Jabal Dabub Inscription

The Jabal Ḏabūb inscription (also known as Jabal Ḏabūb 1) is a South Arabian graffito inscription composed in a minuscule variant of the late Sabaic language and dates to the 6th century, notable for the appearance of a pre-Islamic variant of the Basmala. It was found on a rocky facade at the top of the eastern topside of mount Thaboob in the Dhale region of Yemen and first published in 2018 by M.A. Al-Hajj and A.A. Faqʿas.

Content

The inscription is two lines long. The ''editio princeps'' reads:

bs¹mlh , rḥmn , rḥmn , rb , s¹mwt
rn , mfḍlk , wʾṯrn , mḫh , s²kmt ʾymn

Dating

The inscription is paleographically dated to the latest phase of South Arabian documentation, in the 6th century or early 7th century, but is considered pre-Islamic or paleo-Islamic given its lack of standardized Arabic phraseology known from early Islamic inscriptions, especially in the early Islamic graffiti.

Interpretation and significance

The ''editio princeps'' interpreted the inscription as follows:

بسم للاه الرحمن الرحيم ربه السمواته الرزاق ) الذيه( مفضلك ) أيها االنسان( والمردف نعمهه عليكه ) بأنه( أعطاك االيمانه

بسم للاه الرحمن الرحيم ربه السمواته (أسألكه( الرزق من فضلك وأن تمنحه عقله ) قبلهه( قوة)حالوة( االيمان

A later study offered a revised reading:

بسم الله الرحمن

ارحمنا رب السموات

ارزقنا من فضلك

و آترنا مخّه سكمت ايامنا

And in English:

In the name of Allāh, the Raḥmān

have mercy upon us, O lord of the heavens

satisfy us by means of your favor

and grant us the essence of it at the end/gift of our days

The author may have been Jewish. Significantly, this inscription contains a pre-Islamic Arabian reference to the Basmala, invoking the monotheistic deity Rahmanan. However, while this inscription is apparently the first attested case where "In the name of Allāh/God" is combined with "the Merciful," the Qur'anic form of the Basmalah contains a phraseological expansion into a tripartite form to include the final adjective ''al-raḥīm''. It is possible that this expansion was made to facilitate the common Qur’anic rhyme ''ī/ū'' + ''m/n''.

The request, "have mercy upon us, O lord of the heavens" resembles the biblical phrase "Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us" in Psalm 123:3. Likewise, the request to "grant us the essence of it at the end of our days" may also be a reference to another Psalmic passage, where the reader asks "So teach us to number our days, that we may obtain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12). The particular phrasing of ''rabb al-samāwāt'' is also known from the Quran (''rabbu s-samāwāti wa-l-ʾarḍi'', Q 19:65). In its use of both the terms "Allāh," which was the proper name of the one monotheistic God in pre-Islamic North Arabia, and "Rahmān," the proper name of the one South Arabian monotheistic God, this inscription may reflect a syncretism that resulted from an alliance between multiple Arabian tribes to symbolize their political unity.

Alongside the ʿAbd- Shams inscription and the Ri al-Zallalah inscription, the Jabal Dabub inscription implies that the use of the term ''rabb'' was widely used by Arabian monotheists.

See also

* Monotheism in pre-Islamic Arabia
* Hanifs
* Namara inscription
* Ri al-Zallalah inscription

References

{{Reflist

External links

Jabab Dabul 1 (Corpus of Late Sabaic Inscriptions)

6th-century inscriptions
Articles containing Sabaean-language text
Sabaean inscriptions
Pre-Islamic Arabian inscriptions