Three folios from a Persian manuscript of Kalīlah wa-Dimnah in Mughal-era style, ca. 1010. Left depicts Dimnah and the ox (f. 87v); centre, an army of birds led by the Simurgh rescuing sandpipers stranded at sea (f. 104r); right, the lioness in conference with other animals (f. 146r).

Featured on PDR in the essay Travelling Tales: Kalīlah wa-Dimnah and the Animal Fable

Influencing numerous later animal tales told around the world, the 8th-century Arabic fables of Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ’s *Kalīlah wa-Dimnah* also inspired a rich visual tradition of illustration: jackals on trial, airborne turtles, and unlikely alliances between species. Marina Warner follows these stories as they wander and change across time and place, celebrating their sharp political observation and stimulating mix of humour, earnesty, and melancholy.