Qisas Al-Anbiya
/qɪˈsɑːs əl ænˈbiːjə/noun
An Islamic literary genre recounting the stories and legends of the prophets.
Did you know?Qisas al-Anbiya literature often expands brief Qur’anic references with material from Jewish, Christian, Persian, and local storytelling traditions, creating a vast cross-cultural mythology of prophecy.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*n-b-ʔ
“A root associated with announcing or proclaiming; its exact earliest sense is debated.”
Ancient Hebrew
Hebrew
nāḇīʾ
“Prophet or spokesperson for God.”
Qur’anic Arabic
Arabic
qaṣaṣ
“Narratives or accounts; also connected with following a trace or recounting events.”
Qur’anic Arabic
Arabic
anbiyāʾ
“Prophets, the broken plural of nabī.”
Medieval Arabic
Arabic
Qiṣaṣ al-Anbiyāʾ
“Stories of the Prophets; a developing genre of religious narrative literature.”
Modern English
English
Qisas al-Anbiya
“A transliterated name for Islamic prophetic-story collections and the genre itself.”