قُتِلَ أَصحابُ الأُخدودِ

Perish the Men of the Ditch!

EXEGESIS

Ukhdūd (ditch) refers to a large ditch, trench, or deep crevasse in the ground, derived from the root khadd, meaning a furrow or groove. It describes both natural formations, such as ravines, and man-made excavations, including defensive trenches or irrigation channels. The cheek is called khadd in Arabic because it is the slightly hollowed area of the face, especially when one sucks in their cheeks or when the natural contours create a gentle dip.

This verse is widely regarded as the subject (jawāb) of the three preceding oaths, though some scholars suggest that the subject has been omitted,^{‎[1]Tibyan, 10/316. This latter opinion is preferred in Tabari, 30/86. It is unlikely that this verse is the subject of the oaths, because it is missing the lām that is part of jawāb al-qasam, although the exegetes have pointed out that the lām is not always necessary, such as in verse 91:9.} or alternatively that the subsequent verse, Indeed your Lord’s striking is severe (verse 12), serves as the subject.^{‎[2]Related in Tabari, 30/86. The opinion has been attributed to Ibn Masʿūd (Suyuti, 6/334-335). See also the discussion in Razi, 31/109. Verse 12 is however located too far from the oaths and it would be ineloquent to consider it their subject.} The most plausible interpretation, however, is that the response has been deliberately left unstated, as the context makes it evident; it pertains to divine reckoning, particularly for the wrongdoing of the oppressors.^{‎[3]See also Zamakhshari, 4/729-730.} The omission functions much like a father who, upon discovering his children misbehaving, exclaims: ‘I swear by God!’ without further elaboration. The unspoken warning is unmistakable to all present, especially the wrongdoers.

EXPOSITION

The surah began by God’s oath that He protects the revelation and its transmission and thereby protects His religion. Now we are brought down from the metaphysical to the physical, from the highest heaven to the lowest trench. The descent is also mirrored in the downfall of the persecutors; those who tormented believers in ditches were themselves ‘buried’ by history.

In this and the following verses, God recounts the fate of a people who persecuted believers and how He utterly destroyed them for their crimes. While God has sworn to give recompense in the Promised Day and that every action is witnessed, this punishment can also in some circumstances be hastened to this world. The message is meant both as a warning to the enemies of God, but also as a reminder to the early community of Muslims in Mecca, who were suffering severe persecution. God reminds them that previous nations not too long ago in their own region and from their own lands had suffered even worse persecution and the believers had patiently endured, and God had eventually dealt with their enemies.

The expression Perish is meant as a curse, like the verses Perish man! How ungrateful is he! (80:17) and Perish the liars (51:10).^{‎[4]Tibyan, 10/316; Tabari, 30/84.} It is also possible to understand qutila as a passive verb meaning ‘the Men of the Ditch were killed’, as a description of the believers that were slaughtered,^{‎[5]Tabrisi, 10/709; Tabari, 30/84. Seemingly in order to criticise this view, Qurṭubī relates a claim attributed to Ibn Abbas that qutila is always used as a curse in the Quran (Qurtubi, 19/286). However, that is certainly not the case in verses 3:144 and 17:33.} because the Men of the Ditch is grammatically ambiguous in whether it refers to the ones who were thrown in the ditch or who dug the ditch. Looking at the context though, verses 6-8 are quite clear that the group being spoken of is referring to the ones who dug the ditch and persecuted the believers.

If we really wish to understand qutila as a passive verb, then a more appropriate interpretation is to say that it refers to the wrongdoers as the Men of the Ditch, and God is declaring that they were killed. In fact, this meaning can be viewed complementary to the meaning of a curse. In other words, qutila is both a curse upon the wrongdoers and a declaration that the curse already took effect in this world and those who committed such atrocities against the believers were already (very partially) punished for that in this life by being killed. This fits best with the actual history of the Men of the Ditch as well as verses 17-18 which speak of how God similarly punished previous tyrant nations, as well as the main theme of the surah which emphasises God as the guardian of religion, who will take the wrongdoers to task for their actions.

This is the only surah in the Quran that uses the moniker the Men of the Ditch. There are many conflicting reports about who they were, which are discussed herewith, but the most authentic of these as attested to by historical evidence is that they were the same qawm tubbaʿ spoken of in 44:37 and 50:14. Tubbaʿ was a title for the ruler of the Himyarites, like Pharaoh was for the Egyptians. Sometimes a person does something that stands out in such a fashion that they will forever be associated with that action. In this case their crime was so heinous that no further clarification was required as their crime was well known, so they are simply introduced as the Men of the Ditch.

