Some researchers are of the view that in earlier historical periods Arabia did not suffer from a scarcity of water and vegetation; rather, after the post-glacial times, moisture gradually evaporated from the land and arid deserts expanded. Other scholars have rejected this thesis. In their opinion, there has been no significant climatic transformation in the Peninsula as such; what has occurred is an expansion of desert areas due to administrative neglect and failure of environmental management. The arguments advanced by both groups are substantial and merit careful consideration. However, the botanical and zoological investigation carried out by the German orientalist Bernard Moritz in 1923 has lent support to the former view. According to his findings, the flora and fauna of Arabia have suffered a clear, progressive decline over successive periods, the principal causes being the increase in aridity and the encroachment of the desert upon arable lands. A modern, scientific study of Arabian plant and animal life is still far from complete. Classical Arabic literature preserves a very long list of plants and animals, the detailed examination of which would require a separate monographic study. Many of these plants and animals are associated with particular literary traditions and symbolic connotations; some brief, cursory indications of these will appear on the following pages.
Many species of Arabian flora and fauna have now disappeared. Among animals, for instance, the ostrich (naʿam: ostrich) is widely mentioned in early literature and is treated as an emblem of swift movement. Until 1930 it still existed in considerable numbers, but thereafter large-scale hunting for its feathers led to intensive slaughter, so that by around 1944 the species had effectively become extinct in Arabia.
The Arabian oryx (بقر ،الوحش مہا: oryx), which constitutes a fixed motif in the nasib or amatory prelude of pre- Islamic odes—its herds evoked as wandering through the deserted encampments of the beloved—disappeared from the northern desert, that is, the Nafud, as a result of hunting. In some parts of the Empty Quarter (al-Rubʿ al-Khali), however, remnants of the population survived. In 1961, under the auspices of an international fund for the protection of wildlife, some breeding pairs were transported from the last thirty or so Arabian oryx to the Phoenix Zoo in Arizona, where their numbers increased and efforts began to reintroduce them elsewhere in the world. Campaigns for their conservation and propagation were also launched in Arab countries. Thus, in 1979, by order of Sultan Qaboos, the “Arabian Oryx Project” (mashruʿ al-maha al-ʿarabiyyah) was established in Oman, which works not only for the oryx but for several other endangered species—for example, the Arabian leopard. Similarly, in 1986 the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development (NCWCD – al-hayʾah al-wataniyyah li-himayat al-hayah al-fatriyyah) was created in Saudi Arabia, and it has been systematically implementing its programs ever since.
Various species of gazelle ( ،ظبی رئم وغيره) that once roamed in vast herds have declined rapidly since the advent of the rifle. The lion ( ببر ،شير asad) has now disappeared altogether. Leopards and panthers ( نمر: panther, فہد: leopard) survive to some extent, and wildcats are still found in mountainous regions. The ibex (وعل: ibex), the striped hyena (چرخ يا لگڑ ،بگڑ ،ضبع ِّأُم عامر: hyena), the wolf (ذئب), the fox (ثعلب), the monkey (قرد), and the jackal ( ِابن ٰآوی) still exist.
The polecat or skunk (ظرِبان: polecat / skunk), the hyrax (وبر: cony or hyrax), the hedgehog ( ،خارموش قنفذ: hedgehog), the hare (ارنب: hare / rabbit), the spiny-tailed lizard (ضب: dhabb), and among wild rodents yarbuʿ (يربوع: jerboa) and juradh (جراذ) likewise continue to be found.
Among birds one encounters eagles, falcons, crows, sparrows, owls, vultures, larks (قنبره: lark), doves, pigeons, partridges, quails, bulbuls, sand-grouse (قطاۃ: sand-grouse), and the hoopoe (ہُدہُد), which is frequently mentioned in early Arabic literature. Many migratory species also pass regularly through these regions. Among insects and related creatures, various species of snakes, scorpions, centipedes, spiders, ants, bees, and locusts are particularly important. Locusts constitute a favoured food among desert dwellers.
Domesticated animals include the camel, horse, sheep and goats, mules, donkeys, cats, dogs (especially the swift hunting dog al-saluqi), and cattle, whose size is reduced under Arabian climatic conditions.
