a book highly praised and often referred to as a standard reference on the unicorn. Notable appearances and references The karkadann is the topic of a long poem by Tawfiq Sayigh (d. 1971), "A Few Questions I Pose to the Unicorn," which was hailed by Jabra Ibrahim Jabra as "the strangest and most remarkable poem in the Arabic language." Modern Iraq still has a tradition of "tears of the karkadann," dumiu al-karkadan, which are reddish beads used in the Misbaha, the Muslim prayer beads (subuhat). The accompanying legend says that the rhinoceros spends days in the desert looking for water; when he does, he first weeps "out of fatigue and thirst-pain." These tears, as they fall into the water of the drinking hole, turn into beads. Peter Beagle (author of The Last Unicorn) wrote a story, "My Son Heydari and the Karkadann," in The Overneath (c)2017. References External links Image of Karkadann from MS Munich Cod. Arab. 464, containing Al-Qazwini's ʿAjā'ib al-makhlūqāt wa gharā'ib al-mawjūdāt Arabian legendary creatures Arabian mythology Persian legendary creatures Iranian folklore Indian legendary creatures Hindu mythology Indian folklore Unicorns Rhinoceroses