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, the romance of ʿAntar, rightly considered the model of the Arabic romance of chivalry. This sīra surveys five hundred years of Arab history and includes a wealth of older traditions. The story in the Kitāb al-Ag̲h̲ānī of how ʿAntar, the son of a slave-girl, was adopted into the tribe of Banū ʿAbs for saving them at a time of great crisis bears the stamp of a flourishing but already legendary tradition. The Sīrat ʿAntar far transcends the unconscious development of a legend. By a bold stroke ʿAntar, the solitary hero, is raised to be the represe…

the Biblical Lot [ Genesis , xiii, 5-13, xvii-xix). The Ḳurʾān, where his story is told in passages belonging to the second and third Meccan periods, places Lūṭ among the “envoys” whose career prefigures that of Muḥammad as a man in conflict with his compatriots, those at whom his message is directly aimed; the crimes of the “people of Lūṭ” were, besides the refusal to believe, their persistence in vices such as lack of hospitality and homosexual practices, a misconduct punished, in spite of intercession by Ibrāhīm [ q.v.], by the dispatch of angels of destruction who utterly devas…

, in the Bible Rachel, wife of Jacob, mother of Joseph and Benjamin, is not mentioned in the Ḳurʾān. There is, however, a reference to her in sūra IV, 27: “Ye may not have two sisters to wife at the same time; if it has been done formerly, God now exercises pardon and mercy.” This is said to allude to Jacob’s marriage with Liyā and Rāḥīl; before Moses revealed the Tora, such a marriage was valid. Al-Ṭabarī gives this explanation in his Annals , i, 356, 359-60. Ibn al-At̲h̲īr, i, 90, adopts it. But already in Tafsīr , iv, 210, al-Ṭabarī explains the verse correctly: Muḥ…

, the name in the Gospels of (1) the poor man who finds compensation in Abraham’s bosom for the misery of this world (Luke, xvi, 19-31); and (2) the dead man whom Jesus raises to life (John, xi). The Ḳurʾān mentions neither the one nor the other, but among the miracles with which it credits Jesus is included the raising from the dead (III, 43/49). Muslim legend with its fondness for the miracle of resurrection is fond of telling of the dead whom Jesus revives, but rarely mentions Lazarus. Al-Ṭabarī in his Taʾrīk̲h̲ talks of these miracles in general. According to …

, also Namrūd̲h̲ , Nimrūd , the Nimrod of the Bible, is associated in Muslim legend, as in Haggada, with the story of the childhood of Abraham. The Ḳurʾān, it is true, does not mention him but probably, as in many other cases, only from dislike of mentioning names. That the legend of Namrūd was known is evident from the following verses. “Do you not see how he disputed with Ibrāhīm about the Lord who had granted him dominion? When Ibrāhīm said: It is my Lord who gives life and d…

, the Noah of the Bible, is a particularly popular figure in the Ḳurʾān and in Muslim legend. Al-T̲h̲aʿlabī gives 15 virtues by which Nūḥ is distinguished among the prophets. The Bible does not regard Noah as a prophet. In the Ḳurʾān, Nūḥ is the first prophet of punishment, who is followed by Hūd, ¶ Ṣāliḥ, Lūṭ, S̲h̲uʿayb and Mūsā. Ibrāhīm is one of his following ( s̲h̲īʿa ) (XXXVII, 81). He is the perspicuous admonisher ( nad̲h̲ir mubīn , XI, 27; LXXI, 2), the rasūl amīn “the true messenger of God” (XXVI, 107), the ʿabd s̲h̲akūr , “the grateful servant of God” (XVII, 3…

, also Zakariyyā, the father of John the Baptist, reckoned in the Ḳurʾān (VI, 85) along with John, Jesus, and Elias as among the righteous. The name most likely entered Arabic via its Syriac rendering. The Ḳurʾān gives the substance of Luke i. 5-25, as follows: Zakariyyāʾ guards the Virgin Mary [see maryam , at Vol. VI, 630] in the niche ( miḥrāb ) and always finds fresh fruits there. He prays to God; angels announce to him that a son will be born to him, Yaḥyā, a name not previously given to anyone, a pious man, a prophet, Jacob’s hei…

