Kleeja and Dhamna

Kaleela and Dimna: author: Abdullah bin al-Muqaffa' language: Arabic publication date: 2024 book format: paperback publisher: Dar Asir Al-Kutub for translation, publishing, and distribution number of pages: 320 description: The book consists of fifteen main chapters that include many stories whose heroes are animals, and among the most prominent animal characters included in the book are the lion, who plays the role of the king, and his servant the bull called "Shatrabeh" (or Shanzabeh in some copies), in addition to two jackals named "Kaleela" and "Dimna." It also includes four other chapters that came in the first pages of the book, which are: the introduction chapter, the chapter about Buzurjmihr's mission to India, the chapter presenting the book (translated by Abdullah bin al-Muqaffa'), and the chapter about Buzurjmihr (translated by Buzurgmihr ibn al-Bukhtakān). The Arabic version of the book played a major role in its dissemination and translation into other languages of the world, either directly from the Arabic text or through intermediate languages derived from the Arabic text. Old Arab critics classify the book Kaleela and Dimna in the first tier of Arab books and consider it one of the four excellent books alongside Al-Kamil by Al-Mubarrad, Al-Bayan and Al-Tabyeen by Al-Jahiz, and Al-‘Umdah by Ibn Rashiq.