Muslim historians have recorded that the last Himyarite king, Dhū Nuwās, converted to Judaism and took upon himself the name Yūsuf and that most of his subjects adopted his new faith. Some Christians living in or around Najrān however refused to convert. Thus, they were persecuted for their faith, and then killed by being flung into a large trench or ditch filled with fire.^{‎[6]Tarikh, 1/541.} It is said that after this the Christians petitioned the Byzantine Emperor for help and he told them that Yemen was too far from his lands, but he wrote to the Abyssinian king asking him to help them. Abyssinia dispatched an army that defeated Dhū Nuwās and established a foothold in Yemen.^{‎[7]Tabari, 1/546; Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil fī al-Taʾrīkh (Beirut: Dār Bayrūt, 1965), 1/431-432; Nemuneh, 26/338.} It is said the defeated Dhū Nuwās preferred death to capture and rode his horse out to sea, where he drowned.^{‎[8]Thalabi, 10/170; Tarikh, 1/546; Dudley Wright, Some Famous Jewish Proselytes, p. 289 (accessed at: https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3671&context=ocj).} So it was that the persecution of the believers ended up being the cause of the downfall of Dhū Nuwās and the entire Himyarite kingdom.^{‎[9]See also Nemuneh, 26/338.}

This account is mostly reliable, although some of the details are debatable. There is some disagreement on whether or not the Himyarites were Jewish before Dhū Nuwās. Some of the classic Islamic sources such as Ibn Hishām and Ṭabarī mention him being a convert, as have some more modern academics.^{‎[10]See for example Dudley Wright, Some Famous Jewish Proselytes, p. 289 (accessed at: https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3671&context=ocj).} However, some other sources and more contemporary research has asserted the existence of Judaism amongst the Himyarite kings even prior to Dhū Nuwās.^{‎[11]Sigrid K Kjær, Monotheism, Kingship, and Religious Transformation in Late Antique Yemen: The Rise and Fall of Joseph Dhu Nuwas (Austin: The University of Texas, 2019), pp. 90-91 (accessed at: https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/90289923-d4b3-4558-8490-a215a7519438/content). Even some classical Islamic sources mention that it was the Tubbaʿ Asʿad Abū Karib who converted to Judaism upon returning from Iraq with two Rabbis, and that his nation followed him in that (see Reuven Firestone, ‘Tubbaʿ’ in EQ, 5/389).}

The fall of the Himyarite kingdom is a topic discussed in many historical works of research and there are ample sources outside of the traditional Islamic ones that deal with it as well. Dhū Nuwās rose to power in 571 CE to take leadership of the Himyarites, which had been the ruling dynasty in Yemen since 110 BCE and had been Jewish since around 390 CE. Even so, pockets of Christians lived alongside the larger Jewish communities.^{‎[12]Sigrid K Kjær, Monotheism, Kingship, and Religious Transformation in Late Antique Yemen: The Rise and Fall of Joseph Dhu Nuwas (Austin: The University of Texas, 2019), p. vii (accessed at: https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/90289923-d4b3-4558-8490-a215a7519438/content).} There were long-standing tensions between the Himyarites and the Byzantines, the latter vying for an opportunity to gain a foothold in Southern Arabia in order to be able to tax the lucrative spice trade of the Silk Road. Dhū Nuwās converted to Judaism and used the opportunity to make a move against Byzantine influence. He took the persecution of Jews by the Byzantine emperors as casus belli to execute some Byzantine merchants. Dhū Nuwās suffered an initial defeat in the ensuing warfare, but managed to recollect himself and launched an attack on Najrān, a Christian city in Yemen. After an easy victory, he offered the Christian citizens a choice: either embrace Judaism, or be put to death.^{‎[13]See Dudley Wright, Some Famous Jewish Proselytes, p. 289 (accessed at: https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3671&context=ocj).}

Following the news of the events, Emperor Justinian was petitioned for aid by the Christians and he sent word to the Abyssinian king and instructed him to intervene.^{‎[14]M R Al-Assouad, ‘Dhū Nuwās’ in EI, 2/224.} The Himyarites were eventually defeated by the Ethiopian Christians. Ḥimyar became their vassal state until it was lost to the Sassanians, who held it until the coming of Islam.^{‎[15]Sigrid K Kjær, Monotheism, Kingship, and Religious Transformation in Late Antique Yemen: The Rise and Fall of Joseph Dhu Nuwas (Austin: The University of Texas, 2019), p. vii (accessed at: https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/90289923-d4b3-4558-8490-a215a7519438/content).}