Of all these animals, the camel has enjoyed a central and defining importance in Arabian society over millennia— a position only displaced by contemporary mechanical means of transport. Even today, however, travel in the deep desert is virtually impossible without camels. Yet, because of the transformation of Bedouin economy, sheep and goats have now become more profitable than camels, so that their numbers are increasing while camel herds are gradually diminishing. Otherwise, not only in antiquity but until very recent times it was virtually impossible to form an adequate idea of the role of the camel in Bedouin life. Bedouins rode them, loaded their tents on them, drank their milk, ate their meat, and fashioned tents and clothing from their hides and wool, putting them to countless uses. Their dung served as fuel. Clothing and other necessities were purchased by selling camels, and for a long period camels themselves functioned as a kind of circulating currency in day-to-day transactions. In times of extreme thirst and water shortage, the Bedouin would slaughter a camel and obtain a reserve of water from its stomach. For all these reasons the camel has been called “the Bedouin’s alter ego”. In a similar vein, Sprenger described the Bedouin as “the parasite of the camel”. It is therefore not surprising that Arabic possesses hundreds of terms for the camel and that the great masterpieces of early poetry are replete with its descriptions. Different breeds of camel exist, and the most highly prized are those that can go longest without water and maintain good speed over long daily distances. A camel of good breed can in summer cover an average of twenty-five miles a day for three or four days without drinking. In spring, when pasturage is available, it can sometimes go for a full month without water, and when water is at last found it can drink up to thirty gallons at once and store it for future use. It is because of such extraordinary qualities and such hardiness that the camel has earned the title “ship of the land” (safinat al-barr) or “the ship of the desert” (safinat al-sahraʾ).
After the camel, the horse has been the most important animal. It is ubiquitous in Arabic literature. The Arabian horse, though now renowned throughout the world, is not originally native to Arabia; rather, it was brought there from elsewhere in remote antiquity. However, once in Arabia its bloodline remained largely free from admixture, so its breed retained great purity. Because the horse feels thirst quickly and requires good quality fodder, horse- keeping was always an expensive pursuit among the Arabs. Bedouins would often quench their own thirst with camel’s milk and save scarce water for the horse, and at times even give priority to the horse’s thirst over that of their own children. The chief reason for accepting such hardship in raising horses was their military value. In intertribal warfare, whether for attack or defense, the horse was more effective than the camel. Its second importance was commercial: Arabian horses were exported to India, Egypt, and Western lands. Since these two functions have now disappeared, the Arabian horse itself is gradually dying out. On the one hand, modern weaponry has erased its significance in warfare; on the other, demand abroad has steadily declined. In addition, the discovery of petroleum has transformed the Arab economy from the ground up; consequently, horse- breeding among desert dwellers has almost vanished, surviving only as a personal aristocratic hobby among royal families and wealthy elites—and now, with the abundance of motor cars, it is highly probable that even this residual role is breathing its last.
When one thinks of the plant life of Arabia, the image that generally comes to mind is that of the date palm. In reality, given its all-embracing utility, the date palm stands on one side and the rest of the Arabian flora on the other. Against the backdrop of burning sands, the oases it creates appear as genuine earthly paradises. For settled populations, the date palm has held the same status that the camel has enjoyed among Bedouins. Dates are a richly nutritious, ready-to-eat food which, together with milk, formed part of the staple daily diet of the Arabs for centuries. Once dried, they can be preserved for long periods. Date wine (nabidh) is prepared from dates. The pits, when crushed, are fed to camels. The trunks are used in building houses; although the wood is not of the highest quality, it can nevertheless serve for modest furniture. The bark and fronds, besides providing fuel, have been used for roofing, for weaving baskets and mats, and for countless other purposes. Because the date palm thrives in intense heat and can grow even with brackish or poor water, it is, like the camel in the desert environment, a low-cost yet highly valuable divine gift. In the orchards of the settled population, rows of date palms have the same economic importance as camel herds do for the Bedouins. As a result, the Arabic language contains a proliferation of synonyms for the date similar to that for the camel. Different stages in the development of the date have different names: the unripe date is lawni (لون), the half-ripe busr (بُسر), the fully ripe fresh date rutab (رُطب), and the dried fruit tamr (تمر). There are innumerable varieties of date; in Madinah alone, some one hundred and forty types have been counted. Dates are still regarded, along with Zamzam water, as the quintessential gift from the Haram. The special importance of the date is beyond dispute, yet Arabian plant life is by no means confined to it.
