only claims which are grounded in definite proof are acceptable before this court. What proof have you of your claims?’
‘We have philosophical arguments and rational proofs in support of the soundness of our claims,’ said the human.
‘What are they? Will you present them?’ asked the King.
‘Certainly,’ the man said. ‘Our beautiful form, the erect construction of our bodies, our upright carriage, our keen senses, the subtlety of our discrimination, our keen minds and superior intellects all indicate that we are masters and they slaves to us.’
The King turned to the spokesman of the beasts. ‘What have you to say to the evidence he has introduced?’
‘There is nothing in what he says to prove what the human claims.’
‘Are not standing upright and sitting straight the qualities of kings and bent backs and lowered heads the attributes of slaves?’ asked the King.
‘God assist your Majesty to the truth,’ the animal spokesman replied. ‘Heed what I say and you shall know that God did not create them in this form or shape them in this way to show that they are masters. Nor did He create us in the form we have to show that we are slaves. Rather He knew and wisely ordained that their form is better for them and ours for us. Since God created Adam and his children naked and unshod, without feathers, fleece, or wool on their skin to protect them against heat and cold, since He gave them fruit from trees as their food and leaves of trees for their clothing, and since the trees stood upright, spreading up into the air, He made man stand erect so it would be easy for him to reach the fruit and leaves. By the same token, since He gave us the grass on the ground for our food, He made us face downward so it would be easy for us to reach it. This, not what he alleged, is the reason God made them erect and us bent downward.’
‘What then do you say of God’s words, “We formed man at the fairest height”?’ asked the King.
The spokesman replied, ‘The heavenly books have interpretations which go beyond the literal and are known by those whose knowledge is deep. Let the King inquire of scholars who know and understand the Qur’an.’
So the King asked the learned sage, ‘What is the meaning of “the fairest height”?’
‘The day God created Adam,’ he replied, ‘the stars were at their zeniths, the points of the signs of the zodiac were solid and square, the season was equable and matter was prepared to receive form. Thus his body was given the finest form and the most perfect constitution.’
‘This would suffice to give a ground for their boasts of honor and excellence,’ said the King.
The wise jinni said,’ “At the fairest height” has another meaning in the light of God’s words, “who created, fashioned, and proportioned you as He pleased.” This means, He made you neither tall and thin nor short and squat but at a mean.’
The spokesman for the animals said, ‘He did the same for us. He did not make us tall and thin, nor short and squat, but in due proportion. So we share equally with them in this.’
‘How is it that animals are so well proportioned and so evenly formed?’ the human asked. ‘We see that the camel has a massive body, long neck, small ears, and a short tail; the elephant, an enormous bulk, great tusks, broad ears, and tiny eyes. The cow and buffalo have long tails and thick horns, but no tusks. Rams have two big horns and a thick tail, but no beard; goats have a fine beard, but no fat tail, so their private parts are exposed. Rabbits have a small body but big ears, and so it goes. Most animals – wild beasts, beasts of prey, birds, and crawling creatures – are irregularly built and misproportioned.’
‘On the contrary, O human,’ said the animal spokesman, ‘you have missed the beauty and wisdom of their creation. Do you not realize that a slight to the work is a slight to its Maker? You must start with the knowledge that all animals are the work of the wise Creator, who made them as He did with reason and purpose, for their own good and protection from harm. But this is understood only by Him and by those whose knowledge is deep.’
‘Tell us and inform us then,’ said the human, ‘if you are the scholar and speaker of the beasts, why does the camel have such a long neck?’
‘To match his long legs,’ he replied, ‘so that he can reach the grass on the ground, to help himself rise with a load, and so that he can reach all parts of his body with his lip to scratch and rub them. The elephant’s trunk takes the place of a long neck. His large ears serve to shoo flies and gnats from the corners of his eyes and mouth – for his mouth is always open, he cannot close it fully because of his protruding tusks. But his tusks are his defense against predators. The rabbit’s large ears provide cover, a blanket in winter and a shade in summer; for his skin is tender and his body, delicate. And so we find that God made the parts, limbs, and organs of every species adapted to its needs in seeking the beneficial and shunning the harmful. This is the idea to which Moses alluded (peace be upon him) when he said, “Our Lord who gave its nature to every thing and guided all things.”
