I said: "Yes, my Master." He said: "Know that the birth of cattle, donkeys, birds, and beasts occurs as pairs entering upon the souls of those molds, and that souls do not fragment or divide. Thus, from the soul of a mold, ten parts may come, because it may have five or ten [offspring]. Do you understand that?"

I said: "Yes, my Master." He said: "There remains for you the knowledge of the male and the female."

I said: "Be gracious to your servant, for I am in need of that knowledge." He said: "Know that the male only begets a male, and the female only begets a female." I said: "What is the meaning of that?" He said: "From the words of the Master Muhammad—exalted is His might—who said: 'If the desire of the man prevails over the desire of the female, the child comes out resembling his paternal uncles; and if the desire of the female prevails over the desire of the man, the child comes out resembling his maternal uncles.'

I said: "And is it the same for the beasts?" He said: "Those are simply spirits that enter, and the spirits of the molds crowd within the womb. If the spirit is female, her desire prevails and she enters as a female; if the spirit of a male enters, the desire is male. Thus, it is a spirit from a male or a female, and the newborn is male or female. This is how the matter proceeds."

I said: "My Master, do these souls enter into a believer?" He said: "No.