Among trees, two varieties of tamarisk known as ghada and athl ( ،غضا أثل: tamarisk) are prominent. The athl is planted in rows around settlements and fields to form windbreak hedges that check sandstorms. The wood of ghada is very hard, and its charcoal burns for a long time and is slow to go out; hence the expression jamr al- ghada (the embers of ghada), which occurs frequently in Arabic literature. The talh tree, that is, acacia or babul (ببول /کيکر), is also widespread and yields gum. The carob (kharub or kharnub: carob) is likewise significant. In addition, the sidr (سدر: lote or berry tree) is common, as is juniper (ʿarar: juniper), already mentioned earlier. In Zafar and some other regions, coconut palms grow either in place of, or alongside, date palms. In some places, the mukl or dum tree ( ،مُقل دوم: gingerbread tree) has taken the place of the date. It is closely related to the date palm but has, instead of a single trunk, a multi-branched stem. Beyond these there are hundreds of arboreal and herbaceous plants mentioned in early Arabic sources. In recent decades, the neem tree has taken firm root in Arabia and is known by the same name. In the plain of ʿArafat, rows of neem have been planted for the convenience and shade of pilgrims.
The land of Arabia is not devoid of flowers and fruits. Among flowers are roses, jasmine, naz–bu, mint (نعناع: mint), wild desert thyme (صعتر /زعتر: thyme), khuzama ( ٰخزامی: lavender), and several other aromatic blossoms. The chamomile (uqhuwan: ِگل بابونہ, chamomile) is often invoked in similes, for example to evoke glistening white teeth. Fruits include grapes, figs, almonds, oranges, lemons, apricots, peaches, pomegranates, apples, watermelons, melons, plums, jujubes, ʿunnab, tamarind, quinces, and, here and there, mangoes and bananas as well. Clearly, these plants were introduced from outside, many of them probably brought from northern regions by the ancient Nabataeans and Jewish communities and then cultivated locally. Fruit trees are generally planted in the inter-rows of date palm orchards, using the ground space between the palm lines. Among vegetables, the principal items are radish, gourd, cucumber, onion, and leek ( ،گندنا کرّاث: leek). Wheat, barley, maize, millet, tobacco, rice, and, on a modest scale, cotton are cultivated in certain areas. Berseem (Egyptian clover) is widely planted as fodder.
Among desert plants, senna (sana), aloe (گهيکوار: aloe), and samh—whose seeds are used to prepare porridge—are noteworthy, as is the truffle (kamʾah, کمأۃ: “snake mushroom” / truffle), which forms part of the Bedouin diet and has numerous local names. The arak tree (اراک: peelu) is also important: its twigs serve as miswak (tooth-sticks) and provide excellent fodder for camels. Likewise, the cactus (ناگ ،پهنی صبّير يا صبّار: cactus) is a good camel fodder, despite its bitterness and thorns. It is precisely such hardiness in both plant and animal that makes the camel the characteristic creature of the desert. A similar cactus-like plant, thohar (Euphorbia of cactiform type), is also found in the desert.
Near Hadramawt, in the region of Mahrah, frankincense has continued to be produced from ancient times down to the present. Alongside frankincense, myrrh (murr: myrrh) and balsam or balm (balsam) are also of note. Among plants that yield dyes are wars (ورس), henna ( ،مہندی حناء: henna), and indigo (نيل: indigo). In addition to all of these, coffee (qahwah) merits special mention. It figures prominently among the exports of Yemen. There is no reference to it in early historical and literary sources. The probable hypothesis is that the coffee plant was brought from Abyssinia to southern Arabia in the fourteenth century CE. The first explicit textual references appear in writings of the sixteenth century. In any case, in the contemporary social life of Arabia— both among Bedouins and settled populations—coffee has pride of place among the customary refreshments. No gathering for eating or drinking is considered complete without it, and among desert dwellers verses are recited in praise of coffee in much the same way as pre-Islamic poets composed odes in praise of wine. With this in view, Philip K. Hitti aptly referred to coffee as “the wine of Islam”.
For details, see:
(1) Enc. Brit., 2:175–76, Arabia; Fauna, Flora. (2) Enc. Isl., 1:540–42, D̲j̲azirat al-ʿArab, Flora & Fauna. (3) Hitti, 18–22. (4) Geo. Fact., 55–88, 103–106.
[To be continued…]