HISTORY OF TABARI
VOLUME 2
TARIKH WA RASUL AL MULK
Concerning Those Who Said that the Messengers Met only Lot's Daughter
The first one they met when they neared Sodom was Lot's daughter, and Lot was not there.
According to Musa b. Harun-'Amr b. Hammad-Asbat -al-Suddi-Abu Malik and Abu Salih-Ibn `Abbas and Murrah al- Hamdani-Ibn Masud and some of the companions of the Prophet: After the angels left Abraham and headed for the town of Lot, they traveled for half a day. When they reached the river of Sodom, they met Lot's daughter drawing water for her family. Lot had two daughters, of which the elder was named Ritha and the younger was named Ra'raba. They said to her, "0 girl! Is there a dwelling place near here? " She said, "Yes, but stay where you are, and do not come into the town until I come back to you." She was afraid of what her people zmight do to them, so she went to her father and said, "0 my father! Some young men want you at the gate of the city. Never have I seen more handsome faces than theirs. Let your people not seize them and violate them." His people had forbidden Lot to show hospitality to anyone; they had said to him, "Leave them to us. We will give hospitality to the men." So he brought them to his house in secret, and no one but his family knew they were there. But Lot's wife went out to tell her people, saying, "In Lot's house there are men the likes of whom I have never seen, nor have I ever seen such handsome faces . " [ 288. See Ginzberg, Legends, 1, 254, where Lot's wife borrows salt from a neighbor, saying, " We had enough salt, until guests came to us ..." thus inadvertently betraying the secret . Salt being the cause of her sin, she is turned into salt. But ibid ., V, 241, n. 176, exonerates her.] So the people came rushing to Lot 's house.
When they came to him, Lot said, "0 people! Fear God and do not humiliate my guests . Is there not an upright man among you? Here are my daughters. They are more chaste for you" [289. Qur'an, 11:78] that is, less immoral than what they wanted. They said, "Did we not forbid you to give men hospitality? You know well that we have no right to your daughters, and you certainly know what we want." [290. Ibid ., 11:79.] When they would not accept anything he offered them, he said, "If only I had strength (to resist) you, or had some strong support ." [291. Ibid ., 11:80.] He meant he wished he had someone who would help him against them or a clan that would intervene between them and him , to keep them from having what they sought from his guests.
According to al-Muthanna-Ishaq b. al-Hajajj-lsmill b. `Abd al- Karim-'Abd al- Samad b . Ma'qil-Wahb : Lot said to them, " Would that I had strength against you or had some strong support ." He found the messengers beside him, saying, "Verily your support is powerful!" When Lot had lost all hope that the townspeople would do anything he told them to do and could not bear the situation any longer , the angels said, "0 Lot! We are messengers from your Lord; they shall not reach you. So leave with your family during the night, and let no one turn around to look back, save your wife. That which smites the townspeople will smite her too." [292. Ibid., 11:81.]
When Lot realized that his guests were messengers of God and had been sent to destroy his people, he said, " Destroy them immediately!"
Concerning Those Scholars Who Claimed That Lot Said That:
According to Ibn Humayd -Ya'qub-Ja`far-Said: The messengers went from Ibrahim a.s to Lot, and when they reached Lot and the things that God has mentioned had happened to them, Jibril a.s said to Lot, " 0 Lot! We are going to destroy the people of this town, for truly its people are wrongdoers ." Lot said to them, "Destroy them immediately!" And Gabriel said, "The time is fixed for the morning . Is not the morning near?" [293. Id.] And God commanded that Lot leave with his family during the night, and that not one of them should turn around and look back, except Lot's wife. So he left. And when the appointed hour of destruction came , Gabriel picked up their land with his wing and turned it over . He lifted it so high that the inhabitants of heaven heard the crowing of the roosters and the barking of the dogs. "He turned them upside down and rained upon them stones of clay . " [294. See Qur'an, 15:74.] Lot ' s wife heard the crash and said, " 0 my people !" and a stone fell on her and killed her.
According to Ibn Humayd-Ya'qub-Hafs b. Humayd Shimr b. 'Atiyyah : Lot had made his wife promise not to tell anyone about his secret guests . When Jibril a.s and those with him came into the house , and she saw men of such an appearance • as she had never seen before , she went hurrying to her folk and came to the meeting to tell them that so-and-so was in her possession. They came hurrying , walking between a quick pace and a trot. When they reached Lot, he said to them what God has said in His book. Jibril a.s said, " 0 Lot, we are messengers of your Lord; they shall not reach you . " [295. Ibid., 11:81] Lot said, "I am in His hands ." So God obliterated their eyes, and they began feeling around the walls because they could not see.
According to Bishr b . Mu'adh-Yazid-Sa'id-Qatadah -Hudhayfah: When she saw the messengers, the evil old woman, Lot ' s wife, went to the people of Sodom and said, "Lot is giving hospitality to some people who are the handsomest I have ever seen , and the fairest - skinned and best-smelling." They came hurrying to Lot's house, as God has said, and Lot slammed the door . They began trying to persuade him to let them in . Gabriel asked his Lord for permission to punish them, and He granted it. So Gabriel slapped them with his wing and left them blind, wandering to and fro; it was the worst night that had ever befallen them . Then the angels told Lot, " We are messengers of your Lord, so leave with your family for part of the night." It has been mentioned that Lot's wife was with them when they left the town, but when she heard the sound of its destruction she turned around , and God dropped a stone on her and destroyed her.
