generations, they would observe the seventh. If it were a male or a female, it was something in which men participated to the exclusion of women. If it were a female, they would spare its life. If it were a male and a female in one litter, they would spare its life and say, 'Its sister has joined it, so it has become forbidden to us.'

[6899] Abu Zur'ah narrated to us, Minjab narrated to us, Bishr ibn 'Ubadah reported to us from Abu Rawq, regarding his saying: 'Nor a Wasilah.' He said: The Wasilah among the sheep—he said: It was that when a ewe gave birth to six generations, all of which were females, and the seventh was a male kid (jadi) and a female kid ('anaq), they would say: 'This one has joined (wasalat) [its offspring],' so nothing would be benefited from it, and whatever came from it belonged to the idols.

[The Second Interpretation]

[6900] 'Ali ibn al-Husayn narrated to us, Abu al-Asbagh 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Yahya narrated to us, Muhammad ibn Salamah narrated to us, Ibn Ishaq said: The Wasilah among the sheep is when it gives birth to ten females in five generations, twins in every generation; it was called the Wasilah and was left alone. Whatever it gave birth to after that, whether male or female, was allocated to the males to the exclusion of the females, and if it was dead, they would participate in it.

[6901] Abu Yazid al-Qaratisi reported to us in what he wrote to me, Asbagh ibn al-Faraj narrated to us, he said: I heard 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd ibn Aslam saying: The Wasilah among the sheep is when it gives birth to seven consecutive females, then it has forbidden its meat from being eaten.

[The Third Interpretation]

[6902] Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Rabi' narrated to us, 'Abd al-Razzaq reported to us, Ma'mar narrated to us from al-Zuhri from Ibn al-Ashyab: 'Nor a Wasilah.' He said: The Wasilah among camels was when a she-camel would first give birth to a female, then follow it with a female; they would call it the Wasilah and say: 'Two have joined (wasalat) without a male between them.' So they would slit its ear for their idols. A similar account was narrated from Malik ibn Anas.

His saying: 'Nor a Ham.'

[The First Interpretation]

[6903] My father narrated to us, Abu Salih narrated to us, Mu'awiyah ibn Salih narrated to me from 'Ali ibn Abi Talhah from Ibn 'Abbas, regarding his saying: 'Nor a Ham.' As for the Ham, it is the stallion among the camels when its offspring is born. They would say: 'This one has protected (hama) his back, so they would not carry anything on it, nor would they shear any fur for it, and they would not prevent it from water, nor from a watering trough from which it would drink, even if the trough belonged to someone else.'