Know then that among us it is admitted that Allah created the horse out of the wind, as he created Adam out of mud. This cannot be questioned. Several prophets—peace be with them!—have proclaimed what follows: When Allah willed to create the horse, He said to the south wind: "I will that a creature should proceed from thee—condense thyself!"—and the wind condensed itself. Then came the Angel Gabriel, and he took a handful of this matter and presented it to Allah, who formed of it a dark bay or a dark chestnut horse, (_koummite_—red mingled with black) saying: "I have called thee horse (_frass_); I have created thee Arab, and I have bestowed upon thee the colour _koummite_. I have attached good fortune to the hair that falls between thy eyes. Thou shalt be the lord (_sid_) of all other animals. Men shall follow thee wheresoever thou goest. Good for pursuit as for flight, thou shalt fly without wings. Upon thy back shall riches repose, and through thy means shall wealth come." Then He signed him with the sign of glory and of good fortune (_ghora_, a star in the middle of the forehead). Do you now wish to know if Allah created the horse before man, or if He created man before the horse? Listen: Allah created the horse before man, and the proof is that man being the superior creature, Allah would naturally give unto him all that he would require before creating himself. The wisdom of Allah points out that He made all that is upon the earth for Adam and his posterity. Here is another testimony to that: When Allah had created Adam, He called him by his name and said unto him: "Choose between the horse and _Borak_."[1] Adam answered: "The fairest of the two is the horse," and Allah replied: "It is well; thou hast chosen thy glory and the eternal glory of thy children; so long as they shall exist, my blessing shall be upon them, for I have created nothing that is more dear to me than man and the horse." Likewise Allah created the horse before the mare. My proof is that the male is more noble than the female, and he is, besides more vigourous and potent. Though they are both of the very same species, the one is more impassioned than the other, and the Divine Power is wont to create the stronger of the two the first. What the horse most yearns after is the combat and the race. He is also preferable to the mare for the purposes of war because he is more fleet and patient of fatigue, and because he shares his rider's emotions of hatred or tenderness. It is not so with the mare. Let a horse and a mare receive exactly the same sort of wound, and one that is sure to be fatal, the horse will bear up against it until he has succeeded in carrying his master far from the field of battle; while the mare, on the contrary, will sink at once upon the spot, without any force of resistance. There is not a doubt on the subject—it is a fact known by proof among the Arabs. I have seen frequent instances of it in our combats, and have experienced it myself.