According to Ibn Humayd-al-Hakam b. Bashir-'Amr b. Qays al-Mula'i-Sa'id b. Bashir-Qatadah: Lot's wife went out when she saw them-that is , when she saw the messengers-and went to her folk and said , " He is giving hospitality to some people tonight , and I have never seen people with handsomer faces or better smell." So they came hurrying, but Lot surprised them and blocked them off at the door. He said, "Here are my daughters, if you must do (something)." [296. Ibid., 15:71.] They said, " Have we not forbidden you to ( entertain) anyone?" [297. Ibid., 15:70.] Then they went in to where the angels were, and the angels received them and slapped their eyes. Then they said, "0 Lot! You have brought us sorcerers who have bewitched us as well as you until we awake in the morning ." Then Jibril a.s lifted up the four towns of Lot, each of which held one hundred thousand people . He carried them up on his wing between heaven and earth until the inhabitants of the lowest heaven heard the sounds of their roosters. Then he turned them over and God set them upside down.
According to Muhammad b. `Abd al-A'14-Muhammad b. Thawr and al-Hasan b. Yahya-`Abd al-Razzaq, all of them -Ma`mar-Qatadah-Hudhayfah: When the messengers came to Lot, his wife, the evil old woman, went out to her people and said, "Lot is giving hospitality to some people with the handsomest faces I have ever seen." Then they went hurrying to him. An angel arose and bolted the door. He blocked it, and then Jibril a.s asked permission to punish them and God granted it . So Gabriel slapped them and smote them with his wing, leaving them blind, and they spent the worst night they had ever spent . Then the angels said, " We are messengers of your Lord; they shall not reach you. Leave with your family during the night and let none of you turn around-save your wife. " [298. Ibid., 11:81] She heard a noise and turned around, whereupon a rock struck her while she was apart from her people, her place being known.
According to Musa b. Harun-`Amr b. Hammad-Asbat -al-Suddi-Abu Malik and Abu Salih-Ibn `Abbas and Murrah al-Hamdanni -Ibn Masud and some of the companions of the Prophet : When Lot said, "Would that I had strength ( to resist) you, or some strong support ," [299. Id.] Jibril a.s spread his wings and gouged their eyes out . They left treading on each other ' s heels, blind, saying, " Help! Help ! In Lot ' s house there are the best sorcerers in the world !" And that is God's word, "They asked him for his guests for an ill purpose . Then We blinded their eyes ." [300. Ibid., 54:37.] They said to Lot, "We are messengers of your Lord ; they shall not reach you . So leave with your family during the night , and follow behind to make sure that none of you turns around " [301. Ibid ., 11:81.] that is, travel with them and go where you are commanded . Then God took them out to Syria, and Lot said , " Destroy them immediately !" But they said, "We were commanded ( to do it ) only in the morning. Is not the morning near?" When dawn came Lot left, taking his family with him except for his wife, for that is God's statement, "Except the family of Lot , whom We rescued at dawn." [302. Ibid., 54.34]
According to al-Muthanna -Ishaq-Ismail b. `Abd al-Karim-'Abd al-Samad-Wahb b. Munabbih : The people of Sodom, among whom Lot lived , were an evil nation who dispensed with women by means of men . When God saw this, He sent His angels to punish them. They came to Ibrahim a.s, and there took place between him and them that which God has mentioned in His book. When they had given Sarah tidings of a son, they arose and Ibrahim a.s arose to walk with them. Then he said, " Tell me why you were sent and what your mission is." They answered , " We were sent to the people of Sodom to destroy them, for they are an evil nation who dispense with women by means of men." Ibrahim a.s said, " Do you think there might be fifty righteous men among them?" They said, " If so, we would not punish them ." He went on until he said, " A family?" They said , " If there is one righteous household among them "-that is, then they would not punish them. Ibrahim a.s said, " Lot and his family." They said, "As for Lot ' s wife, her inclination is with that of her people ." Ibrahim a.s despaired, and they left him and went to Lot. When his wife saw them, their beauty and handsomeness pleased her and she sent word to the townspeople , " Some people have alighted with us , the handsomest and most beautiful folk we have ever seen ." Word of this got around among them and they came to Lot's house from all directions, and they set up fences about it against them. Lot met them and said, " 0 people ! Do not disgrace me with my guests . I will marry you with my daughters ; they are purer for you." They said , " If we wanted your daughters, we already know where they are." He said, " If only I had strength to resist you, or had some strong support . " [303. Ibid., 11:80.] The angels became angry with him and said, " Verily your Support is powerful . A doom is coming to them which cannot be repelled . " [304. Ibid., 11:76.] One of them rubbed their eyes with his wing and wiped out their sight, and they said, " We have been bewitched! Let us go until we can return to him." Then that which God has already related in the Qur'an happened to them. Mikail a.s, the master of doom, thrust his wing into the earth under Sodom until he reached the lowest layer, and overturned it. Then stones descended from heaven and caught all those who were not in the town, wherever they were, and God destroyed them. But Lot and his family were saved , except his wife.
