Muhammad ibn Sinan—peace be upon him—from al-Mufaddal ibn 'Umar—peace be upon him—from the Master Ja'far al-Sadiq—may His Might be exalted—that he said: "O Mufaddal, if you see a man of medium build (Marbu'an) among men—neither toweringly tall nor compactly short—whose joints are proportionate in all his states, with a long head and a long face, a slender neck, leaning forward upon his face when he walks, narrow-chested, round-bellied, with [hair] having grown upon the rest of his body hair; having a delicate intimacy toward women, talkative, and whenever he eats, he chokes 1
; he holds food in his mouth until he drinks water, loves eating legumes and what the earth sprouts, and has no tenderness toward his children in their youth—then that human being is transferred (Manqul) to sheep. If he is among those who love dwelling in the land of Iraq and what is near it, then that human being is transferred from the [desert] Arabs (al-A'rab). But if he loves dwelling in the land of Persia and the mountains, then that human being is transferred from the non-Arabs (al-Ajam). O Mufaddal, indeed the ewes (al-Da'n) are from the [desert] Arabs, specifically from Banu Dhabbah 2 , while the goats are from the progeny of Umayyah, and the billy-goats are from the tyrants of the Umayyads."