Man attained his high stature through additions from animals. The
human race evolved through species that developed from Felidae (the
cat family) and Ursidae (the bear family) from whence it moved to
the Primates and then to the anthropoid stage.
Let us see what he has to observe about corals, since here also he shows
his customary originality.
The author of the Kitah al-Thurayya (The Book of Brilliant Gems)
writes that bussad and other stones similar to it are on the physical
plane like plants and on the plane of the soul belong to the animal
kingdom.
Then he makes the observation:
There is no doubt that marine plants at the time of growth are soft
and, therefore, like terrestrial plants in the nature of their growth.
After they have hardened and petrified (and calcified), they become
akin to minerals because of the calcification of their bodies. I have
seen many a body, besides bussad (coral), which must have been soft
before petrification. For example, marine crabs, after being taken
out of the sea, become petrified. As for the sponge, it is also like a
mineral and like minerals, sedentary. It is very much like plants insofar as its growth is concerned. In fact, it may be said that it is like an
animal, because it is said that it contracts while attached to the stone
when touched. We cannot say this about the nacreous shell (oyster),
because it is an animal which moves in the depth of the ocean,
touches things and eats. It is, however, because of its shell that it
is like a mineral, but the shell serves as its guard, just as the snailshell guards the snail, and lies wrapped round it, although the snail
crawls . . .
Beruni describes the external morphological structure of the oyster:
Oysters have two valves attached to the body by means of a hinge.
They open and close at the animal's wish with the attachment. These
animals creep and crawl on earth. The oyster's organ of support is
weak and the animal is adhesive and secretive. Oysters are found
arranged along a connected row. They collect and pile up, and
arrange their hands, mouths and bodies along the same direction.
As for the birth of the oyster, Beruni says:
Like the pages of paper, they fall on stones and get hardened. Pearls
originate from the body of the oyster and not from rain drops (abr
naysan) as has been said and conceived hitherto.
He further says about the coral:
The author of the Lapidary says that marjan is the essence and
bussad is its derivative. This is in accordance with the statement that
marjan and bussad are identical with each other except for the fact
that marjan is a slender perforated root and bussad is its branch like
