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This is an illustration from Ibn al-Muqaffa’s work entitled Kalila wa Dimna, which he translated from Persian to Arabic in the middle of the 8th century CE. This book of animal fables with a moral and a political message became, and still is, immensely popular, and was a landmark in the development of Arabic literary prose in the Golden Age of Islam.

 Dome of the Rock

Name: Illustration from a Kalila wa Dimna Manuscript, 1200–1220 CE

Material: Ink and color on paper

Size:
Length: 19.1 cm (7.5 in)
Width: 12.5 cm (4.9 in)

Date: 1200–1220 CE

Place of Origin: Kalila wa Dimna Manuscript

Location: Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris, France

Source and Registration#:
Wikimedia Commons
(accessed April 30, 2010).

Wadad Kadi

Avalon Foundation Distinguished Service Professor of Islamic Studies, Emerita, Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations, University of Chicago