According to Abu Kurayb-Jabir b . Nuh-al-A`mash-Mujahid : Jibril a.s seized the people of Lot from their flocks and houses, and lifted them up with their cattle and belongings until the inhabitants of heaven heard the barking of their dogs, then he turned them over.
According to Abu Kurayb-Mujahid: Jibril a.s inserted his wing under the lowest earth of the folk of Lot, and then seized them with his right wing and took them from their flocks and cattle, then raised them up.
According to al-Muthanna-Abu Hudhayfah-Shibl-Ibn Abi Najih-Mujahid: God has said, " So when Our commandment came to pass, We overthrew it." [305. Ibid., 11:82.] When they arose in the morning , Jibril a.s had come to their town and had ripped it from its foundations, then he inserted his wing and carried it on the underside of his wing.
According to al-Muthanna-Abu Hudhayfah-Shibl-Ibn Abi Najih-Ibrahim b. Abi Bakr: Ibn Abi Najih did not hear this from Mujahid. He carried it on the underside of his wing with all that was in it, then he rose into the sky with it until the inhabitants of heaven heard the barking of their dogs. Then he overturned it, and the first to fall from it were its most noble people, for that is God's statement, "We have turned them upside down and We rained upon them stones of clay. [306. ibid ., 15:74.]
According to Muhammad b. 'Abd al-A'la-Muhammad b. Thawr-Ma'mar-Qatadah: It has reached us that Jibril a.s seized the middle point of the town, then snatched it up so near to heaven that the inhabitants of heaven could hear the sound of their dogs. Then he turned them upside down, and then the stones rained upon them. According to Qatadah, there were four million of them.
According to Bishr b. Mu'adh-Yazid-Said-Qatadah: It has been mentioned to us that Jibril a.s seized its girdle, then snatched it up so high into the sky that the angels could hear the noise of their dogs. Then he destroyed one after another, and threw rocks at the laggards one after another. There were three towns called Sodom. They lay between al-Madinah and Syria. It has been mentioned to us that there were four million people in the town. And it was mentioned to us that Ibrahim a.s looked down and said, "One day Sodom will perish."
According to Musa b. Harun-'Amr b. Hammad-Asbat -al-Suddi, through a chain of transmitters which we have already mentioned: When the people of Lot rose in the morning, Jibril a.s came down and uprooted the earth from the seven earths, then bore it aloft until he brought it to the lowest heaven so that the inhabitants thereof heard the barking of their dogs and the noise of their roosters. Then he turned them over and killed them, as God said, "And al-Mu'tafikah He destroyed" [307. Ibid ., 53:53] -al -Mu'tafikah being that which was overturned when Jibril a.s rushed down to the earth and uprooted it with his wing . And as for those who did not die when the earth fell, God rained stones down upon them while they were under the earth, and upon those who were scattered around on the earth, as God says, " He turned them upside down and rained upon them stones of clay. " [308. Ibid., 15:74.] Then he overtook them in their towns . A man might be speaking and a stone would hit him and kill him, for that is God's word , " We rained upon them stones of clay."
According to Ibn Humayd-Salamah -Ibn Ishiq-Muhammad b. Ka'b al-Qurazi : It was related to me that God sent Jibril a.s to al-Mu'tafikah , the city of Lot's people , and he carried it upward on his wing until the inhabitants of the lowest heaven heard the barking of its dogs and the noise of its hens. Then he turned it over on its face , whereupon God pursued it with stones . God says, " We overturned it and rained upon it stones of clay." [309. Ibid ., 11:82.] And God destroyed it along with the surrounding Mu'tafikahs , which were five cities : Sab'ah, Sarah, 'Amarah , Duma, and Sodom, [310. In the Bible (Gen 18- 19) the names are Zeboiim, Zoar, Gomorrah ( Heb., 'Amorah ), Admah, and Sodom.] the latter being the largest city. And God saved Lot and those of his family who were with him, except his wife who perished with the rest.
On the Death of siti Sarah bt. Haran and of siti Hajar, the Mother of Ishmail a.s; and on Ibrahim's a.s Wives and Children
We have already mentioned the life span of siti Sarah, the mother of Ishaq . As for the place of her death, both Arab and Persian scholars agree that it was in Syria . It is said that she died in the city of the giants in the land of Canaan, in Hebron , and that she was buried in the field which Ibrahim a.s bought. [311. The aggadic accounts vary, but some have Satan visit Sarah in the guise of an old man to tell her that Isaac is dead , whereupon she dies; see Ginzberg, Legends, I, 286, and ibid., V, 255 -56, nn . 256-259.] It is said that Hagar lived for a while after Sarah died . Differing accounts have also come down to us.