‘As for your boasts of the beauty of your own form, there is nothing in that to support your claim that you are masters and we slaves. For beauty of form is only what is desired in the male and female of each species that attracts them to one another to mate, copulate, and produce offspring and progeny for the survival of the species. Thus beauty of form is different in every species. Our males are not aroused by the beauty of your females, nor our females by the charms of y
our males, just as blacks are not attracted by the charms of whites nor whites by those of blacks, and just as boy-lovers have no passion for the charms of girls and wenchers have no desire for boys. So, Mr Human Being, you have no grounds for boasting of superior beauty…’
Goodman, The Case of the Animals versus Man before
the King of the Jinn, pp. 51–9
COMMENTARY
So ends Chapter 2. There are another twenty-eight chapters to go.
The Green Sea is the Indian Ocean.
To be descended from ‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim was a claim to distinction, for the latter was both the uncle of the Prophet and the ancestor of the ‘Abbasid caliphs.
As we shall see later, an aversion to causing cruelty to animals led the poet al-Ma‘arri to become a vegetarian and to suggest that animals who had suffered in this world would be compensated in Paradise. A preoccupation with the merits of animals is also found in the work of Ibn al-Marzuban. Hardly anything is known about Abu Bakr Muhammad IBN AL-MARZUBAN (d. 921), the author of Fadl ala-Kilab fadl Kathir Miman Labisa al-Thiyyab, ‘The Book of the Superiority of Dogs over Many Who Wear Clothes’. He was an expert on philology and religious science who lived in Baghdad. It is possible that Ibn al-Marzuban intended his book as a reply to Jahiz’s argument in the Kitab al-Hayawan that man by virtue of his reason is indeed superior to animals. The last section of the book is extracted below.
There are stories of those whose sacred trust has been abused by a friend, while his dog came to his assistance. One of these is the following from ‘Amr ibn Shammar. Al-Harith b. Sa’sa’ah had some drinking companions with whom he spent all his time; he had a great affection for them. One of them flirted with his wife and sent her messages. Now al-Harith had a dog whom he had personally reared. He went off to one of his retreats accompanied by his companions, but this one man stayed behind. When al-Harith was a long way from home, his companion came to his wife and stayed there eating and drinking. When they were drunk and lay together, the dog saw that he was on top of her, so he leapt on them and killed them both. When al-Harith returned home, he saw the two and realized what had happened. He informed his drinking friend of this and recited the following poem:
He is always loyal to me and protects me;
He guards my wife, when my friend betrays me.
How amazed I am that a friend should violate my honour!
How amazed I am that my dog should give me protection!
He parted company with his friends and took his dog as a drinking companion and friend. He became a legend among the Arabs. He also recited these lines:
A dog is indeed better than a faithless friend
who seduces my wife when I am away!
As long as I live I shall keep my dog as a drinking companion
and I shall give him my affection and my unadulterated friendship!
Ibn Da’b told a similar story: Hasan b. Malik al-Ghanawi had friends and drinking companions and one of them abused his trust. Now at the door of his house he kept a dog he had personally reared. The man came one day to Hasan’s home and went in to the wife. She said: He has gone on a long journey. Would you like to stay so that we can enjoy ourselves together? He replied: Yes, indeed! So they ate and drank and he began to make love to her. As he lay on top of her, the dog leapt on them and killed them both. When Hasan returned and saw them in that state, it was clear what they had been up to and he recited the following poem:
After showing my friend pure friendship, he was struck
down in the house of shame, exposed by his treachery.
After being like a brother to me, he seduced my wife and betrayed me;
but my dog left him in the embrace only of the grave!!!
Al-Asma‘i also recounted a story like this: Malik b. al-Walid had some friends. He was never parted from them and could not do without them. One of them sent a message to his wife and she responded favourably. He came one night and hid in one of Malik’s chambers with his wife, though Malik himself knew nothing of this. As the man was making love to her, one of Malik’s dogs leapt on them and killed them both. Now Malik was at the time too drunk to know anything, but, when he recovered, he stood over them and recited the following poem:
A dog you keep protects you better,
as long as he lives, even if he lives till the Day of Judgement,
Than a friend who betrays you,
your property and your wife, after you have given him pure friendship.
Another poet said:
If I say to a dog: Damn you, clear off!
you look at me reproachfully,
As if afraid I shall treat you the same.
You do not come anywhere near that of which he is capable!
The same story was told of Sa’sa’ah b. Khalid who had a friend from whom he was never separated. But one day Sa’sa’ah came and found him dead on his bed with his wife and realized that they had both betrayed him. He recited the following verses:
Treachery is in the nature of all riff-raff,
while the dog is always faithful to you.
So shun vile men and look after your dog;
Then you will indeed be safe from treachery and trickery!
