Lokmân

Lokmân is represented in the Koran and by later Arabian tradition as a celebrated philosopher, contemporary with David and Solomon, with whom he is said to have frequently conversed. He was, we are told, an Arabian of the ancient tribe of Ad, or, according to another account, the king or chief of that tribe; and, when his tribe perished by the Seil el-Arim, he was preserved on account of his wisdom and piety. Other accounts, drawn mostly from Persian authorities, state that Lokman was an Abyssinian slave, and noted for his personal deformity and ugliness, as for his wit and a peculiar talent for composing moral fictions and short apologues. He was considered to be the author of the well-known collection of fables, in Arabic, which still exist under his name. There is some reason to suppose that Lokman and AEsop were the same individual, and this view is of late gaining ground. See the excellent articles in the English Cyclops. s.v.; Chambers, Cyclops. s.v.; and Hammer-Purgstall, Literaturgesch. der Araber, 1:31 sq.