Kalila wa Dimna: The Lion and the Ox

Outline

Kalila wa Dimna: The Lion and the Ox is the opening tale of Kalila wa Dimna, the famous book of fables that Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ rendered into Arabic in the 8th century. Dimna, an ambitious jackal, grows jealous of the friendship between the lion king and a gentle ox and uses lies to turn them against each other. The story is a timeless lesson about envy, flattery, trust, and wise leadership.

• Envy can push an ambitious person to lie and break up a friendship that never threatened them.
• Dimna, the jackal, uses lies to turn the lion king and the gentle ox against each other.
• Flattery and whispered stories can damage trust, so a wise listener checks what they hear.
• A good leader does not act on one account alone and weighs advice before deciding.
• Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ rendered Kalila wa Dimna into Arabic in the 8th century, and this tale opens the collection.

Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ (c. 724–759) was a Persian-born writer and translator and one of the founders of Arabic literary prose. He translated Kalila wa Dimna into Arabic from a Middle Persian version of the Indian Panchatantra, and his translation became one of the most widely read books in the Arab world. He also wrote works on ethics and good conduct, such as Al-Adab al-Kabir and Al-Adab al-Saghir.