by Tom Holland
50 Procopius: The Secret History, 12.26.
51 Gospel of St. Matthew: 24.27.
52 Ibid.: 24.7. Some versions omit the Greek word loimoi—“pestilences”—but this seems to have been due to confusion because of its proximity to the very similar word for “famines”—lomoi. The similarity of Matthew 24.7 to Luke 21.11 makes it clear that “pestilences” were always on the agenda.
53 Evagrius Scholasticus: 4.29.
54 See Keys for the argument that the proximity of this event to the first coming of the plague to Egypt may not have been coincidental.
55 Agathias: 5.11.6.
56 Ezekiel: 38.16.
57 Josephus: 7.7.4.
58 Jacob of Serugh, “Metrical Discourse upon Alexander”: line 544, in The History of Alexander the Great. The attribution of the poem to Jacob, who died in 521, is no longer generally accepted. The likeliest date of the poem is the early seventh century. See Stoneman, p. 177.
59 Ibid.: line 322.
60 Life of Theodore of Sykeon: 119, in Three Byzantine Saints.
61 Hassan ibn Thabit, quoted by Conrad (1994), p. 18, who argues convincingly for its authenticity.
62 Ibid., p. 18.
63 Procopius: History of the Wars, 2.27.12.
64 Sozomen: 2.4.
65 Quoted by Conrad (1994), p. 18.
66 From the vision of a monk in Egypt. Quoted by Kelly, p. 232.
67 This phenomenon was not unique to Arabia. As early as the second century AD, pagans across the Roman Empire were interpreting the gods of their various pantheons as the angels of one supreme deity, and by late antiquity this process had become near universal. For a useful survey, see Crone (2010), pp. 185–8.
68 Corippus, p. 108.
69 Hugh Kennedy, in a valuable essay on the impact of the plague on Syria, demonstrates that “the expansion of settlement that had characterised much of rural and urban Syria in the fifth and early sixth centuries came to an abrupt end after the middle of the sixth century” (Little, p. 95).
70 For the impact of the plague on agriculture in central and southern Syria, see Conrad (1994), p. 54.
71 John of Ephesus: p. 81, quoting Isaiah: 24.3.
72 Moses Dasxuranci: 2.11.
73 Menander: 16.1.13.
74 Tabari: Vol. 5, p. 295.
75 The sources for Bahram Chobin’s reign are mostly late and heavily mythologised, yet it appears that his rebellion did indeed embody messianic expectations. See the ground-breaking essay by Czeglédy, and further analysis of the episode by Pourshariati (2008), pp. 397–414.
76 Theophylact Simocatta: 3.1.10.
77 Evagrius Scholasticus: 3.41.
78 Fredegarius: 4.65.
79 The Life of Saint Theodore of Sykeon: 134, in Three Byzantine Saints.
80 Theophylact Simocatta: 4.8.
81 For the devastation caused across Anatolia by the Persians, see Foss (1975).
82 For the Mihranid ancestry of Shahrbaraz, see Gyselen, p. 11.
83 Daniel: 7.23.
84 Ibid.: 7.26.
85 From a piyyut, or liturgical poem, convincingly dated by Hagith Sivan (2000) to the period of the Persian occupation of Jerusalem, and quoted by her on p. 295.
86 According to one—later—source (Sebeos, p. 72), the authorities in Jerusalem did negotiate a surrender, but this was followed by rioting, a revolt and then the siege. Eyewitness accounts, however, insist that the city refused to submit from the start.
