an enemy of Islam,85 as shown in several canonical
a dream in his Ḥayāt al-ḥayawān al-kubrā which
traditions (the so-called ḥadīth)86 such as: “We
underlines the continued importance accorded to
have not made peace with serpents since the time
domestic serpents:
we became their enemies;”87 “whoever leaves them
If one dreams as if the serpents out of a place have
[the serpents] (alone) is not one of us;”88 “whoever
disappeared, there wil be an epidemic (of plague),
leaves a serpent alone from fear of its revenging
and the mortality in that place will increase, for
itself on him, has on him the curse of God, the
serpents indicate life 97
angels and men, – all of them;”89 “whoever kills
Post-Qurʾānic traditions thus portray the (ser-
a serpent will have as it were killed a man believ-
pent-)dragon as no more than the genius loci,
ing in the plurality of gods, and whoever leaves
fulfilling solely the function of guardian 98 yet it
a serpent (alone) fearing retaliation from it, is
appears that in spite of official strictures, the cult
not one of us ”90
of the serpent was abandoned only slowly under
yet these dictates had to be eased with regard
Islam, while domestic serpents, considered as ben-
to domestic serpents91 and it is known that
eficial jinn in their role as genius loci, continued
Muḥammad saw in each serpent not only a malefi-
to be tolerated
cent but also a benign spirit,92 thus continuing to
The traditions also maintain that the Kaʿba, the
ascribe to them a certain positive power Accord-
most famous sanctuary of Islam, was built upon a
ing to tradition, it is forbidden to kil serpents that
serpent When Abraham (Ibrāhīm) wished to
dwell in human habitation because these are ben-
build the Kaʿba, the Sakīna (the Hebrew shekhīnā,
eficial jinn 93 Before killing a domestic serpent it
“dwelling,” or “presence,” is usually considered
has to be forewarned three times, or during three
the source for the Arabic sakīna)99 unfolded itself
days,94 of the danger it faces and of the obliga-
like a snake on the first foundations which had
tion of the faithful to pursue it 95 The persistent
already been laid by Adam or the angels, saying,
adherence to the belief that every house has its
“Build upon me,”100 “and so he built; hence every
serpent guardian that is the real owner of the place
Bedouin in flight and every powerful person
– probably linked to the belief in ancestral spirits
inevitably circumambulates the sanctuary under
– may in some way be connected with this tradi-
the Sakīna’s protection ”101 Al-Ṭabarī expounds
tion 96 Al-Damīrī also records the interpretation of
on this tradition and describes the serpent as
In order to justify these vestiges of the ancient cults the
that “now if there be a heathen who may think a being
serpent was said to represent “a believing jinn”; cf al-Damīrī,
evil by nature, let him be opposed by the co-practitioners
I, p 233, cited after Robertson Smith, 1889, repr 1927,
of his own art, the worshippers of serpents, for they now
p 444, n 1
tame serpents to such a degree that they can call them into
85 Al-Damīrī, Ḥayāt al-ḥayawān al-kubrā, tr Jayakar,
houses of talismans (yuṙt ʿiwkʿ) and offer them food, as did
1906, vol 1, p 649 Cf Atallah, 1975, p 166
the Babylonians with the dragon they worshipped, but the
86 The term ḥadīth, or “communication,” denotes codi-
beloved of God killed it with the same accustomed food ”
