The Jabal Ḏabūb inscription (also known as Jabal Ḏabūb 1) is a South Arabian graffito inscription composed in a minuscule variant of the late Sabaic language and dates to the 6th century, notable for the appearance of a pre-Islamic variant of the Basmala. It was found on a rocky facade at the top of the eastern topside of mount Thaboob in the Dhale region of Yemen and first published in 2018 by M.A. Al-Hajj and A.A. Faqʿas.[1]
Content edit
The inscription is two lines long. The editio princeps reads:[2]
bs¹mlh | rḥmn | rḥmn | rb | s¹mwt r{z}{q}n | mfḍlk | wʾṯrn | mḫh | s²kmt ʾymn
And has been interpreted as follows:[2]
بسم للاه الرحمن الرحيم ربه السمواته الرزاق ) الذيه( مفضلك ) أيها االنسان( والمردف نعمهه عليكه ) بأنه( أعطاك االيمانه بسم للاه الرحمن الرحيم ربه السمواته (أسألكه( الرزق من فضلك وأن تمنحه عقله ) قبلهه( قوة)حالوة( االيمان
And in English:[2]
In the name of Allāh, the Raḥmān
have mercy upon us, O lord of the heavens
satisfy us by means of your favor
and grant us the essence of it at the end/gift of our days
Dating edit
The inscription is paleographically dated to the latest phase of South Arabian documentation, in the 6th century or early 7th century, but is considered pre-Islamic or paleo-Islamic given its lack of standardized Arabic phraseology known from early Islamic inscriptions, especially in the early Islamic graffiti.[2]
Interpretation and significance edit
The author may have been Jewish.[3] Significantly, this inscription contains a pre-Islamic Arabian reference to the Basmala, invoking the monotheistic deity Rahmanan.[4] However, while this inscription is apparently the first attested case where "In the name of Allāh/God" is combined with "the Merciful," the Qur'anic form of the Basmalah contains a phraseological expansion into a tripartite form to include to include the final adjective al-raḥīm.[2] It is possible that this expansion was made to facilitate the common Qur’anic rhyme ī/ū + m/n.[5]
The request, "have mercy upon us, O lord of the heavens" resembles the biblical phrase "Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us" in Psalm 123:3. Likewise, the request to "grant us the essence of it at the end of our days" may also be a reference to another Psalmic passage, where the reader asks "So teach us to number our days, that we may obtain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12). The particular phrasing of rabb al-samāwāt is also known from the Quran (rabbu s-samāwāti wa-l-ʾarḍi, Q 19:65). In its use of both the terms "Allāh," which was the proper name of the one monotheistic God in pre-Islamic North Arabia, and "Rahmān," the proper name of the one South Arabian monotheistic God, this inscription may reflect a syncretism that resulted from an alliance between multiple Arabian tribes to symbolize their political unity.[2]
Alongside the ʿAbd- Shams inscription and the Ri al-Zallalah inscription, the Jabal Dabub inscription implies that the use of the term rabb was widely used by Arabian monotheists.[6]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Al-Hajj, M.A.; Faqʿas, A.A. (2018). "Naqš Jabal Ḏabūb: Naqš Jadīd bi-Ḫaṭṭ al-Zabūr al-Yamānī fī l-istiʿānah bil-lāh wa-taqwī-hi lil-ʾīmān". Al-ʿIbar lil-Dirāsāt al-Tārīḫiyyah wal-ʾāṯāriyyah. 2: 12–43.
- ^ a b c d e f Al-Jallad, Ahmad (2022). "A pre-Islamic basmala: reflections on its first epigraphic attestation and its original significance". Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam. 52: 1–28.
- ^ Lindstedt, Ilkka (2023). Muhammad and his followers in context: the religious map of late antique Arabia. Islamic history and civilization. Leiden Boston: Brill. p. 315. ISBN 978-90-04-68712-7.
- ^ Grasso, Valentina A. (2023). Pre-islamic Arabia: societies, politics, cults and identities during late antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 192. ISBN 978-1-009-25296-6.
- ^ Sinai, Nicolai (2023). Key terms of the Qur'an: a critical dictionary. Princeton (N.J.): Princeton university press. pp. 131–132. ISBN 978-0-691-24131-9.
- ^ Al‐Jallad, Ahmad; Sidky, Hythem (2022). "A Paleo‐Arabic inscription on a route north of Ṭāʾif". Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy. 33 (1): 202–215. doi:10.1111/aae.12203. ISSN 0905-7196.