Muhammad, the Qur'an and Islam
27:17f 27:17f 27:17f 27:17f An ant spoke and Solomon understands. An ant spoke and Solomon understands. An ant spoke and Solomon understands. An ant spoke and Solomon understands.Geiger, WMJA, p. 186, recognizes the relationship to Prov. 6:6f and Hullin
57b; on which Speyer, Erzählungen, pp. 401 f, elaborates. Cf. Prov. 30:25;
Ginzberg, Legends, vol. 6, p. 163.
27:20f 27:20f 27:20f 27:20f Solomon and the Queen of Sheba exchange Solomon and the Queen of Sheba exchange Solomon and the Queen of Sheba exchange Solomon and the Queen of Sheba exchange
messages by a bird, with which Solomon messages by a bird, with which Solomon messages by a bird, with which Solomon messages by a bird, with which Solomon
speaks. The Queen of Sheba surrenders to speaks. The Queen of Sheba surrenders to speaks. The Queen of Sheba surrenders to speaks. The Queen of Sheba surrenders to
God after seeing Solomon's palace, which is God after seeing Solomon's palace, which is God after seeing Solomon's palace, which is God after seeing Solomon's palace, which is
panelled with glass; she thinks the floors are panelled with glass; she thinks the floors are panelled with glass; she thinks the floors are panelled with glass; she thinks the floors are
water and exposes her legs. water and exposes her legs. water and exposes her legs. water and exposes her legs.Geiger, WMJA, pp. 183 f, shows that the Qur'anic version of this narration
parallels that of the second Targum to Esther (1:3). Cf. Speyer, Erzählungen,
pp. 390 f; Ginzberg, Legends, vol. 4, pp. 142 f. A 14th century source
shows that the Abyssinian kings at Axum claimed to have been the
descendants of one of the sons of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba
(Encyclopedia of the Early Church, s.v. "Ethiopia," p. 291; Ency. Jud., s.v.
"Ethiopia," p. 943); however, it is not clear as to whether this tradition
predates the Qur'an.
18:8f 18:8f 18:8f 18:8f The Seven Sleepers. The Seven Sleepers. The Seven Sleepers. The Seven Sleepers.This narration is based on the Christian legend of the seven sleepers, in
which seven Christians, who were fleeing the persecution of the Emperor
Decius, escaped to a cave near Ephesus, where they slept for about 196
years; Rudolph, Koran, p. 271, n. 2; cf. also Ibid., p. 273, n. 11; SEI, 45.
The legend is thought to have come to Muhammad through Syrian sources;
in which al-Raqim (in southern Palestine) is used instead of Ephesus;
Horovitz, Untersuchungen, p. 95. The time discrepancy is also thought by
Horovitz (p. 20, n. 2) to have been an innovation of Muhammad, who
gives 309 years instead of 196 (or 377). Andrae, Ursprung, pp. 158 f,
shows that Nestorian theologian Babai the Great (c. 580 AD) used the
legend of the seven sleepers to explain that church's doctrine of
"death-sleep."