Idris (prophet)

Idris (Arabic: إدريس, romanized: ʾIdrīs) is an ancient prophet mentioned in the Quran, who Muslims believe was the third prophet after Seth.^[1][2] He is the second prophet mentioned in the Quran. Islamic tradition has unanimously identified Idris with the biblical Enoch.^[3][4] Many Muslim scholars of the classical and medieval periods held that Idris and Hermes Trismegistus were the same person.^[5][6]

Prophet Idris
Born	Babylon, Iraq^[a]
Title	Prophet
Predecessor	Shith^[a]
Successor	Nuh^[a]

Idris Instructing his Children, Double page from the manuscript of Qisas al-Anbiya by Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al-Nishapuri. Iran (probably Qazvin), 1570–80. Chester Beatty Library.

He is described in the Quran as "trustworthy" and "patient"^[7] and the Quran also says that he was "exalted to a high station".^[8][9] Because of this and other parallels, traditionally Idris has been identified with the biblical Enoch,^[10] and Islamic tradition usually places Idris in the early Generations of Adam, and considers him one of the oldest prophets mentioned in the Quran, placing him between Adam and Noah.^[11] Idris' unique status^[12] inspired many future traditions and stories surrounding him in Islamic folklore.

According to hadith, narrated by Malik ibn Anas and found in Sahih Muslim, it is said that on Muhammad's Night Journey, he encountered Idris in the fourth heaven.^[13] The traditions that have developed around the figure of Idris have given him the scope of a prophet as well as a philosopher and mystic,^[14] and many later Muslim mystics, or Sufis, including Ruzbihan Baqli and Ibn Arabi, also mentioned having encountered Idris in their spiritual visions.^[15]

Name

The name Idris (إدريس) has been described as perhaps having the origin of meaning "interpreter".^[16] Traditionally, Islam holds the prophet as having functioned an interpretive and mystical role and therefore this meaning garnered a general acceptance. Later Muslim sources, those of the eighth century, began to hold that Idris had two names, "Idris" and "Enoch", and other sources even stated that "Idris' true name is Enoch and that he is called Idris in Arabic because of his devotion to the study of the sacred books of his ancestors Adam and Seth".^[17] Therefore, these later sources also highlighted Idris as either meaning "interpreter" or having some meaning close to that of an interpretive role. Several of the classical commentators on the Quran, such as Al-Baizawi, said he was "called Idris from the Arabic dars, meaning "to study", from his knowledge of divine mysteries".^[18]

Quran

Idris is mentioned twice in the Quran, where he is described as a wise man.

In surah 19 of the Quran, Maryam, God says:

Also mention in the Book the case of Idris: He was a man of truth (and sincerity), (and) a prophet:
And We raised him to an exalted place.

— Quran 19:56–57 ^{(Yusuf Ali)}

Later, in surah 21, al-Anbiya, Idris is again praised:

And (remember) Isma'il, Idris, and Dhu al-Kifl,^[19] all (men) of constancy and patience;
We admitted them to Our mercy: for they were of the righteous ones.

— Quran 21:85–86 ^{(Yusuf Ali)}

Muslim literature

According to later Muslim writings, Idris was born in Babylon, a city in present-day Iraq. Before he received the Revelation, he followed the rules revealed to Prophet Seth, the son of Adam. When Idris grew older, God bestowed Prophethood on him. During his lifetime all the people were not yet Muslims. Afterwards, Idris left his hometown of Babylon because a great number of the people committed many sins even after he told them not to do so. Some of his people left with Idris. It was hard for them to leave their home.

They asked Prophet Idris: "If we leave Babylon, where will we find a place like it?". Prophet Idris said: "If we immigrate for the sake of Allah, He will provide for us". So the people went with Prophet Idris and they reached the land of Egypt. They saw the Nile River. Idris stood at its bank and mentioned Allah, the Exalted, by saying: "SubhanAllah".^[20]

Islamic literature narrates that Idris was made prophet at around 40, which parallels the age when Muhammad began to prophesy, and lived during a time when people had begun to worship fire.^[21] Exegesis embellishes upon the lifetime of Idris, and states that the prophet divided his time into two. For three days of the week, Idris would preach to his people and four days he would devote solely to the worship of God.^[21] Many early commentators, such as al-Tabari,^[22] credited Idris with possessing great wisdom and knowledge.