fied reports that convey the normative sayings and deeds of
Elc alandocʿ, tr and ed Mariès and Mercier, 1959, p 575,
the Prophet Muḥammad, based, according to Muslim belief,
ch 65 The dragon-killing mentioned by Eznik refers to
on first-hand accounts of reliable witnesses to those utter-
the apocryphal book of the Old Testament Bel and the
ances and events; after the Qurʾān, the ḥadīth constitute the
Dragon in the book of Daniel LXX in which there was
second most important basis of Islamic law
giant serpent (drakōn) worshipped at Babylon which was
87 Al-Damīrī, Ḥayāt al-ḥayawān al-kubrā, tr Jayakar,
killed by feeding lumps of a concoction of pitch, fat and
1906, vol 1, pp 649–50 Cf Atallah, 1975, pp 166–7
hair to the dragon, causing it to burst Cf Gunkel, 1895,
88 Op. cit.
pp 320–3 There is a distinct possibility that ophiolatry
89 Op. cit.
and ophiomancy (cf al-Bīrūnī, Kitāb al-Āthār, tr and ed
90 Op. cit.
Sachau, 1876–8, pp 217–9, see Jadwal al-ikhtiyārāt (“Table
91 Atallah, 1975, p 167 Cf Massé, 1938, vol 1, pp 201–2
of Selections”); Panaino, 2005, p 73–89) was practised in the
92 Nöldeke, 1860, p 415; Wellhausen, 1897, repr 2007,
Persian-speaking world In this connection it is of interest
p 153
to note that the yezidis venerate a serpent carved at the
93 Nöldeke, 1860, pp 415–6; Wellhausen, 1897, repr
height of a man and painted black on the wall to one side
2007, pp 151, 164; Zbinden, 1953, p 76; Henninger, 2004,
of the entrance to their holiest shrine, Shaykh ʿAdī, near
p 31
Mosul in Mesopotamia See Russel , 1987, p 461; Bachmann,
94 Al-Damīrī, Ḥayāt al-ḥayawān al-kubrā, tr Jayakar,
1913, pls 14–6
1906, vol 1, pp 650–1; cf Atallah, 1975, p 167
97 Tr Jayakar, 1906, vol 1, p 656
95 Ibn al-Athīr, Nihāya, ed Zāwī, Cairo, 1963, “ḥarağ,” I,
98 Wensinck, 1916, repr 1978, p 60
p 362, cited after Atallah, 1975, p 167
99 Fahd, “Sākīna,” EI² VIII, 888b
96 Donaldson, 1938, repr 1973, p 168; Atallah, 1975,
100 Al-Azraqī, Kitāb Akhbār Makkah, ed Wüstenfeld,
p 167 These house snakes are revered also throughout the
1858–61, p 30, as cited in Wensinck, 1916, repr 1978, p 60
Persian-speaking world; see Russell, 1987, p 461 The fifth-
Fahd, “Sākīna,” EI² VIII, 888b
century Armenian author Eznik of Koghb writes for instance
101 Op. cit.
dragons and the powers of the earth
59
“a stormy wind with two heads One of them
ural inspiration The close association of the jinn
followed the other till it reached Mecca; there
with serpents is also emblematised in Iranian lit-
it wound itself like a serpent on the spot of the
erature In his romantic epic of the popular legend
sacred house ”102 The foundation of the Kaʿba
Laylā wa Majnūn, Niẓāmī of Ganja in Azerbaijan
is further described as “a wind called the wind
uses ophidian imagery to depict the lovers 108 In
Al-Khadjūdj which had two wings and a head
particular Majnūn’s serpent-like appearance and
like a serpent’s ”103 A similar description is given
his dwelling in a cave or ruin underline the fact
by Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad al-Diyārbakrī in his
that he is possessed by jinn:
Taʾrīkh al-khamīs in which it is said to possess
There, in that particular ruined place,
“two serpents’ heads, one behind the other ”104
He is creeping like a serpent over a stone
Such traditions endow the great serpent with a
He is insane, in pain and distressed,
sacred as well as a mythological character
and like a demon, he is far from the eye of man
In Islamic tradition, the (serpent-)dragon is
Due to his wounds, his soul is pierced;
thus closely associated with the foundation of the
the marrow of his bones can be seen 109
Kaʿba It evidently has not only a mythological
or apotropaic function but a sacred character,
following the ancient Semitic and Iranian tradi-
c The treasure-guarding dragon
tions 105 Its supernatural qualities are manifest in
the winged and double-headed appearance It is
Just as the dragon keeps the wealth of the waters
further significant, as Arent Jan Wensinck points
concealed, it also keeps, by implication, guard
out, that in most of the traditions the Meccan
over the wealth which is concealed in the earth
serpent is either the Sakīna or a being sent by
The belief concerning dragons guarding treasures
God, hence “not a demoniac but a divine being ”106
hidden in the earth and the sources of nature’s
Finally, a madman was said to be supernatu-
abundance may be linked with their chthonic
rally possessed by jinn (majnūn) 107 At the same
nature 110
time, jinn sometimes endowed men with special
Within the sanctuary of the Kaʿba in Mecca
knowledge as seems to be implied by the word
a deep pit or well was situated, called khizāna
for the mantic figure of a poet (shaʿīr), who was
(“treasury”), on account of the offerings of jew-
thought to be endowed with demonic or supernat-
ellery and precious objects that were thrown
102 Al-Ṭabarī, Mukhtaṣ ar taʾrīkh al-rusul wa ’l-mulūk wa
Nor muzzle Tannin full well?
