Shadhavar
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/Zakariya_ibn_Muhammad_Qazwini_-_An_Animal_with_One_Horn_Aras_-_Walters_W659106A_-_Full_Page.jpg/220px-Zakariya_ibn_Muhammad_Qazwini_-_An_Animal_with_One_Horn_Aras_-_Walters_W659106A_-_Full_Page.jpg)
Shâd'havâr (Arabic: شادهافار) or Âras (آرس) is a legendary creature from medieval Muslim bestiaries resembling a unicorn. Al-Qazwini said that it lives in the country of Rūm (Byzantium) and that it has one horn with 42 hollow branches which, when the wind passes through them, produces a pleasant sound that makes the animals sit around and listen. Horns of those creatures, sometimes gifted to kings, can be played like flutes. When played on one side, they produce a cheerful sound, and when on the other, the music is so sad it makes people cry.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D9%84%D9%88%D9%82_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B3%D8%B7%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A_%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B1_.jpg/220px-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D9%84%D9%88%D9%82_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B3%D8%B7%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A_%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B1_.jpg)
The scholar Al-Damiri stated a larger number of branches to 72, and al-Mustawfi made shadhavar a ferocious carnivore. The change can be explained as a result of merging its description with another creature from Qazwini, the Sirânis (سيرانس), a predator that plays music to lure its victims. G. Jacob pointed out similarities between the Sirânis and the sirens from Greek mythology.
Bibliography
- Ettinghausen, Richard. The Unicorn: Studies in Muslim Iconography. Freer Gallery of Art. Occasional Papers 1. pp. 64–66.
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