According to Musa b. Harun-'Amr b. Hammad-Asbat -al-Suddi, with a chain of transmitters which we have previously mentioned: Then Ibrahim a.s longed for Ishmail a.s and said to siti Sarah, "Permit me to go to my son so that I may look at him." She made him swear that when he went he would not stay, but would come back to her. He mounted al-Buraq and sent to see Ishmail a.s. Ishmail ' s a.s mother had died, and Ishmail a.s had married a woman of the Jurhum tribe. [332. See Tabari, I, 283.]
Ibrahim a.s had come to own more and more property and cattle, for the reasons which were related to us by way of Musa Harun-`Amr b. Hammad-Asbat-al-Suddi, with a chain of transmitters which we have previously mentioned: Ibrahim a.s was in need. He had a friend who sometimes gave things to him, so siti Sarah said to Ibrahim a.s, "If you went to your friend, you could get food for us from him." But when Ibrahim a.s reached his friend's home, the friend was away, and Ibrahim a.s was ashamed to go back home empty-handed. So when he passed by a dry stream-bed, he filled his saddlebag from it. Then he sent the donkey to his family. When the donkey arrived, the saddlebag was full of excellent wheat. Ibrahim a.s slept, and when he awoke he went to his family. Sarah had already prepared food for him, and she said to him, "Won't you eat?" He said, "Is there anything?" She said, "Yes, some of the wheat which you brought from your friend." He said, "You are right. I brought it from my Friend"-meaning God. Abraham a.s planted it, and it sprouted for him and the plants grew while the plants of the people around him died. That wheat was the source of his wealth, fozr people would come and ask him for it and he would say, "Whoever says, 'There is no god but God,' may come in and take." Some of them said it and came in to take wheat, while others refused and left empty-handed. That is God's word, "And among them were those who believed therein and those who disbelieved therein. Hell is enough to burn them." [313. Qur'an, 4:55.]
As Ibrahim a.s grew richer in wealth and cattle, he needed more room for dwelling and pasture. It is said that his dwelling place covered the land that lay between the desert of Midian and the Hijaz, as far as the land of Syria. His nephew Lot was staying with him, so he divided his wealth and gave Lot half of it, or so they say. He let him choose another place in which to live and stay . Lot chose the region of Jordan and went there, while Ibrahim a.s stayed in his place. It is said that this was why Ibrahim a.s gave preference to Mecca and settled Ishmail a.s there, though he often entered the cities of Syria.
According to the account of Ibn Humayd -Salamah-Ibn Ishaq: When Ibrahim's a.s wife siti Sarah bt. Haran died, Ibrahim a.s married a Canaanite woman, Qaturah bt . Yagtan . She bore his six children: Yagsan b. Abraham, Zamran b. Abraham, Madyan b. Abraham, Yasbaq b. Abraham, Suh b. Abraham, and Basar b. Ibrahim a.s [314. For the biblical names see Gen. 25:1-41 see also Kisai, 162, and Tha-'labi, Qisas, 85. See also Ginzberg, Legends, V, 264-265.] Ibrahim a.s had eight sons altogether , including Ishmail a.s and Ishaq . Ishmail a.s was his firstborn , the eldest of all his offspring.
Yagsan b. Abraham married Ra' wah bt . Zamar b. Yagtan b. Ludhan b. Jurhum b. Yagtan b. Eber, and she bore him the Berbers and their mixed groups . Zamran b . Ibrahim a.s gave birth to the pipers , who are not known . To Madyan were born the people of Midian, who were the folk of the prophet Shu'ayb b. Mika' il-all of them were descended from Madyan, and God sent Shu 'ayb to them as a prophet.
According to al-Harith b. Muhammad- Muhammad b. Sa'd---Hisham b. Muhammad b. al-Sa'ib-his father: Abraham's father was a native of Harran , but a bad year befell him when he came to Hurmuzjird [315. Yaqut, Mu'jam, IV, 968, says only, "A region which was on the borders [atraf] of Iraq, which the Muslims raided during the wars of the conquests."] in al-Ahwaz with his wife. This wife of his was Abraham 's mother, and her name was Nuba bt. Karita b. Kutha, of the sons of Arpachshad b. Shem b. Nuh a.s.
According to al-Harith-Muhammad b. Sa'd-Muhammad b. 'Umar al-Aslami-a number of scholars: Her name (Ibraham ' s a.s mother's name) was Anmuta , one of the offspring of Afraham b. Reu b. Peleg b. Eber b. Shelach b. Arpachshad b. Shem b. Nuh a.s, while some say that her name was Anmatala bt. Yakfur. [316. Her name is not mentioned in the Bible, but Ginzberg, Legends, I, 286, gives it as Emtelai daughter of Karnabo . See also ibid ., V, 2o8, n. b]
According to al-Harith-Muhammad b. Sa'd-Hisham b. Muhammad-his father: The river of Kutha was dug by Karita, Abraham's grandfather on his mother's side. His father was in charge of King Nimrod's idols. Ibrahim a.s was born in Hurmuzjird, then moved to Kutha in the land of Babylon. When Ibrahim a.s grew up he rejected his people's beliefs and called upon them to worship God. This reached King Nimrod, who imprisoned him for seven years. Then he built for Ibrahim a.s an enclosure of plaster, and kindled thick firewood therein, and threw Ibrahim a.s into it. Ibrahim a.s said, "God suffices me; how excellent is He in Whom I trust." And he left the fire safe and unhurt.
