c. 870 CE
translated by Jason Colavito
2026
|
NOTE |
Abu'l Qāsim ʿAbd ar-Raḥman bin ʿAbdullah bin ʿAbd al-Ḥakam (801-871 CE) was an Egyptian historian and jurist whose major work, the Futūḥ mișr, known in English as The Conquest of Egypt, North Africa and al-Andalus, which is the oldest surviving Arabic-language historical work to survive in full. Historians have primarily focused on the book’s account of the Muslim conquests, for which it is an invaluable source. Less attention has been given to its early chapters recounting the legendary history of Egypt before the coming of Islam. The text has never before been translated into English, but an abridged Latin translation of a somewhat corrupt manuscript, was published in 1856.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam’s account of Egyptian history is important because his account differs markedly from the “Hermetic” history of Egypt presented in the near-contemporary Thousands of Abu Ma‘shar (c. 850 CE) and fully developed in the later Akhbār al-zamān (c. 1000 CE) and works derived from it. Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam is unaware of an antediluvian history and begins his account with the descendants of Noah and proceeds through the Abrahamic history of Egypt to the legends of Dalūka and her successors down to Nebuchadnezzar and the coming of the Persians and the Romans. The account of given in Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam forms the basis for the narrative of ancient Egyptian history attributed to Ibrāhīm ibn Waṣīf Shāh (Alguazif) in Alfonso X’s General Estoria (c. 1270 CE). However, it is not original to him but appears to be an abstract made from the now-lost work of Uthmān ibn Ṣāliḥ, an earlier ninth-century traditionalist (c. 834 CE) who could recite long stories about Egypt from memory. To create this translation, I have collated three layers of text. These are a machine-aided translation of the 1922 Arabic critical edition of Charles C. Torrey, the French translation of the extensive quotations from al-Maqrizi, and the incomplete 1856 Latin edition. The last of these, despite missing some sections, nevertheless contains much material, both additional and variant, that Torrey excised from the Arabic, believing it to be a later interpolation. I have placed some of this material in brackets, though I did not translate every variation. |
THE CONQUEST OF EGYPT
Part I
IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST MERCIFUL
The earth was created in five forms, like the shape of birds, equipped with a head, chest, both wings and a tail; as for the head, Mecca, Medina, Arabia the Blessed; as for the chest and right wing: Iraq bears their likeness; behind Iraq lives a nation that hears Waq, and after Waq is a nation called Waqwaq, and after these nations are groups of people surrounded, which only Allah, to whom be glory and power, has knowledge; As for the left wing, they present its likeness to the Sindhis, after the Sindhis dwell the Hindis, after the Hindus is the scattered nation which hears Nasik, and after the Nasik is found a race which is called Minsik and after these nations multitudes of men wander, which no one knows except Allah to whom be glory and power. Finally, the tail extends from Zath al Hamam to the west. Like a bird's tail, alas! how wretched it is!
These, in Which the Messenger of God Warned about the Copts
The messenger of God, to whom God is merciful and well prayed, is reported to have said thus: “When you have brought Egypt under your power, I would like you to exercise your rule over the Copts gently, for kinship and affinity are with them.” Ibn Sihab said to them, Ishmael, to whom be peace! Recall the lineage of Abraham’s son, the mother of the iron. Another reports that the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) spoke: “Of course you will conquer a certain land in which mention is made of Qirath, which, however, having conquered, I would like you to treat its inhabitants more gently, for kinship and affinity exist between these people and you.” They also say that the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) said this: “Surely Allah, to whom is the glory and power, will conquer Egypt for you, after my death; But then I would like you to exercise gentle authority over his Copts, for you are connected with them by a bond of kinship and affinity.” […]
The Story of Noah and His Descendants
Uthmān ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated to us, saying: Ibn Lahīʿa narrated to us from ʿIyāsh ibn ʿAbbās al‑Qutbānī, from Ḥadath ibn ʿAbd Allāh al‑Ṣankānī, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās (may God be pleased with him) that: The Prophet Nūḥ (Noah), peace be upon him, had five sons: Sām (Shem), Ḥām (Ham), Yāfith (Japheth), and two others whose names are given as Ḥaṭūn and Yām.
When the children of Nūḥ grew and multiplied, Nūḥ prayed to God Most High and asked Him to grant acceptance to his children and their descendants. God promised him that. So Nūḥ called out to his sons while they were sleeping after drinking wine. He called Sām, and Sām answered quickly. Sām then called his eldest son Arfakhshadh (Arphaxad), and brought him to Nūḥ. Nūḥ placed his hand on Sām and on Arfakhshadh, and said: “O Lord, bless Sām with the best of blessings.” Then he called Ḥām, but Ḥām turned away to the right and left, and neither he nor any of his sons came to him. So God revealed to Nūḥ: “I will make the children of Ḥām lowly and humbled.” Then Nūḥ called Yāfith, and Yāfith came running. Nūḥ said: “My son, you have answered me. God loves that you obey your father. So bless him, O Lord, and bless his descendants. Give them the blessed land, I mean the land whose river is the most excellent of all the worlds, attribute the best fortune to them, subject the land to the rule of this and his offspring. Make the earth spacious for them and establish them upon it.” Afterwards he called his son Yāfith, and neither he nor any of his sons answered; then he implored to God (to whom glory and power!) the destruction of these, that they should be made the most abject of all. Afterwards Ḥaṭūn called his son, who answered. Then God approached him with prayers to attribute fortune to him; and yet he had no son or offspring.
Sām lived blessed until he died. His son Arfakhshadh lived blessed until he died. The kingdom which Allah loves, and also the prophecy and fortune were continuous with Arfakhshadh son on Sām. As for Kanʿān son of Ḥām, who clung to the mountain during the Flood, Nūḥ cursed him, and he became black‑skinned, and the heat of the sun was upon him. He is the father of the Sudan and all the black peoples. And Kūsh son of Ḥām is the father of the people of India and China. And Fūṭ son of Ḥām is the father of the Berbers. And the fourth and youngest son, Baysar, is the father of all the Copts.
ʿAbd al‑Malik ibn Muslimah narrated to us, saying: Sulaymān ibn Bilāl narrated to us… from Saʿīd ibn al‑Musayyib, who said: “The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Sām, Ḥām, and Yāfith — each of the three had a portion. Sām is the father of the Arabs, the Persians, and the Romans. Yāfith is the father of the Slavs, the Turks, and Gog and Magog. Ḥām is the father of the Sudan, the Berbers, and the Copts.”
ʿUthmān returned to the earlier narration and said: The sons of Miṣr (Egypt) son of Ḥām were four: Miṣr ibn Baysar — the eldest, whom Nūḥ blessed; Rif ibn Baysar; Ashmūn ibn Baysar; and Athrīb ibn Baysar. Others said: Miṣr had four sons: Miṣr, Ashmūn, Athrīb, and Ṣā.
ʿUthmān and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Khālid said: The first to settle in Egypt after the drowning of the people of Nūḥ was Miṣr son of Ḥām. [Variant: Baysar, son of Ham.] He settled in Memphis (Manf), the first city built after the Flood. He and his children were thirty people. They grew and married, and for this reason it was called Māfa, which in the Coptic tongue means “thirty.”
[Baysar ibn Ham was now old and decrepit.] Miṣr was the eldest of his brothers, and he brought his father and all his brothers into Egypt. The land was named Miṣr after him. He was given the land between the two deserts behind al‑ʿArīsh. Baysar died and was buried in a place called Mawniʿ [variant: of his father Hermes]. Some said: it was the first grave dug in the land of Egypt.
[Baysar ibn Ḥām died, and Misr his son had succeeded him, each of whose brothers possessed his own part of the land (except that part of the Egyptian lands which he had allotted to himself and his sons); but when Misr’s sons and their sons increased, Misr divided Egypt into parts for each of his sons, which he would allot to himself and his sons; and he also divided this Nile to them. He allotted to his son Qift the part which he hears Qifṭ, which he inhabited, which he afterwards called Qift. He divided the places above Qifṭ as far as Aswan, and the places below Qifṭ as far as Ashmūn, both western and eastern, and he assigned to Ashmūn the parts from Ashmun and the places below it, both western and eastern, as far as Memphis; Ashmun inhabited Ashmun, from which place it took its name; He attributes to Athrīb the places between Memphis and Ṣā which were uncultivated by Athrīb and took their name from them. Finally, he attributes to Ṣā the places between Ṣā and the sea, which were inhabited by Ṣā and took their name from them. Therefore, all of Egypt is divided into four parts: namely, Upper and Lower Egypt, dissected into two parts.]
Then Miṣr died, and his son Qifṭ succeeded him. After Qifṭ died, his brother Ashmūn succeeded him. After Ashmūn died, his brother Athrīb succeeded him. After Athrīb died, his brother Ṣā succeeded him. Ṣā died and his son Māliqif succeeded him. Māliqif died and his son Kharbata succeeded him. Kharbata died and his son Kalkān succeeded him, ruling for one hundred years. He died without children, so his brother Māliyā succeeded him. Māliyā died and his son Ṭūṭīs succeeded him. Ṭūṭīs was the one who gave Hājar as a gift to Sarah, the wife of Abraham, the Friend of the Merciful.
When the children of Nūḥ grew and multiplied, Nūḥ prayed to God Most High and asked Him to grant acceptance to his children and their descendants. God promised him that. So Nūḥ called out to his sons while they were sleeping after drinking wine. He called Sām, and Sām answered quickly. Sām then called his eldest son Arfakhshadh (Arphaxad), and brought him to Nūḥ. Nūḥ placed his hand on Sām and on Arfakhshadh, and said: “O Lord, bless Sām with the best of blessings.” Then he called Ḥām, but Ḥām turned away to the right and left, and neither he nor any of his sons came to him. So God revealed to Nūḥ: “I will make the children of Ḥām lowly and humbled.” Then Nūḥ called Yāfith, and Yāfith came running. Nūḥ said: “My son, you have answered me. God loves that you obey your father. So bless him, O Lord, and bless his descendants. Give them the blessed land, I mean the land whose river is the most excellent of all the worlds, attribute the best fortune to them, subject the land to the rule of this and his offspring. Make the earth spacious for them and establish them upon it.” Afterwards he called his son Yāfith, and neither he nor any of his sons answered; then he implored to God (to whom glory and power!) the destruction of these, that they should be made the most abject of all. Afterwards Ḥaṭūn called his son, who answered. Then God approached him with prayers to attribute fortune to him; and yet he had no son or offspring.
Sām lived blessed until he died. His son Arfakhshadh lived blessed until he died. The kingdom which Allah loves, and also the prophecy and fortune were continuous with Arfakhshadh son on Sām. As for Kanʿān son of Ḥām, who clung to the mountain during the Flood, Nūḥ cursed him, and he became black‑skinned, and the heat of the sun was upon him. He is the father of the Sudan and all the black peoples. And Kūsh son of Ḥām is the father of the people of India and China. And Fūṭ son of Ḥām is the father of the Berbers. And the fourth and youngest son, Baysar, is the father of all the Copts.
ʿAbd al‑Malik ibn Muslimah narrated to us, saying: Sulaymān ibn Bilāl narrated to us… from Saʿīd ibn al‑Musayyib, who said: “The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Sām, Ḥām, and Yāfith — each of the three had a portion. Sām is the father of the Arabs, the Persians, and the Romans. Yāfith is the father of the Slavs, the Turks, and Gog and Magog. Ḥām is the father of the Sudan, the Berbers, and the Copts.”
ʿUthmān returned to the earlier narration and said: The sons of Miṣr (Egypt) son of Ḥām were four: Miṣr ibn Baysar — the eldest, whom Nūḥ blessed; Rif ibn Baysar; Ashmūn ibn Baysar; and Athrīb ibn Baysar. Others said: Miṣr had four sons: Miṣr, Ashmūn, Athrīb, and Ṣā.
