Part 27

Men’s coat and Animals’ coat

Consider how the bodies of animals of lower species have been covered with that hairy, furry, woolly skin; how birds have been covered with feathers, and how some animals have been provided with a strong and tough shell, like the tortoise *; some have feathers that are like spears; and see how in every case the covering is adapted to the animal’s need for protection from heat, cold, and from enemies that seek to harm it. Since animals are unable to obtain clothes, manufacture garments and coats of arms, they have been supplied with clothing and covering that are permanent, with tools and arms that they can use in self-defense, with hooves, pads and cloven feet in place of shoes and sandals, so that they have their permanent shoes and drinking vessels. The horse, the mule and the donkey were

> The Florida tortoise is said to smell the smoke of a fire at a long

distance; and since it is very slow-moving, the Almighty Lord guided it to what ensures its safety: it digs a hole for itself, and lets the blazes go above its shell-covered back without being harmed.

privileged with hooves because they were created to trot, run and race; hooves are also used as weapons, in place of talons, claws and fangs, when these animals want to revenge themselves against their adversary. Reflect, then, on this kindness and mercy: since they are dumb animals that are senseless and have no hands that are adapted for manipulation and defence, and have no share in what humans have of fabrication ', knitting and subtle skills, they have been provided with their natural cover, so that it accompanies them as long as they live; and have been provided with weapons and _ tools that help them defend themselves, so that they can fulfill the wise purpose of their creation.

As for man, he has skill and a hand that is adapted for industry, so it can knit and spin; he can wear apparel that he can change at will, and that is advantageous in several ways:

— He can rest once he has put off his clothing, and can later put it on when he likes; he is not obliged to wear it all the time.

- He can choose different clothing for summer and winter, as the summer’s clothing is unfit for winter, and winter’s clothing unfit for summer; so man can use in every season what is suitable in it.

- His clothes are chosen to suit his taste and pleasure.

— He can enjoy the various fashions of clothes in the same way that he enjoys various foods. His clothes have been left to suit his choice in the same way as his foods are. He chooses what he prefers of fabrics, some from plant

‘there is, in fact, a species of birds, called the tailor, which builds its nest from two tree leaves, which it pricks with its beak, then uses twigs or leaves of grass as a thread to sew them, the way a tailor sews clothes.

origin, like cotton and linseed; some from animal origin, like fur, wool, and hair; some from insect origin, like silk; and some from metals, like gold and silver. Such wide variety is open to the human so that he indulges in his pleasure and gratifies his wish for adornment and pruning. That is why the paradise dwellers have their clothing separate from their bodies, clothing that can be worn and removed at will, the same way as it is in this world; not part of their bodies, as is the case with the animals; and this proves that this arrangement is the more favoured, superior, and more generous blessing.

— Clothing is a distinguishing mark that sets man apart from the lower animals, in the same way that the Lord distinguished man in nutrition, dwelling, expression, mind and comprehension.

— Apparel and body-covering vary in accordance with the variety of situation and occasion; as dictated by industry, peace and war, settling and travelling, health and illness, sleep and wakefulness, and luxury. For every aspect of these, a distinguished apparel and body-cover are used, peculiar to it, adapted only to it. There is no apparel that fits all those aspects, that does not vary with the variation of situation. In this, man has been honoured and raised above all other animals.

The faces of animals

Regard now the exceeding wisdom represented in the particular shapes of the animals’ faces. Observe how the eyes are in front of the face; that enables an animal to see in front of it more than any other direction, which helps it protect itself and its rider, avoid running into a wall or falling down a hole. Animals’ eyes are in a position similar with that of a standing person, because eyes function as scouts of the animal. Their mouth is a slit below the nose, which helps them bite and hold the fodder. If it were at a

level with the nose and above the chin, as it is in man, they would not be able to pickup anything with it from the ground: do you not see how man picks up food with his hand not with his mouth? As an animal does not pickup its food with its hand, its mouth is a cut at the bottom of the head, which enables it to put it onto the fodder, pick it up and then masticate it. Its lips are like man’s, but adapted to its particular needs; they help it reach things near and far. The functions of the tail are a mystery to some people; they do not perceive any of its many advantages. It is in fact like a lid over the anus anda covering to the animal’s genitals, covering them and hiding them. In addition, the line along an animal's belly, between the anus and the upper part, is a filthy place, where flies and mosquitoes swarm and annoy the animal; and the tail performs here the part of a whisk or a fan that scares the insects away. Another function is that a beast has relief in wagging it to the right and left: It stands on all fours, and its legs are busy carrying the weight of the body, so that they cannot budge or shuffle, and hence it find relief in wagging the tail. There might be, besides, other functions that humans’ minds fall short of discerning, and the reader might deny them unless he sees them at the critical time; there is for instance the animal’s wallowing in the mud, when nothing helps to get it out more than taking it by its tail.

