There is an ancient story about a woman Sufi saint, Hazrat Rabia Basri, who would regularly go to a particular mountain in the forest in order to meditate in perfect tranquility. When she would go, all the animals of the forest would come near to enjoy her good company. One day, another Sufi arrived. But as soon as he approached, all the animals ran away, as if in fear. Completely vexed, the Sufi inquired of Rabia Basri,”Why do the animals run?”

Rabia countered with another question:” What have you eaten today?” The Sufi confessed that she had eaten an onion fried in some fat. The wise Sufi woman concluded, ”You eat their fat! Why should they not flee from you?” This famous Sufi tale is perhaps indicative of the Islamic mystical perspective on human-animal interrelations.

有一個遠古的故事，講述一位蘇菲派女聖人“拉比亞”，她為了達到清淨的冥想，經常前往森林中的某個山丘去。 她到來時，森林裡所有動物都會走靠她跟前，與她結伴同樂。 有一天，另一位蘇菲來到這裡。 但當他走近時，所有的動物都逃跑去，如在恐懼之中。感到困惑萬分，這位蘇菲向拉比亞請問：「為什麼動物全都跑掉？」

拉比亞反問他另一問題：「你今天吃了什麼？」蘇菲懺悔的說自己吃了一些用動物脂肪炸的洋蔥。 聰明的女蘇非結論說：「你吃他們的脂肪！ 他們為什麼不逃跑呢？」這個著名的蘇菲派的故事或許說明伊斯蘭世界的神秘觀點如何看人跟動物的互動。