Annotated GlossaryKalb (pl. kilab) and kulayb (diminutive) - literally means dog. However, if it refers to Ibn Kalb, it means ‘son of a dog’ or sometimes it is translated, mistakenly in my opinion, as ‘son of a b***h’. Arguably, it shows frightful ignorance of the translator when he fails to realise that Arab tribes often have names such as Kilab, (dogs) or Asad (lion) to denote the warlike nature of their respective tribe. Thus, when the reader comes across the word Ibn Kalb he needs to read it in context. In the case of a man calling an Egyptian taxi driver ‘Ibn Kalb’ in Cairo, as the latter has fleeced him for eighty euros, this translator would recommend that it should be understood as ‘son of a b***h’.5 With regards to The Travels of Ibn Fudayl, it should be taken in the context of Ar
