The scorpion in Muslim folklore.

WITHIN ZOOLOGY, scorpions (order Scorpiones) belong within the class of arachnids--which includes tarantulas--and comprise around one thousand to one thousand five hundred species, a figure which is rather small by invertebrate standards (RANKIN and WALLS 1994, 54). * They are abundant throughout the warm, humid habitats of Africa and Asia as well as in tropical America and Australia. Some characteristic desert species in North Africa and the Middle East are, for instance, the yellowish-lightbrown Buthus occitanus ('aqrab, FIGURE 1) and the black Androctonus ('aqrab al-kahla, oqurban) in Tunisia, and Mesobuthus eupeus, Androctonus crassicauda, and the Hemiscorpius lepturus in Khuzistan (Southwest Iran). (1) These venomous creatures cause what has been called "scorpionism," that is, poisoning by scorpion stings and related haematoid diseases.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

The body of the scorpion (between two to eight inches in length) consists of three basic parts: a cephalothorax or carapace that covers the head and the bases of the legs, a broad seven-segmented abdomen of about the same length and shape as the carapace, and a five-segmented narrow "tail" or postabdomen ending in a telson (RANKIN and WALLS 1994, 54). The latter, which is not a true segment in itself, is also called the sting. Inside the claw-like telson are two paired venom glands, which are controlled by the scorpion. The scorpion has four pairs of true legs, a pair of leg-like pedipalps, which are held out in the front and end in large pincers, and chelae, which look like the claws of a lobster or crab. Therefore, in North Africa the crab is also called "scorpion of the sea" ('aqrab al-bahr). The pedipalps are used to catch and hold food. Between them, at the very front of the carapace, are the chelicerae; short, heavy pincers used for the final crushing and ripping of the animal prey, which consists of all sorts of creatures, such as spiders and other scorpions (!), but also small lizards, mice, and even snakes (FIGURE 2).

[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]

Scorpions are nocturnal hunters and secretive animals; for most species the day is usually spent in shallow self-dug burrows. The burrows are highlighted in the Tunisian proverb: la tudhil yad al-firan, la talsa' al-'aqarib--"Don't put your hands near mice (that is, in a mouse-hole) or you will be bitten by scorpions." The danger of being bitten is especially high in the evenings and nights of hot summer months when arachnids are more active than in other seasons. At night, people in the rural areas of the Muslim world often go barefoot to the toilet and are then particularly exposed to the danger of scorpion bites. Generally, humans are mostly bitten on the feet and the hands, especially the fingers (GESSAIN and GILLOT 1983, 166). Scorpions are also known to crawl into shoes. This is reflected in an Afghan folk story where an eagle grabs the Prophet's shoe with its beak, flies a distance, and lets it fall to the ground. (2) A scorpion comes out and in this way the eagle saves Muhammad from its bite. The fact that scorpions, unlike snakes, always come back and cannot be frightened away is expressed in an Arabic proverb from Syria: jemb al-'aqrab la tiqrab, jemb al-haiyyi fru u nam--"By the side of the scorpion do not come, by the side of the snake spread your bed and sleep" (JEWETT 1891-1893, 63). People are therefore always on the lookout to keep their houses free of scorpions--the careful cleaning of the corners of houses is imperative. In the past, experts (like the North African 'Isawi dervishes) went around the cities in the evenings, lured the animals with fire, and grabbed them with tongs. In Central Asia, people also try to protect themselves with traditional felt carpets spread on the floor, because it is said that scorpions and tarantulas would not step on that fabric (HARVEY 1996, 62). Village women from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in North India told me in March 1993 that, in addition to keeping goats, they successfully ward off scorpions by plastering cow dung inside their houses (floor and walls) as well as outside on a regular basis.

Certain areas of the Muslim world seem to be particularly infested by scorpions, such as Khuzistan where approximately five percent of the rural population are stung by the venomous creatures annually; another study in the tropical Bassari region of Senegal revealed that forty-four percent of the population had been stung at least once in their lifetime. (3) As reflected in the travel literature of the nineteenth century, the Iranian town of Kashan (situated between Tehran and Isfahan) was of particularly ill repute because of its abundance of black scorpions. George CURZON, for example, writes: "So venomous was their bite that one of the familiar forms of expressing hatred was to pray that your enemy might ... be stung by a Kashani scorpion" (1892, 15). (4) It is little wonder that across Iran men and children often collect a scorpion, put a circle of fire around it, and watch how the creature tries to escape in vain. (5) The scorpion finally commits suicide and bites itself. The same has been observed in the area of Kunduz in Northern Afghanistan. (6)

SCORPIONS AS EMBODIMENTS OF EVIL