According to al-Harith-Muhammad b. Sa'd-Hisham b. Muhammad-his father-Abu Salih-Ibn 'Abbas: When Abraham fled from Kutha and came out of the fire , his language was Syriac. But when he crossed the Euphrates from Harran, God changed his language and it was called Hebrew ('Ibrani) because he had crossed ('abara) the Euphrates. Nimrod sent men to look for him, telling them, "If you find anyone who speaks Syriac, do not leave him, but bring him to me." They met Ibrahim, a.s but left him because he spoke Hebrew and they did not understand his language.
According to al-Ilarith-Ibn Sa'd-HishAm-his father: Ibrahim a.s migrated from Babylon to Syria, and Sarah came to him and offered herself to him, so he married her and took her with him. At that time he was thirty-seven years old, and he came to Harran and stayed there for a while. Then he came to Jordan and stayed there for a while. Then he went to Egypt and stayed there for a while; then went back to Syria and settled in the land of Beersheba between iliya and Palestine. He dug a well and built a house of prayer, but then some of the people of the land harmed him, so he left them and went to live between al-Ramlah and Iliya . He dug a well there and stayed there, his wealth and servants already having become abundant. He was the first to show hospitality to guests , the first to crumble bread and soak it in broth, and the first to see white hair. The children born to Ibrahim a.s were Ishmail a.s , his eldest, whose mother was a Copt named siti Hajar ; and Ishaq , who was blind and whose mother was Sarah bt . Bethuel b. Nahor b . Serug b. Reu b. Peleg b. Eber b. Shelach b . Arpachshad b. Shem b . Nuh a.s. His other children were Madan, Madyan, Yagsan, Zamran, Asbaq, and Siilh, whose mother was Qantura bt . Maftur of the `aribah Arabs . Yagsan 's sons reached Mecca, while Madan and Madyan remained in the land of Midian , which was named for the latter . The rest of them wandered from land to land, saying to Ibrahim a.s, "0 our father ! You settled Ishmail a.s and Ishaq with you, but you ordered us to inhabit remote and wild lands." He answered, " I was thus commanded." Then he taught them one of the names of God, and they used to use it to ask for water and for help . Some of them settled in Khurasan . Then the Khazars came, and they said, " The one who taught you must be the best of all the people of the earth, or the king of the earth." So they called their kings khagan" [317. A possible reflex of the conversion of the Khazars to Judaism, ca. 740.]
Abu Ja 'far said: Some pronounce Yasbaq as Yasbaq , and Sawah/Suh as Sib. Some say that after siti Sarah ' s death Ibrahim a.s married two Arab women. One of these was Qantura bt. Yaqtan, who bore him six sons -( the ones we have mentioned) -while the other was Hajur b . Arhir, who bore him five sons-Kaysan , Shawarukh , Arnim, Lutan, and Nafis.
Concerning the Death of Ibrahim a.s, the Friend of God
When God wanted to take Ibrahim's a.s soul , He sent the angel of death to him in the form of a decrepit old man. [318. See Kisai, 163; Tha ' labi, Qisas , 86, for essentially the same story. Jewish aggadic sources have the angel Mikail a.s sent by God as a reluctant messenger to announce his death to Ibrahim a.s . See Ginzberg , Legends , I, 299ff.]
According to Musa b. Harun-'Amr b. Hammad-Asbat -al-Suddi, with a chain of transmitters which I have already mentioned: Ibrahim a.s had much food, and would feed people and offer them hospitality. One day while he was feeding the people, he saw an old man walking in the heat. So he sent a donkey to him to bring him back so that he could feed him. Whenever the old man picked up a morsel of food and tried to put it in his mouth, he would put it in his eye or his ear, and then in his mouth. When it entered his belly, it came out from his posterior. Ibrahim a.s had asked his Lord not to take his soul until he himself asked Him for death. When he saw the old man's condition, he asked him, "What is the matter with you, O old man, that you do this?" He said, "0 Ibrahim a.s, it is old age." Ibrahim a.s asked, "How old are you?" He was two years older than Ibrahim a.s, so Ibrahim a.s said, "There are only two years between you and me. When I reach that age, will I become like you?" He answered, "Yes." Ibrahim a.s said, "My God! Take me to You before that." Then the old man arose and took his soul, for he was the angel of death. After Ibrahim a.s died-at the age of two hundred, or some say one hundred and seventyfive-he was buried at siti Sarah's tomb in the field of Hebron.