Exegesis narrates that Idris was among "the first men to use the pen as well as being one of the first men to observe the movement of the stars and set out scientific weights and measures".^[21] These attributes remain consistent with the identification of Enoch with Idris, as these attributes make it clear that Idris would have most probably lived during the Generations of Adam,^[21] the same era during which Enoch lived. Ibn Arabi described Idris as the "prophet of the philosophers" and a number of works were attributed to him.^[23] Some scholars wrote commentaries on these supposed works,^[24] all while Idris was also credited with several inventions, including the art of making garments.^[23]

The commentator Ibn Ishaq narrated that he was the first man to write with a pen and that he was born when Adam still had 308 years of his life to live ^{[citation needed]}. In his commentary on the Quranic verses 19:56–57, the commentator Ibn Kathir narrated "During the Night Journey, the Prophet passed by him in fourth heaven. In a hadith, Ibn Abbas asked Ka'b what was meant by the part of the verse which says, "And We raised him to a high station". Ka'b explained: Allah revealed to Idris: 'I would raise for you every day the same amount of the deeds of all Adam's children' – perhaps meaning of his time only. So Idris wanted to increase his deeds and devotion. A friend of his from the angels visited and Idris said to him: 'Allah has revealed to me such and such, so could you please speak to the angel of death, so I could increase my deeds'. The angel carried him on his wings and went up into the heavens. When they reached the fourth heaven, they met the angel of death who was descending down towards earth. The angel spoke to him about what Idris had spoken to him before. The angel of death said: 'But where is Idris?'. He replied, 'He is upon my back'. The angel of death said: 'How astonishing! I was sent and told to seize his soul in the fourth heaven. I kept thinking how I could seize it in the fourth heaven when he was on the earth?'. Then he took his soul out of his body, and that is what is meant by the verse: 'And We raised him to a high station'.^[25]

Early accounts of Idris' life attributed "thirty portions of revealed scripture" to him.^[18] Therefore, Idris was understood by many early commentators to be both a prophet as well as a messenger. Several modern commentators have linked this sentiment with Biblical apocrypha such as the Book of Enoch and the Second Book of Enoch.^[18]

Identification

Enoch

 

Elijah and Enoch – seventeenth-century icon, Historic Museum in Sanok, Poland

Idris is generally accepted to be the same as Enoch, the patriarch who lived in the Generations of Adam. Many Qur'anic commentators, such as al-Tabari and Qadi Baydawi, identified Idris with Enoch. Baizawi said, "Idris was of the posterity of Seth and a forefather of Noah, and his name was Enoch (Ar. Akhnukh)".^[18] Bursalı İsmail Hakkı's commentary on Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam by Ibn Arabi.^[26]

Modern scholars, however, do not concur with this identification because they argue that it lacks definitive proof. As translator Abdullah Yusuf Ali says in note 2508 of his translation of the Quran:

Idris is mentioned twice in the Quran, viz., here and in Chapter 21, verse 85, where he is mentioned as among those who patiently persevered. His identification with the Biblical Enoch, may or may not be correct. Nor are we justified in interpreting verse 57 here as meaning the same thing as in Genesis, v. 24 ("God took him"), that he was taken up without passing through the portals of death. All we are told is he was a man of truth and sincerity, and a prophet, and that he had a high position among his people.

— Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary^[27]

With this identification, Idris's father becomes Yarid (يريد), his mother Barkanah, and his wife Aadanah. Idris's son Methuselah would eventually be the grandfather of Nuh (Noah). Hence Idris is identified as the great-grandfather of Noah.^[28]

Hermes Trismegistus

Antoine Faivre, in The Eternal Hermes (1995), has pointed out that Hermes Trismegistus (a syncretic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth)^[29] has a place in the Islamic tradition, although the name Hermes does not appear in the Quran. Hagiographers and chroniclers of the first centuries of the Islamic Hijrah quickly identified Hermes Trismegistus with Idris,^[30] the Prophet of Surah 19.56–57 and 21.85, whom the Arabs also identified with Enoch (cf. Genesis 5.18–24). Idris/Hermes was termed "Thrice-Wise" Hermes Trismegistus because he had a threefold origin. The first Hermes, comparable to Thoth, was a "civilizing hero", an initiator into the mysteries of the divine science and wisdom that animate the world; he carved the principles of this sacred science in Egyptian hieroglyphs. The second Hermes, in Babylon, was the initiator of Pythagoras. The third Hermes was the first teacher of alchemy. "A faceless prophet", writes the Islamicist Pierre Lory, "Hermes possesses no concrete or salient characteristics, differing in this regard from most of the major figures of the Bible and the Quran".^[31] A common interpretation of the representation of "Trismegistus" as "thrice great" recalls the three characterizations of Idris: as a messenger of god, or a prophet; as a source of wisdom, or hikmet (wisdom from hokhmah); and as a king of the world order, or a "sultanate". These are referred to as müselles bin ni'me.

The star-worshipping sect known as the Sabians of Harran also believed that their doctrine descended from Hermes Trismegistus.^[32]

Other identifications

Due to the linguistic dissimilarities of the name "Idris" with the aforementioned figures, several historians have proposed that this Quranic figure is derived from "Andreas", the immortality-achieving cook from the Syriac Alexander romance.^[33][34][35] In addition, historian Patricia Crone proposes that both "Idris" and "Andreas" are derived from the Akkadian epic of Atra-Hasis.^[36]

See also

• Biblical narratives and the Quran
• Legends and the Quran
• Muhammad in Islam
• Prophets of Islam
• Stories of the prophets

