Arabic Graffito From Wādī Al-Furaysh, 100 AH / 718-719 CE

Islamic Awareness

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First Composed: 27th July 2015

Last Modified: 26th April 2020

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Assalamu ʿalaykum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatuhu:

(a)

(b)

Figure: (a) Photo of the inscription. (b) Its transcription.

Date

100 AH / 718-719 CE.

Register Number

-

Script

Kufic.

Contents

The translation of the inscription is:

  1. O God! Pardon Rabāḥ b.
  2. Ḥafṣ b. ʿĀṣim b. ʿUmar al-
  3. Fārūq. He make him truthful in this life and the
  4. next and the day he dies and the day
  5. he is resurrected alive; and grant him health
  6. in his religion and his body
  7. and in his affair and forgive
  8. for him his sins that which past of it and
  9. that which will come. Amen! Lord of
  10. the Worlds. God have mercy on
  11. who says thus. And written
  12. in the year
  13. hundred.

Comments

Kawatoko gives inscription the correct Arabic caption whilst the English one dates it to 108 AH(!).[1] Al-Thenyian gives a complete description and analysis of this inscription.[2] Another inscription from Rabāḥ comes from the year 96 AH. More importantly, however, is the mention of ‘al-Fārūq’ after the name ʿUmar (b. al-Khaṭṭāb). This is the earliest instance where ‘al-Fārūq’ is mentioned. Interestingly, ʿĀṣim b. ʿUmar b. Ḥafṣ (b. ʿĀṣim b. ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb), nephew of Rabāḥ also left an inscription in the year 100 AH. Furthermore, an undated inscription most like from 1st century hijra also mentions Ḥafṣ b. ʿĀṣim b. ʿUmar al-Fārūq.

Inscription from @mohammed93athar mentions Ḥafṣ b. Āṣim b. ʿUmar al-Fārūq (bin Al-Khaṭṭāb) and confirms lineage. pic.twitter.com/hrh4UXk94i

— Islamic Awareness (@IslamicAware) December 18, 2015

Location

Wādī al-Furaysh, Saudi Arabia.

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References

[1] M. Kawatoko, "Archaeological Survey Of Najran And Madinah 2002", Aṭlāl: Journal Of Saudi Arabian Archaeology, 2005, Volume 18, p. 51, Plate 8.11(C).

[2] Muḥammad b.ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Rāshad al-Thenyian, Nuqūsh Al-Qarn Al-Hijrī Al-Awwal Al-Muʾrakhat Fī Al-Mamlakah Al-ʿArabiyyah Al-Saudia, 2015, Riyaḍ, pp. 101-102, Plate 16(a).

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