These events were famous in the history of the region and the term the Men of the Ditch should have been a familiar reference to the Meccans. This surah intends to draw parallels between the torture and cruel treatment of the small and nascent Meccan Muslim community under the authority of the Quraysh and the gruesome fate of the Men of the Ditch who persevered in their faith despite a bigger cruelty under Dhū Nuwās.^{‎[16]Related from Qaffāl in Razi, 31/110.} It also serves as an example for the Quraysh to take lessons from the previous tyrant oppressors and fear the punishment of God.

The city of Al-Okhdood situated near Najrān in modern Saudia Arabia is said to be the place where the events described in this surah took place.

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

There are a variety of reports purporting to explain who were the Men of the Ditch.

1. Qummī relates that the last Himyarite king Dhū Nuwās embraced Judaism and adopted the name Yūsuf with his people following suit, except for a Christian community in Najrān. The king sent for them and debated them and tried to force them to accept Judaism, but they refused, even when threatened with death. So the king ordered for a massive trench to be dug, filled with firewood, and set ablaze. Many Christians were cast into this fiery pit, while others were put to the sword or tortured to death. It is said that all in all 20,000 were slaughtered, with only one man managing to escape.^{‎[17]Qummi, 2/413-414.}

Note: Reports vary regarding the timeline and scale of these events. Ibn Abbas places them either ninety^{‎[18]Thalabi, 10/171.} or seventy^{‎[19]Baghawi, 5/234; Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil fī al-Taʾrīkh (Beirut: Dār Bayrūt, 1965), 1/429.} years before the birth of Prophet Muhammad (s). Similarly, the number of victims differs across accounts, with figures ranging from 12,000 to 70,000,^{‎[20]See for example Thalabi, 10/170-171; Zamakhshari, 4/731. Apparently the number twelve thousand is also mentioned in some Sabaic texts. See Sigrid K Kjær, Monotheism, Kingship, and Religious Transformation in Late Antique Yemen: The Rise and Fall of Joseph Dhu Nuwas (Austin: The University of Texas, 2019), p. 108 (accessed at: https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/90289923-d4b3-4558-8490-a215a7519438/content).} with some even citing as few as seventy-seven,^{‎[21]Thalabi, 10/170; see also the report from Muqātil in the next section.} or ten.^{‎[22]See the report of Maytham al-Tammār.}