’l-khulafāʾ, vol 1, tr and ed de Goeje, 1879–1901, p 275,
I crushed the writhing serpent,
8–10, cited after Wensinck, 1916, repr 1978, p 61 and n 2
The powerful one of seven heads,
The pre-Islamic origins of the belief in serpents as guardians
of graves and foundations in general (see Wensinck, 1916,
I fought and I inherited gold
repr 1978, p 60) are supported by Gustaf Dalman’s research
Hence by fighting one or more dragons, which apparently
in Petra, where he photographed a large conical stone carved
guarded the gold, ‘Anat obtained the precious metal Cited
in relief with a coiled serpent (1908, vol 1, pp 218–20, figs
after Astour, 1965, pp 291–2 In ancient Greek lore the great
141–3) It was placed upon a gigantic stone block under
dragon (drakōn) who guards some treasure or holy site was
which is a large room with niches for the reception of the
an important theme, and either protects its holdings as its
deceased
own possession or was placed there by the owner of the site
103 Al-Ṭabarī, Mukhtaṣ ar taʾrīkh al-rusul wa ’l-mulūk wa
as its guardian The subterranean golden apples located in
’l-khulafāʾ, vol 1, ed de Goeje, 1879–1901, p 276, 16–7, as
the uttermost parts of the earth in the garden of the Hesper-
cited in Wensinck, 1916, repr 1978, p 61
ides were guarded by the Nymphs, daughters of Atlas, and
104 Vol 1, Cairo, 1283, p 98, as cited in Wensinck, 1916,
the drakōn (Hesiod, Theogony 333–5); the oracle at Delphi
repr 1978, p 61
was protected by the female dragon ( drakaina) Pythōn that
105 Cf Wensinck, 1916, repr 1978, p 60
was killed by Apollo; the spring at Thebes was watched over
106 Idem, p 65
by a drakōn killed by Kadmos, and the golden fleece was
107 Robertson Smith, 1889, repr 1927, p 128
guarded by a drakōn killed by Medea or Jason Euripides
108 Cf Gohrab, 2000, pp 83–95, esp 87–93
( Herakles 397, tr after Buschor, Munich, 1952) calls the trea-
109 Ed Asgharzada, A A , and Babayev, F , Baku, 1965,
sure-guarding serpent the “reddish drakōn, the formidable
ch 20, 51–3, cited after Gohrab, 2000, p 87 Closely related
coiled gurdian ” Plato notes that owing to his sharp sight,
imagery is abundantly used in the romance Wīs u Rāmīn, tr
the dragon guards hidden treasures as well as temples and
and ed Davis, 2008, pp 29, 89, 195, 209, 236, 473
oracles ( Phaedrus, 4 20 3–4); cf Merkelbach, “Drache,” RAC
110 In an Ugaritic poem of Baal V AB:D 35–44, the god-
IV, 1959, pp 226–7 For post-biblical Jewish sources describ-
dess ‘Anat declares that:
ing the Genesis serpent as possessing “silver, gold, gems,
and pearls,” before the Fall, see Ginzberg, 1909–38, repr
Did I not crush El’s Darling, Sea?
1946 and 1955, vol 1, p 71 The treasure-guarding serpent
Nor destroy River, the great god?
is also known in Indian lore, such as the fable in the
60