The multiplicity of animals

There is also a very curious wisdom associated with domestic animals, wild animals, predatory animals and animals in general: that you do not see anything of the remains of their dead despite their great number. They are not so few as to be hidden from sight; scarcity is definitely not the cause. They are said to be more numerous than humans. You may take example from what exists in the wilderness, antelopes, deer, cows, wolves, tigers, all kinds

of reptiles and insects in their abundance, the many species of birds which are many times as numerous as humans; but you hardly ever come across their carcasses in their dens, habitations, burrows or meadows; along their tracks, near their drinking-places, hiding places or resorts, or places of ambush; except if any of them gets assaulted unprepared, devoured by a wild animal, or shot by a hunter, in a way that it does not have the chance, nor any of its group, to hide itself at death, to have its carcass concealed. This is a proof that when an animal feels the approach of death, in contrast with sudden demise, it lies where no one can reach its body, and buries its body before death occurs. Otherwise, the desert would be filled with the carcasses of dead animals, the air would be polluted with them, and they would be a great source of trouble to people and a plague would spread among mankind. It is in relation with this that the Almighty recounts in the course of the incident of the son of Adam: MESA GES KA Na tong ates

“Then Allah sent a raven scratching up the ground, to show him how to hide his brother’s naked corpse. He said: Woe unto me! Am I not able to be as this raven and so hide my brother’s naked corpse? And he became repentant,” (5: 31)

As for animals that live with humans, like the cattle and sheep and transport animals, they do not behave the same way as wild animals, because the human. skill is involved here which is man’s ability to ward off harm from these animals. This should give you food for reflection, how this behaviour that humans sometimes fail

to apply properly, defending what is entrusted to them, is part of the instinct of animals, and see how birds can teach it to humans.

Consider, then, the wisdom of the Almighty embodied in His sending to the son of Adam the raven (whose name in Arabic ‘ghuraab’ indicates the estrangement of the murderer from his brother, his estrangement from Allah’s mercy, his estrangement from his father and family, his evading of them and their evading of him). The raven is a bird that humans shun and they shun its croaking; it annoys them. The Lord sent that particular bird to be a kind of teacher and tutor to the son of Adam, and the latter was here a kind of learner and pupil. That we associate here the name, ghuraab, to the wisdom embodied in it should not be disputed; one may cite in this connection the Prophet 3 when he said:

“If you send me a messenger let him be agreeable in looks, agreeable in name.”? He used to ask about the name of the land that he decided to stop at and the name of the messenger sent to him. When Suhail bin Amr was sent as negotiator during the Hudaibiah clash the Prophet # said addressing the Companions:

“Your affair has been made smooth”? (referring to

the name of the envoy Suhail, meaning in Arabic facilitation).

> Rated by Al-Albanee to be an authentic tradition in view of the collective routes of reporters, as in “Al-Saheehah” (3/ 281, tradition 1186).

When he decided to change a man’s name from Hazn (rough) to Sahl (easy) he said :

“The meaning of his name will always remain with him and his descendants.”*

Umar bin Al-Khattab once asked a man about his name, his father’s name, his home and where it was. The man _ said his name was Jamrah bin Shihaab (Arabic: Cinder, son of Comet), that his home was called That Ladha (ablaze) and that it was located in Hurqah (burning). Umar’s response was: “Go home at once, for it is on fire!” And indeed it was so.’ There are in fact more instances in support of this observation than is fit to list here, which is a very curious and interesting phenomenon, that of the correspondence or associations of names and the name-holders. People have been obsessed from the oldest times with the cawing of crows, associating it with estrangement and separation, associating it to bad omen, fleeing from it and inducing others to flee from it; in a way it was fit that Allah should send this particular bird to the murdering son of Adam; it is a reminder of the augury that every human being will have fastened to his neck on the Day of Judgement. It should not be assumed that the sending of the crow was just a coincidence without any good reason. If the wisdom of such deeds slips one’s mind, he should not assume that it is nonexistent. It should be realized that the imperceptibility of the wisdom is just a proof of its subtlety and refinement. The Almighty Allah has so many aspects of noble wisdom, often glaringly conspicuous, that humans fail to perceive.