Al-Mi'raj

This creature is: mythological 

The Al-Mi'raj is found in medieval Arabic literature describing the adventures of Alexander the Great (Iskandar). Although Alexander the Great was a real historic figure, he had a lot of myths associated with him, many featuring interesting creatures. 

One version calls this creature Al-Mi'raj, it is said to be found on Jazīrat al-Tinnīn (‘Sea-Serpent Island’ or ‘Dragon Island’) in the Indian Ocean. Another account calls the creature arāj, the dragon island is called Mustashiayn and is in Western Africa.

Anyway, the dragon was doing what mythical dragons usually do (eating livestock and causing terror), and Alexander the Great did what mythical heroes usually do (he killed it). He poisoned some chunks of meat that the dragon then ate. After the defeat of the dragon, the people were thankful and give Alexander the Al-Mi'raj as a gift. 

The Al-Mi'raj is golden, shaped like a hare or rabbit, with a black horn. It is said all wild beasts that set eyes on it would flee from it. It is not clear if the beasts fled because it was fierce or because it possessed some sort of magical effect. 

I apologise for the shortness of this post, but there is not much detail provided about the mythical lagomorph, so there is not a lot I can say about it… it’s still a cool creature though!

The Al-Mi'raj wasn’t the only mythical creature sidekick Alexander the Great had – he also had a three-horned carnivorous horse! You can read my post about that Here.

External links:

Al-Mi'raj on Wikipedia. 

Rather than being digitally coloured like most of my work, this was coloured with Crayola coloured pencils.