that Muhammad b. ?Ali b. 'Umar al-Tannukhl said to him, 'I saw Muhammad b. 'Ali [al-Jawad] talking to a bull and the bull shook his head.' Then I said to him, 'No, but [can you not] command the bull to talk to you.' He then recited [the verse]: We have been taught the speech of the birds and we have been given out of everything. He then said [to it], 'Say: there is no god but Allah, the Only One and He has no partner' and stroked its head with his palm. The bull then said, 'There is no god but Allah, the Only One and He has no partner.'