ʿUthmān and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Khālid said: The first to settle in Egypt after the drowning of the people of Nūḥ was Miṣr son of Ḥām. [Variant: Baysar, son of Ham.] He settled in Memphis (Manf), the first city built after the Flood. He and his children were thirty people. They grew and married, and for this reason it was called Māfa, which in the Coptic tongue means “thirty.”
[Baysar ibn Ham was now old and decrepit.] Miṣr was the eldest of his brothers, and he brought his father and all his brothers into Egypt. The land was named Miṣr after him. He was given the land between the two deserts behind al‑ʿArīsh. Baysar died and was buried in a place called Mawniʿ [variant: of his father Hermes]. Some said: it was the first grave dug in the land of Egypt.
[Baysar ibn Ḥām died, and Misr his son had succeeded him, each of whose brothers possessed his own part of the land (except that part of the Egyptian lands which he had allotted to himself and his sons); but when Misr’s sons and their sons increased, Misr divided Egypt into parts for each of his sons, which he would allot to himself and his sons; and he also divided this Nile to them. He allotted to his son Qift the part which he hears Qifṭ, which he inhabited, which he afterwards called Qift. He divided the places above Qifṭ as far as Aswan, and the places below Qifṭ as far as Ashmūn, both western and eastern, and he assigned to Ashmūn the parts from Ashmun and the places below it, both western and eastern, as far as Memphis; Ashmun inhabited Ashmun, from which place it took its name; He attributes to Athrīb the places between Memphis and Ṣā which were uncultivated by Athrīb and took their name from them. Finally, he attributes to Ṣā the places between Ṣā and the sea, which were inhabited by Ṣā and took their name from them. Therefore, all of Egypt is divided into four parts: namely, Upper and Lower Egypt, dissected into two parts.]
Then Miṣr died, and his son Qifṭ succeeded him. After Qifṭ died, his brother Ashmūn succeeded him. After Ashmūn died, his brother Athrīb succeeded him. After Athrīb died, his brother Ṣā succeeded him. Ṣā died and his son Māliqif succeeded him. Māliqif died and his son Kharbata succeeded him. Kharbata died and his son Kalkān succeeded him, ruling for one hundred years. He died without children, so his brother Māliyā succeeded him. Māliyā died and his son Ṭūṭīs succeeded him. Ṭūṭīs was the one who gave Hājar as a gift to Sarah, the wife of Abraham, the Friend of the Merciful.
The Entry of Abraham into Egypt
The entry of Abraham (peace be upon him) into Egypt was as follows, as Asad ibn Mūsā and others narrated: When God commanded Abraham to leave the land of his people and migrate to al‑Shām, he set out with Lūṭ and Sārah until they reached Ḥarrān and settled there. A famine struck the people of Ḥarrān, so he traveled with Sārah toward Egypt.
When he entered Egypt, the beauty of Sārah was mentioned to its king, and her qualities were described to him. The beauty of Sārah, as Asad ibn Mūsā narrated from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Khālid, from Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from al‑Kalbī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās, was like the beauty of Ḥawwāʾ (Eve).
Then Asad returned to the earlier narration and said: She was brought before the king and entered upon him. He asked Abraham, “Who is this woman?” Abraham said, “She is my sister.” The king reached toward her, but God paralyzed his hands and feet. The king said to Abraham: “This is because of you. Pray to God for me, for by God I will not harm her.” So Abraham prayed, and God released the king’s hands and feet. The king then gave Abraham sheep, cattle, and servants, and said: “This woman is too noble to serve herself.” And he gave her Hājar as a maidservant. Abū Hurayrah used to say: “She is your mother, O children of the desert — the mother of the Arabs.”
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Wahb narrated to us, from Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim, from Ibn Sīrīn, from Abū Hurayrah, that the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, said: “Abraham entered the land of a tyrant, accompanied by Sārah, who was the most beautiful of people.” He said to her: “This tyrant — if he knows you are my wife, he will kill me. So if he asks you, tell him: I am Abraham’s sister. For you are my sister in Islam.”
When they entered the land, the tyrant’s people saw her and informed him. He said: “A woman like this does not belong to any man but me.” He sent for her. Abraham stood in prayer. When the tyrant reached toward her, he was seized violently. He said: “Pray to God to release me; I will not harm you.” She prayed, and he was released. He reached again, and was seized even more severely. He said: “Pray to God to release me; I will not harm you.” She prayed, and he was released. He reached a third time, and was seized worse than before. He said: “Pray to God to release me; I will not harm you.” She prayed, and he was released.
He said to her: “You have brought me a devil, not a human being! Take her out of my land, and give her Hājar.” She returned to Abraham. When he saw her, he said: “What happened?” She said: “God defeated the wicked one and gave me a servant.” Abū Hurayrah said: “She is your mother, O children of the desert.”
Ibn Wahb narrated from Ibn al‑Mubārak, from al‑Aʿraj, from Abū Hurayrah, from the Prophet (peace be upon him): When the tyrant reached toward Sārah, she said: “O God, if I have believed in You and in Your Messenger, and preserved my chastity, then do not give this wicked man power over me.” So he was struck down, and she struck the ground with her foot. Al‑Aʿraj said: Abū Sakhmah said: Abū Hurayrah said: “By God, had he died, people would have said: She killed him.”
Asad ibn Mūsā narrated from Ḥāritha ibn Muḍarrib, from ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib: Sārah was the daughter of a king among the kings. She was extremely beautiful. Abraham married her and traveled with her until they passed by another king. He desired her and said to Abraham: “Who is this woman?” Abraham said whatever God inspired him to say. When Abraham and Sārah feared that the king would approach her, they prayed. God paralyzed the king’s hands and feet. The king said: “I know this is because of you. Pray to God for me; I will not harm her.” Abraham prayed, and God released him.
The king said: “This woman is too noble to serve herself.” So he gave her Hājar as a maidservant. Later, Sārah became angry with Hājar and swore to punish her in three ways. Abraham said: “Lighten the oath.” She said: “How?” He said: “Circumcise her and pierce her ears and veil her.” So she did so, and circumcision became a custom among women. Hājar conceived and gave birth to Ismāʿīl, son of Abraham.
[Others relate: Sārah, when she saw that she was not bearing, wanted to offer Hājar to Abraham; but jealousy forbade her. Hājar was the first to draw a line to hide Sārah’s traces; and Sārah had now sworn that she would amputate a certain limb of hers; which Hājar, knowing, dressed herself as best she could and drew a line to hide the traces; Sārah tried to track her down, but she was unable to do anything. Abraham said: “Will you forgive her?” “How can I forgive her if she has sworn?” Abraham said: “Circumcise her, which is the law of women; and by swearing you will be loosed.” So she did; hence the law of circumcision was born.]
When he entered Egypt, the beauty of Sārah was mentioned to its king, and her qualities were described to him. The beauty of Sārah, as Asad ibn Mūsā narrated from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Khālid, from Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from al‑Kalbī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās, was like the beauty of Ḥawwāʾ (Eve).
Then Asad returned to the earlier narration and said: She was brought before the king and entered upon him. He asked Abraham, “Who is this woman?” Abraham said, “She is my sister.” The king reached toward her, but God paralyzed his hands and feet. The king said to Abraham: “This is because of you. Pray to God for me, for by God I will not harm her.” So Abraham prayed, and God released the king’s hands and feet. The king then gave Abraham sheep, cattle, and servants, and said: “This woman is too noble to serve herself.” And he gave her Hājar as a maidservant. Abū Hurayrah used to say: “She is your mother, O children of the desert — the mother of the Arabs.”
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Wahb narrated to us, from Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim, from Ibn Sīrīn, from Abū Hurayrah, that the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, said: “Abraham entered the land of a tyrant, accompanied by Sārah, who was the most beautiful of people.” He said to her: “This tyrant — if he knows you are my wife, he will kill me. So if he asks you, tell him: I am Abraham’s sister. For you are my sister in Islam.”
When they entered the land, the tyrant’s people saw her and informed him. He said: “A woman like this does not belong to any man but me.” He sent for her. Abraham stood in prayer. When the tyrant reached toward her, he was seized violently. He said: “Pray to God to release me; I will not harm you.” She prayed, and he was released. He reached again, and was seized even more severely. He said: “Pray to God to release me; I will not harm you.” She prayed, and he was released. He reached a third time, and was seized worse than before. He said: “Pray to God to release me; I will not harm you.” She prayed, and he was released.
He said to her: “You have brought me a devil, not a human being! Take her out of my land, and give her Hājar.” She returned to Abraham. When he saw her, he said: “What happened?” She said: “God defeated the wicked one and gave me a servant.” Abū Hurayrah said: “She is your mother, O children of the desert.”
Ibn Wahb narrated from Ibn al‑Mubārak, from al‑Aʿraj, from Abū Hurayrah, from the Prophet (peace be upon him): When the tyrant reached toward Sārah, she said: “O God, if I have believed in You and in Your Messenger, and preserved my chastity, then do not give this wicked man power over me.” So he was struck down, and she struck the ground with her foot. Al‑Aʿraj said: Abū Sakhmah said: Abū Hurayrah said: “By God, had he died, people would have said: She killed him.”
Asad ibn Mūsā narrated from Ḥāritha ibn Muḍarrib, from ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib: Sārah was the daughter of a king among the kings. She was extremely beautiful. Abraham married her and traveled with her until they passed by another king. He desired her and said to Abraham: “Who is this woman?” Abraham said whatever God inspired him to say. When Abraham and Sārah feared that the king would approach her, they prayed. God paralyzed the king’s hands and feet. The king said: “I know this is because of you. Pray to God for me; I will not harm her.” Abraham prayed, and God released him.
The king said: “This woman is too noble to serve herself.” So he gave her Hājar as a maidservant. Later, Sārah became angry with Hājar and swore to punish her in three ways. Abraham said: “Lighten the oath.” She said: “How?” He said: “Circumcise her and pierce her ears and veil her.” So she did so, and circumcision became a custom among women. Hājar conceived and gave birth to Ismāʿīl, son of Abraham.
[Others relate: Sārah, when she saw that she was not bearing, wanted to offer Hājar to Abraham; but jealousy forbade her. Hājar was the first to draw a line to hide Sārah’s traces; and Sārah had now sworn that she would amputate a certain limb of hers; which Hājar, knowing, dressed herself as best she could and drew a line to hide the traces; Sārah tried to track her down, but she was unable to do anything. Abraham said: “Will you forgive her?” “How can I forgive her if she has sworn?” Abraham said: “Circumcise her, which is the law of women; and by swearing you will be loosed.” So she did; hence the law of circumcision was born.]
The Story of Joseph
Then he returned to the narration of ʿUthmān and others, and said: When Ṭūṭīs son of Māliyā died, his daughter Ḥawiyā [variants: Gūriaq, Garūba], daughter of Ṭūṭīs, succeeded him, for he had no male heir. She was the first woman to rule Egypt after him. She ruled for a long time, and her people multiplied and spread throughout the land of Egypt. [Then Ḥawiyā, the daughter of Ṭūṭīs, died, and her uncle’s daughter Zalfāan, the daughter of Māmuni son of Māliyā, who survived for a long time, took her place.] Then [when they had increased in power and number and had spread throughout the whole land of Egypt] the ʿAmāliqah (Amalekites) overpowered them. So al‑Walīd ibn Dumgh rose against them and fought a fierce battle. Then they agreed to appoint him as king, and he ruled for about one hundred years. But he became tyrannical, arrogant, and openly committed indecency. So God sent upon him a lion, which attacked him and devoured his flesh. ʿUthmān said, and others narrated similarly, that seventy men from the people of Moses sheltered in the skull of one of the Amalekites.
Then, having given him his signet ring, he put him in charge of all that he had within the gate. Then he clothed him with a golden collar and a silken garment, and gave him a mule equipped with a saddle and adorned, as is the custom of a king; when this was done, the drums, which were playing the role of Joseph in the king's stead, were beaten throughout Egypt.