87 From a second piyyut, quoted by Sivan (2000), p. 289.
88 Daniel: 7.13–14.
89 George of Pisidia: 2.106–7.
90 The History of King Vaxt’ang Gorgasali, p. 234. The biblical passage paraphrases Daniel: 8.5–7.
91 Chronicon Paschale: 725.
92 Sebeos, 72.
93 Theophanes, p. 324.
94 See Kaegi (2003), p. 174.
95 Nikephoros: 15.
96 Ibid.: 17.
97 Theophanes, p. 328.
98 Maximos the Confessor, quoted by Laga, p. 187
99 Ibid., p. 186.
6 More Questions Than Answers
1 Daniel: 7.7.
2 Sebeos: 142.
3 From an anonymous anti-Christian pamphlet. Quoted by Sizgorich (2009), pp. 1–2.
4 For the evolution of the word “Muslim” from its original Qur’anic usage, see Donner (2010), pp. 57–8 and 71–2.
5 Qur’an: 47.4.
6 Ibid.: 4.133.
7 This suggestion has its roots in traditions that are even older than the first Muslim biographies of the Prophet. A Christian chronicler, Jacob of Edessa, for instance, writing at the end of the seventh century, referred to him as going “for trade to the lands of Palestine, Arabia and Syrian Phoenicia” (quoted by Hoyland (1997), p. 165).
8 This has been most radically argued by Günter Lüling, who proposes that the Meccans were largely Christian, and that the original core of the Qur’an consisted of Christian hymns. For the suggestion that Jews had settled in Mecca, and powerfully influenced Muhammad, see Torrey.
9 Armstrong, p. 68. The thesis derives, via Montgomery Watt, from the Jesuit—and scabrously Islamophobic—scholar Henri Lammens.
10 Qur’an: 6.92. Muslim tradition takes for granted that the phrase refers to Mecca, but there is nothing in the Qur’an itself that would justify such a presumption. Adding to the general fog of mystery enveloping it is the fact that the phrase literally means the “Mother of Settlements.”
11 See Crone (1987a), p. 6, and for the implausibility of Mecca as a great trading hub, the entire book.
12 See Cosmas Indicopleustes.
13 Most striking of all is the absence of any mention of Mecca in Procopius, since in one passage of The History of the Wars (1.19), the historian provides a remarkably detailed survey of the western coast of Arabia. This is testimony to the range and depth of Roman knowledge of the peninsula, and to the seeming lack of any Meccan sphere of influence.
14 Qur’an: 48.24.
15 As Crone (1987a, p. 134) points out, the silence “is so striking that attempts have been made to remedy it.” For the forced nature of these attempts, see ibid., pp. 134–6.
16 The Byzantine-Arab Chronicle: 34. The dating of the Chronicle to 741 is based on its latest references, but Hoyland (1997, p. 426) suggests that it may well be truncated, and floats the possibility that it may actually date from 750.
17 See “The Letter of John of Sedreh,” the record of a discussion about holy texts held in 644 between the patriarch and an Arab emir, a full translation of which appears in Saadi. Although Saadi himself dates the document to the mid-seventh century, others place its composition in the early eighth century. If correct, the later dating makes the absence of any reference to the Qur’an even more striking. See Reinink (1993).
18 John of Damascus: 769B.
19 Qur’an: 24.2.
20 Quoted by Lester, p. 283.
21 A useful list of the earliest-known Qur’ans in existence—not all of which were found in Sana’a—is at http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Quran/Text/Mss/.
22 Admittedly, Wansbrough—one of the principal proponents of this thesis—was typically tentative when he suggested that the Qur’an reached its final form only towards the end of the eighth century. Scholars of the calibre of Gerald Hawting and Andrew Rippin still argue that it took decades, at least, for the holy text to reach anything like its final form.
23 Qur’an: 3.7.
24 Ibid.: 111.3. The punishment is a pun on Abu Lahab’s name, which means “Man of Flame” in Arabic.
25 Ibid.: 50.16.
26 For a detailed and intellectually thrilling exposition of this point, see The Idea of Idolatry and the Emergence of Islam by Gerald Hawting: a ground-breaking work that has resulted in a paradigm shift in the way that scholars understand the role of the Mushrikun in the Qur’an.
27 Qur’an: 43.19.
28 Ibid.: 10.66.
29 Ibid.: 7.74.
30 Ibid.: 30.1.
31 Ib
id.: 18.83.