2. In a lengthy report narrated by Ṣuhayb ibn Sinān (heavily summarised here), the Prophet recounted the story of a young man who, through divine providence, became the student of a monk. He learned to heal the sick, though he always emphasised: ‘It is not I who cures, but God.’ His reputation eventually reached the authorities and then the king. The king attempted to execute him multiple times, but each effort was miraculously thwarted. Finally, the young man instructed the king: ‘If you truly wish to kill me, shoot an arrow in God’s name at my forehead.’ The king complied, and upon witnessing this, many people embraced the young man’s faith. Enraged, the king ordered them to recant. When they refused, he had a fiery ditch dug and cast them into it. Among them was a mother holding her infant, who – in a miraculous moment – urged her to remain steadfast before she leapt into the flames.^{‎[23]Tabrisi, 10/705-706; Tabari, 60/85-86; Thalabi, 10/168-169. Thaʿlabī reports the same story again later (Thalabi, 10/172-173) with some variation from ‘Abū Mūsā’ which seems to refer to Muhammad ibn al-Muthannā ibn Dīnār al-Baṣrī, who is a more probable source for this story than the Prophet (s). Ibn al-Athīr reports this from Ibn Abbas, without tracing it back to the Prophet; see Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil fī al-Taʾrīkh (Beirut: Dār Bayrūt, 1965), 1/429-431.} In another report from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, it is claimed that during the caliphate of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb they found the remains of this young man, and every time they tried to move his hand from his forehead it returned to where it was, and ʿUmar instructed them to leave his body be.^{‎[24]Tabrisi, 10/706. With some variation, Tarikh, 1/545-546; Suyuti, 6/333-334; Tirmidhi, 5/107-110, h. 3398; Tabarani, 8/41-43.}
3. From Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: ‘When the people of Isfandhān^{‎[25]Probably a distorted form of Iṣfahān.} were defeated, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said: “They are neither Jews nor Christians, nor do they have a scripture. They were Magians.” But Ali ibn Abī Ṭālib (a) said: “Indeed, they did have a scripture, but it was taken away.^{‎[26]Other versions instead say that wine was permitted to them.} This was because one of their kings became drunk and committed incest with his daughter,” or perhaps he said: “his sister.^{‎[27]It seems the reporter cannot recall correctly which.} When he regained his senses, he asked her: ‘How can I escape from what I have done?’ She replied: ‘Gather the people of your kingdom and tell them that you believe marrying daughters is permissible, and command them to legalise it.’ So he gathered them and informed them, but they refused to follow him. So, he dug a trench in the ground, lit fires in it, and presented them with a choice: whoever refused was thrown into the fire, and whoever accepted was spared.”’^{‎[28]Tabrisi, 10/706; with slight variation and a different chain of narration reaching Imam Ali (a), Tabari, 30/84 and Thalabi, 10/171; Zamakhshari, 4/730-731; Suyuti, 6/333.}
4. From Jābir ibn Yazīd, that Imam al-Bāqir (a) said: ‘Ali (a) sent for the bishop of Najrān to ask him about the Men of the Ditch. The bishop gave an account, but Ali (a) said: “It is not as you mentioned, but I will tell you about them. God sent a man from Abyssinia as a prophet to the Abyssinians, but they denied him. He fought them, but they killed his followers, captured him, and took his remaining companions as prisoners. They then built a trench, filled it with fire, and gathered the people. They declared: ‘Whoever follows our religion and way should step aside, but whoever follows the religion of these people must throw themselves into the fire with them.’ His followers began hurling themselves into the fire. A woman came forward, carrying a one-month-old infant. When she approached the fire, she hesitated out of fear and compassion for her child. The infant then spoke, saying: ‘Do not fear – throw yourself and me into the fire, for this, by God, is a small price for the sake of God.’ She then cast herself and her child into the fire. He was among those who spoke in infancy.”’^{‎[29]Tabrisi, 10/706-707.}
5. Another report through Abū Ṭufayl, from Imam Ali (a), identifies them as followers of an Abyssinian prophet, with the rest of the hadith following the general themes of the aforementioned reports.^{‎[30]Thalabi, 10/172. Suyūṭī gives much shorter reports from Imam Ali (a) simply identifying them as Abyssinians (Suyuti, 6/332).}
6. In a very long report from the Prophet, they are identified as the followers of the Prophet Daniel (a) who were persecuted by the successor of Nebuchadnezzar, called Mahrawayh.^{‎[31]Kamal, p. 226; Nur, 5/543-544; Bihar, 14/372.}

Note: While Rāzī cites only three of these reports, he contends that their apparent contradictions do not indicate fabrication but rather reflect three distinct historical events – in Yemen, Iraq, and the Levant – with the Quran alluding collectively to all three.^{‎[32]Razi, 31/110; also Mizan, 20/257. Ālūsī entertains a similar possibility, although he prefers the report from Ṣuhayb (Alusi, 15/299).} However, given the sheer volume of overlapping accounts and their recurrent motifs (such as the mother and child), Rāzī’s interpretation proves difficult to sustain. Moreover, the precise wording of these verses (and those that follow) strongly implies a specific historical incident rather than a generalised theme. Thus, the most credible position remains that these verses refer to the atrocities of the last Himyarite king, a figure well known to Meccan society, making the reference both recognisable and potent as a warning. Other accounts may simply be the fabrication of storytellers, or separate historical incidents that coincidentally mirrored the events described in these verses.

7. From Maytham al-Tammār, that he heard Imam Ali (a) saying regarding the Men of the Ditch: ‘They were ten, and there will be ten like them who will be killed in this market.’^{‎[33]Tabrisi, 10/707.}

Note: ‘This market’ refers to the market of Kufa which witnessed the events that led to the martyrdom of Maytham and other Shias in Kufa.