After al‑Walīd, his son al‑Rayyān ibn al‑Walīd ibn Dumgh ruled. He is the king in the story of Joseph the Prophet, peace be upon him. When the king saw the dream he saw, and Joseph interpreted it, the king sent for him and brought him out of prison. Asad ibn Mūsā narrated to us, from Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from al‑Kalbī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās: Joseph remained in prison for twelve years, between the dream and its interpretation. [When the king had seen his dream which Joseph had interpreted, he sent a man to him and released him from his bonds. The messenger saw him and said: “Throw off your prison clothes, and put on new clothes, and go to the king.” Then the crowd of prisoners cheered for him, who was then a young man of thirty years.] When Joseph came before the king, the king saw a young man of striking beauty. He said: “Does this youth know the meaning of my dream, while the sorcerers and priests do not?” Joseph stood before him and said: “Do not fear.”
ʿUthmān and others said: When the king questioned him and heard his speech, he was amazed by his wisdom and the greatness of his words. So he handed him his seal ring, and entrusted him with everything behind his palace doors. Asad ibn Mūsā narrated from Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from al‑Kalbī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās: The king clothed Joseph in a golden collar, and garments of silk, and gave him a fine horse, adorned like the horses of kings. He ordered the drums to be beaten in Egypt, announcing: “Joseph is the deputy of the king!” Abū Saʿīd narrated that Pharaoh said to Joseph: “I have given you authority over Egypt — except that I want my throne to be four fingers higher than yours.” Joseph said: “Yes.”
Then ʿUthmān returned to the earlier narration and said: The king seated Joseph upon the throne, and entered his house with his wives, and entrusted to Joseph the entire administration of Egypt. Thus, because of Joseph’s interpretation of the dream, Joseph became king over Egypt.
Asad ibn Mūsā narrated to us, from al‑Layth ibn Saʿd: A severe famine struck the people of Egypt. They bought food with gold, until no gold remained. Then they bought with silver, until no silver remained. Then they bought with sheep, until no sheep remained. Then they bought with cattle, until no cattle remained. Joseph continued selling food until no gold, no silver, no sheep, and no cattle were left in the land. Then they came to him and said: “We have nothing left but our lands.” So Joseph purchased all the lands of Egypt for Pharaoh, and gave the people food in exchange.
Then, having given him his signet ring, he put him in charge of all that he had within the gate. Then he clothed him with a golden collar and a silken garment, and gave him a mule equipped with a saddle and adorned, as is the custom of a king; when this was done, the drums, which were playing the role of Joseph in the king's stead, were beaten throughout Egypt.
After al‑Walīd, his son al‑Rayyān ibn al‑Walīd ibn Dumgh ruled. He is the king in the story of Joseph the Prophet, peace be upon him. When the king saw the dream he saw, and Joseph interpreted it, the king sent for him and brought him out of prison. Asad ibn Mūsā narrated to us, from Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from al‑Kalbī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās: Joseph remained in prison for twelve years, between the dream and its interpretation. [When the king had seen his dream which Joseph had interpreted, he sent a man to him and released him from his bonds. The messenger saw him and said: “Throw off your prison clothes, and put on new clothes, and go to the king.” Then the crowd of prisoners cheered for him, who was then a young man of thirty years.] When Joseph came before the king, the king saw a young man of striking beauty. He said: “Does this youth know the meaning of my dream, while the sorcerers and priests do not?” Joseph stood before him and said: “Do not fear.”
ʿUthmān and others said: When the king questioned him and heard his speech, he was amazed by his wisdom and the greatness of his words. So he handed him his seal ring, and entrusted him with everything behind his palace doors. Asad ibn Mūsā narrated from Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from al‑Kalbī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās: The king clothed Joseph in a golden collar, and garments of silk, and gave him a fine horse, adorned like the horses of kings. He ordered the drums to be beaten in Egypt, announcing: “Joseph is the deputy of the king!” Abū Saʿīd narrated that Pharaoh said to Joseph: “I have given you authority over Egypt — except that I want my throne to be four fingers higher than yours.” Joseph said: “Yes.”
Then ʿUthmān returned to the earlier narration and said: The king seated Joseph upon the throne, and entered his house with his wives, and entrusted to Joseph the entire administration of Egypt. Thus, because of Joseph’s interpretation of the dream, Joseph became king over Egypt.
Asad ibn Mūsā narrated to us, from al‑Layth ibn Saʿd: A severe famine struck the people of Egypt. They bought food with gold, until no gold remained. Then they bought with silver, until no silver remained. Then they bought with sheep, until no sheep remained. Then they bought with cattle, until no cattle remained. Joseph continued selling food until no gold, no silver, no sheep, and no cattle were left in the land. Then they came to him and said: “We have nothing left but our lands.” So Joseph purchased all the lands of Egypt for Pharaoh, and gave the people food in exchange.
The Account of the Excavation of the Fayyoum
It was said that the first to extract (develop) the Fayyoum was Joseph, peace be upon him. Hishām narrated from his father that: When the famine intensified in Egypt, the king’s ministers said to him: “Joseph’s knowledge has gone, his mind has changed, and his judgment has weakened. Pharaoh, restrain him from what he is doing.” They meant: Joseph was gathering the surplus of Upper Egypt and its produce, and the people feared that he would ruin the cultivated lands by diverting the waters. So they said to Pharaoh: “Ask Joseph to divert the water away from the marshland (al‑lūbah) and drain it. If he does so, your kingdom will expand, and your revenues will increase.” Pharaoh summoned Joseph and said: “Do you know the condition of this marshland? If you can drain it, do so.”
Joseph replied: “O king, whenever you wish, send for me, and I will do it, God willing. What I love most is what pleases you.” Then God revealed to Joseph: “Dig a great canal from the upper part of Upper Egypt from such‑and‑such a place to such‑and‑such a place; and dig an eastern canal from such‑and‑such a place to such‑and‑such a place; and dig a western canal from such‑and‑such a place to such‑and‑such a place.” So Joseph set the workers to dig the Minhā canal from the upper part of Ashmūn to al‑Lāʿūn, and he ordered the two groups of workers to dig toward al‑Lāʿūn.
They dug the Fayyoum basin (al‑ghiyūm), which is the Kharbū canal, and they brought its water from the eastern canal and poured it into the Nile. Then they brought water from the western canal and poured it into the desert toward the west, until no water remained in the marshland.
Then the workers entered it, cut the reeds, removed the mud, and cleared it. This was the beginning of the flow of water into the Fayyoum.
Joseph then cut a channel from al‑Lāʿūn to the Fayyoum, and the canal entered it and irrigated it. The king and his ministers came to see it. All of this was completed in seventy days. When the king saw the work, he said: “This is your work, O Joseph — the Fayyoum is yours.” So it was called al‑Fayyūm, meaning “that which has been widened and expanded.”
Jayy ibn Khālid al‑ʿAdawī narrated from Ibn Lahīʿa, from Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb: Joseph ruled Egypt for thirty years. Then the people complained to Pharaoh, saying: “Joseph has grown old, and his judgment has weakened. Give him a piece of land to cultivate for himself, so that he may occupy himself with it.” So Joseph surveyed the regions of Egypt and chose the site of the Fayyoum. Pharaoh granted it to him.
Joseph dug the Minhā canal from the Nile until he brought it into the Fayyoum basin. He completed all of this in six months [variant: 70 days, with a long story about it I omit]. It is said that he did this by revelation, and he oversaw the work with his own hand, along with the workers and assistants. When they saw the canal Joseph had dug, they found nothing like it in all of Egypt, neither in precision nor in engineering. They said: “Joseph has never been more intelligent, more insightful, or more capable than he is today.” So they returned the kingship to him, and he ruled for sixty years, living one hundred and ten years until he died — and God knows best.
Faraj said: One of the king’s wise men said to him: “What Joseph has done is only by divine inspiration.” Joseph said to the king: “Give me authority over the Fayyoum, and I will make it like all the districts of Egypt.” He ordered every district of Egypt to build a village in the Fayyoum. The villages of the Fayyoum were equal in number to the districts of Egypt. When they finished building the villages, Joseph assigned to each village a portion of water equal to its needs, no more and no less. He assigned to each village a time for irrigation, by night or by day, and he set guards so that no one would take more than his due.
Pharaoh said: “This is from the kingdom of heaven.” Joseph then ordered the strong workers to build the villages of the Fayyoum, including the village where Pharaoh’s daughter used to reside. He ordered the digging of canals and the building of bridges. When they finished, he measured the land and measured the water. From that day, measurement (al‑qiyās) became known in Egypt. Before that, the people did not know it.
The first to set a Nile gauge in Egypt was Joseph, peace be upon him, who placed one at Memphis. Then the old woman Dālūka, daughter of Rabbah, the owner of the “Wall of the Old Woman,” placed a small gauge at al‑Aḥmīm. ʿAbd al‑ʿAzīz ibn Marwān placed a gauge at Khallān. Usāmah ibn Raqī al‑Tanūkhī placed a gauge at al‑Jazīr in the caliphate of al‑Walīd. The largest of them was the one described by Jayy ibn Bukayr: “The gauge measures the Nile in cubits, and with its increase the taxes of Fusṭāṭ increase.”
Joseph replied: “O king, whenever you wish, send for me, and I will do it, God willing. What I love most is what pleases you.” Then God revealed to Joseph: “Dig a great canal from the upper part of Upper Egypt from such‑and‑such a place to such‑and‑such a place; and dig an eastern canal from such‑and‑such a place to such‑and‑such a place; and dig a western canal from such‑and‑such a place to such‑and‑such a place.” So Joseph set the workers to dig the Minhā canal from the upper part of Ashmūn to al‑Lāʿūn, and he ordered the two groups of workers to dig toward al‑Lāʿūn.
They dug the Fayyoum basin (al‑ghiyūm), which is the Kharbū canal, and they brought its water from the eastern canal and poured it into the Nile. Then they brought water from the western canal and poured it into the desert toward the west, until no water remained in the marshland.
Then the workers entered it, cut the reeds, removed the mud, and cleared it. This was the beginning of the flow of water into the Fayyoum.
Joseph then cut a channel from al‑Lāʿūn to the Fayyoum, and the canal entered it and irrigated it. The king and his ministers came to see it. All of this was completed in seventy days. When the king saw the work, he said: “This is your work, O Joseph — the Fayyoum is yours.” So it was called al‑Fayyūm, meaning “that which has been widened and expanded.”
Jayy ibn Khālid al‑ʿAdawī narrated from Ibn Lahīʿa, from Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb: Joseph ruled Egypt for thirty years. Then the people complained to Pharaoh, saying: “Joseph has grown old, and his judgment has weakened. Give him a piece of land to cultivate for himself, so that he may occupy himself with it.” So Joseph surveyed the regions of Egypt and chose the site of the Fayyoum. Pharaoh granted it to him.
Joseph dug the Minhā canal from the Nile until he brought it into the Fayyoum basin. He completed all of this in six months [variant: 70 days, with a long story about it I omit]. It is said that he did this by revelation, and he oversaw the work with his own hand, along with the workers and assistants. When they saw the canal Joseph had dug, they found nothing like it in all of Egypt, neither in precision nor in engineering. They said: “Joseph has never been more intelligent, more insightful, or more capable than he is today.” So they returned the kingship to him, and he ruled for sixty years, living one hundred and ten years until he died — and God knows best.
Faraj said: One of the king’s wise men said to him: “What Joseph has done is only by divine inspiration.” Joseph said to the king: “Give me authority over the Fayyoum, and I will make it like all the districts of Egypt.” He ordered every district of Egypt to build a village in the Fayyoum. The villages of the Fayyoum were equal in number to the districts of Egypt. When they finished building the villages, Joseph assigned to each village a portion of water equal to its needs, no more and no less. He assigned to each village a time for irrigation, by night or by day, and he set guards so that no one would take more than his due.