32 For the dating and political context of the Syriac story of Alexander, see Reinink (1985 and 2002).
33 “A Christian Legend Concerning Alexander”: 146, in The History of Alexander the Great.
34 For a detailed analysis of the strikingly precise correspondences between the two stories, see Van Bladel, pp. 180–3. As he conclusively demonstrates, “they relate the same story in precisely the same order of events using many of the same particular details” (p. 182).
35 Qur’an: 82.1–5.
36 Ibid.: 30.56. It is telling, perhaps, that the phrase appears as the conclusion to the sura which opens with God’s prophecy that the Romans will emerge victorious in their war against the Persians.
37 Ibid.: 7.34.
38 Ibid.: 18.26.
39 Ibid.: 18.13.
40 The Qur’an refers to them as al-Majus, or Magians (22.17): the word applied by the Greeks to Persian priests since the time of Cyrus.
41 Qur’an: 4.136.
42 Ibid.: 3.3.
43 Justinian Code: 1.5.12 (summer 527).
44 Qur’an: 9.29. The precise meaning of this verse is notoriously problematic. For a sample of the various attempts to make sense of it, see Ibn Warraq (2002), pp. 319–86.
45 Qur’an: 5.82 and 9.34.
46 Ibid.: 5.47.
47 Ibid.: 5.116.
48 Ibid.: 4.157.
49 Ibid.: 85.4.
50 Irfan Shahid, the leading expert on the martyrs of Najran, is studiedly agnostic about the possibility: see (1971), p. 193.
51 See, for instance, Bishop and especially Philonenko.
52 Qur’an: 6.59.
53 Ibid.: 87.18–19.
54 Ibid.: 52.24. Not surprisingly, this verse has always featured prominently in the Muslim homoerotic tradition.
55 Ibid.: 44.54.
56 For more on this, and other parallels between the Greek and Qur’anic notions of paradise, see the brilliant online article by Saleh. As he points out (p. 54)—albeit possibly with tongue in cheek—the very word used in the Qur’an to signify the heavenly maidens—hur—has an echo of Hera’s name.
57 According to much later Muslim sources, Mani’s followers actually termed him “the Seal of the Prophets”—but this is most likely to have been a backward projection. Manichaeans did use the word “seal” to refer to Mani—but implying “confirmation” rather than “terminus.” See Stroumsa (1986b).
58 Quoted by Lieu, p. 86.
59 The words are supposedly those of Mani himself. Quoted by Boyce (1975b), p. 29. Manichaeism had reached North Africa within a few decades of Mani’s death, and China by the mid-sixth century.
60 See de Blois (1995).
61 From an imperial edict of either 297 or 302. Quoted by Dignas and Winter, p. 217
62 Synodicon Orientale, p. 255.
63 Al-Aswad bin Ya’fur, in Alan Jones (1996, Vol. 1), p. 148.
64 Qur’an: 53.19–21.
65 All but one of the mentions of idols in the Qur’an feature in the context of its retelling of biblical stories. The one allusion to contemporary “idolatrous beliefs” (22.30) seems to refer to blood spilled on sacrificial altars, rather than idols per se. See Crone (2010), pp. 170–2.
66 Qur’an: 53.27.
67 See, for instance, his letter to the Colossians: 2.18.
68 Canon 35 of the Council of Laodicea.
69 Crone (2010), p. 171.
70 Qur’an: 4.119, 6.138 and 6.121, respectively.
71 Ibid.: 4.121.
72 Qur’an: 6.99. Mecca, in the laconic phrase of Donner (1981), “is located in an area ill suited to agriculture” (p. 15).
73 Ibid.: 56.63–4.
74 The poem is exceedingly obscure. A commentary by a later Muslim commentator sought to explain its meaning: “Badr and Kutayfah are two places, the distance between which is vast. It is as though they have come together due to the speed of this camel.” Poem and commentary alike appear in Six Early Arab Poets, p. 95. My thanks to Salam Rassi for the translation.
