Map depicting the original junds (approximate boundaries), and the important towns
and Arab tribes of Bilad al-Sham in the 640s - from Wikipedia
Introduction & Summary
As two early opponents of Muhammad embarked on a trip to Syria, they met a hermit. The hermit told of a
prophet who would be sent to Arabia (?). The sign of the Prophets' arrival
would be an earthquake in Syria which would bring "evil and disaster". Later in their trip, the travelers met a horseman who related that an earthquake struck Syria
bringing "evil and disaster". This was apparently taken by the author(s) of this story as a sign that the Prophet being sent was Muhammad.
Ambraseys (2009) dates the story to between 613 and 622 CE.
It should be mentioned that Syria at this time would have been Bilad al-Sham.
Bilad al-Sham (analogous to Greater Syria) was a super province of the Rashudin, Umayyad, Abbassid,
and Fatimid caliphates and included the southern Levant. Since the story indicates that the two travelers received their information while still in Arabia,
the epicentral location is unknown. Hence, if this describes a real earthquake, the search for evidence should cover a wide area.
In an apparently theologically motivated passage, two early opponents of Muhammad received news
while traveling that there had been an earthquake in Syria - which was supposed to be a sign that a Prophet had been sent.
The earthquake report is neither well dated not well located. It specifies the location as Syria -
which is Greater Syria (Bilad ash-Shâm).
According to Ambraseys (2009)
the two early opponents would have made this trip between 613 and 622 CE.
Text (with hotlink)
Original Language
Biographical Info
Religion
Date of Composition
Location Composed
Notes
Al-Khasais-ul-Kubra (4-5) by As-Suyuti
كفاية الطالب اللبيب في خصائص الحبيب by عبد الرحمن بن كمال الدين أبي بكر بن محمد سابق الدين خضر الخضيري الأسيوطي
Aliases
Author
Aliases
Arabic
Al-Suyuti
As-Suyuti
Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti
Abu 'l-Fadl 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr ibn Muhammad Djalal al_Din al-Khudayri
Title
Aliases
Arabic
Kifayat al-Talib al-Labib fi Khasa'is al-Habib
كفاية الطالب اللبيب في خصائص الحبيب
al-Khasa'is al-Kubra
الخصائص الكبرى
Background and Biography
Background and Biography
Maps
Maps
Map of Greater Syria with original junds from Wikipedia
Map depicting the original junds (approximate boundaries), and the important towns
and Arab tribes of Bilad al-Shâm in the 640s
‘Al-Bayhaqi [an eleventh-century traditionist] published the following
translation in his work called The Proofs of Prophethood,
on the authority of Marwan b. al-Hakam ( . . . ), that Abu Sufyan
and Umayya b. al-Salt had set off for Syria;
we met a hermit, who
told us that a Prophet would be sent, the sign of which is that Syria
has been shaken by earthquakes 24 times [alternative readings:
80 or 200 times] since Jesus son of Mary, and one earthquake
remains, which will cause evil and disaster in Syria. When we
reached Thaniyya [Midran, between Medina and
Tabuk], we saw
a horseman. We asked him where he came from and he replied,
‘Syria’. We asked him if anything had happened, and he said,
‘Yes, Syria has been affected by an earthquake, which has caused
evil and disaster.’.
(al-Suyuti Kashf 4–5).
English from a French Translation of As-Suyuti's Earthquake Catalog (Kashf) by Nejjar (1973-1974)
Al-Baihaqt (20) published the following tradition in
Dalâ'il an-Nubuwwa, [The Proofs of Prophethood] through the medium of
Marwân Ibn Al-H'akam, according to Mu'âwiyya Ibn Abî Sufyan (21) who said:
Abû Sufyan Ibn H'arb (22) transmitted this to me:
We had left for
Shâm,
myself and Umayya Ibn Abî aç-Çalt (23) when we encountered
a hermit who told us that a prophet was going to be sent33 and the sign
of his arrival is that
Shâm
(24) has been shaken by earthquakes eighty times34
(25) after Jesus son of Mary, and there would remain an [one?] earthquake which will bring misfortunes and
catastrophes35 to Shâm. When we we were near36 Thaniyya (26), we saw a horseman.37
We said [to him]: "Where do you come from ?", He replied: "from Shâm". We
said [to him]: "Has something happened?" he said: "Yes, Shâm was shaken by an
earthquake (27) which caused misfortunes and catastrophes"
Footnotes
33) V.s.i. in (B).
34) eighty; (D): two hundred.
35) the body of the sentence going from "eighty" to "catastrophes" does not exist in G.
36) V.s.i. in (B).
JW: Translators Notes 8-28 on page 48-49 are missing in my copy
Original Document
The Noor book courtesy of Najib Abou Karaki (personal correspondence, 2022)
Chronology
According to Ambraseys (2009),
Abu Sufyan and
Umayya bin al-Salt are thought to have made this journey some time between
613 and 622 CE.
A destructive earthquake is said to have occurred in
Syria, causing ‘evil and disaster’. No other details are
known.
Al-Suyuti (AD 1445–1505) copies this account
from al-Bayhaqi. Abu Sufyan and Umayya bin al-Salt are
thought to have made this journey some time between
AD 613 and 622.
Note
‘Al-Bayhaqi [an eleventh-century traditionist] published the following translation in his work called The Proofs of Prophethood,
on the authority of Marwan b. al-Hakam ( . . . ), that Abu Sufyan
and Umayya b. al-Salt had set off for Syria; “we met a hermit, who
told us that a Prophet would be sent, the sign of which is that Syria
has been shaken by earthquakes 24 times [alternative readings:
80 or 200 times] since Jesus son of Mary, and one earthquake
remains, which will cause evil and disaster in Syria. When we
reached Thaniyya [Midran, between Medina and Tabuk], we saw
a horseman. We asked him where he came from and he replied,
‘Syria’. We asked him if anything had happened, and he said,
‘Yes, Syria has been affected by an earthquake, which has caused
evil and disaster.’.”’ (al-Suyuti Kashf 4–5).