Pharaoh said: “This is from the kingdom of heaven.” Joseph then ordered the strong workers to build the villages of the Fayyoum, including the village where Pharaoh’s daughter used to reside. He ordered the digging of canals and the building of bridges. When they finished, he measured the land and measured the water. From that day, measurement (al‑qiyās) became known in Egypt. Before that, the people did not know it.
The first to set a Nile gauge in Egypt was Joseph, peace be upon him, who placed one at Memphis. Then the old woman Dālūka, daughter of Rabbah, the owner of the “Wall of the Old Woman,” placed a small gauge at al‑Aḥmīm. ʿAbd al‑ʿAzīz ibn Marwān placed a gauge at Khallān. Usāmah ibn Raqī al‑Tanūkhī placed a gauge at al‑Jazīr in the caliphate of al‑Walīd. The largest of them was the one described by Jayy ibn Bukayr: “The gauge measures the Nile in cubits, and with its increase the taxes of Fusṭāṭ increase.”
The Entry of Jacob into Egypt, and the Death and Burial of Jacob
It was in the days of al‑Rayyān ibn al‑Walīd that Jacob (peace be upon him) entered Egypt with his children. Hishām narrated from his father that: Jacob entered Egypt with eleven sons, their families, and their households, seventy people in total. They settled from ʿAyn Shams to al‑Farama, and they lived in the countryside of Egypt. Asad ibn Mūsā narrated from Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from al‑Kalbī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās: They were seventy souls when they entered, and they left Egypt as six hundred thousand.
Another narration says: They entered Egypt with seventy‑three people, and they left as six hundred thousand. Asad narrated from Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from al‑Kalbī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās: When Jacob approached Egypt, he sent Judah ahead to Joseph to prepare the way. Joseph went out to meet him, and when he saw him, he embraced him and wept.
Hishām narrated from his father: When Jacob entered upon Pharaoh, Pharaoh honored him. Jacob (peace be upon him) was an old man, gentle, beautiful of face and beard, and pleasant of voice. Pharaoh said to him: “How many are the years of your life, O elder?” Jacob replied: “One hundred and twenty years.” [But Bamīn,] A sorcerer of Pharaoh said: “I find in the ancient books the description of Jacob, Joseph, and Moses — and that the ruin of Egypt and the destruction of its people will be at the hands of a man whose description is written.” [When he had seen Jacob, he leaned over his chair and was about whom he first asked him this: “Whom do you worship?” Jacob said, “I worship Allah, the God of all creatures.” He said to him: “How then do you worship what you do not perceive with your eyes?” Jacob said, “His greatness and majesty are too great for anyone to see.” Bamīn said: “We see our gods.” Jacob, replied, “Behold your gods, the work of the hands of the sons of man, who dies and is made! My God, on the other hand, is greater and more exalted, and is less distant than the jugular vein from us.”] When he saw Jacob, he (Bamīn) stood up from his seat and said: “This is the one who will destroy our land.” Pharaoh said: “Will this be in our time?” Jacob replied: “Not in your days, nor in the days of your sons, O king.” Pharaoh said: “Do you find this written in what your Lord has decreed?” Jacob said: “Yes.” Pharaoh said: “How can we prevent what God wills to bring upon a people by the hand of one He chooses? Do not be troubled, O elder.”
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated from Abū Ḥafṣ al‑Kilāʿī, from Tibīʿ, from Kaʿb al‑Aḥbār: Jacob lived seventeen years after coming to Joseph. When he died, they embalmed him and placed him in the Cave of Machpelah, where Abraham (peace be upon him) was buried. Between Egypt and Bayt al‑Maqdis is eighteen miles. Asad narrated from Khālid, from al‑Kalbī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ: They embalmed Jacob for forty days, as was their custom. Then Joseph spoke to Pharaoh and informed him that his father had died, and that he had asked to be buried in the land of Canaan. Pharaoh permitted him.
Joseph went out with the nobles of Egypt, buried his father, and returned. ʿUthmān ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated from his father: Jacob had commanded Joseph to bury him in the land of his fathers — and God knows best.
Another narration says: They entered Egypt with seventy‑three people, and they left as six hundred thousand. Asad narrated from Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from al‑Kalbī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās: When Jacob approached Egypt, he sent Judah ahead to Joseph to prepare the way. Joseph went out to meet him, and when he saw him, he embraced him and wept.
Hishām narrated from his father: When Jacob entered upon Pharaoh, Pharaoh honored him. Jacob (peace be upon him) was an old man, gentle, beautiful of face and beard, and pleasant of voice. Pharaoh said to him: “How many are the years of your life, O elder?” Jacob replied: “One hundred and twenty years.” [But Bamīn,] A sorcerer of Pharaoh said: “I find in the ancient books the description of Jacob, Joseph, and Moses — and that the ruin of Egypt and the destruction of its people will be at the hands of a man whose description is written.” [When he had seen Jacob, he leaned over his chair and was about whom he first asked him this: “Whom do you worship?” Jacob said, “I worship Allah, the God of all creatures.” He said to him: “How then do you worship what you do not perceive with your eyes?” Jacob said, “His greatness and majesty are too great for anyone to see.” Bamīn said: “We see our gods.” Jacob, replied, “Behold your gods, the work of the hands of the sons of man, who dies and is made! My God, on the other hand, is greater and more exalted, and is less distant than the jugular vein from us.”] When he saw Jacob, he (Bamīn) stood up from his seat and said: “This is the one who will destroy our land.” Pharaoh said: “Will this be in our time?” Jacob replied: “Not in your days, nor in the days of your sons, O king.” Pharaoh said: “Do you find this written in what your Lord has decreed?” Jacob said: “Yes.” Pharaoh said: “How can we prevent what God wills to bring upon a people by the hand of one He chooses? Do not be troubled, O elder.”
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated from Abū Ḥafṣ al‑Kilāʿī, from Tibīʿ, from Kaʿb al‑Aḥbār: Jacob lived seventeen years after coming to Joseph. When he died, they embalmed him and placed him in the Cave of Machpelah, where Abraham (peace be upon him) was buried. Between Egypt and Bayt al‑Maqdis is eighteen miles. Asad narrated from Khālid, from al‑Kalbī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ: They embalmed Jacob for forty days, as was their custom. Then Joseph spoke to Pharaoh and informed him that his father had died, and that he had asked to be buried in the land of Canaan. Pharaoh permitted him.
Joseph went out with the nobles of Egypt, buried his father, and returned. ʿUthmān ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated from his father: Jacob had commanded Joseph to bury him in the land of his fathers — and God knows best.
The Death of Joseph
ʿUthmān ibn Ṣāliḥ said: When al‑Rayyān died, his son Dārim ibn al‑Rayyān ruled after him. Others said: When Joseph (may God’s blessings be upon him) felt the approach of death, he said: “You will one day leave the land of Egypt and return to the land of your fathers.” Asad ibn Mūsā narrated from Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from Abū Ḥafṣ al‑Kilāʿī, from Tibīʿ, from Kaʿb al‑Aḥbār, that Joseph said: “Carry my bones with you when you depart [and bury me in the cave of the mountain of Hebron]. Do not bury me here permanently.” So they embalmed him and placed him in a coffin.
Ḥaydal ibn Asʿad narrated to us, from Abū al‑Aḥwaṣ, from Simāk ibn Ḥarb: Joseph (peace be upon him) was buried on one side of the Nile. The side in which he was buried became fertile, while the opposite side became barren. The people saw this and moved his bones to the other side. Then that side became fertile and the first became barren. So they gathered his bones and placed them in a wooden chest, and fixed to it a chain. They set pillars in the Nile and placed iron supports beneath them. They hung the chest in the middle of the river. Thus both sides of the Nile became fertile.
Al‑ʿAbbās ibn Ṭālib narrated from ʿAbd al‑Wāḥid ibn Ziyād, from Yūnus, from al‑Ḥasan: Joseph (peace be upon him) was thrown into the well at the age of seventeen. He remained separated from Jacob and his family for twenty‑two years. He died at the age of one hundred and twenty‑three. Another report says he lived one hundred and ten years.
Ḥaydal ibn Asʿad narrated to us, from Abū al‑Aḥwaṣ, from Simāk ibn Ḥarb: Joseph (peace be upon him) was buried on one side of the Nile. The side in which he was buried became fertile, while the opposite side became barren. The people saw this and moved his bones to the other side. Then that side became fertile and the first became barren. So they gathered his bones and placed them in a wooden chest, and fixed to it a chain. They set pillars in the Nile and placed iron supports beneath them. They hung the chest in the middle of the river. Thus both sides of the Nile became fertile.
Al‑ʿAbbās ibn Ṭālib narrated from ʿAbd al‑Wāḥid ibn Ziyād, from Yūnus, from al‑Ḥasan: Joseph (peace be upon him) was thrown into the well at the age of seventeen. He remained separated from Jacob and his family for twenty‑two years. He died at the age of one hundred and twenty‑three. Another report says he lived one hundred and ten years.
The Era After Joseph
Then he returned to the narration of ʿUthmān ibn Ṣāliḥ and others, and said: After Joseph (peace be upon him) Dārim became king. But Dārim became tyrannical after Joseph’s death. He grew arrogant and openly practiced idolatry. He once sailed upon the Nile in a ship, and God sent upon him a violent wind, which overturned the vessel and drowned him and those with him, from Ṭurā to the region of Ḥulwān.
After him, Kāshim ibn Maʿdān ruled. He was a harsh and oppressive tyrant. Asad narrated from Mūsā, from Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from Abū Ḥafṣ al‑Kilāʿī, from Tibīʿ, from Kaʿb al‑Aḥbār: When Joseph died, the Children of Israel became enslaved by the people of Egypt. Then ʿUthmān returned to the earlier narration and said: Kāshim ibn Maʿdān died, and after him ruled Pharaoh of Moses. Others said: His name was Ṭulma, a Copt from the Copts of Egypt.
Some narrations say he was a Copt, others say he was from the ʿAmāliqah (Amalekites). ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al‑Ḥakam narrated from his teachers: He was from the descendants of al‑Walīd ibn Muṣʿab, a short man, bald, with a protruding belly. Saʿīd ibn ʿUbayr said: He was from the ʿAmāliqah, and he had a great beard. Jarīr narrated from ʿAbd al‑Malik ibn Maysarah, from al‑Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr, from Abū Bakr al‑Ṣiddīq (may God be pleased with him) who said: “Pharaoh was a giant.” Others said: “He was a man — God knows best.” [Another reports: Pharaoh had puffy lips and was considered to be a man of Lachmides: but Allah knows best.]
As for those who claim he was from the ʿAmāliqah — we have already mentioned the kings of the ʿAmāliqah in Egypt.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al‑Ḥakam narrated from his teachers: When the king of Egypt died, the princes disputed over the throne. None of them was strong enough to rule, so they agreed to appoint a judge to settle their dispute. They brought Pharaoh, who was a man from the clan of Qurʿān ibn Balī, to judge between them. [Variant: Some suppose that he derives his origin from Farrān ibn Bila. Other say that when the Egyptian king died, some of the king’s sons contended for the principality, since the king, by the authority of a certain testament, had not declared who would succeed; but when a matter of great importance had arisen between them, they invited each other to conclude peace, and finally agreed among themselves that the arbitrator between them would be the one who first emerged from Fag, i.e. the cleft of the mountain. Vatrunic horses which he had brought with him, intending to sell both of them. He traced his origin from Farrân son of Bila.] They said: “We have made you judge over us in our dispute over kingship. If you see that one of us deserves the throne, give it to him. If you see that none of us deserves it, then rule over us yourself.” They honored him and seated him in the palace. He sent for the scribes, and they pledged allegiance to him. Thus he became king. He ruled four hundred years [variant: 500], until God drowned him, as He described in the Qur’an.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al‑Ḥakam narrated from Khallād ibn Sulaymān: “Pharaoh ruled Egypt for four hundred years.” Another narration says: “He ruled for four hundred and thirty years.” His kingdom extended from Egypt to Ifriqiyah. He sat upon the Pharaonic thrones, as Asad narrated from Khālid, from al‑Kalbī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās: He wore golden bracelets, and golden anklets, and golden collars.He appointed Hāmān over the people. Pharaoh said to Hāmān: “Build for me a tower, that I may ascend to the heavens.” But God terrified them with the signs that Moses brought. And Hāmān built it for him.