, a legendary hero and sage of pre-Islamic Arabia. He appears in the Ḳurʾān as a monotheist and a wise father giving pious admonitions to his son. In later Islamic lore, he became the creator of fables par excellence and a striking parallel of Aesop. 1. Luḳmān in Old Arab tradition. The Arabs of the Ḏj̲āhiliyya knew of a certain Luḳmān b. ʿĀd. The connection with the long-lost tribe of ʿĀd [ q.v.] places him in the dimmest recesses of the Arab past. The two attributes upon which his fame apparently rested were his wisdom and his longevity. Many early poets, includin…

, also ʿĀd̲j̲ b. ʿAnaḳ or ʿAnāḳ , the Arabic name of the Biblical ʿŌg, the giant king of Bas̲h̲an. The Ḳurʾān does not mention him. Al-Ṭabarī tells of his great stature and death: Moses was ten cubits in height, his staff ten cubits long, he jumped ten cubits high and smote ʿŪd̲j̲ in the heel; the body of the fallen giant served as a bridge across the Nile. Al-T̲h̲aʿlabī gives more details: ʿŪd̲j̲ was 23,333 cubits high, drank from the clouds, could reach to the bottom of the sea …

"the Samaritan", is the name in Ḳurʾān, XX, 85, 87 and 95 of the man who tempted the Israelites to the sin of the Golden Calf. The sin itself is mentioned twice in the Ḳurʾān. In the first narrative, VII, 148-57, the story is told of the sin of Israel and Aaron as in Exodus, xxxii, but with the elaboration that the calf cast out of metal was "lowing" ( khuwār ). The second version, XX, 83-98, presents al-Sāmirī as the tempter of Israel in the same situation. At al-Sāmirī’s bidding, the Israelites cast their ornaments into the fire and he made …

, the Japheth of the Bible. He is not mentioned by name in the Ḳurʾān (although he is alluded to in VII, 64, X, 73, XI, 40, XXIII, 27 and XXVI, 119), but the exegetes are familiar with all the sons of Noah [see nūḥ ]: Ḥām, Sām [ q.vv.] and Yāfit̲h̲ (the pronunciation Yāfit is mentioned as possible in al-Ṭabarī, i, 222). The Biblical story (Gen. ix. 20-7) of Ḥām’s sin and punishment and the blessing given to Sām and Yāfit̲h̲ is known in Muslim legend, but it is silent about Noah’s planting the vine and becoming intoxicated. Al-Kisāʾī totally tr…

, one of the most common names for the biblical Potiphar in Islamic tradition. It is probably a corruption of Fiṭfīr, based upon an early scribal error. Other forms of the name based on confusions of similar letters in Arabic script are Ḳiṭfīn, Ḳiṭʿīn, and Ḳiṭṭīn. The form Ḳiṭfīr is frequently corrupted further to Iṭfīr (so generally in Ṭabarī, T̲h̲aʿlabī, Zamak̲h̲s̲h̲arī, Bayḍawī, and others), and in some manuscripts Iṭfīr. He is given the patronymic Ibn Ruhayb (also Ibn Ruḥayb and Ibn Rūḥīt in…

is the name in Muḥammadan legend of the Biblical Potiphar. Ḳiṭfīr is corrupted from Fiṭfīr like Bilḳīs, queen of Saba, from Nikaulis, or as in the Yūsuf legend we have Ainam or Häinam from Muppīm, Ḥuppīm. Ḳiṭfīr was then further corrupted to Iṭfīr (so generally in Ṭabarī and T̲h̲aʿlabī), Iṭfīn and almost unrecognisably to Ḳiṭṭīn (Ṭabarī, ed. de Goeje, i. 377) and Ḳiṭṭifīn (Ṭabarī, Tafsīr, xii. 98). On the other hand al-Kisāʾī always has Ḳūṭifar, a direct borrowing from Potiphar. Ḳiṭfīr is quite arbitrarily called Ibn Ruhaib. In the Ḳurʾān xii. 30, 51, the Eg…

, in the Bible Rachel, wife of Jacob, mother of Joseph and Benjamin, is not mentioned in the Ḳurʾān. There is however a reference to her in Sūra iv. 27: “Ye may not have two sisters to wife at the same time; if it has been done formerly God now exercises pardon and mercy”. This is said to allude to Jacob’s marriage with Liyā and. Rāḥīl; before Moses revealed the Tora, such a marriage was valid. Ṭabarī gives this explanation in the Annals, i. 356, 359 sq. Ibn al-At̲h̲īr, p. 90, adopts it. But already in Tafsīr, iv. 210, Ṭabarī explains the verse correctly: Muḥammad forbids for the future ma…

