History Literature / HayyIbnYaqzan

* TheHermit: In middle age, Hayy changes from a hermit by circumstance to a religious hermit. He spends almost all his time meditating in a cell, leaving only once a week to gather food.

* InHarmonyWithNature: As an adult, Hayy decides that killing animals and plants any more than necessary is wrong, because it prevents them from fulfilling the purposes that God created them for. He only eats as much as he needs to to stay healthy, only hunts the most abundant animals, tries to avoid eating unripe plants, and scatters the seeds in fertile soil. He also helps any animal that he sees in need, waters plants, and removes blockages in streams so more creatures can drink from them.

* TheLastManHeardAKnock: [[spoiler:Hayy is fifty when a man named Asal comes to his island to live as a hermit. It takes Hayy some days to realize that Asal is the same kind of creature as he is. One day he overhears Asal praising God and, although he doesn't understand the words, realizes that Asal must have the same knowledge of God that he does. Asal teaches Hayy to speak, and the two finally leave the island so Hayy can share his knowledge with other people.]]

* TheLastManHeardAKnock: [[spoiler:Hayy is fifty when a man named Asal comes to his island to meditate. It takes Hayy some days to realize that Asal is the same kind of creature as he is. One day he overhears Asal praising God and, although he doesn't understand the words, realizes that Asal must have the same knowledge of God that he does. Asal teaches Hayy to speak, and the two finally leave the island so Hayy can share his knowledge with other people.]]

* HermitGuru: Hayy reaches this state in middle age. He spends almost all his time meditating in a cell, leaving only once a week to gather food.

* TheDiscoveryOfFire: A fire breaks out in the reeds. Hayy tries to grab some of it, but it burns his hand. Instead he sets part of a stick on fire and takes it back to his lodging, where he nurses the flames and regularly feeds them. He throws as many different things as he can find into the fire to see what effect it will have on them. He burns a fish and then tastes it, and likes the results so much that from then on he cooks all his fish and meat.

* CaretakerReversal: When Hayy's deer mother becomes old and infirm, he feeds her until she dies.

* FreakinessShame: Hayy is ashamed of his lack of horns, fur, or feathers, his weakness and slowness compared to the deer, and the fact that his nether regions are more exposed than the other animals'. He makes clothes for himself, first out of leaves and later out of dead animals' skins, and makes a cudgel out of a branch to defend himself. Afterwards he stops being ashamed of his differences, because his hands can be used to make things, unlike the forefeet of any other creature.

* RaisedByWolves: A roe deer who has recently lost her fawn hears the newborn Hayy crying. She nurses him and brings him fruits and nuts when he's old enough for solid food. He travels with her herd, and at first sees himself as one of the deer.
* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Hayy learns to almost perfectly imitate the noises of all the creatures on the island, especially the deer. He can express himself with their sounds as fluently as they can.

* FreakinessShame: Hayy is ashamed of his lack of horns, fur, or feathers, his weakness and slowness compared to the deer, and the fact that his nether regions are more exposed than the other animals'. He makes clothes for himself, first out of leaves and later out of a dead eagle's skin, and makes a cudgel out of a branch to defend himself. Afterwards he stops being ashamed of his differences, because his hands can be used to make things, unlike the forefeet of any other creature.

* FreakinessShame: Hayy, who has never met another member of his species, is ashamed of his lack of horns, fur, or feathers, his weakness and slowness compared to the deer, and the fact that his nether regions are more exposed than the other animals'. He makes clothes for himself, first out of leaves and later out of a dead eagle's skin, and makes a cudgel out of a branch to defend himself. Afterwards he stops being ashamed of his differences, because his hands can be used to make things, unlike the forefeet of any other creature.

* DiscoveryOfFire: A fire breaks out in the reeds. Hayy tries to grab some of it, but it burns his hand. Instead he sets part of a stick on fire and takes it back to his lodging, where he nurses the flames and regularly feeds them. He throws as many different things as he can find into the fire to see what effect it will have on them. He burns a fish and then tastes it, and likes the results so much that from then on he cooks all his fish and meat.