After him, Kāshim ibn Maʿdān ruled. He was a harsh and oppressive tyrant. Asad narrated from Mūsā, from Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from Abū Ḥafṣ al‑Kilāʿī, from Tibīʿ, from Kaʿb al‑Aḥbār: When Joseph died, the Children of Israel became enslaved by the people of Egypt. Then ʿUthmān returned to the earlier narration and said: Kāshim ibn Maʿdān died, and after him ruled Pharaoh of Moses. Others said: His name was Ṭulma, a Copt from the Copts of Egypt.
Some narrations say he was a Copt, others say he was from the ʿAmāliqah (Amalekites). ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al‑Ḥakam narrated from his teachers: He was from the descendants of al‑Walīd ibn Muṣʿab, a short man, bald, with a protruding belly. Saʿīd ibn ʿUbayr said: He was from the ʿAmāliqah, and he had a great beard. Jarīr narrated from ʿAbd al‑Malik ibn Maysarah, from al‑Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr, from Abū Bakr al‑Ṣiddīq (may God be pleased with him) who said: “Pharaoh was a giant.” Others said: “He was a man — God knows best.” [Another reports: Pharaoh had puffy lips and was considered to be a man of Lachmides: but Allah knows best.]
As for those who claim he was from the ʿAmāliqah — we have already mentioned the kings of the ʿAmāliqah in Egypt.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al‑Ḥakam narrated from his teachers: When the king of Egypt died, the princes disputed over the throne. None of them was strong enough to rule, so they agreed to appoint a judge to settle their dispute. They brought Pharaoh, who was a man from the clan of Qurʿān ibn Balī, to judge between them. [Variant: Some suppose that he derives his origin from Farrān ibn Bila. Other say that when the Egyptian king died, some of the king’s sons contended for the principality, since the king, by the authority of a certain testament, had not declared who would succeed; but when a matter of great importance had arisen between them, they invited each other to conclude peace, and finally agreed among themselves that the arbitrator between them would be the one who first emerged from Fag, i.e. the cleft of the mountain. Vatrunic horses which he had brought with him, intending to sell both of them. He traced his origin from Farrân son of Bila.] They said: “We have made you judge over us in our dispute over kingship. If you see that one of us deserves the throne, give it to him. If you see that none of us deserves it, then rule over us yourself.” They honored him and seated him in the palace. He sent for the scribes, and they pledged allegiance to him. Thus he became king. He ruled four hundred years [variant: 500], until God drowned him, as He described in the Qur’an.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al‑Ḥakam narrated from Khallād ibn Sulaymān: “Pharaoh ruled Egypt for four hundred years.” Another narration says: “He ruled for four hundred and thirty years.” His kingdom extended from Egypt to Ifriqiyah. He sat upon the Pharaonic thrones, as Asad narrated from Khālid, from al‑Kalbī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās: He wore golden bracelets, and golden anklets, and golden collars.He appointed Hāmān over the people. Pharaoh said to Hāmān: “Build for me a tower, that I may ascend to the heavens.” But God terrified them with the signs that Moses brought. And Hāmān built it for him.
The Story of the Bones of Joseph
It was in that time that the bones of Joseph, peace be upon him, were carried from Egypt to al‑Shām. The reason for this, as Ḥabīb ibn Asʿad al‑Taghlibī narrated from Abū al‑Aḥwaṣ, from Simāk ibn Ḥarb, is as follows: A man from the people of the desert passed by a tent in which there was an old woman. He greeted her, saying: “Peace be upon you, O household of hospitality.” She said: “Come down and be our guest.” He stayed the night, and in the morning he wished to depart. She said: “Take something from what remains of our food.” So they took something, and he departed.
When the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) appeared and God granted him victory, that same old man came riding his camel until he reached the door of the mosque. He entered and began looking among the men. They said to him: “This is the Messenger of God (peace be upon him).” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “What do you need?” The man said: “By God, I do not know except that a man once stayed with me, and I honored him.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Are you that man?” He said: “Yes.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “And how is that woman?” He said: “She is well.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “And how are you?” He said: “We are well.”
The Prophet (peace be upon him) had said to him when he left him: “If you hear of a prophet appearing in Tihāmah, go to him — you will find news of him.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to him now: “Ask whatever you wish, for you will not ask for anything today except that I will give it to you.” The man said: “I ask for eighty sheep.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) laughed and said: “O ʿAbd al‑Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, stand and give them to him.”
Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) turned to his companions and said: “Do you know who this man is? He is like the woman who guided Moses to the bones of Joseph.” They said: “O Messenger of God, tell us.” He said: “When Moses wanted to leave Egypt, he could not cross the sea until he carried with him the bones of Joseph. But no one knew where they were buried.” They said: “An old woman remains among us — very old, with sharp eyesight. We left her in the dwellings.” So Moses returned. When she heard his footsteps, she said: “Is it Moses?” He said: “Yes.” She said: “Why have you returned?” He said: “I was commanded to carry the bones of Joseph.” She said: “You will not cross except with me. Show me where the bones are.” They said: “We will not show you unless you give us what we ask.” He said: “You shall have what you ask.” She said: “I ask that I be with you in your rank in Paradise, as I was with you in your journey — until I become young again as I once was.” He said: “You shall have that.”
She said: “Joseph was buried on the bank of the Nile. At its base was an iron chest fixed with chains. We buried him there, and the land on that side became fertile while the other side became barren. So we moved him to the other side, and that side became fertile while the first became barren. When we saw this, we gathered his bones, placed them in a wooden chest, and cast it into the middle of the Nile — and both sides became fertile.” She said: “Take the chest and carry it.” So Moses took the chest, and she held his hand, and he brought her with the army.
Asad ibn Mūsā narrated from Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from al‑Kalbī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās: Joseph (peace be upon him) had commanded at his death: “When you leave Egypt, take my bones with you.” When the time came, the people did not know where he was buried. So God revealed to Moses: “Your success depends on the bones of Joseph. Seek the one who knows their place.” They said: “There is an old woman named Sārah, daughter of Asher son of Jacob. She saw Joseph when he was buried.” She said: “I will show you the place — if you grant me what I ask.” He said: “You shall have it.” She guided him to the place, and he took the bones of Joseph.
When the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) appeared and God granted him victory, that same old man came riding his camel until he reached the door of the mosque. He entered and began looking among the men. They said to him: “This is the Messenger of God (peace be upon him).” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “What do you need?” The man said: “By God, I do not know except that a man once stayed with me, and I honored him.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Are you that man?” He said: “Yes.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “And how is that woman?” He said: “She is well.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “And how are you?” He said: “We are well.”
The Prophet (peace be upon him) had said to him when he left him: “If you hear of a prophet appearing in Tihāmah, go to him — you will find news of him.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to him now: “Ask whatever you wish, for you will not ask for anything today except that I will give it to you.” The man said: “I ask for eighty sheep.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) laughed and said: “O ʿAbd al‑Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, stand and give them to him.”
Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) turned to his companions and said: “Do you know who this man is? He is like the woman who guided Moses to the bones of Joseph.” They said: “O Messenger of God, tell us.” He said: “When Moses wanted to leave Egypt, he could not cross the sea until he carried with him the bones of Joseph. But no one knew where they were buried.” They said: “An old woman remains among us — very old, with sharp eyesight. We left her in the dwellings.” So Moses returned. When she heard his footsteps, she said: “Is it Moses?” He said: “Yes.” She said: “Why have you returned?” He said: “I was commanded to carry the bones of Joseph.” She said: “You will not cross except with me. Show me where the bones are.” They said: “We will not show you unless you give us what we ask.” He said: “You shall have what you ask.” She said: “I ask that I be with you in your rank in Paradise, as I was with you in your journey — until I become young again as I once was.” He said: “You shall have that.”
She said: “Joseph was buried on the bank of the Nile. At its base was an iron chest fixed with chains. We buried him there, and the land on that side became fertile while the other side became barren. So we moved him to the other side, and that side became fertile while the first became barren. When we saw this, we gathered his bones, placed them in a wooden chest, and cast it into the middle of the Nile — and both sides became fertile.” She said: “Take the chest and carry it.” So Moses took the chest, and she held his hand, and he brought her with the army.
Asad ibn Mūsā narrated from Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from al‑Kalbī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās: Joseph (peace be upon him) had commanded at his death: “When you leave Egypt, take my bones with you.” When the time came, the people did not know where he was buried. So God revealed to Moses: “Your success depends on the bones of Joseph. Seek the one who knows their place.” They said: “There is an old woman named Sārah, daughter of Asher son of Jacob. She saw Joseph when he was buried.” She said: “I will show you the place — if you grant me what I ask.” He said: “You shall have it.” She guided him to the place, and he took the bones of Joseph.
The Story of How the Children of Israel Were Saved from Pharaoh
Now to return to the narration of ʿUthmān and others, who said: God drowned Pharaoh and his armies in the sea when they pursued the Children of Israel. With him drowned the nobles of Egypt, its chiefs, and its leaders — more than one hundred thousand. The reason the Children of Israel left Egypt, as Asad ibn Mūsā narrated from ʿAbd Allāh, from al‑ʿAlī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from ʿAṭiyyah, is that God revealed to Moses: “Travel by night with My servants.”
The Children of Israel had borrowed jewelry and clothing from the people of Pharaoh, saying:
“We have a festival to attend.” So Moses led them out by night, and they were six hundred thousand and three thousand and some. Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty‑three. This is the meaning of God’s words: “Pharaoh said: These are but a small band, and they have angered us.” Asad narrated from al‑Saʿdī, from ʿUbaydah: They left Egypt and reached the desert. Pharaoh said: “These are but a small band.”
Then Asad returned to the earlier narration: Pharaoh went out with eight hundred thousand soldiers, besides the cavalry and the elite troops. Abū Saʿīd narrated from ʿIkrimah: Pharaoh added forty thousand more, making them eight hundred and forty thousand. This is the meaning of God’s words: “He made his people follow him, and they obeyed him,” meaning, they obeyed him in pursuing Moses.
The Children of Israel, as ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated from Munkadir, from Ibn ʿAbbās, were one quarter of the people of Pharaoh. Asad narrated from Isrāʾīl, from Ittaqāq, from ʿIbrū ibn Maymūn: When Moses fled with the Children of Israel, Pharaoh ordered a sheep to be slaughtered. He commanded that it be skinned without tearing it, saying: “No one shall rejoice until one hundred thousand horsemen of the Copts gather before me.” They gathered, and Pharaoh said: “These are but a small band.”
The followers of Moses were six hundred and seventy thousand. Moses and his companions entered a dry path in the sea. When the last of Moses’ people had crossed, and the last of Pharaoh’s people had entered, the sea surged upon them. No trace of them remained beyond the darkness of a single day. Pharaoh drowned, and his body was cast upon the shore so that the people might see him.
Asad narrated from Khālid, from al‑Kalbī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās: When Moses reached the sea, Yūshaʿ ibn Nūn came on his horse and walked upon the water. The others drove their horses into the sea, and they swam. Pharaoh set out in pursuit at sunrise — as God says: “They followed them at sunrise.”
When the two groups saw one another, the companions of Moses said: “We are overtaken!” Moses called upon his Lord, and a cloud descended between them and their enemies. He was told: “Strike the sea with your staff.” He struck it, and it split, and each part became like a great mountain. There were twelve paths in it. They said: “We fear the mud will swallow us.” So Moses prayed, and the east wind blew and dried the ground. They said: “We fear some of us will drown without the others noticing.” So he struck the water again, and openings appeared between the paths so they could see one another. They crossed the sea.