Notes

1. Assuming Idris is identical with Enoch.

References

1. Kīsāʾī, Qiṣaṣ, i, 81-5
2. "İDRÎS - TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi". islamansiklopedisi.org.tr. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
3. Erder, Yoram, “Idrīs”, in: Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington DC.
4. P. S. Alexander, "Jewish tradition in early Islam: The case of Enoch/Idrīs," in G. R. Hawting, J. A. Mojaddedi and A. Samely (eds.), Studies in Islamic and Middle Eastern texts and traditions in memory of Norman Calder ( jss Supp. 12), Oxford 2000, 11-29
5. W.F. Albright, Review of Th. Boylan, The hermes of Egypt, in Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society 2 (1922), 190-8
6. H. T. Halman, "Idris," in Holy People of the World: A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia (ABC-CLIO, 2004), p. 388
7. Qur'an 19:56-57 and Qur'an 21:85-86
8. Quran 19:56–57
9. Encyclopedia of Islam, "Idris", Juan Eduardo Campo, Infobase Publishing, 2009, pg. 344
10. Encyclopedia of Islam, Juan Eduardo Campo, Infobase Publishing, 2009, pg. 559
11. Encyclopedia of Islam, Juan Eduardo Campo, Infobase Publishing, 2009, pg. 344: (His translation made him) "Islamic tradition places him sometime between Adam and Noah."
12. Encyclopedia of Islam, Juan Eduardo Campo, Infobase Publishing, 2009, pg. 344: (His translation made him) "a unique human being."
13. Sahih Muslim 162a; 164a
14. Wheeler, Historical Dictionary of the Prophets in Islam and Judaism, Idris, pg. 148
15. Encyclopedia of Islam, Juan Eduardo Campo, Infobase Publishing, 2009, pg. 345"
16. Encyclopedia of Islam, Infobase Publishing, 2009, pg. 344: "It probably originated as a term in ancient Hebrew for "interpreter"..."
17. Encyclopedia of Islam, Juan Eduardo Campo, Infobase Publishing, 2009, pg. 344
18. A Dictionary of Islam, T.P. Hughes, Ashraf Printing Press, repr. 1989, pg. 192
19. See Ezekiel
20. . www.alsunna.org. Archived from the original on 2010-07-08.
21. Lives of the Prophets, Leila Azzam
22. History of the Prophets and Kings, Tabari, Volume I: Prophets and Patriarchs
23. Encyclopedia of Islam, G. Vajda, Idris
24. Ibn Sabi'n is said to have written on one of Idris's works cf. Hajiji Khalifa, iii, 599, no. 7010
25. Tafsir Ibn Kathir; commentary 19:56-57
26. Zaid H. Assfy Islam and Christianity: connections and contrasts, together with the stories of the prophets and imams Sessions, 1977 p122
27. Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary C2508. Idris is mentioned twice in the Quran, viz.; here and in 21:85, where he is mentioned among those who patiently persevered. His identification with the Biblical Enoch, who "'walked with God' (Gen. 5:21-24), may or may not be correct. Nor are we justified in interpreting verse 57 here as meaning the same thing as in Gen. 5:24 ("God took him"), that he was taken up without passing through the portals of death. All we are told is that he was a man of truth and sincerity, and a prophet, and that he had a high position among his people. It is this point which brings him in the series of men just mentioned; he kept himself in touch with his people, and was honoured among them. Spiritual progress need not cut us off from our people, for we have to help and guide them. He kept to truth and piety in the highest station.
28. "Hazrat Idrees / Enoch (علیہ السلام) - Biography".
29. A survey of the literary and archaeological evidence for the background of Hermes Trismegistus in the Greek Hermes and the Egyptian Thoth may be found in Bull, Christian H. (2018). The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus: The Egyptian Priestly Figure as a Teacher of Hellenized Wisdom. Religions in the Graeco-Roman World: 186. Leiden: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004370845. ISBN 978-90-04-37084-5. S2CID 165266222. pp. 33–96.
30. Van Bladel, Kevin (2009). The Arabic Hermes: From Pagan Sage to Prophet of Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195376135.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-537613-5. p. 168: "Abu Mas'har’s biography of Hermes, written approximately between 840 and 860, would establish it as common knowledge."
31. (Faivre 1995 pp. 19–20)
32. Stapleton, Henry E.; Azo, R.F.; Hidayat Husain, M. (1927). "Chemistry in Iraq and Persia in the Tenth Century A.D." Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. VIII (6): 317–418. OCLC 706947607. pp. 398–403.
33. Çakmak, Çenap. Islam: A World Encyclopedia, Vol. 1: A-E. 2017. p 674-675.
34. Brown, John Porter. The Darvishes: Or Oriental Spiritualism. Edited by H. A. Rose. 1968. p 174, footnote 3.
35. Brinner, William M. The History of Al-Tabari, Vol. III. Edited by Ehsan Yar-Shater. 1991. p 415, footnote 11.
36. Crone, Patricia. Islam, the Near East, and Varieties of Godlessness: Collected Studies in Three Volumes, Vol. III. Edited by Hanna Siurua. 2016. p 49-70.

Bibliography

• Ibn Khaldun, Mukkadimma, tr. Rosenthal, i, 229, 240, n. 372; ii, 317, 328, 367ff.; iii, 213
• Ya'kubi, i, 9
• Kissat Idris, c. 1500, MS Paris, Bibl. Nat. Arabic 1947
• Djahiz, Tarbi, ed. Pellat, 26/40
• Sahih Bukhari, Prayer, I, Krehl, i, 99-100; Prophets, 4, Krehl, ii, 335
• A.E. Affifi, Mystical Philosophy of Ibn Arabi, Cambridge, 1939, 21, 110
• Tabari, History of the Prophets and Kings, I: From Creation to Flood, 172-177
• Balami, tr. Zotenberg, i, 95-99
• Tabari, Tafsir Tabari, xvi, 63ff., xvii, 52
• Masudi, Murudj, i, 73
• D. Chwolsson, Die Ssabier und der Sabismus, St. Petersburg, 1856

External links