It is said that the leaves which God revealed to Ibrahim a.s were ten in number. I heard this from Ahmad b. `Abd al-Rahman b. Wahb-his paternal uncle `Abdallah b. Wahb-alMadi b. Muhammad-Abu Sulayman -al-Qasim b. Muhammad-Abu Idris al-Khawlani-Abu Dharr al-Ghifari: I asked, "0 Messenger of God! How many books did God reveal?" He said, "One hundred and four books. [319. Tha ' labi, Qisas., 88, has " one hundred leaves [ saha'if ] and four books." This section is preceded by a long recitation of acts which Abraham was the first to perform , and of his special merit. See Tabari, I, 347 for Tabari ' s scant mention of these attributes.] To Adam He revealed ten leaves , to Seth fifty leaves , and to Enoch thirty leaves. To Ibrahim a.s he revealed ten leaves and also the Torah, the Injil, the Zabur, and the Furqan." I said, "O Messenger of God! What were the leaves of Abraham?" He answered, "They were all proverbs, such as, '0 dominated, afflicted, and deceived king! I did not send you to collect all the world, one part to another; rather I sent you [to act justly] so that I would not have to hear the cry of the oppressed, for I will not reject that cry even from an unbeliever.' And they included parables, 'The intelligent man, who is not overcome about his reason, must keep various hours-an hour in which he confides to his Lord, an hour in which he contemplates God's works, an hour in which he takes stock of his soul and of all the acts it has committed, an hour in which he is alone with the permitted food and drink which he needs. He must not depart from three things -providing for himself in the hereafter, seeing to his subsistence, and taking pleasure in what is not forbidden. The intelligent man must be careful with his time, attentive to his affairs, and careful of his tongue . When a man values his words as part of his deeds, his words are few except about what concerns him."'
It is mentioned that Ibrahim a.s had two brothers. One of them was called Haran, who was the father of Lot, and it is said that Haran was the one who built the city of Harran and that it was named after him. The other brother was Nahor, the father of Bethuel, and Bethuel was the father of Laban and of Rebecca bt. Bethuel. This Rebecca, the wife of Isaac b. Ibrahim a.s and the mother of Jacob, was the daughter of Bethuel while Leah and Rachel, Jacob's wives, were both daughters of Laban.
The Account of the Descendants of Ishmail a.s
b. ibrahim a.s, Friend of the Merciful
We have already mentioned the reasons for Abraham's journey to Mecca with his son Ishmail a.s and Ishmail's a.s mother siti Hajar, and why he settled them there. When Ishmail a.s grew up he married a woman of the Jurhum tribe and later, as we have described, divorced her because his father Ibrahim a.s ordered him to do so. Then he married another, who was named al-Sayyidah bt. Madad b. 'Amr al-Jurhumi. She was the wife of Ishmail a.s about whom Abraham, when he came to Mecca, said, "Tell your husband when he comes, 'I am pleased with the threshhold of your door.' " [320. See Tabari, 1, 283-285.]
According to Ibn Humayd-Salamah-Ibn Ishaq: Ishmail a.s had twelve sons by al-Sayyidah bt. Madad b. `Amr al-Jurhumi. They were Nabit b. Ishmael, Qaydar b. Ishmael, Adabil b. Ishmael, Mabasha b. Ishmael, Masma` b. Ishmael, Duma b. Ishmael, Mas b. Ishmael, Adad b. Ishmael, Watur b. Ishmael, Naffs b. Ishmael, Tuma b. Ishmael, and Qaydaman b. Ishmael. It is claimed that Ishmael lived one hundred and thirty years. [321. See Gen 25: 12-18.] From Nabit and Qaydar God dispersed the Arabs. God made Ishmael a prophet and sent him to the Amalekites, so it is said, and to the tribes of the Yemen.
The names of Ishmail's a.s sons are sometimes pronounced differently than the way I have given them according to Ibn Ishaq. Some pronounce Qaydar as Qaydar, Adabil as Adbal, Mabasha as Mabasham, and Duma as Dhuma, the other names are sometimes given as Masi , Haddad, Taym, Yatur, Nafis, and Qadaman . It is said that when death came to Ishmail a.s , he made his brother Ishaq his heir, and married his daughter to Ishaq's a.s son Esau . It is said that Ishmael lived one hundred and thirtyseven years, and that he was buried in al-Mir near the tomb of his mother siti Hajar.
According to `Abadah b. 'Abdallah al-Saffar-Khalid b. `Abd al-Rahman al - Makhzumi-Mubarak b. Hassan, the master of the saddle-cloths-'Umar b. 'Abd al-`Aziz: Ishmael complained to his Lord about the heat of Mecca, and God told him, "I am opening for you one of the Garden ' s gates , so that its breath will move over you until the Day of Resurrection, and in that place you will be buried."