Pharaoh reached the place where Moses had crossed, and the paths were still open. His advisers said: “Moses has bewitched the sea until it became as he wished.” So Pharaoh entered. Then God caused the sea to return as it had been; as He says: “And the sea closed over them.” Pharaoh and his armies drowned.
Asad narrated from Khālid, from al‑Kalbī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās: Gabriel came on a female horse, with thirty‑three thousand angels. He rode ahead of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh followed him. Gabriel slowed the pace of the Israelites, saying: “Let your last ones catch up with your first.” And he slowed the pace of Pharaoh’s army, saying: “Slow down, let your last ones catch up.” The Israelites said: “We have never seen a better guide than this!” And the people of Pharaoh said: “We have never seen a better driver than this!” They did not know it was Gabriel.
Asad narrated from Masʿūd ibn Bilāl, from Ḥammād ibn Salamah, from ʿAlī ibn Zayd, from Yūsuf ibn Mihrān, from ʿAṭāʾ: The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) said: “When God drowned Pharaoh, he said: ‘I believe that there is no god but the One in whom the Children of Israel believe.’” Gabriel said: “By God, I feared that mercy might reach him.” So he pushed mud into Pharaoh’s mouth, fearing that repentance might be accepted from him.
It is said that Moses killed ʿŪj, son of ʿAnāq, with a blow of his staff. The bier of ʿŪj was three hundred cubits long and one hundred cubits wide. The staff of Moses was ten cubits, his leap was ten cubits, and his height was such‑and‑such. He struck ʿŪj on the ankle and killed him. They displayed his body on the Nile for a year so that the people could see his spine and ribs.
The Children of Israel had borrowed jewelry and clothing from the people of Pharaoh, saying:
“We have a festival to attend.” So Moses led them out by night, and they were six hundred thousand and three thousand and some. Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty‑three. This is the meaning of God’s words: “Pharaoh said: These are but a small band, and they have angered us.” Asad narrated from al‑Saʿdī, from ʿUbaydah: They left Egypt and reached the desert. Pharaoh said: “These are but a small band.”
Then Asad returned to the earlier narration: Pharaoh went out with eight hundred thousand soldiers, besides the cavalry and the elite troops. Abū Saʿīd narrated from ʿIkrimah: Pharaoh added forty thousand more, making them eight hundred and forty thousand. This is the meaning of God’s words: “He made his people follow him, and they obeyed him,” meaning, they obeyed him in pursuing Moses.
The Children of Israel, as ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated from Munkadir, from Ibn ʿAbbās, were one quarter of the people of Pharaoh. Asad narrated from Isrāʾīl, from Ittaqāq, from ʿIbrū ibn Maymūn: When Moses fled with the Children of Israel, Pharaoh ordered a sheep to be slaughtered. He commanded that it be skinned without tearing it, saying: “No one shall rejoice until one hundred thousand horsemen of the Copts gather before me.” They gathered, and Pharaoh said: “These are but a small band.”
The followers of Moses were six hundred and seventy thousand. Moses and his companions entered a dry path in the sea. When the last of Moses’ people had crossed, and the last of Pharaoh’s people had entered, the sea surged upon them. No trace of them remained beyond the darkness of a single day. Pharaoh drowned, and his body was cast upon the shore so that the people might see him.
Asad narrated from Khālid, from al‑Kalbī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās: When Moses reached the sea, Yūshaʿ ibn Nūn came on his horse and walked upon the water. The others drove their horses into the sea, and they swam. Pharaoh set out in pursuit at sunrise — as God says: “They followed them at sunrise.”
When the two groups saw one another, the companions of Moses said: “We are overtaken!” Moses called upon his Lord, and a cloud descended between them and their enemies. He was told: “Strike the sea with your staff.” He struck it, and it split, and each part became like a great mountain. There were twelve paths in it. They said: “We fear the mud will swallow us.” So Moses prayed, and the east wind blew and dried the ground. They said: “We fear some of us will drown without the others noticing.” So he struck the water again, and openings appeared between the paths so they could see one another. They crossed the sea.
Pharaoh reached the place where Moses had crossed, and the paths were still open. His advisers said: “Moses has bewitched the sea until it became as he wished.” So Pharaoh entered. Then God caused the sea to return as it had been; as He says: “And the sea closed over them.” Pharaoh and his armies drowned.
Asad narrated from Khālid, from al‑Kalbī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās: Gabriel came on a female horse, with thirty‑three thousand angels. He rode ahead of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh followed him. Gabriel slowed the pace of the Israelites, saying: “Let your last ones catch up with your first.” And he slowed the pace of Pharaoh’s army, saying: “Slow down, let your last ones catch up.” The Israelites said: “We have never seen a better guide than this!” And the people of Pharaoh said: “We have never seen a better driver than this!” They did not know it was Gabriel.
Asad narrated from Masʿūd ibn Bilāl, from Ḥammād ibn Salamah, from ʿAlī ibn Zayd, from Yūsuf ibn Mihrān, from ʿAṭāʾ: The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) said: “When God drowned Pharaoh, he said: ‘I believe that there is no god but the One in whom the Children of Israel believe.’” Gabriel said: “By God, I feared that mercy might reach him.” So he pushed mud into Pharaoh’s mouth, fearing that repentance might be accepted from him.
It is said that Moses killed ʿŪj, son of ʿAnāq, with a blow of his staff. The bier of ʿŪj was three hundred cubits long and one hundred cubits wide. The staff of Moses was ten cubits, his leap was ten cubits, and his height was such‑and‑such. He struck ʿŪj on the ankle and killed him. They displayed his body on the Nile for a year so that the people could see his spine and ribs.
The Story of Queen Dālūka
Then he returned to the narration of ʿUthmān and others, and said: After the drowning of Pharaoh and his people, Egypt was left with none of its nobles, not a single notable man remained. Only slaves, laborers, and the lowly classes were left. The women feared that no one among them was fit to rule, so they agreed among themselves to appoint one woman from among them. They chose a woman named Dālūka daughter of Zabāṭa. She possessed intelligence, knowledge, and experience, and she held a position of honor among them. At that time she was one hundred and sixty years old.
They appointed her as queen, and she feared that the kings of the earth would attack her. The noblewomen gathered before her, and she said to them: “Our land has never obeyed anyone unless he had power and authority. Now our nobles have perished, and the warriors who once protected us are gone. I see that we must build a rampart surrounding all our lands, and place defensive works on every side [for we are by no means certain whether men are not covetous of our things].” She continued: “I will build a great wall around Egypt, and place upon it watchtowers and fortifications. Before it I will dig a canal through which water will flow. I will raise bridges and irrigation channels. I will place guard‑posts and stations every three miles, each with a garrison and weapons. Between each major post I will place smaller guards at every mile. In every fortress I will station men and assign them provisions.”
She commanded them: “Let them signal one another with bells. If anyone approaches, let one bell strike another, and the alarm will travel swiftly along the line. They will investigate, and thus Egypt will be protected from whoever seeks to attack it.”
Others said: She completed this construction in six months. It is the wall known in Egypt as Jidār al‑ʿAkawīz (“The Wall of the Old Woman”). Many remains of it still survive in Upper Egypt.
They appointed her as queen, and she feared that the kings of the earth would attack her. The noblewomen gathered before her, and she said to them: “Our land has never obeyed anyone unless he had power and authority. Now our nobles have perished, and the warriors who once protected us are gone. I see that we must build a rampart surrounding all our lands, and place defensive works on every side [for we are by no means certain whether men are not covetous of our things].” She continued: “I will build a great wall around Egypt, and place upon it watchtowers and fortifications. Before it I will dig a canal through which water will flow. I will raise bridges and irrigation channels. I will place guard‑posts and stations every three miles, each with a garrison and weapons. Between each major post I will place smaller guards at every mile. In every fortress I will station men and assign them provisions.”
She commanded them: “Let them signal one another with bells. If anyone approaches, let one bell strike another, and the alarm will travel swiftly along the line. They will investigate, and thus Egypt will be protected from whoever seeks to attack it.”
Others said: She completed this construction in six months. It is the wall known in Egypt as Jidār al‑ʿAkawīz (“The Wall of the Old Woman”). Many remains of it still survive in Upper Egypt.
The Remainder of the Account
ʿUthmān ibn Ṣafā said in his narrative: There was an old sorceress named Tadhūra, and the people of Saqqara [variant: the witches] revered her and placed her above all others in knowledge and magic. So Dālūka, daughter of Rabbāh, sent for her and said: “We have now come to need your craft. We have fled to you, and we fear that the kings will covet our land. Raise for us a protection by which we may overcome those around us. For when Pharaoh was alive, we relied on him—so how now, when our great ones have perished and only the lesser remain? So Tadhūra built a temple in the middle of the city of Memphis, and made forty gates, each gate facing one of the four directions: the qibla (south), the sea (north), the west, and the east. She carved upon it images of horses, mules, lions, and ships, and placed upon it magical seals. [The work being done,] She said: “[I have now made for you something by which anyone who seeks you will be defeated from all sides, whether you are attacked by land or sea. This is a work that can serve as a fortress for you; with which you will also be able to survive.] Whoever intends harm against you, whether by land or sea, will be struck by these images. Whatever you do to the images will befall those who come against you.”
When the kings around Egypt heard that the land had fallen under the rule of women, they coveted it and marched toward it. When they approached the borders of Egypt, the images on the wall began to move. Whatever the invaders did to the images — cutting off the heads of the carved horses, gouging their eyes, piercing their bellies — the same happened to their own horses. If they came by ship or on foot, the same befell them.
The Egyptians were the most knowledgeable of people in sorcery and its workings, and the news spread among the nations.
When the kings around Egypt heard that the land had fallen under the rule of women, they coveted it and marched toward it. When they approached the borders of Egypt, the images on the wall began to move. Whatever the invaders did to the images — cutting off the heads of the carved horses, gouging their eyes, piercing their bellies — the same happened to their own horses. If they came by ship or on foot, the same befell them.
The Egyptians were the most knowledgeable of people in sorcery and its workings, and the news spread among the nations.
The Kings of Egypt After the Old Woman Dālūka
Then he returned to the narration of ʿUthmān and others, and said: When Pharaoh and those who drowned with him perished, none of the nobles of Egypt remained. Only slaves, laborers, and the lowly classes survived. The women could not bear to live without men, so one woman took her slave and married him, and another married her hired servant. They imposed conditions upon the men that no man should do anything without the permission of the women, and the men accepted this. Thus the rule of women prevailed over the men.
ʿUtaybah narrated from Ibn Lahīʿa, from Yazīd ibn Ḥumayrah: The Copts remained upon this custom until today, following the practice of those who came before them: No one buys or sells anything without saying, “Let me consult my wife.”
Dālūka ruled Egypt for twenty years, managing its affairs until a young man from the sons of its nobles grew up, a man named Darqun ibn Balūṭis. They appointed him king. Egypt remained prosperous under the administration of that old woman for four hundred years. Then Darqun ibn Balūṭis died, and his son Būdas ibn Darqun succeeded him. Būdas died, and his brother Luqās ibn Tadaras [variant: Bidādas] succeeded him. He ruled only three years before he died. Then his brother Marīnā ibn Marīnus succeeded him. When he died, his son Istibāris ibn Marīnā became king. He became tyrannical, arrogant, shed blood, and openly committed indecency. The people were angered and agreed to depose him. They removed him and pledged allegiance to a nobleman named Balūṭis ibn Manākīl, who ruled forty years. Balūṭis died, and his son Mālūs ibn Balūṭis succeeded him. Mālūs died, and his brother Manākīl ibn Balūṭis ruled for a time. He died, and his son Būlah ibn Manākīl succeeded him. He ruled one hundred and twenty years. He was the lame king who brought the king of Jerusalem to Egypt as a captive. Būlah gained great power in the land and reached the height of authority [to which no one had previously ascended since the time of Pharaoh. But afterwards he became proud; God killed the arrogant king. His horse tossed him to the ground, and with a broken neck he expired].
