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:
- O God! Pardon Rabāḥ b.
- Ḥafṣ b. ʿĀṣim b. ʿUmar al-
- Fārūq. He make him truthful in this life and the
- next and the day he dies and the day
- he is resurrected alive; and grant him health
- in his religion and his body
- and in his affair and forgive
- for him his sins that which past of it and
- that which will come. Amen! Lord of
- the Worlds. God have mercy on
- who says thus. And written
- in the year
- 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.
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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