The mi'raj is a rabbit from Persian poetry. It has a single, black, spiraling horn coming out of its forehead. It is territorial and can kill people and animals several times its size by stabbing them. It can also eat foes several times its size. Wildlife feared and avoided it, and people feared it because it would kill and eat them and their livestock.
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| From "Myth Match," a fantastic creature mix-an-match book by Good Wives and Warriors |
It was said that the people of the island feared the mi'raj, and needed a witch to ward the animal away whenever it was sighted nearby. Only a true witch could subdue the mi'raj so they could remove it from the area.
This story makes me think they sent one off with Alexander the Great just to get rid of it.
Al-Mi'raj is mentioned in the bestiary portion of "ʿAjā'ib al-makhlūqāt wa gharā'ib al-mawjūdā" or "Marvels of Creatures and Strange Things Existing" (shortened to "The Wonders of Creation"), a precursor to an encyclopedia by Zakariya al-Qazwini. The book uses its bestiary section to say, "if these weird animals exist, why are you questioning that angels exist?" and therefore focuses largely on strange birds. Al-Qazwini was a Persian physician, astronomer, geographer and what would today be called a science fiction writer. He made up a lot of the creatures and stories, probably including the mi'raj, because it does not seem to appear prominently anywhere else until it was used as a monster in Dungeons and Dragons.
You'll often see it written as "al-mi'raj," but the prefix "al" is like an article so saying "the al-mi'raj" is like saying "the the mi'raj."
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