As Asad ibn Mūsā narrated from Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh: [When Sulaymān (Solomon) ibn Dāwūd died, his son Rehoboam reigned, whom the king of Egypt sought and killed. The golden palms, which Sulaymān had caused to be engraved, he found and took away.] He was the king whom Sulaymān ibn Dāwūd (peace be upon him) confronted. The king of Egypt came to him, debated with him, and Sulaymān took from him the daughter of the king.
A scholar from Egypt told me that the king who was deposed by the Egyptians was Būlah. Namely, he had summoned the administrator of the empire, as well as those to whom the necessities of life and salaries derived from the previous kings, and as if he considered this matter of great importance, he said to them: “I am in a position to ask you about certain matters; about which, if you teach me, I will increase your salaries, I will make your honors more distinguished; but if you do not please me about these, I will break your necks.” [To whom he (the administrator) said: “Ask alas! of us about any matters whatsoever.”] He said: “Tell us: What does God do every day? How many stars are in the sky? And how much does the sun diminish from a man’s lifespan each day?”
They asked for a month’s delay. Every day they went outside the city of Memphis and stood in the shade of a sycamore tree, discussing the matter with their companions. One day the keeper of the sycamore said: “I know what you seek. If you dress me like yourselves and mount me on one of your horses, I will answer in your stead.” They did so.
There was in the city a son of one of the former kings whose condition had worsened. The sycamore‑keeper [variant: baker] went to him and said: “Do you want the kingdom of your father?” He said: “Yes.” The sycamore‑keeper said: “I will bring it to you.” He gathered money for him, then went to Būlah and said: “I have the answers.” He said: “How many stars are in the sky?” The sycamore‑keeper brought a bag of dust, poured it out, and said: “As many as these grains — and who can count them?” He said: “How much does the sun diminish from a man’s life each day?” He said: “A qīrāṭ, for a man works from morning to night, and that is his wage.” He said: “What does God do every day?” He said: “I will show you tomorrow.”
He took him (the king) to one of his ministers whom he had secretly put in place as the sycamore‑keeper. He said: “God every day humbles some people and exalts some people, gives life to some and death to others. Among them is this: One of your ministers now works as a sycamore‑keeper, while I am riding the horse of kings and wearing their clothes. And the son of so‑and‑so has risen against you in Memphis.”
Būlah rushed back and found Memphis closed against him. The people had risen with the young man and deposed Būlah. He fled. [From that moment the king began to stammer, and as he sat before the gates of the city of Memphis, his tongue faltering, he stuttered. Hence the Copts have the saying, “so says the stammering king,” words they use of the king because of his stammering tongue, and which they utter when someone addresses them with speech they find hard to bear. God knows the matter best.] He was the king who ruled Egypt in the days of Joseph, peace be upon him.
Then he returned to the narration of ʿUthmān and others: After Būlah, his son Marīnus ruled for a time. He died, and his son Raqraqa [variant: Qarqurohus] ibn Marīnus ruled two years. He died, and his brother Luqās [variant: Liqāsus] ibn Marīnus succeeded him. Whenever a part of that barbā (the temple) in which the images were found collapsed, no one was able to repair it except that old woman, her son, and her son’s son. They belonged to a household known only for this craft; no one else knew how to do it. When that family line died out, the knowledge disappeared.
A section of the barbā collapsed in the days of Luqās ibn Marīnūs, and no one was able to repair it or to understand how it had been constructed. It remained in its ruined state, and the knowledge was lost. [They remained in the same condition, and when the one by whom men had been subjugated was gone, they became like the rest of mankind, except that most of them possessed great wealth.]
ʿUtaybah narrated from Ibn Lahīʿa, from Yazīd ibn Ḥumayrah: The Copts remained upon this custom until today, following the practice of those who came before them: No one buys or sells anything without saying, “Let me consult my wife.”
Dālūka ruled Egypt for twenty years, managing its affairs until a young man from the sons of its nobles grew up, a man named Darqun ibn Balūṭis. They appointed him king. Egypt remained prosperous under the administration of that old woman for four hundred years. Then Darqun ibn Balūṭis died, and his son Būdas ibn Darqun succeeded him. Būdas died, and his brother Luqās ibn Tadaras [variant: Bidādas] succeeded him. He ruled only three years before he died. Then his brother Marīnā ibn Marīnus succeeded him. When he died, his son Istibāris ibn Marīnā became king. He became tyrannical, arrogant, shed blood, and openly committed indecency. The people were angered and agreed to depose him. They removed him and pledged allegiance to a nobleman named Balūṭis ibn Manākīl, who ruled forty years. Balūṭis died, and his son Mālūs ibn Balūṭis succeeded him. Mālūs died, and his brother Manākīl ibn Balūṭis ruled for a time. He died, and his son Būlah ibn Manākīl succeeded him. He ruled one hundred and twenty years. He was the lame king who brought the king of Jerusalem to Egypt as a captive. Būlah gained great power in the land and reached the height of authority [to which no one had previously ascended since the time of Pharaoh. But afterwards he became proud; God killed the arrogant king. His horse tossed him to the ground, and with a broken neck he expired].
As Asad ibn Mūsā narrated from Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh: [When Sulaymān (Solomon) ibn Dāwūd died, his son Rehoboam reigned, whom the king of Egypt sought and killed. The golden palms, which Sulaymān had caused to be engraved, he found and took away.] He was the king whom Sulaymān ibn Dāwūd (peace be upon him) confronted. The king of Egypt came to him, debated with him, and Sulaymān took from him the daughter of the king.
A scholar from Egypt told me that the king who was deposed by the Egyptians was Būlah. Namely, he had summoned the administrator of the empire, as well as those to whom the necessities of life and salaries derived from the previous kings, and as if he considered this matter of great importance, he said to them: “I am in a position to ask you about certain matters; about which, if you teach me, I will increase your salaries, I will make your honors more distinguished; but if you do not please me about these, I will break your necks.” [To whom he (the administrator) said: “Ask alas! of us about any matters whatsoever.”] He said: “Tell us: What does God do every day? How many stars are in the sky? And how much does the sun diminish from a man’s lifespan each day?”
They asked for a month’s delay. Every day they went outside the city of Memphis and stood in the shade of a sycamore tree, discussing the matter with their companions. One day the keeper of the sycamore said: “I know what you seek. If you dress me like yourselves and mount me on one of your horses, I will answer in your stead.” They did so.
There was in the city a son of one of the former kings whose condition had worsened. The sycamore‑keeper [variant: baker] went to him and said: “Do you want the kingdom of your father?” He said: “Yes.” The sycamore‑keeper said: “I will bring it to you.” He gathered money for him, then went to Būlah and said: “I have the answers.” He said: “How many stars are in the sky?” The sycamore‑keeper brought a bag of dust, poured it out, and said: “As many as these grains — and who can count them?” He said: “How much does the sun diminish from a man’s life each day?” He said: “A qīrāṭ, for a man works from morning to night, and that is his wage.” He said: “What does God do every day?” He said: “I will show you tomorrow.”
He took him (the king) to one of his ministers whom he had secretly put in place as the sycamore‑keeper. He said: “God every day humbles some people and exalts some people, gives life to some and death to others. Among them is this: One of your ministers now works as a sycamore‑keeper, while I am riding the horse of kings and wearing their clothes. And the son of so‑and‑so has risen against you in Memphis.”
Būlah rushed back and found Memphis closed against him. The people had risen with the young man and deposed Būlah. He fled. [From that moment the king began to stammer, and as he sat before the gates of the city of Memphis, his tongue faltering, he stuttered. Hence the Copts have the saying, “so says the stammering king,” words they use of the king because of his stammering tongue, and which they utter when someone addresses them with speech they find hard to bear. God knows the matter best.] He was the king who ruled Egypt in the days of Joseph, peace be upon him.
Then he returned to the narration of ʿUthmān and others: After Būlah, his son Marīnus ruled for a time. He died, and his son Raqraqa [variant: Qarqurohus] ibn Marīnus ruled two years. He died, and his brother Luqās [variant: Liqāsus] ibn Marīnus succeeded him. Whenever a part of that barbā (the temple) in which the images were found collapsed, no one was able to repair it except that old woman, her son, and her son’s son. They belonged to a household known only for this craft; no one else knew how to do it. When that family line died out, the knowledge disappeared.
A section of the barbā collapsed in the days of Luqās ibn Marīnūs, and no one was able to repair it or to understand how it had been constructed. It remained in its ruined state, and the knowledge was lost. [They remained in the same condition, and when the one by whom men had been subjugated was gone, they became like the rest of mankind, except that most of them possessed great wealth.]
The Entry of Nebuchadnezzar into Egypt
Then Luqās died, and his son Qūmis ibn Luqās succeeded him. He ruled Egypt for a time. When Jerusalem was destroyed, as Wathīmah ibn Mūsā and others narrated, Nebuchadnezzar overcame the Children of Israel, captured them, and carried them to the land of Babylon. Jeremiah remained behind in the ruins of Jerusalem, weeping over it. The scattered remnants of the Children of Israel gathered to him when they heard he was still in Iliyāʾ (Jerusalem). They said to him: “We have come to you hoping you will intercede for us. We fear that Nebuchadnezzar will hear of us, for we are only a small band. Let us go to the king of Egypt and seek refuge with him, and enter under his protection.”
But God revealed to Jeremiah: “My covenant is not with Egypt. No one’s protection will avail you except Mine.” Yet the group insisted on going to Egypt. They sent messengers to Qūmis ibn Luqās, king of Egypt, saying: “Your servants, the people of prophecy and scripture, the children of the righteous, seek your protection. We have been wronged and driven from our homes. Grant us refuge.” Qūmis wrote back: “Come to me, all of you.”
But God revealed to Jeremiah: “I will send Nebuchadnezzar upon this king whom they have taken as a protector. If they had obeyed you, I would have spared them. But they have no refuge except obedience to Me.”
Jeremiah warned them: “If you do not obey, Nebuchadnezzar will enslave you and kill you. As a sign, I have seen the place where he will set his throne when he conquers Egypt.” Jeremiah went to that place and buried four stones there, saying: “Each leg of his throne will rest upon one of these stones.” But the people refused his counsel. Nebuchadnezzar marched against Qūmis ibn Luqās, king of Egypt. He besieged him for a year, then stormed the city, killed Qūmis, and enslaved all the people of Egypt. When he wished to kill the nobles, he set up his throne in the place Jeremiah had marked, and each leg of the throne fell exactly upon one of the buried stones.
Nebuchadnezzar brought the captives to Jeremiah and said: “Did you not remain with my enemies after I had spared you and honored you?” Jeremiah replied: “I came only to warn them. I told you beforehand what would happen, and I marked for you the place of your throne.” Nebuchadnezzar said: “What proof have you?” Jeremiah said: “Lift your throne.” When they lifted it, they found the stones exactly as he had said.
Nebuchadnezzar said: “If I thought there were any good in you, I would spare you.” Then he killed Jeremiah, destroyed the cities of Egypt, and enslaved all its people. He left no one in Egypt except wild beasts and hyenas. Egypt remained forty years in ruins, uninhabited except for the Nile, whose water flowed but was of no benefit. Jeremiah had planted a garden and lived from it, but God revealed to him: “You have other duties than farming in Egypt. How can you remain in a land upon which My wrath has fallen? Return to Jerusalem until your appointed time comes.” So Jeremiah left Egypt.
The scholars of Egypt say: Nebuchadnezzar ruled Egypt for forty years, and Egypt has remained subdued ever since.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al‑ʿĀṣ said: A man from Syria came to him. ʿAbd Allāh asked: “What brings you to our land?” He said: “You used to tell us that Egypt would be the quickest of lands to fall into ruin. Yet I see it flourishing.” ʿAbd Allāh said: “Its ruin has already passed — when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it. Now it is the most fertile of lands and the farthest from ruin. It will remain blessed as long as there is blessing anywhere on earth.”
