103 Preface ما جَعَلَ اللَّهُ مِن بَحيرَةٍ وَلا سائِبَةٍ وَلا وَصيلَةٍ وَلا حامٍ ۙ وَلٰكِنَّ الَّذينَ كَفَروا يَفتَرونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ الكَذِبَ ۖ وَأَكثَرُهُم لا يَعقِلونَAli Quli QaraiAllah has not prescribed any such thing as Baḥīrah, Sāʾibah, Waṣīlah, or Hām;1 but those who are faithless fabricate lies against Allah, and most of them do not apply reason. The pre-Islamic Arabs used these terms for individual camels and sheep, which were subject to such practices as the slitting of ears, the forbidding of their use for burden, their dedication to idols, and restriction of their flesh to males. The commentators give different descriptions of these primitive customs and their significance, reflecting probably their varying practice among pre-Islamic Arabs.