There Are Thirteen Species of Metamorphosed Animals

"I asked the Messenger of God (ṣ) about the metamorphosed animals. He answered me, 'They are thirteen: the elephant, the bear, the pig, the monkey, the hagfish, the mastigure, the bat, the triops, the scorpion, the spider, the rabbit, Canopus, and Venus.' It was asked of the Messenger (ṣ), 'O Messenger of God, what was the reason for their metamorphosis?' He answered, 'As for the elephant, it was a sodomite who did not leave the wet or dry. The bear was an effeminate man who would call other men to himself. Pigs were a group of Christians who prayed to their Lord to send down a table spread for them. But when it came down, they grew even more disbelieving and defiant. Monkeys were the group that had transgressed against the Sabbath. The hagfish was a wittol who would call men to his wife. The mastigure was a Bedouin man who would rob pilgrims with a club. The bat was a man who would steal fruit from the tops of date palms. The triops was a calumniator who would cause disunion between loved ones. The scorpion was a sharp-tongued man from whom none were safe. The spider was a woman who was faithless to her husband. The rabbit was a woman who would not purify herself from her menses or otherwise. Canopus was a tithe-collector in Yemen. Venus was a Christian woman who belonged to one of the kings of the Israelites; she was the one Hārūt and Mārūt tempted, and her name was Nāhīl.'" The Sunnis call her Nāhīd. The compiler of this book, may God be pleased with him, commented: The Sunnis are erroneous in their understanding of Canopus and Venus here. They claim these to be heavenly bodies, but it is not as they claim. Rather, these are two beasts from the creatures of the sea which were named for the two heavenly bodies, as the constellations themselves are named for animals on the earth, such as Aries (lit. "lamb"), Taurus (lit. "bull"), Gemini, Cancer (lit. "crab"), Scorpio, Pisces (lit. "whale"), and Capricorn (lit. "kid"), and likewise Canopus and Venus. The Sunnis err regarding these two and not others due to the difficulty of catching even a glimpse of them, as they are creatures of the ocean which encircles the world, living where no ship ventures, nor is it possible to reach. God - Exalted and Mighty - would not transform sinners into brilliant lights by which one might guide themselves, on land and sea, and then allow them to remain in the Heavens as long as the Heavens and Earth remain. A metamorphosed being does not remain more than three days before it dies, never begetting progeny. These are the animals which are called "al-Masūkh" (metamorphosed). The masūkhiyyah (metamorphosed animals) have a metaphorical, figurative name. Rather, their forms resemble the people who disobeyed God and deserved, due to their sins, to be changed from that state of the Blessings of God, and so God transformed them. Then God - Blessed and Exalted - forbade their meat so that none may benefit from them and underestimate their sins. This narrative was told to me by Abū al-Ḥusayn Muḥammad b. Jaʿfar al-Asadī, may God be pleased with him.