But God revealed to Jeremiah: “My covenant is not with Egypt. No one’s protection will avail you except Mine.” Yet the group insisted on going to Egypt. They sent messengers to Qūmis ibn Luqās, king of Egypt, saying: “Your servants, the people of prophecy and scripture, the children of the righteous, seek your protection. We have been wronged and driven from our homes. Grant us refuge.” Qūmis wrote back: “Come to me, all of you.”
But God revealed to Jeremiah: “I will send Nebuchadnezzar upon this king whom they have taken as a protector. If they had obeyed you, I would have spared them. But they have no refuge except obedience to Me.”
Jeremiah warned them: “If you do not obey, Nebuchadnezzar will enslave you and kill you. As a sign, I have seen the place where he will set his throne when he conquers Egypt.” Jeremiah went to that place and buried four stones there, saying: “Each leg of his throne will rest upon one of these stones.” But the people refused his counsel. Nebuchadnezzar marched against Qūmis ibn Luqās, king of Egypt. He besieged him for a year, then stormed the city, killed Qūmis, and enslaved all the people of Egypt. When he wished to kill the nobles, he set up his throne in the place Jeremiah had marked, and each leg of the throne fell exactly upon one of the buried stones.
Nebuchadnezzar brought the captives to Jeremiah and said: “Did you not remain with my enemies after I had spared you and honored you?” Jeremiah replied: “I came only to warn them. I told you beforehand what would happen, and I marked for you the place of your throne.” Nebuchadnezzar said: “What proof have you?” Jeremiah said: “Lift your throne.” When they lifted it, they found the stones exactly as he had said.
Nebuchadnezzar said: “If I thought there were any good in you, I would spare you.” Then he killed Jeremiah, destroyed the cities of Egypt, and enslaved all its people. He left no one in Egypt except wild beasts and hyenas. Egypt remained forty years in ruins, uninhabited except for the Nile, whose water flowed but was of no benefit. Jeremiah had planted a garden and lived from it, but God revealed to him: “You have other duties than farming in Egypt. How can you remain in a land upon which My wrath has fallen? Return to Jerusalem until your appointed time comes.” So Jeremiah left Egypt.
The scholars of Egypt say: Nebuchadnezzar ruled Egypt for forty years, and Egypt has remained subdued ever since.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al‑ʿĀṣ said: A man from Syria came to him. ʿAbd Allāh asked: “What brings you to our land?” He said: “You used to tell us that Egypt would be the quickest of lands to fall into ruin. Yet I see it flourishing.” ʿAbd Allāh said: “Its ruin has already passed — when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it. Now it is the most fertile of lands and the farthest from ruin. It will remain blessed as long as there is blessing anywhere on earth.”
The Ancient Tax System of Egypt
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated from al‑Layth ibn Saʿd, from Ibn Qabīl: The elders of Egypt said: In the time of the ancient kings, the land was divided into four quarters: One quarter for the king, pure revenue for his treasury. One quarter for the army and those who protected the kingdom. One quarter for maintaining the land, canals, bridges, irrigation, and cultivation. One quarter was buried in each village as a reserve for travelers, guests, and emergencies. This buried quarter is the origin of the Treasures of Pharaoh that people speak of today.
[Variant: A certain scholar of the Egyptian people believed that what had been done in Egypt during the time of the kings was to establish villages under the power of their citizens, by entering into a contract of conduct with each city; which contract was not changed except every fourth year because of the dryness of the land and the loss of its wealth. After the fourth year, therefore, the agreement was changed, and a new method of compensation was instituted: whoever was worthy of kindness was treated kindly; whoever was worthy of a wage increase was given more; and nothing that would have been troublesome was imposed on any of them. When the tribute was collected and collected, a fourth part went to the king alone, which he was permitted to use at will; another fourth went to the army and those who helped him in waging wars and in collecting tribute and repelling the enemy; a third fourth was used to restore the land and for whatever other necessities demanded it: to build ramparts, dig ditches, build bridges, procure seeds for farmers, and cultivate the land. But of the fourth part that had befallen each city, a fourth was dug up in the city, to ward off misfortunes, if any had weighed on the scales of fate, or to ward off the needs of the city's inhabitants - in this condition of things they were. This quarter of the tribute, which was dug up in each city, is the treasures of Pharaoh, which men say will be returned to the desert, and searched by those who search for treasures.]
Abū al‑Aswad al‑Naḍr ibn ʿAbd Allāh narrated from Ibn Lahīʿa, from Ibn Qabīl: A man named Wardān came from the governor Muslimah ibn Mukhlad to ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr. He was digging for Pharaoh’s treasure. ʿAbd Allāh said: “Return to your governor and tell him: Pharaoh’s treasure is not for you nor for your companions. When the Abyssinians come in ships, they will land at Fusṭāṭ, march to the treasure, take what they wish, and say: ‘We desire no booty better than this.’ They will return, and the Muslims will pursue them. They will fight, and the Muslims will prevail, killing the Abyssinians and enslaving them, until an Abyssinian is sold for no more than a garment.”
[Variant: A certain scholar of the Egyptian people believed that what had been done in Egypt during the time of the kings was to establish villages under the power of their citizens, by entering into a contract of conduct with each city; which contract was not changed except every fourth year because of the dryness of the land and the loss of its wealth. After the fourth year, therefore, the agreement was changed, and a new method of compensation was instituted: whoever was worthy of kindness was treated kindly; whoever was worthy of a wage increase was given more; and nothing that would have been troublesome was imposed on any of them. When the tribute was collected and collected, a fourth part went to the king alone, which he was permitted to use at will; another fourth went to the army and those who helped him in waging wars and in collecting tribute and repelling the enemy; a third fourth was used to restore the land and for whatever other necessities demanded it: to build ramparts, dig ditches, build bridges, procure seeds for farmers, and cultivate the land. But of the fourth part that had befallen each city, a fourth was dug up in the city, to ward off misfortunes, if any had weighed on the scales of fate, or to ward off the needs of the city's inhabitants - in this condition of things they were. This quarter of the tribute, which was dug up in each city, is the treasures of Pharaoh, which men say will be returned to the desert, and searched by those who search for treasures.]
Abū al‑Aswad al‑Naḍr ibn ʿAbd Allāh narrated from Ibn Lahīʿa, from Ibn Qabīl: A man named Wardān came from the governor Muslimah ibn Mukhlad to ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr. He was digging for Pharaoh’s treasure. ʿAbd Allāh said: “Return to your governor and tell him: Pharaoh’s treasure is not for you nor for your companions. When the Abyssinians come in ships, they will land at Fusṭāṭ, march to the treasure, take what they wish, and say: ‘We desire no booty better than this.’ They will return, and the Muslims will pursue them. They will fight, and the Muslims will prevail, killing the Abyssinians and enslaving them, until an Abyssinian is sold for no more than a garment.”
The Appearance of the Romans and the Persians Over Egypt
[The Romans waged war on the Egyptian people for three years.] They besieged the Egyptians and fought them by land and sea. When the Egyptians saw this, they made peace with the Romans on the condition that: They would give the Romans each year a certain number of captives, and that the Romans would protect them and grant them their covenant. Then Persia rose against the Romans. When the Persians conquered Syria, they desired Egypt and coveted it. The Egyptians resisted them and sought the protection of the Romans, who defended them.
When the Romans feared that Persia would overpower them, they made peace with Persia on the same terms the Egyptians had agreed to with the Romans. The Romans accepted this, fearing the rise of Persia. Thus Egypt remained under this shared treaty between Rome and Persia. The war between Rome and Persia lasted seven years. Then the Romans recovered and united against Persia with reinforcements until they defeated them, destroyed their fortresses, and ruined their settlements in Syria and Egypt.
This occurred during the lifetime of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him), before his migration and after the appearance of Islam. Thus all of Syria and all of Egypt became purely Roman territory, and Persia had no share in either.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated from al‑Layth ibn Saʿd, from ʿAqīl ibn Khālid, from Ibn Shihāb: The pagans of Mecca used to argue with the Muslims, saying: “The Romans are people of scripture, and the Persians are fire‑worshipers. You claim you will prevail by the book revealed to your Prophet, yet Persia has defeated Rome.” So God revealed: “The Romans have been defeated in the nearest land. But after their defeat, they will be victorious within a few years. To God belongs the command before and after. And on that day the believers will rejoice in the victory of God. He gives victory to whom He wills.”
Ibn Shihāb said: “I heard from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās and Ibn Masʿūd that when these verses were revealed, Abū Bakr wagered with some of the polytheists, before gambling was forbidden, that the Romans would defeat the Persians within seven years. The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) said to him: “Why did you set the term at seven? ‘A few years’ is anything less than ten.”
The Persians had defeated the Romans in seven years, and then God gave victory to the Romans over Persia in the year of al‑Ḥudaybiyyah, and the Muslims rejoiced at the victory of the People of the Book. ʿUthmān ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated from al‑Layth: The Persians had begun building the fortress of Babylon, the one whose remains stand today near Fusṭāṭ. When the Romans drove the Persians out of Syria, they completed the building of that fortress. Egypt remained under Roman rule until God opened it for the Muslims.
Saʿīd ibn Tālīd narrated from Ibn Wahb, from Ibn Lahīʿa: It was said: “Persia and Rome are the Quraysh of the non‑Arabs.”
[…]
When the Romans feared that Persia would overpower them, they made peace with Persia on the same terms the Egyptians had agreed to with the Romans. The Romans accepted this, fearing the rise of Persia. Thus Egypt remained under this shared treaty between Rome and Persia. The war between Rome and Persia lasted seven years. Then the Romans recovered and united against Persia with reinforcements until they defeated them, destroyed their fortresses, and ruined their settlements in Syria and Egypt.
This occurred during the lifetime of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him), before his migration and after the appearance of Islam. Thus all of Syria and all of Egypt became purely Roman territory, and Persia had no share in either.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated from al‑Layth ibn Saʿd, from ʿAqīl ibn Khālid, from Ibn Shihāb: The pagans of Mecca used to argue with the Muslims, saying: “The Romans are people of scripture, and the Persians are fire‑worshipers. You claim you will prevail by the book revealed to your Prophet, yet Persia has defeated Rome.” So God revealed: “The Romans have been defeated in the nearest land. But after their defeat, they will be victorious within a few years. To God belongs the command before and after. And on that day the believers will rejoice in the victory of God. He gives victory to whom He wills.”
Ibn Shihāb said: “I heard from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās and Ibn Masʿūd that when these verses were revealed, Abū Bakr wagered with some of the polytheists, before gambling was forbidden, that the Romans would defeat the Persians within seven years. The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) said to him: “Why did you set the term at seven? ‘A few years’ is anything less than ten.”
The Persians had defeated the Romans in seven years, and then God gave victory to the Romans over Persia in the year of al‑Ḥudaybiyyah, and the Muslims rejoiced at the victory of the People of the Book. ʿUthmān ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated from al‑Layth: The Persians had begun building the fortress of Babylon, the one whose remains stand today near Fusṭāṭ. When the Romans drove the Persians out of Syria, they completed the building of that fortress. Egypt remained under Roman rule until God opened it for the Muslims.
Saʿīd ibn Tālīd narrated from Ibn Wahb, from Ibn Lahīʿa: It was said: “Persia and Rome are the Quraysh of the non‑Arabs.”
[…]
The Story of the Building of Alexandria
[…] It has been said that the pyramids were built in the time of Shaddād b. ʿĀd, as is mentioned on the authority of some transmitters; but I have not found among any of the people of knowledge in Egypt any report about the pyramids that can be regarded as reliable. […]
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Sources: Ibn ‘Abd al-Hakam, The History of the Conquest of Egypt North Africa, and Spain, ed. and trans. Charles C. Torrey (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1922); Ibn Abdolhakami, Libellus de historia Aegypti antiqua, trans. and ed. Dr. Karle (Göttingen: Sumptibus Dieterichianis, 1856); U. Bouriant, Description topographique et historique de l'Égypte, vols. 1-2 (E. Leroux, 1895 and 1900).
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