, the name in Arabic for the Biblical prophet Moses. 1. In the Ḳurʾān. Here, Mūsā is considered as the precursor of, the model for, and the annunciator of Muḥammad (VII, 156). The two prophets share the same belief (XLIII, 11). Mūsā is also conceived in Muḥammad’s image. Charges are brought against him similar to those made against Muḥammad and he is said to want to pervert people from the faith of their fathers (X, 79); he practises magic (XXVIII, 18). Mūsā and Hārūn seem rather to be sent to the stubborn Pharaoh [see firʿawn ] than to the believing Israelites. Revelation is granted him: tawrāt , ki…

, le Loth de la Bible (Genèse, XIII, 5-13, XVIII-XIX). Le Ḳurʾān, où son histoire est évoquée dans des passages appartenant à la seconde et à la troisième périodes mekkoises, place Lūṭ parmi les «envoyés» dont la carrière préfigure celle de Muḥammad en conflit avec ses compatriotes, destinataires directs de son message; les crimes du «peuple de Lūṭ» furent, outre le refus de croire, leur persistance dans des vices comme le manque d’hospitalité et les pratiques homosexuelles, inconduite châtiée, malgré l’intercession d’Ibrāhīm [ q.v.], par l’envoi d’anges destructeurs qui boule…

, également Namrūd̲h̲. Nimrūd, le Nemrod de la Bible. Son nom est, dans la légende islamique, comme déjà dans la Haggada, rattaché à l’histoire de l’enfance d’Abraham. Le Ḳurʾān ne le mentionne pas, mais les versets suivants semblent démontrer que la légende de Namrūd était connue: «N’as-tu point vu celui qui disputa avec Ibrāhīm au sujet du Dieu parce qu’il lui avait donné la royauté? Ibrāhīm ayant dit: “Mon Seigneur est Celui qui donne la vie et la mort! — C’est moi, répondit l’autre, qui donne l…

, roman arabe qui tire son nom de son héros central, le poète ʿAntara [ q.v.]; il est considéré à bon droit comme le modèle du roman arabe de chevalerie. Cette Sīra met sous nos yeux un demi-millénaire d’histoire arabe avec une très grande abondance de vieilles traditions. Déjà le récit du Kitāb al-Ag̲h̲ānī (VII, 1148, 2153) sur la façon dont ʿAntar, fils d’une esclave, fut admis dans la tribu des Banū ʿAbs pour prix de son intervention qui apporta le salut au moment de la plus grande détresse, porte la marque d’une tradition vigoureuse mais déjà légendaire. La Sīrat ʿAntar dépasse de beaucoup…

, la Rachel biblique, femme de Jacob et mère de Joseph et de Benjamin, n’est pas mentionnée dans le Ḳurʾān. Cependant il y est fait allusion en IV, 27: «Vous ne devez pas avoir en même temps pour femme deux sœurs; si cela a été fait auparavant, Dieu sera indulgent et miséricordieux». C’est vraisemblablement une allusion au mariage de Jacob avec Liyā et Rāḥil. Avant que Moïse ait révélé la Tora, un tel mariage eût été légal. C’est cette interprétation que donne al-Ṭabarī dans ses Annales, I, 356, 359-60. Ibn al-At̲h̲īr, 90, la reprend; mais déjà dans le Tafsīr, IV, 210, al-Ṭabarī interprète l…

, héros et sage légendaire de l’Arabie anté-islamique. Dans le Kurʾān, il est présenté comme un monothéiste et un père avisé qui donne de pieux conseils à son fils; dans la tradition islamique postérieure, il devient le fabuliste par excellence et constitue un frappant pendant d’Ésope. 1. — Luḳmān dans la tradition de l’Arabie ancienne. Les Arabes de la d̲j̲āhiliyya connaissaient un certain Luḳmān b. ʿĀd que sa relation avec la peuple de ʿĀd [ q.v.] depuis longtemps disparu place dans les recoins les plus sombres du passé arabe. Les deux attributs qui paraissent fonder…