The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity
composed by Ikhwan al-Safa [Brethren of Purity]
A MUSLIM WORK TRANSLATED BY A RABBI FOR A 14TH CENTURY CHRISTIAN KING
Translated by Anson Laytner and Dan Bridge

The first written version of the story, in Arabic, was composed by members of the Islamic "Brethren of Purity" Ikhwan al-Safa, a Sufi order, in the environs of Basra, Iraq, sometime before the tenth century. Much later, this one story, The Letter of the Animals, was translated and adapted by Rabbi Kalonymus ben (son of) Kalonymus, known among Christians as Maestro Calo, at the request of his master, the Christian King Charles of Anjou (in France), in the year 1316. The story was popular in European Jewish communities into the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Besides being published in Hebrew, it also was translated into Yiddish, German and Spanish. It wasn’t until recently that two American Rabbis, Anson Laytner and Dan Bridge, translated and adapted the ancient Iraqi tale into what is believed to be the first English version.
The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity is an incredible collaboration evolving from an ancient Iraqi tale that was translated by a rabbi into Hebrew in the Middle Ages and was translated into English by two American Rabbis, Anson Laytner and Dan Bridge, with a Sufi publisher, a Christian editor, and a Pakistani Muslim artist whose illustration was funded by a Saudi Arabian princess. The lessons told in the story also appeal to interfaith audiences who are looking for stories that transcend our religious communities.
The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity contains an equally compelling environmental message. According to Rabbi Dan Bridge, “The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity is a cautionary tale that looks at the relationship that we have with the environment.”
The book has received attention from the prominent environmental organization, the Sierra Club. This past July 21st, Carl Pope, the Executive Director of Sierra Club, mentioned The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity in his presentation before the Spiritual Activism Conference in Berkeley, California.
Global Warning! The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity sends a unified message about the environment and the dignity of all living creatures.