Animal structure Imam as-Sadiq (s) continued...

Animal structure Imam as-Sadiq (s) continued, Now, I will talk to you about the animal kingdom that you may have as much information thereabout as you have received about the rest. Just consider the physical constitution and the pattern of construction underlying animals builds. They are not hard as stone, for had they been so, they could not bend to perform actions, nor are they soft, for in that case they could not rear up their heads or stand erect by themselves without any prop.

They are composed of such pliable muscles to bend, supported by hard bones which are gripped by the muscles and which are tied together with the others by tendons and covered by the skin which extends over the whole body. The wooden dolls with rags wound round them tied by strings and with a varnish of gum over the whole will illustrate the point. Let the wood stand for the bones, the rags for muscles, the strings for tendons and the varnish for the skin.

If it is possible in the case of living and moving beings to come into existence by themselves, the same can be said about these lifeless figures. And if it is impossible, as in the case of these toys, it is even more preposterous in the case of animals. Then think deeply of their bodies! They are composed of muscles and bones like the human beings. They are endowed with eyes and ears, so as to enable man to obtain advantages from them.

They would not have served his purpose if they had been blind and deaf. They are deprived of the faculties of intellect and reason, so that they may remain subservient to man and should not disobey even when subjected to intolerably heavy labour and burden. One may say that man may have slaves who have intellect and reason, but they obey their masters abjectly despite hard laborious toil.

The answer to this is that this kind of people (who remain obedient even under the stress of slavish toil) is few in number. Most slaves are unwilling toilers while the quadrupeds are obedient even under heavy burdens and when turning grindstones and other things. They cannot be affected by agitation as far as their particular duties to man are concerned. (Contrary to the quadrupeds, man is prone to such influence).

If people were to do such labors, they would be busy all the time and may not be free to do other works and duties, for several men would be required to do the work of one camel or one mule.