An Inscription Of Ḥakīm b. ʿAmr From Negev, 85 AH / 704 CE
Islamic Awareness
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First Composed: 17th April 2014
Last Modified: 2nd May 2014
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Assalamu ʿalaykum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatuhu:
(a)
(b)
Figure (a) trace of original inscription, and
(b) its contents. [
] encloses letters supplied to fill a lacuna.
Date
1st Dhul Ḥijjah, 85 AH / 14th January, 704 CE.[1]
Interestingly, there are nine other inscriptions that contain the name Ḥakīm b. ʿAmr which Nevo says can be dated to the same time frame.[2]
Size
Not known.
Script
Kufic script.
Contents
The translation of the inscription is:
- May God forgive Ḥakīm b. ʿAmr
- who is neither perished nor lost.
- Ameen! Lord of the Worlds, Lord
- of the mankind and everything. And
- it was written on the first day of Dhul Ḥijjah of year
- five and eighty [
- admit him into the Paradise.
- [
Comments
Using the corpus of Arabic inscriptions from the Negev desert, Yehuda Nevo concluded that John Wansbrough's (in his own words) "conjectural",[3] "provisional"[4] and "tentative and emphatically provisional"[5] theories are substantiated.[6] Nevo's views came under severe criticism from Donner,[7] Whelan[8] and Hoyland.[9]
Location
Central Negev Desert.
References
[1] Y. D. Nevo, Z. Cohen, D. Heftman, Ancient Arabic Inscriptions From The Negev, 1993, Volume I, IPS Limited: Negev, p. 36 for transcription and translation of MA 4265(19).
[2] ibid., p. 56; Y. D. Nevo, J. Koren, Crossroads To Islam: The Origins Of The Arab Religion And The Arab State, 2003, Prometheus Books: New York (USA), pp. 384-387. For the above inscription see pp. 384-385.
[3] J. Wansbrough, Qur'anic Studies: Sources & Methods Of Scriptural Interpretation, 1977, Oxford University Press, p. xi.
[4] ibid., p. ix.
[5] J. Wansbrough, The Sectarian Milieu: Content & Composition Of Islamic Salvation History, 1978, Oxford University Press, p. x.
[6] Y. D. Nevo, Z. Cohen, D. Heftman, Ancient Arabic Inscriptions From The Negev, 1993, op. cit., p. 9; Y. D. Nevo, "Towards A Prehistory Of Islam", Jerusalem Studies In Arabic And Islam, 1994, Volume 17, pp. 125-126.
[7] F. M. Donner, Narratives Of Islamic Origins: The Beginnings Of Islamic Historical Writing, 1998, Darwin Press, Inc.: Princeton (New Jersey), pp. 62-63.
[8] E. Whelan, "Forgotten Witness: Evidence for the Early Codification of the Qur'an", Journal Of The American Oriental Society, 1998, Volume 118, No. 1, p. 2.
[9] R. G. Hoyland, "The Content And Context Of Early Arabic Inscriptions", Jerusalem Studies In Arabic And Islam, 1997, Volume 21, p. 96.
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