Introduction

The 2nd Surah recounts the miraculous story of a man who was plunged into a hundred-year sleep. Upon waking, the man believed he had only slept for a single day before turning to his donkey, of which only bones remain: Or like the one who passed through a deserted and ruined village: "How will Allah bring this back to life after its death?" he said. So Allah caused him to die, and he remained so for a hundred years. Then He resurrected him, saying: "How long did you stay [thus]?" – "I have remained a day, or part of a day," he replied. – "No," Allah said, "you have remained a hundred years. Look at your food and drink: nothing has eaten it away; but look at your donkey... And so that you may be a sign for the people, and look at these bones—how We assemble them and clothe them with flesh." And before the evidence, he said: "I know that Allah is Omnipotent." (2:259) At this point, several questions may arise. First, who is the man in question? The Qur'an does not reveal his identity, which has led to speculation among Muslim scholars. Some identified him with the high priest Ezra, the prophet Ezekiel, or Khidr, the mysterious figure appearing in Surah 18. The presence of contradictory opinions, and scholars' inability to correctly identify the man mentioned in the verse, perfectly illustrate a phenomenon emphasized by many historians—that there exists a rupture in the transmission of the Qur'an, explaining why much of its meaning has been lost over time. Another example of this phenomenon concerns Luqman, mentioned in Surah 31, whom scholars have not identified, but who psychohistorical research links to the wise figure of Ahiqar. Secondly, what is the "deserted and ruined village" mentioned in the Qur'an? Again, the text remains very vague, opening the door to exegetic speculation. However, it is possible to answer these two questions if the source of the Qur'anic story is identified.

The Miraculous Sleep

Before discussing the source, it is essential to revisit the miracle reported by the Qur'anic text, namely the sleep into which the anonymous character fell, lasting no less than one hundred years. In antiquity, many legends have recounted similar feats. In Aristotle’s Physics, an example occurring in Sardinia is cited. In Greece, the poet Epimenides is reputed to have slept for 57 years in a cave. The most famous story of "sleeping heroes" undoubtedly is that of the Dormants of Ephesus, which narrates how several young Christians, fleeing pagan persecutions, found refuge in a cave where they slept for an extended period (usually several centuries). The attentive reader will recognize here another myth recounted in the Qur'an—the "Companions of the Cave" in Surah 18—which originates from a Christian legend. This has already been extensively discussed in a previous publication, and there is no need to revisit it here. It is also interesting to note in all these examples that upon waking, the protagonists are unaware that they have been asleep for such a long time. This is a significant common point with the character in question.

The Legend of Abimelech

Let us now turn to another similar legend, recorded in the Paraleipomena of Jeremiah (also known as 4 Baruch), an apocryphal text written by one or more Judeo-Christian authors of the 2nd century. The text mentions a certain Abimelech, who is none other than the Ethiopian Ebed-Melek, who saved the prophet Jeremiah (see Jeremiah 38:7-13). The story begins with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, which Abimelech witnesses helplessly. The narrative continues as follows: Abimelech, meanwhile, took the figs under a burning sun, and when he found a tree, he sat under its shade to rest a little. And when he rested his head on the basket of figs, he fell asleep, sleeping for sixty-six years without waking from his sleep. And then, awakening from his sleep, he said: "I have slept comfortably for a while, but my head is heavy because I was not satisfied with my sleep." Then, discovering the basket of figs, he found them emitting milk. And he said: "I would like to sleep a bit more because my head is heavy; but I fear falling asleep and waking late, and that my father Jeremiah might despise me [...]." So he got up, took the basket of figs, threw it over his shoulders, and headed towards Jerusalem, but he did not recognize it — nor his house, nor his own place — nor did he find his own family or any of his acquaintances. As can be seen, there are many similarities with the Qur'anic story. Firstly, the hero falls asleep for a very long period. The text does not exactly match the Qur'an regarding the duration (66 years vs. 100 years), but this is a minor detail. The key point is that, in both cases, it involves a miraculous kind of sleep. Secondly, the protagonist awakens without awareness of having slept for such a long time. The Qur'an states that the hero: "I have remained a day, or part of a day." Similarly, Abimelech, who complains about a poor sleep, would like to fall asleep again but fears waking late. Another striking detail concerns the fruits left before sleeping, which, despite the years, remained intact. The Qur'an mentions food that did not rot, matching precisely the figs "emitting milk" in Abimelech’s story. It is now possible to revisit the questions left open. We now know the identity of the man mentioned in the Qur'an: it is clearly Abimelech, whose story closely resembles that of the Qur'anic text, making coincidence improbable. This also allows answering the second question regarding the "deserted and ruined village." The place refers to Jerusalem, where Abimelech resides, and which was indeed devastated by the Chaldeans. Through this example, we see that the historical-critical approach is often more relevant than traditional Islamic exegesis for understanding the Qur'an. Previously, we noted that Muslim scholars had failed to correctly identify the character in Surah 2. Furthermore, there is a difference between the Qur'anic story and the Paraleipomena of Jeremiah. The Qur'an mentions the hero's donkey, of which only bones remain. However, this detail does not appear in the Abimelech story. Of course, this does not invalidate the idea that Abimelech is the direct or indirect source of the Qur'anic account. It is important to remember that the Qur'anic writers rarely simply copied texts or legends they knew. More often, they transformed these stories, adding or removing details, and adapting them to their own purpose. The Qur'an thus appears as a form of " bricolage," in the sense of Claude Lévi-Strauss, meaning a text constructed from various recycled elements from its environment. In this case, mentioning the donkey's bones allows the authors of Surah 2 to cleverly demonstrate the resurrection of bodies. Just as the ruined village (Jerusalem) will be reborn, the bones will come back to life: "We will assemble them and clothe them with flesh." As Gabriel S. Reynolds pointed out, the revitalization of bones mentioned in the Qur'an strongly resembles Ezekiel’s vision of "a valley full of bones," which states: The hand of the Lord was on me, and the Lord brought me out by the spirit and set me down in the middle of a valley full of bones. […] He said to me: "Son of man, can these bones live?" I answered: "Lord Eter­nal, you know." Then he said to me: "Prophesy concerning these bones, and say to them: […] Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live; I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to grow upon you, and will cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live." And you shall know that I am the Lord. (Ezekiel 37:1-6) This passage concerns bones that God revives by covering them with flesh and skin. In other words, it refers to the resurrection of bodies, which is also the theme emphasized in the Qur'anic story. In the end, the story appears as a combination of various apocryphal and biblical texts. This demonstrates that the Qur'an should be read in light of preceding writings rather than through traditional Islamic exegesis, which is several centuries later.