Now a friend of mine said: I was out one night, drunk, and I went into one of the gardens for a certain purpose! I had with me two dogs I had reared personally, and I was carrying a stick. But I fell asleep. All of a sudden the dogs were barking and howling and I was awakened by their noise. I could see nothing untoward, so hit them and drove them away. I went off to sleep again. Then they started to make a noise once more and to bark, waking me up. Again I could see nothing amiss, so I jumped up and drove them away. The first thing I felt after that was their falling on me and shaking me with their fore-and hind-legs, as someone awake shakes a sleeping man when something terrible happens. I jumped up and there was a black snake which had come up close to me. I leapt on it and killed it, then went off home. Next to God, the two dogs were the cause of my survival!
Abu Rafi ‘also said: A man had some people drinking with him one day and saw one of them eyeing his wife, so he said:
Eat with gusto! But may you never drink with enjoyment!
Be off, you ignoble wretch!
I have no affection for a drinking companion who makes eyes
when he is alone with his friend’s wife.
To conclude this book, here is one more story. A friend of mine told me that the wife of one of his friends had died and left a young son. He also had a dog whom he had personally reared. One day he left his son in the house with the dog and went about his business. After a while he returned and saw the dog in the porch, his face and the whole of his muzzle dripping with blood. The man thought that the dog had killed his son and eaten him. Before he went into the house, he attacked the dog and killed him. Then he went in and found the boy asleep in his cradle. At his side were the remains of a viper as long as a plank of wood which the dog had killed and some of which he had eaten. The man was full of remorse for having killed the dog and gave him a proper burial.
Smith and Haleem, The Book of the Superiority of Dogs over
Many of Those ‘Who ‘Wear Clothes, pp. 30–34
COMMENTARY
As so often in Arabic literary compendia, one has the impression that many of the anecdotes have no other function than to provide a context for the poetry.
The translators of this work note that effectively the same story was told in thirteenth-century Wales about Prince Llewelyn and his hound Gelert. Llewelyn returned from hunting one day to be greeted by his hound who was all bloody; assuming that the dog had killed his infant son, he killed the dog, only to discover that his son was unharmed and that the dog had killed a wolf. This tale, which is very ancient and widely diffused, probably originated in India (and there the dog started out as a mongoose).
‘b.’ is a standard European abbreviation for ‘ibn’.
Mas’udi believed that the writing of history was the crown of li
terature, and it is possible – even easy – to read for pleasure much of the history produced in this period. This particularly applies to the voluminous chronicle produced by Mas‘udi himself. Abu al-Hasan ibn alHusayn AL-MAS’UDI (896–956) was a Shi’i Muslim of Iranian origin. He made a special study of old Persian books and he travelled widely in Persia and northern India. However, he was also interested in Byzantium and the non-Islamic world in general, and a keen interest in human geography informed his wide-ranging chronicle. Mas‘udi was astoundingly prolix. Barbier de Meynard’s nineteenth-century edition of the Arabic text of Mas‘udi’s chronicle the Muruj al-Dhabab, ‘The Meadows of Gold’, ran to nine volumes. Yet Mas‘udi claimed that the Muruj was a mere abridgement of the longer Akhbar al-Zaman, or ‘Historical Annals’, which has not survived. In addition, Mas‘udi wrote the Kitab al-Tanbih, the ‘Book of Notification’, which has survived and which is a treatise on cosmography, chronology and world history, plus thirty-four other works, none of which is extant.
Apparently the Akhbar al-Zaman consisted of an account of the soirées of the’Abbasid Caliph al-Mu’tamid, a discussion of the qualities of the ideal nadim, a polemic on alcoholism, guidance on the correct formulae for invitations, descriptions of the various types of singing, rules of comportment, the ways of laying the table, cookery, anecdotes about ancient kings, and so on. Al-Radi (reigned 934–40) was the last ‘Abbasid caliph to have nudama (cup companions) in attendance at his dinner table and, by the time Mas‘udi wrote the Muruj, the golden age of nudama culture was coming to an end. Nevertheless, Mas‘udi’s monumental work is steeped in the matter and manner of the culture of the nudama and this gives it a somewhat wistful, antiquarian flavour. In the Muruj, learning and entertainment are artfully interwoven and both are given a literary polish. Although Mas‘udi disapproved of Jahiz’s polemical positions, he modelled his style and discursive manner of presentation on that of Jahiz, and he became like Jahiz a master of the digression.
Mas’udi has already been extensively quoted in previous chapters, most notably regarding Yahya al-Barmaki’s symposium on love, as well as the story of Iblis as Ibrahim al-Mawsili’s music teacher. In the extract from the Muruj which follows he deals with the soirées of the Caliph al-Mu’tamid (reigned 870–82) and the great work which he claims to have written, but which has not come down to the present day.