But the camel, as they say, rests in two steps. Legend has it that an urban dweller rode a camel with a Bedouin. The Bedouin sat in front of the hump, and the urban dweller behind it so he could steady himself by grabbing the Bedouin. When they arrived home, the camel bent his front legs to come to rest, and the Bedouin, caught off guard, lost his equilibrium and fell to the ground. The urban dweller couldn’t help laughing at the Bedouin. The Bedouin looked at his friend and said, “Too soon to be happy: the camel rests in two steps.” And indeed, as soon as the camel bent his rear legs to come to his final rest, the urban dweller fell on his face.
-Mohamedou Ould Slahi, Guantánamo Diary
KhairAllah and I never rode double, but if we had, he would not have been caught off guard by a couching camel, which under him never knelt until he himself spoke the three magic words Ikhh! Ikhh! Ikhh! that to me meant nothing.