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Muqātil ibn Sulaymān identifies the Men of the Ditch as three groups: one in Najrān, another in the Levant, and another in Persia. He claims that the ones in the Levant lived during the time of ‘Antiochus the Roman’,^{‎[34]Should be a reference to Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleucid ruler most famous for his role in persecution of the Jews. He is spoken of in the non-canonical Book of the Maccabees, as a tyrant who desecrated the Jewish temples and tried to force the people of Judea to adopt the worship of the Greek pantheon. His oppression led to the revolt of the Maccabees, which the Jews celebrate at Hannukah.} the ones in Persia during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, and the ones in Arabia during the rule of Yūsuf ibn Dhū Nuwās. However, God did not reveal Quranic verses concerning the incidents in Persia and Syria, but only about the one in Najrān, and their story was that two faithful men who recited the Gospel – one in Tihāmah and the other in Najrān, Yemen – were among the believers. One of them hired himself out for labour and would recite the Gospel while working. The employer’s daughter noticed a radiant light emanating from his recitation and informed her father. He observed the man and questioned him until he revealed his faith in Christianity and islām (submission to God). Eventually, the employer and eighty-seven other men and women followed him in belief. This occurred after Prophet Jesus (a) had been raised to heaven. When Yūsuf ibn Dhū Nuwās ibn Sharāḥīl ibn Tubbaʿ al-Ḥimyarī heard of this, he ordered a ditch to be dug and set ablaze. He gave them a choice: renounce their faith or be thrown into the fire. Those who refused were cast in, while those who recanted were spared.^{‎[35]Tabrisi, 10/707; Thalabi, 10/170.}

A report from Ibn Abbas suggests that: ‘They were a group from amongst the Children of Israel who dug a trench in the ground and then kindled a fire in it. They then brought men and women to stand by the trench and forced them to choose. It is claimed that they were Daniel and his companions.’^{‎[36]Tabari, 30/85.}

Rabīʿ ibn Anas has opined: ‘The Men of the Ditch were a group of believers who had withdrawn from society during a period of [religious] stagnation. A tyrant who worshipped idols sent for them and offered them the choice of adopting his religion or facing punishment. When they refused, he dug a trench, lit it with fire, and gave them the choice between accepting his faith or being thrown into the trench. They chose to be thrown into the fire rather than renounce their faith. However, God saved the believers who were cast into the fire by taking their souls before the flames could harm them. The fire then spread out and burned the disbelievers standing at the edge of the trench. This is the meaning of God’s words: for them there is the punishment of hell in the hereafter, and for them there is the punishment of burning [verse 10] in this world.’^{‎[37]Tabari, 30/86.}

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

The closest parallel to the story of the Men of the Ditch in the Bible is in Daniel 3, where we are told the story of how the king Nebuchadnezzar made a golden idol and forced everyone to worship it. The Jews refused to do so and the king ordered a burning hot furnace to be prepared and their leaders to be thrown in. The three Jewish leaders miraculously survived. The story is of course even more reminiscent of the story of Abraham (a). That is not however mentioned in the Old Testament, but is told in the Midrash in Bereshit Rabbah^{‎[38]Bereshit Rabbah, 38:13 (accessed at: https://www.sefaria.org/Bereshit_Rabbah.38.13?lang=bi).} and the Book of Jasher.^{‎[39]Chapter 12 (accessed at: https://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/apo/jasher/12.htm).}

