Amir ibn Abd Qays and the Lion Blocking the Caravan

Al-Lalaka'i preserves a striking report about Amir ibn Abd Qays, may Allah have mercy on him, during a journey with a caravan. The travellers came upon a lion standing in the road, and the animal's presence stopped the caravan from continuing. The scene is presented simply: the road is blocked, the travellers cannot proceed, and Amir steps forward to deal with the obstacle.

The report says that Amir dismounted and approached the lion while expressing his reliance upon Allah. He did not remain behind the caravan or wait for someone else to move first. Instead, the account places him directly in front of the animal, with trust in Allah forming the spiritual setting of the episode.

Al-Lalaka'i then gives the most memorable detail of the story. Amir is reported to have taken the lion by both ears and moved it away from the road. Once the animal was no longer blocking the way, the caravan was able to pass and continue its journey. The report is brief, but the sequence is very clear from beginning to end.

In al-Lalaka'i's work, this episode is included among the reports associated with the karamat of Amir ibn Abd Qays. That placement explains why later readers remembered the event not merely as a dangerous encounter with a wild animal, but as an extraordinary story connected with a man known for devotion and reliance upon Allah.

Abu Nu'aym preserves another, shorter account involving Amir and a lion. In that version, Amir passes close to the lion until his garment touches the animal's mouth. It does not include the detail of taking the lion by the ears or moving it from a caravan route. For that reason, the shorter account is best left as a separate form rather than blended into the fuller scene.

The public story can therefore remain straightforward: a lion blocks the road of a caravan, Amir ibn Abd Qays approaches it while trusting in Allah, and al-Lalaka'i's account says he moves the animal aside so the travellers can continue. A second classical source preserves a different, shorter lion encounter, showing that more than one form of the lion story circulated in the classical tradition.