Al-Fakhtah and AI-SuIsul

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that in the house of abu Ja‘far (a.s.), there was al-Fakhtah and he one day heard it crying. He (the Imam) said, ‘Do you know what it (al-Fakhtah) says?’ They replied, ‘No, we do not know.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It says, ‘I have lost you, I have lost you.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘We will lose it before it will lose us.’ He (the Imam) commanded to slaughter it (for food).’”

“I once gave a Sulsul as a gift to Tsma’il, son of abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), and abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), came in. When he (the Imam) saw it he said, ‘This bird is an unfortunate bird, so you must send it away. It says, ‘I have failed to find you, I have failed to find you.’ You must lose it before it fails to find you.”’

“I once visited abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), and he said to me, ‘O abu Muhammad, come with us to visit Tsma‘il because of his illness. We left to visit Tsma‘il and in his house we saw al-Fakhtah in a cage crying. Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), said, ‘Son, what has made you to keep this al- Fakhtah? Did you not know that it is a misfortune?’ Do you know what it says?’ Tsma‘il replied, ‘No, I do not know.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It prays against its owners saying, ‘May I fail to find you, may I fail to find you’ so you must send it far and away.’”