[1] Tibyan, 10/316. This latter opinion is preferred in Tabari, 30/86. It is unlikely that this verse is the subject of the oaths, because it is missing the lām that is part of jawāb al-qasam, although the exegetes have pointed out that the lām is not always necessary, such as in verse 91:9.
[2] Related in Tabari, 30/86. The opinion has been attributed to Ibn Masʿūd (Suyuti, 6/334-335). See also the discussion in Razi, 31/109. Verse 12 is however located too far from the oaths and it would be ineloquent to consider it their subject.
[3] See also Zamakhshari, 4/729-730.
[4] Tibyan, 10/316; Tabari, 30/84.
[5] Tabrisi, 10/709; Tabari, 30/84. Seemingly in order to criticise this view, Qurṭubī relates a claim attributed to Ibn Abbas that qutila is always used as a curse in the Quran (Qurtubi, 19/286). However, that is certainly not the case in verses 3:144 and 17:33.
[6] Tarikh, 1/541.
[7] Tabari, 1/546; Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil fī al-Taʾrīkh (Beirut: Dār Bayrūt, 1965), 1/431-432; Nemuneh, 26/338.
[8] Thalabi, 10/170; Tarikh, 1/546; Dudley Wright, Some Famous Jewish Proselytes, p. 289 (accessed at: https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3671&context=ocj).
[9] See also Nemuneh, 26/338.
[10] See for example Dudley Wright, Some Famous Jewish Proselytes, p. 289 (accessed at: https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3671&context=ocj).
[11] Sigrid K Kjær, Monotheism, Kingship, and Religious Transformation in Late Antique Yemen: The Rise and Fall of Joseph Dhu Nuwas (Austin: The University of Texas, 2019), pp. 90-91 (accessed at: https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/90289923-d4b3-4558-8490-a215a7519438/content). Even some classical Islamic sources mention that it was the Tubbaʿ Asʿad Abū Karib who converted to Judaism upon returning from Iraq with two Rabbis, and that his nation followed him in that (see Reuven Firestone, ‘Tubbaʿ’ in EQ, 5/389).
[12] Sigrid K Kjær, Monotheism, Kingship, and Religious Transformation in Late Antique Yemen: The Rise and Fall of Joseph Dhu Nuwas (Austin: The University of Texas, 2019), p. vii (accessed at: https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/90289923-d4b3-4558-8490-a215a7519438/content).
[13] See Dudley Wright, Some Famous Jewish Proselytes, p. 289 (accessed at: https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3671&context=ocj).
[14] M R Al-Assouad, ‘Dhū Nuwās’ in EI, 2/224.
[15] Sigrid K Kjær, Monotheism, Kingship, and Religious Transformation in Late Antique Yemen: The Rise and Fall of Joseph Dhu Nuwas (Austin: The University of Texas, 2019), p. vii (accessed at: https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/90289923-d4b3-4558-8490-a215a7519438/content).
[16] Related from Qaffāl in Razi, 31/110.
[17] Qummi, 2/413-414.
[18] Thalabi, 10/171.
[19] Baghawi, 5/234; Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil fī al-Taʾrīkh (Beirut: Dār Bayrūt, 1965), 1/429.
[20] See for example Thalabi, 10/170-171; Zamakhshari, 4/731. Apparently the number twelve thousand is also mentioned in some Sabaic texts. See Sigrid K Kjær, Monotheism, Kingship, and Religious Transformation in Late Antique Yemen: The Rise and Fall of Joseph Dhu Nuwas (Austin: The University of Texas, 2019), p. 108 (accessed at: https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/90289923-d4b3-4558-8490-a215a7519438/content).
[21] Thalabi, 10/170; see also the report from Muqātil in the next section.
[22] See the report of Maytham al-Tammār.
[23] Tabrisi, 10/705-706; Tabari, 60/85-86; Thalabi, 10/168-169. Thaʿlabī reports the same story again later (Thalabi, 10/172-173) with some variation from ‘Abū Mūsā’ which seems to refer to Muhammad ibn al-Muthannā ibn Dīnār al-Baṣrī, who is a more probable source for this story than the Prophet (s). Ibn al-Athīr reports this from Ibn Abbas, without tracing it back to the Prophet; see Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil fī al-Taʾrīkh (Beirut: Dār Bayrūt, 1965), 1/429-431.
[24] Tabrisi, 10/706. With some variation, Tarikh, 1/545-546; Suyuti, 6/333-334; Tirmidhi, 5/107-110, h. 3398; Tabarani, 8/41-43.
[25] Probably a distorted form of Iṣfahān.
[26] Other versions instead say that wine was permitted to them.
[27] It seems the reporter cannot recall correctly which.
[28] Tabrisi, 10/706; with slight variation and a different chain of narration reaching Imam Ali (a), Tabari, 30/84 and Thalabi, 10/171; Zamakhshari, 4/730-731; Suyuti, 6/333.
[29] Tabrisi, 10/706-707.
[30] Thalabi, 10/172. Suyūṭī gives much shorter reports from Imam Ali (a) simply identifying them as Abyssinians (Suyuti, 6/332).
[31] Kamal, p. 226; Nur, 5/543-544; Bihar, 14/372.
[32] Razi, 31/110; also Mizan, 20/257. Ālūsī entertains a similar possibility, although he prefers the report from Ṣuhayb (Alusi, 15/299).
[33] Tabrisi, 10/707.
[34] Should be a reference to Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleucid ruler most famous for his role in persecution of the Jews. He is spoken of in the non-canonical Book of the Maccabees, as a tyrant who desecrated the Jewish temples and tried to force the people of Judea to adopt the worship of the Greek pantheon. His oppression led to the revolt of the Maccabees, which the Jews celebrate at Hannukah.
[35] Tabrisi, 10/707; Thalabi, 10/170.
[36] Tabari, 30/85.
[37] Tabari, 30/86.
[38] Bereshit Rabbah, 38:13 (accessed at: https://www.sefaria.org/Bereshit_Rabbah.38.13?lang=bi).
[39] Chapter 12 (accessed at: https://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/apo/jasher/12.htm).