The story of the horse and the mule

It is well known that "The Message of the Stallion and the Mule" by Abu Al-Alaa Al-Ma'arri is one of the most eloquent messages in literature, wit, entertainment, and depth. He tried to draw the attention of politicians to what their policies do to the poor class of people, and what their wars cause in terms of destruction and devastation of the lives of the simple. Moreover, Al-Alaa's mercy extended to describe the suffering of animals through their voices. In this, he documents the marginalized parts of history, chronicles the lives of peoples, not the lives of their politicians and wars. Abu Al-Alaa, in this, is a rare phenomenon of his time, as he does what no one else does in his era or ours — he sees what others do not see, thinks what others do not think, and feels pain for what others do not feel. He highlights the suffering of people caused by corrupt politics, thus giving us a lesson about the duty of the intellectual towards his society and people. All of this is narrated through the voices of animals in a story with a well-structured plot and interconnected chapters, in a manner and scope unparalleled in the Arab heritage that preceded him. In his book titled "The Story of the Stallion and the Mule," the author has facilitated Abu Al-Alaa's message by replacing unfamiliar words with synonyms understandable to the modern reader. He also removed what is of interest mainly to linguists without compromising the integrity of the message, and he eliminated some digressions. This required rephrasing some sentences while maintaining Abu Al-Alaa's style.