We will now return to the discussion of Ishaq a.s b. Ibrahim a.s and of his wives and descendants, since after the Persians no nation except for them has a continuous, unbroken history. This is because the Persian kings continued in unbroken succession from the days of Jayumart, about whom I have already spoken, until they vanished with the coming of the best nation brought forth from humanity, the nation of our prophet Muhammad s.a.w . Prophecy and kingship continued in an unbroken succession in Syria and its environs among the children of Israel b . Ishaq a.s, until those things vanished from among them with the coming of the Persians and Byzantines after John b. Zachariya and after Isa a.s b. Maryam. When we reach the story of John and Isa a.s , God willing, we will mention the reason for the vanishing of prophecy from among them . As for the rest of the nations , except for the Persians, it is impossible to attain knowledge of their history since they did not have continuous rule in ancient or modem times, and even when they did we cannot determine the sequence of events in their history, or the sequence of their rulers-save what we have mentioned about the descendants of Jacob until the time I have mentioned. Yet there-even though its span was interrupted during the time when it vanished from among them-we know the exact amount of time which passed between when it disappeared and the present . Yemen, on the other hand, had kings who ruled, but there is no unbroken sequence , long intervals stretch between one king and the next, and scholars have not been able to work out the length of these intervals because they have not been meticulous about it, nor have they carefully worked out the life-spans of the kings, since they were not historically important. Whatever any of them did which was worth remembering, he only did because he was a governor over his territory for some higher ruler, rather than being a ruler in his own right. An example is the importance of the family of Nasr b. Rabi'ah b. al-Harith b. Malik b. 'Amain b. Nimarah b. Lakhm. [322. See Wiistenfeld, Tabellen, 5.] They occupied a gap in the Arab-Persian frontier extending from al-Hirah to the Yemeni border and as far as the border of Syria. They continued to occupy this position from the era of Ardashir Babakan until Kisra Barwiz b . Hurmuz b. Anushirwan killed al-Nu'man b. al-Mundhir. [323. Al-Nu'man III ( ca. 580-602), son of al -Mundhir IV , the last of the Lakhmids.] Then he transferred their authority over the Arab-Persian frontier to Iyas b. Qabidah al-Ta’i. [324. Ruled 602-611, but with a Persian resident in actual control of the government ].
According to Ibn Ilumayd-Salamah-Ibn Ishaq: Ishaq a.s b. Ibrahim a.s married Rebecca bt. Bethuel b. Ryas, and she bore him Esau b. Ishaq a.s and Yacub a.s b . Ishaq . It is said that they were twins and that Esau was the elder of the two. Then Esau b. Isaac married the daughter of his paternal uncle, Basmah bt. Ishmael b. Ibrahim a.s, and she bore him al-Rum b. Esau. All the yellow people are from him. [325. The biblical account is in Gen 36]
Some people claim that the Ashban are among his descendants, but I do not know whether they are from the daughter of Ishmail a.s or not. Yacub b. Ishaq-who was Israel-married the daughter of his maternal uncle, Leah bt. Laban b. Bethuel b. Ilyas, and she bore him Reuben b. Jacob, who was the eldest of his descendants, and Simeon b. Yacub, Levi b. Yacub, Judah b. Yacub, Zebulon b. Yakub, Issachar b. Yacub, and a daughter named Dinah bt. Yacub. Some say that Issachar's name was Yashhar .
Then Leah bt. Laban died, and Yacub a.s replaced her with her sister Rachel bt. Laban b . Bethuel b. Ilyas. She bore him Yusuf b. Yacub and Benjamin b . Yacub, who is called Shaddad in Arabic. He also had two concubines named Zilfah and Bilhah, and he had four sons from them : Dan b . Yacub , Naphtali b. Yacub, Gad b . Jacob, and Asher b. Jacob . Jacob had twelve sons in all.
Some of the people of the Torah have said that Ishaq's a.s wife Rebecca was the daughter of Nahor b. Azar , Isaac's paternal uncle, and that she bore Esau and Jacob in one womb ( that is, as twins) . They also say that Ishaq ordered his son Yacub not to marry a Canaanite woman, but instead to marry one of his maternal uncle Laban b . Nahor ' s daughters. They also say that when Yacub wanted to marry, he went to his maternal uncle Laban b . Nahor as a suitor . Night fell while he was still on the road, and he slept leaning on a stone . He had a dream in which he saw a ladder raised up from his head to one of the gates of heaven, with angels climbing up and down on it [326. See Gen 2 8: Toff. for Jacob ' s dream . For the following story of Yacub and his sons see Kisa'i, 163 -67; Tha1abi,Qisas , 88-90.] Later he went to his maternal uncle and asked for the hand of his daughter Rachel . Laban had two daughters, of whom Leah was the elder and Rachel the younger . He asked Yacub a.s , " Do you
have any money for which I should marry her to you?" He answered , " No, but I will serve you as a hired laborer until your daughter' s dowry is paid in full ." Laban said, " Her dowry is that you serve me for the period of seven pilgrimages "-that is, for seven years . Jacob said, " Then betroth me to Rachel, for I specify her as what I want in the exchange, and for her I will serve you ." And his maternal uncle agreed to that bargain.
So Yacub a.s worked for him as a herder for seven years, and when he had completed his side of the bargain , Laban gave him his elder daughter Leah . He brought her to Jacob in the night, and when Yacub a.s awoke he found that he had not been given the daughter he had specified . So he went to Laban while he was in his people's meeting-place , and said to him , " You have deceived and cheated me . You have unlawfully made use of my labor of seven years, and fraudulently imposed on me one who is not my wife ," Laban said to him, " 0 my nephew! You wanted to impose disgrace and infamy on me, your maternal uncle, and on your father. When have you ever seen anyone marry off the younger daughter before the older one? Serve me another seven years and I will betroth her sister to you." In those days people used to marry two sisters to the same husband, until Musa a.s came and the Torah was revealed to him.
