Abu ‘Amir (the author of your cat poem) lived in the late 11th century CE, and not in Egypt but Gorgan (northern Iran), as indicated by his surname al-Jurjani. Otherwise, nice work.
Another fabulous post!! You are opening up whole new areas of human (and feline) history and culture to this ancient reader. And your writing voice is such a delight!
reading this genuinely made life feel a little brighter today, i'm obsessed with the fact people loved their cats back then as much as we do now (cutting off the sleeve so muezza could continue to sleep uninterrupted is my favourite i think aswell as the custom shoes so his cat can sit with him on his prayer rug - i will remember this forever)
I think this distinction is clear since dogs in Islam are mainly used as a utility animal not a pet (with shepherds, security), cats take this place in most Muslim cultures as the favorite pet. Hence, all those IG cat videos from Turkey. They're still free roaming in the country. Another anecdote is the statue of the cat that died. https://www.boredpanda.com/laid-back-cat-statue-tombili-istanbul/
The muslim tradition is filled with animal cuteness in so many ways anyways hah.
Oh as a Turk I love this! There are a couple of things I’m unsure of (like the authenticity of the cutting off the robe sleeve story, as it goes around quite a lot in different forms) but it was a fun read nonetheless. (Calling Nasreddin Hoca just ‘Nasreddin’ kinda feels like a crime too lol.)
I really enjoy the comparisons between the old western and the muslim worlds when it comes to details like this, as they are often overlooked. The approach to cats are different even today I think: my Northern European friend was telling me that when you see a cat out in the streets there, people immediately assume it has an owner, as strays are really not a thing. Whereas here strays rule the streets. They can go anywhere, cafes, supermarkets, any establishments with an open door, and can get into your house too sometimes, and leave you gifts in the form of tiny mice if you’re nice to them. (sorry mousey, and thanks tabby I don’t own no.2)
highly excellent post!!! I love reading about people who love cats so much! (I wonder if, at least in Egypt, the love of cats was at least partially a holdover from the old religion) a while back I was writing a story where one of the characters was a medieval Muslim from Alexandria and she was talking about the mosques there and I looked up pictures of some of the mosques for reference and one of the pictures was a cat just chilling in the sun in the mosque. had to include mosque cat in the story obviously. also evidence that the tradition continues :) I love you mosque cat
So did the Egyptians. There is a story of a Roman army who - when facing off with an Egyptian force - released bags of cats on the battlefield. As the story goes, the Egyptians became more interested in saving the lives of the cats, than their own (thus, the Romans defeated them thoroughly).
I love these stories of the adventures of medieval kitties.
On the ‘Cat’s in Islam’ Wikipedia page (one of my favourite page titles) it suggests one reason for cats popularity among the learned of the Muslim world was that Muslim scholars used paper wheras western scholars used vellum. Cats were valued to keep the mice from eating the books, and an Imam without a cat was suspect as poorly read.
The story about the cat and the liver has a deeper mystical meaning. It raises a question that also appears in Phil Dick’s Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. I think it has something to do with the absorption of the self into God.
And the story about cutting off a sleeve so as not to wake a sleeping cat is mirrored in a famous Japanese print of a woman cutting off the hem of her kimono.
Abu ‘Amir (the author of your cat poem) lived in the late 11th century CE, and not in Egypt but Gorgan (northern Iran), as indicated by his surname al-Jurjani. Otherwise, nice work.
Oh dear, thank you for the correction! I'll update the text.
Another fabulous post!! You are opening up whole new areas of human (and feline) history and culture to this ancient reader. And your writing voice is such a delight!
Thank you so much!! This is high praise, I'm very glad you enjoyed :)
reading this genuinely made life feel a little brighter today, i'm obsessed with the fact people loved their cats back then as much as we do now (cutting off the sleeve so muezza could continue to sleep uninterrupted is my favourite i think aswell as the custom shoes so his cat can sit with him on his prayer rug - i will remember this forever)
Yay so glad you are on Substack now!
I think this distinction is clear since dogs in Islam are mainly used as a utility animal not a pet (with shepherds, security), cats take this place in most Muslim cultures as the favorite pet. Hence, all those IG cat videos from Turkey. They're still free roaming in the country. Another anecdote is the statue of the cat that died. https://www.boredpanda.com/laid-back-cat-statue-tombili-istanbul/
The muslim tradition is filled with animal cuteness in so many ways anyways hah.
That’s a chihuahua. 😂😂😂
Oh as a Turk I love this! There are a couple of things I’m unsure of (like the authenticity of the cutting off the robe sleeve story, as it goes around quite a lot in different forms) but it was a fun read nonetheless. (Calling Nasreddin Hoca just ‘Nasreddin’ kinda feels like a crime too lol.)
I really enjoy the comparisons between the old western and the muslim worlds when it comes to details like this, as they are often overlooked. The approach to cats are different even today I think: my Northern European friend was telling me that when you see a cat out in the streets there, people immediately assume it has an owner, as strays are really not a thing. Whereas here strays rule the streets. They can go anywhere, cafes, supermarkets, any establishments with an open door, and can get into your house too sometimes, and leave you gifts in the form of tiny mice if you’re nice to them. (sorry mousey, and thanks tabby I don’t own no.2)
highly excellent post!!! I love reading about people who love cats so much! (I wonder if, at least in Egypt, the love of cats was at least partially a holdover from the old religion) a while back I was writing a story where one of the characters was a medieval Muslim from Alexandria and she was talking about the mosques there and I looked up pictures of some of the mosques for reference and one of the pictures was a cat just chilling in the sun in the mosque. had to include mosque cat in the story obviously. also evidence that the tradition continues :) I love you mosque cat
This was great I loved reading it!
I am a cat person as much as possible although at the moment I have no feline overseer.
So did the Egyptians. There is a story of a Roman army who - when facing off with an Egyptian force - released bags of cats on the battlefield. As the story goes, the Egyptians became more interested in saving the lives of the cats, than their own (thus, the Romans defeated them thoroughly).
I love these stories of the adventures of medieval kitties.
On the ‘Cat’s in Islam’ Wikipedia page (one of my favourite page titles) it suggests one reason for cats popularity among the learned of the Muslim world was that Muslim scholars used paper wheras western scholars used vellum. Cats were valued to keep the mice from eating the books, and an Imam without a cat was suspect as poorly read.
thank goodness for this post
Brilliant - I’ve shared this widely
The story about the cat and the liver has a deeper mystical meaning. It raises a question that also appears in Phil Dick’s Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. I think it has something to do with the absorption of the self into God.
And the story about cutting off a sleeve so as not to wake a sleeping cat is mirrored in a famous Japanese print of a woman cutting off the hem of her kimono.
https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.3925536498.0938/flat,750x,075,f-pad,750x1000,f8f8f8.jpg