The Arab Legend of Creation
How Medieval Arab voyages to India influenced local tales
Legends were very popular in Medieval Arab society. They were developed from various sources and explained the relationship between supernatural forces and human beings. The fantastic adventures of Arab travelers and explorers in the Golden Age transmitted many oral legends and fantasy imaginations of different people to the heart of the Arab-Muslim world.
In his writings, the Abbasid historian Yaqut al Hamawi noted that the Arabs were passionate about legendary stories and competed to hear them. One of the popular ones was the legend of creation. In the Holy Quran, the story of creation describes how Adam and his mate Hawwa (Eve) were expelled from Paradise:
But Satan deceived them — leading to their fall from the blissful state they were in, and We said, “Descend from the heavens to the Earth as enemies to each other. On Earth will be your dwelling place and your means of livelihood for a time” [2:36]
A widely circulated Arab legend recounted the story of creation with leading characters of animals accompanied by supernatural qualities. The shape of the Earth was in the form of a ship undulating in the sea, personified as a whale. Its stability and balance went through several trials and states in which an angel, a bull, a green ruby, and a whale were used. According to this legend, God placed an angel under the Earth, with a rock on his shoulders. He stretched out his hands, one to the East and the other to the West. After that, God seized the seven Earths and fixed them so they remained stable. He then brought down a green ruby and a bull from Paradise, having 40,000 horns. The bull’s horns stretched outside the sphere of the Earth. They intertwined under the throne of God (known in Arabic as Al Arsh). The Bull’s nostrils had two holes. It breathed twice every day. As it breathed in, the sea rose, and when it breathed out it ebbed.
Medieval Arab travelers specified that Adam descended to the Earth in India. Their given location was a mountain called Jabal al Rahthun (Sri Pada/ Adam’s Peak in modern-day Srilanka). When Adam and Hawwa went out of Paradise, they were crying because they lost their garden home. They then landed on the mountain closest to Paradise. On the top of that mountain was the footprint of Adam, immersed in the stone. It was seventy cubits long. The step of his other foot was in the sea. Surrounding the mountain were types of jewels, rubies, diamonds, various perfumes, and musk. This mountain was the link between the Earth and the Heavens. It marked the beginning of creation where the stone was still wet when Adam’s foot was imprinted on it.
In another story, the mountain was actually in Mecca and was named “Abi Qais”. As Adam descended to Earth, a great shadow of grief passed over him and he asked God for forgiveness. After God pardoned him, Adam remained in Mecca where he constructed Al Bait Al Haram (The Sacred House).
Behold, the first House (of Prayer) established for mankind is the one at Bakkah: it is full of blessing and a center of guidance for the whole world [3:96]
God has appointed the Ka’bah, the Sacred House, as a means of support for (the collective life of) men, and has caused the holy month (of Pilgrimage), and the animals of sacrificial offerings and their distinguishing collars to assist therein [5:97]
After that, God sent the Black Stone from Paradise and Adam performed the Hajj (pilgrimage) rituals around it under the supervision of archangel Gabriel (Jibril). This served as an explanation to the Arab population concerning the originals of this human ritual used to propitiate God. Its connection to Adam tends to describe the genesis of the human race itself.
This vibrant blend of Indian traditions connected to the popular Arab stories of creation is attributed to the direct contact between those two groups. The Arab conquest of India initiated by the Syrian Umayyads brought Arabs directly in contact with Indians. Sources tell of fabulous metropolises founded in Medieval India by the Arabs. The Arabs dominated the trade routes and formed resident trading settlements (similar to the modern concept of factories). Arab trade flourished and many Indian goods were brought to the Abbasid Caliphate. The Arabs were fascinated by India and their geographers wrote extensively about it. Their merchants and explorers passed many Indian legends to the enthusiastic Abbasid audiences.
The Arab legend of creation is similar in so many ways to ancient Hindu tales. The origin of the fish can be traced to Hindu traditions which associate it with Lord Brahma and Banu, progenitor of humankind. The fish, a symbol of Kingship was linked to the fish avatar Matsaya of Lord Vishnu. Lord Krishna took the form of a fish in the Vedas. A fish upholding the globe was a view alluded to by Al Suyuti (1445–1505), an Arab-Islamic religious scholar, who quoted traditionalists as having proclaimed that the Arabic letter nun ن symbolized the fish upon which the globe was placed. In a work ascribed to the Arab scholar Abdullah Ibn Abbas: “God swears by the Nun, which is the whale that carries the earth on its back while in Water, and beneath which is the Bull, and under the Bull is the Rock, and under the Rock is the Dust, and none knows what is under the Dust save.” Another quote: “God created the Earth upon a (big) fish (hat), that being the fish (man] mentioned by God in the Quran: (Nun, By the Pen). The fish was in the water. The water was upon the back of a (small) rock. The rock was upon the back of an angel. The angel was upon a (big) rock.” Within ancient forms of Hinduism, Nandi was the bull of Vahana, the mount of the Hindu god Shiva. He was the guardian deity of the sacred Mount Kailash.
These influences later penetrated the Mughal Muslim traditions. They made an impression on Emperor Jahangir, son of Emperor Akbar, and his favorite wife Mariam-uz-Zamani (Maryam, Compassionate of the Age), a Hindu princess converted to Islam. Jahangir was often depicted in a parade preceded by a fish standard. In the above painting, the Emperor is standing on a globe supported by a fish which reclines the figure of Manu.
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References
- Al Azimi, S. N. Myths and Legends in the writings of Arab and Muslim travelers from the Near East.
- Chavan, A. The Rohu Fish & the Mughals. https://www.peepultree.world/livehistoryindia/story/treasures/the-rohu-fish-the-mughals
- V. K. Jain. (1978). The Role of the Arab Traders in Western India During Early Medieval Period. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 39(1), 285–295.
