The fires of the Arabs

At the end of the fourth part of Kitab al-Hayawan, al-Jahiz devotes chapters to fires. He begins with the things by which fire "was magnified" in people's hearts, then lists the fires of the Arabs one by one with verses as evidence, and completes the subject at the start of the fifth part. ^{1 4} He excuses mentioning them in a book of animals on the ground that they bear on it in useful ways that prompt reflection. ⁵ What follows presents the customs and sayings of the Arabs as al-Jahiz reports them; it does not affirm them.

Al-Jahiz begins with the fire of the offering, which God appointed for the Children of Israel as a test of their sincerity: when an offering was accepted, fire came down from the sky and consumed it; he cites the verse of Al 'Imran. ¹ Then come the fire Moses perceived and the fire of Abraham that God made cool and safe, and he says all of this added to the eminence and standing of fire in people's hearts. ⁶ He observes that God punished nations by drowning, wind, storms of stones, thunderbolts and the swallowing earth, but did not send fire upon them, making it a punishment of the hereafter, and he mentions the prohibition of punishing by fire. ⁷

• The rain-seeking fire: in a severe drought they gathered cattle, tied bundles of the sala' and 'ushar plants to their tails and hocks, drove them up a rugged mountain, set the bundles alight and cried out in prayer, believing this a means of bringing rain; he cites verses of Umayya ibn Abi al-Salt. ^{8 2}
• The fire of alliance: kindled when they swore alliance, and only beside it did they conclude their pacts, invoking deprivation of its benefits on whoever broke the covenant; sometimes they drew so near it that it almost burned them. He tells that clans of Murra ibn 'Awf swore alliance by a fire and came so close that it scorched them, so they were called "al-Mihash". He adds that they sometimes swore alliance by salt, meaning broth and milk. See alliance. ^{9 10 11}
• The traveller's fire: lit behind a traveller or visitor whose return they did not want, with the prayer "May God send him far and crush him, and kindle a fire behind him". ^{11 12}
• The warning fire: when they expected a great army and wanted to gather, they lit a fire by night on their mountain so the news would reach their people, and two fires when they were in earnest about gathering their clans; he cites 'Amr ibn Kulthum and al-Farazdaq. ¹²
• The fire of the two lava fields: al-Jahiz reports it as the fire of Khalid ibn Sinan al-'Absi, of whom he says that there was no prophet among the descendants of Ishmael before him; it was in the land of the Banu 'Abs, blazing by night and smoking by day, until he dug a well for it and drove it in. The prophethood of Khalid ibn Sinan is a claim al-Jahiz reports; the museum does not affirm it. ¹³
• The fire of the si'lat, the jinn and the ghouls: al-Jahiz distinguishes it from the fire of the ghouls, and in the fifth part mentions the ghoul's fire that Bedouins claim it lights at night to lead wayfarers astray. See the ghul. ^{14 15}
• The hunting fire: lit to lure gazelles and to find ostrich eggs in their hollows; he cites a verse of Tufayl al-Ghanawi. ^{16 17}
• The fire to frighten lions: lit when they feared a lion, because a lion that sees fire stares at it and is distracted from the travellers. ¹⁷
• The fire of al-Hubahib, the fire of outcasts and fugitives, who hurry to strike it before dawn, and the fire of the brand: a man is asked "What is the fire of your camels?" and names their brand-mark. ^{18 19 3}

In the fifth part al-Jahiz mentions "the fire of war", which he says is spoken of by way of proverb and metaphor, not literally, and then "the fire of hospitality", which a generous man lights so guests can find him; the higher it is, he says, the more it is a matter of pride; he cites Umayya ibn Abi al-Salt and others. ^{4 20}

Al-Jahiz says that all people and all nations were fond of venerating fire until God brought the truth, so that many went astray through excess and worshipped it; and that its veneration may appear in reports and in the practice of some prophets as worship, trial and the duty of gratitude for the blessing of it, which leads many people into error. ²¹