Zabur
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Zabur (Arabic: زبور) is the holy book of the Sebo'un (Ar:صابؤون, Grk:Σεβομενοι) which is equated by some scholars with Psalms, is, according to Islam, one of the holy books revealed by God before the Qur'an (the others mentioned in the Quran being the Tawrat and Injil).
This term zabur is the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew zimra, meaning "song, music." It, along with zamir ("song") and mizmor ("psalm"), is a derivative of zamar, meaning "sing, sing praise, make music."[1]
Introduction
The Zabur is a collection of ancient hymns and spiritual songs. They were originally written to be sung, not just to be recited or read. According to Islamic tradition, the Zabur was the worship book used in Solomon's Holy House in Jerusalem (that is, Solomon's Temple). Often it is called Dawud's Zabur (or the Psalms of David). This is not intended to imply that David wrote all of the Zabur, because Islamic scholarship sees several prophets and holy men as having contributed to the Zabur. More of the Zabur is attributed to David than to anyone else. Others to whom parts of the Zabur are attributed include Musa, Uzair, Sulayman, Ethan, Heman, and Asaph. Many of the chapters state at the beginning who wrote that particular chapter. The Zabur contains 150 chapters or songs which are broken down into 5 sections as follows:
First Section -- chapters 1 to 41
Second Section -- chapters 42 to 72
Third Section -- chapters 73 to 89
Fourth Section -- chapters 90 to 106
Fifth Section -- chapters 107 to 150
Mention of Zabur in the Qur'an
In the Qur'an, the Zabur is mentioned by name only three times. The Qur'an itself says nothing about the Zabur specifically except that it was revealed to David, king of Israel and that in Zabur is written "My servants the righteous, shall inherit the earth". Used translation Yusuf-Ali:
- We have sent thee inspiration, as We sent it to Noah and the Apostle after him: we sent inspiration to Ibrahim (Abraham), Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, to Isa (Jesus), Job, Yunus (Jonah), Harun (Aaron) and Sulaiman (Solomon), and to David We gave the Psalms. (4:163)
- And it is your Lord that knoweth best all beings that are in the heavens and on earth: We did bestow on some prophets more (and other) gifts than on others: and We gave to David (the gift of) the Psalms. (17:55)
- Before this We wrote in the Psalms, after the Message (given to Moses): My servants the righteous, shall inherit the earth." (21:105)
Parallel of Surah 21:105 with Psalms
The last reference is of interest because of the quotation from Psalm 37 verse 29 which says, "The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell therein for ever" (King James Version).
According to Ahrens (1930) the last reference is quoted from Psalms [2]. He says that the verse in Qu'ran reads "We have written in the Zabur after the reminder that My righteous servants shall inherit the earth." His conclusion is that this verse represent a close and rare linguistic parallel with the Hebrew Bible and more pointedly, with Psalm 37 ascribed specifically to David (see verses 9, 11, 29 which refer to the meek, the righteous or “those who wait upon the Lord” as they who shall inherit the earth)
Many Muslims scholars think that it also has reference to Exodus 32:13, which reads "Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swearest by thine own self and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed and they shall inherit it for ever" (KJV)
Zabur in Hadith
One hadith, considered valid by Bukhari, says: Narrated Abu Huraira, Muhammad (peace be upon him) said,
- "The reciting of the Zabur was made easy for David. He used to order that his riding animals be saddled, and would finish reciting the Zabur before they were saddled. And he would never eat but from the earnings of his manual work."
Zabur and Kethubim
A well-known Christian apologist, C. G. Pfander went as far to say that the Qur'an's reference to the Psalms is actually a reference to the third division of the Hebrew Scriptures, known as the Writings or Kethubim.[3]
Ancient South Arabian cursive script
Zabur is also the modern name which scholars have given to the ancient South Arabian cursive script that was used by the ancient Yemenis (Sabaeans) in addition to their monumental script (or Musnad) (see, e.g., Ryckmans, J., Müller, W. W., and ‛Abdallah, Yu., Textes du Yémen Antique inscrits sur bois. Louvain-la-Neuve, 1994 (Publications de l'Institut Orientaliste de Louvain, 43)).
External links
See also
Notes
^ Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, vol. 1, pg. 245.
^ K. Ahrens, Christliches im Qoran, in ZDMG , lxxxiv (1930), 29
^ C. G. Pfander, The Balance of Truth, pg. 51