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Prophecies in the Quran: Difference between revisions
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→The Romans (Byzantines) have been defeated in the nearest land - Quran 30:2-7
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(7) They know but the outer (things) in the life of this world: but of the End of things they are heedless.}} | (7) They know but the outer (things) in the life of this world: but of the End of things they are heedless.}} | ||
This famous Quranic passage does not mention the Persians (Sasanids), though it was understood in tafsir (commentary) tradition to be a reference to the long-running war between the Byzantines (Romans) and their Sasanian (Persian) imperial rivals. In 614 CE, the Sasanids captured Jerusalem from the Byzantine empire, a moment of great dispair for the Christian world and seems to be the defeat mentioned in Q. 30:2. In 622 CE the Byzantines had a significant victory over the Sasanids in Anatolia, modern Turkey. This marked the end of the first stage of the war and is commonly claimed to be the fulfilment of the prophecy. Fighting continued, with the Romans increasingly successful. The end of the war came in 628 CE when the Byzantine emperor Heraclius accepted the surrender of the Sasanids, regained Jerusalem and returned to that holy city the relic of the "true cross" which the Sasanids had taken as spoils of war during their conquest of Jerusalem 14 years earlier (see [[w:Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628|Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628]]). | This famous Quranic passage does not mention the Persians (Sasanids), though it was understood in tafsir (commentary) tradition to be a reference to the long-running war between the Byzantines (Romans) and their Sasanian (Persian) imperial rivals. Given the importance of their rivalry, often a topic of prophecy in late antiquity, it is perhaps unsurprising that a prophet would be expected to prophecise or comment on the outcome. | ||
In 614 CE, the Sasanids captured Jerusalem from the Byzantine empire, a moment of great dispair for the Christian world and seems to be the defeat mentioned in Q. 30:2. In 622 CE the Byzantines had a significant victory over the Sasanids in Anatolia, modern Turkey. This marked the end of the first stage of the war and is commonly claimed to be the fulfilment of the prophecy. Fighting continued, with the Romans increasingly successful. The end of the war came in 628 CE when the Byzantine emperor Heraclius accepted the surrender of the Sasanids, regained Jerusalem and returned to that holy city the relic of the "true cross" which the Sasanids had taken as spoils of war during their conquest of Jerusalem 14 years earlier (see [[w:Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628|Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628]]). | |||
The Arabic word translated "a few" years in verse 4 is ''biḍ'ʿi'', which traditionally and in Arabic dictionaries indicates a range of three to nine (though there is some doubt about this definition, discussed below). Three to nine years would fit the eight year gap between the capture of Jerusalem and the Byzantine victory under Heraclius in Anatolia, though critics sometimes point out that this was by no means the end of the war, which did not come until some years later (628 CE, fourteen years after Jerusalem was captured in 614 CE). Rather, Anatolia marked what turned out to be a turning point in Byzantine fortunes. Indeed, the prophecy most likely is an attempt to predict a conclusive victory that ends the war rather than an intermediate battle. As set out below, wars between these two sides were often the topic of prophecies in late antique eschatalogical tradition, in which the final victory of the Romans (Byzantines) over the Persians was seen as an apocalyptic prelude to the end times. | The Arabic word translated "a few" years in verse 4 is ''biḍ'ʿi'', which traditionally and in Arabic dictionaries indicates a range of three to nine (though there is some doubt about this definition, discussed below). Three to nine years would fit the eight year gap between the capture of Jerusalem and the Byzantine victory under Heraclius in Anatolia, though critics sometimes point out that this was by no means the end of the war, which did not come until some years later (628 CE, fourteen years after Jerusalem was captured in 614 CE). Rather, Anatolia marked what turned out to be a turning point in Byzantine fortunes. Indeed, the prophecy most likely is an attempt to predict a conclusive victory that ends the war rather than an intermediate battle. As set out below, wars between these two sides were often the topic of prophecies in late antique eschatalogical tradition, in which the final victory of the Romans (Byzantines) over the Persians was seen as an apocalyptic prelude to the end times. | ||