al-Bighal
- Author died
- 255 AH
- Editions
- Dār wa-Maktabat al-Hilāl
al-Bighāl (The Mules) is a zoological and literary treatise by the Abbasid author al-Jahiz (d. 255 AH / 869 CE) examining the nature, biological hybridity, social utility, and cultural lore of mules.
Composition and Purpose
Al-Jahiz originally intended to incorporate his discourse on mules into his comprehensive zoological compendium, Kitab al-Hayawan (The Book of Animals), where it was meant to form a unified section alongside other solid-hoofed beasts. In his opening remarks, he explains that he was prevented from integrating it by pressing personal preoccupations, bodily weakness, hemiplegia (al-zamāna), humoral imbalance, and declining verbal fluency in his old age. Consequently, the treatise circulated as an independent work, though conceptually linked to Kitāb al-Ḥayawān.
Structure and Content
The treatise is organized into thematic chapters addressing biological, social, and literary aspects of mules:
- The nobility's fondness for mules (Walaʿ al-ashrāf bi-l-bighāl): Examines why elites, notables, and scholars favored mules over other mounts despite their perceived flaws, noting historical figures such as Rawwāḍ al-Bighāl and prominent early Islamic figures who kept them.
- Anecdotes of mules (Nawādir al-bighāl): Gathers humorous tales and lighthearted verses involving mules by poets such as Abu Nuwas, Abu al-Atahiya, Muslim ibn al-Walid, and al-Hakam ibn Abdal.
- The temperaments of mules (Ṭibāʿ al-bighāl): Analyzes behavioral traits such as stubbornness, volatility, and aggression toward owners.
- Use in the postal service (Dhikr al-intifāʿ bi-l-bighāl fī al-barīd): Discusses the role of mules in the state courier network (barīd) and its importance to imperial administration, with digressions into oneirocriticism and lexical derivations.
- Hybrid creation (al-Khalq al-murakkab): A biological inquiry into hybridity, using the mule as a primary example alongside crossbred pigeons, hunting dogs, and alleged hybrid animals mentioned in lore.
- Lifespans, environment, and mating: Separate sections treat the longevity of mules relative to other animals, the association between riding female mules and seeking judicial office (al-qaḍāʾ), environmental influences on animal development, and mating behaviors.
- Praise and dispraise (Madḥ al-bighāl wa-dhammihā): Compiles conflicting cultural views, poetry, and reports detailing both the virtues and defects of mules.
Method and Style
al-Bighāl reflects al-Jahiz's characteristic blend of empirical observation, theology (kalām), philology, and adab entertainment. He applies critical reasoning to crossbreeding claims—such as refuting the jurist Iyas ibn Mu'awiya's assertion regarding fish generation by citing his own dissections—while distinguishing between observed hybrids and unverified folkloric creatures.
Philologically, he lists technical terminology relating to animal reproduction and the etymological derivations of the word baghl. The text features extensive digressions (istitrād) into transmission criticism, social humor, and verse citations spanning pre-Islamic to early Abbasid poetry.
Transmission and Editions
The bibliographer Ibn al-Nadim recorded having seen early copies of Kitāb al-Bighāl and Kitāb al-Nisāʾ penned by al-Jahiz's copyist, Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā ibn Sulaymān (Abū Yaḥyā). A modern critical edition of the text was published by Charles Pellat in Cairo (1955), and it has also appeared in compiled collections of al-Jahiz's treatises.
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