75 Qur’an: 3.97.
76 Khuzistan Chronicle: 38 (translation by Salam Rassi). The authorship is dated to the 660s.
77 Qur’an: 3.96.
78 Qur’an: 3.97. The Arabic for “place” in this verse is maqam.
79 Ibid.: 2.125.
80 For the difficulty of squaring the Qur’anic accounts of the Maqam Ibrahim with the stone of the same name in Mecca, see Hawting (1982)—an essay to which this chapter is hugely indebted. Although Hawting himself does not allude to the sanctuary at Mamre, he cites an intriguing Muslim tradition in which Abraham is guided to the House at Bakka by three heavenly beings. As Hawting points out (p. 41), “this is reminiscent of Abraham’s three visitors in the Genesis story, one of whom could be identified with the Lord before whom Abraham ministered in the maqom”—which took place, of course, at Mamre.
81 Qur’an: 37.133–8.
82 See Chapter 4, n. 90, above.
83 Qur’an: 2.128.
84 The Quraysh, along with Mecca, Muhammad and someone called Majid, are mentioned in the final line of the papyrus fragment that also name-checks the Battle of Badr for the first time. Its editor dated this fragment to the mid-eighth century (Grohmann (1963), text 71). A group of people called the Qrshtn are mentioned in a south Arabian inscription dating from the AD 270s, and some scholars have interpreted this as a possible allusion to Qurayshi women. However, that theory is most implausible, because the Qrshtn seem to be ambassadors on a trade mission.
85 This is mentioned by a ninth-century historian named Ibn Qutayba, and is quoted by Shahid (1989), p. 356. It is indicative of an enduring ambiguity in the Muslim sources that Qusayy, although supposedly born in Mecca, is described as having been settled on the Palestinian frontier.
86 See Margoliouth, p. 313. It is telling that a theory floated by Muslim commentators suggests that “Quraysh” derived from the Arabic word taqarrush—“gathering”—another word that powerfully conveys a sense of foederati. The great scholar al-Azraqi wrote, “It is said that the Quraysh were so named on account of [their] gathering (tajammu) around Quşay … For in some dialects of the Arabs, tajammu (= meeting/gathering) is referred to as taqarrush” (p. 108; translation by Salam Rassi, to whom I am also indebted for the reference from Margoliouth).
87 See, for instance, Shahid (1995), p. 788, for the strong likelihood that Arethas could speak Syriac.
88 Qur’an: 10.61.
89 By and large, commentators on the Qur’an explained the summer and winter trips as being to Syria and Yemen, respectively. However, there was a raft of alternative explanations, too. See Crone (1987b), pp. 205–11.
90 Jacob of Edessa: 326.
91 Qur’an: 2.198.
92 Ibid.: 47.10.
93 Zukhruf, a word that is used to mean “ornamentation” in the Qur’an, has been plausibly derived from zograpsos—a Greek word meaning a “painter of shields.” See Shahid (1989), p. 507.
94 Qur’an: 1.6.
95 Ibid.: 6.25.
96 Ibid.: 8.31, 25.5 and 46.17, for instance.
97 Ibid.: 26.192–6. Muslim commentators invariably equated the phrase “the Trustworthy Spirit” with the angel Gabriel—but the Qur’an never actually states that the Prophet received his revelations from Gabriel. Indeed, to anyone familiar with the much later tradition that Muhammad was addressed by an angel over the course of his prophetic career, visions of light and supernatural voices are notable by their absence from the Qur’an. As Uri Rubin (1995) has argued, “the basic tale of Muhammad’s first revelations accords with biblical rather than quranic conventions, and the story was initially designed to meet apologetic needs” (p. 109).
98 Ibid.: 41.17.
99 Ibid.: 4.100.
100 Ibid.: 8.1–2.
101 Ibid.: 8.26.
102 Ibid.: 2.119.
103 Ibid.: 33.9.
104 For a tracing of its likely evolution, see Crone (1994).
105 Qur’an: 4.99.
