The Islamic bestiary represents an interdisciplinary book tradition that is less a product of Islam itself and more a framing of local beast lore—as far west as Morocco, east as Indonesia, north as the Caucasia, south as sub-Saharan Africa—within the conventions of Arabic literature and medicine. Just as Judeo-Christian bestiaries were undoubtedly influenced by the concept of dominion over the animals (Genesis 1:26), Islamic bestiaries must always contend with the teachings of the Qur’an, which offers a slightly different approach to the animal kingdom. Surah al-Isra (17.3) suggests that all descendants of those who were in Noah’s ark are destined to be saved. We may interpret “those” to mean the human beings aboard the ship that survived the great flood, or it may also include the non-human creatures who sought refuge in Noah’s vessel. Religious authorities and scholars of Islam have suggested both. Verse 17.44 of this surah explains that animals have a method of praising Allah that humans cannot understand but should nonetheless respect. Dozens of animals appear in the Qur’an, and six surah have animal titles. In Surah al-Baqarah (2.26), the Qur’an states that Allah is not ashamed to speak of gnats, suggesting that the humblest of creatures can have great honor. Yet on the other hand, even in a predominantly theocentric rather than anthropocentric confession, the Qur’an also stipulates that humankind is the khalifa (vice regent) (2.30) over the creatures of the earth, who are sakhkhara (subjected) to human beings (22.65). This tension or ambiguity about the human race’s role in the cosmos is evident in the multi-pronged impetus for creating books of animals; for example, zoological volumes serve to categorize the wildlife in an anthropocentric framework; present animal names in the Arab tongue, important during the years of Islamic expansion; provide physical descriptions, with the human form as a basis for comparison; explain usefulness in human society through labor or derived medicines; and lastly, lessons from their virtue or vices, making nothing more than an allegory of their bestial lives. From an art historical and literary perspective, this paper will how to presence of human figures or anthropomorphized features in Islamic bestiaries mirror a troubled relationship to the animal kingdom as human authors and illustrators strive to make a divine creation legible to members of their own species beyond a narrative of dominion.