And Goha said, “O Mussulmans, do you know why Allah did not put wings on the camel?” “No we do not, O Goha, but surely you will tell us,” they answered. “If camels had been given wings,” Goha said, “they would perch on flowers in your garden, and being very heavy, crush them to the earth.”
-One Thousand and One Nights, ed. J.C. Mardrus
It might be tempting to think of Mas’ūd abu Dūd as Goha, if Goha were a Sudani camel herder rather than the archetypal wise Egyptian peasant fool. Mas’ūd once asked me, in the middle of a long day’s ride when spotting the contrail of a jet flying high overhead, why I did not travel by airplane. I answered, Because my camel has no Wing, Janāh, but I must have mispronounced the word as Junāh, Sin, for Mas’ūd then replied, In that case your camel is worthy only of the Prophet, so you must now get down and walk.