So Yacub a.s served Laban another seven years, and Laban handed Rachel over to him. Leah bore him the four tribes of Reuben, Judah, Simeon, and Levi, while Rachel bore him Yusuf a.s and Benjamin and their sisters. When Laban gave his daughters to Jacob he had given each of them a maidservant, and they presented these maidservants to Yacub a.s. Each of them bore him three groups of tribes. Yacub a.s left his maternal uncle and went back to live with his brother Esau.
Some have said that Dan and Naphtali were born to Yacub a.s from Rachel's maidservant Zilfah. Rachel had asked him to seek children from Zilfah, since Rachel herself had not yet had any. Then Leah, competing with Rachel, presented her maidservant Bilhah to Yacub a.s and asked him to seek children from her. Bilhah bore him Gad and Asher. Then, after he had given up hope of having any children by Rachel, she bore him Yusuf and Benjamin. Jacob set out with these two children of his and with his two wives to go to his father's dwelling-place in Palestine, because he was afraid of his brother Esau, though the latter had never done anything but good to him. It has been mentioned that Esau attached himself to his paternal uncle Ishmail a.s and married Ishmail's a.s daughter Basmah, whom he took to Syria and who bore him a number of children. They multiplied until they overcame the Canaanites in Syria. Then they journeyed to the sea and the area of Alexandria, and from there to Byzantium. It is said that Esau was called Edom [327. The text reads Adum . See Gen 36:1.] because of his ruddiness, and that his descendants were thus called the children of the yellow one.
Rebecca bt. Bethuel bore Ishaq a.s twin sons, Esau and Yacub a.s, when Ishaq was sixty years old. Esau was the first to emerge from his mother's womb. It is said that Ishaq a.s favored Esau while their mother Rebecca tended toward Yacub a.s. They claim that Jacob tricked Esau with a sacrifice which they both offered at Ishaq 's a.s command when he was old and his sight had grown dim. Most of Ishaq's a.s prayers were for Yacub a.s , and blessing turned toward him through his father Ishaq's prayers for him. This infuriated Esau and he threatened to kill Yacub a.s, so Yacub a.s fled from him to his maternal uncle Laban in Babylon . Laban established a relationship with him and married his two daughters Leah and Rachel to him. Yacub a.s later left with Leah and Rachel, their two maidservants , his sons ( the twelve tribes ), and their sister Dinah, and went to Syria, the dwelling-place of his forefathers.
He became united with his brother Esau, but later left Syria to him and moved to the coast. Then he went to Anatolia and took that as his homeland. According to the one who gives this account, the rulers of Anatolia-the Greeks-were of Jacob's descendants.
According to al-Husayn b. Muhammad b. 'Amr al-'Abqari -his father-Asbat-al - Suddi : Ishaq a.s married a woman and she became pregnant with twins . When she was about to give birth to them, the two boys struggled in her womb, Jacob wishing to emerge before Esau. Esau said, "By God! If you go forth before me, I will obstruct my mother's womb, and I will kill her." So Yacub a.s delayed and Esau emerged before him, but Yacub a.s seized Esau 's heel . Esau was given that name because he refused, or resisted ('asa), and he emerged before his brother who was named Yacub a.s because he emerged grasping the heel (`aqb) of Esau. Yacub a.s was the larger of the two in the womb, but Esau emerged before him.
As the two boys grew up, Esau was more loved by his father while Yacub a.s was more loved by his mother. Esau was a hunter, and when Ishaq a.s grew old and blind, he said to Esau, "0 my son! Feed me some game, and draw near me so that I may invoke a prayer over you which my father did for me." Esau was a hairy man while Jacob was a hairless man. Esau went forth seeking game, and his mother, who had overheard the conversation, said to Yacub a.s, "0 my son! Go to the flocks and slaughter a sheep therefrom, then roast it and dress yourself in its skin. Then go and present it to your father, and say you are Esau." Jacob did that, and when he came he said, "0 my father, eat!" His father asked, "Who are you?" He said, "I am your son, Esau." Isaac felt him and said, "The touch is that of Esau, but the smell is that of Yacub a.s ." [328. Compare with Gen 27 : 22, "The voice is the voice of Jacob , but the hands are the hands of Esau."] His mother said, " He is your son Esau, so pray for him." Ishaq a.s said, "Present your food." Yacub presented it and Isaac ate of it, then said , " Come closer." Yacub a.s drew near him, and Isaac prayed that prophets and kings should be appointed from among his offspring. After Yacub a.s left, Esau came and said , " I have brought the game as you ordered me to do." Isaac said, "0 my son! Your brother Jacob has preceded you." Esau became angry and said, "By God! I shall surely kill him ." Isaac said, " 0 my son , a prayer is left for you. Come here and I will invoke it for you." Then he prayed for Esau, saying, " May your offspring be as numerous as the dust and may no one rule them but themselves."
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