The Heamels and Sheamels

The book Al-Hawamil and Al-Shawamil is actually two books by two great authors: questions from Abu Hayyan Al-Tawhidi called "Al-Hawamil" and answers from Maskweh called "Al-Shawamil." The meaning of "Al-Hawamil" is the grazing camels that the owner neglects and leaves to graze, and "Al-Shawamil" are the animals that control the camels and gather them. Abu Hayyan borrowed the word Al-Hawamil for his scattered questions that await answers, and Maskweh used the word Al-Shawamil for the answers he provided. The fact that Abu Hayyan's Hawamil are well-organized indicates that he is a philosophical personality who extracts questions from everything he encounters, whether they are issues related to creation, society, language, economy, or psychology. The book also shows that Abu Hayyan had a broad and multi-faceted outlook, and in this he preferred Maskweh. Maskweh had a narrower outlook and was also less expressive. The style of Tawhidi in his questions is a wonderful literary and artistic style that even surpasses Maskweh's philosophical style, which is shrouded in ambiguity. Abu Hayyan was a philosopher among philosophers, a theologian among theologians, a linguist among linguists, and a Sufi among Sufis... his horizon extended to include research into the self of God and His attributes.