Zabur الزبور

Overview

The Zabur (الزَّبُور) is the scripture revealed by Allah to the prophet Dawud (David), peace be upon him. It is one of four revealed books named explicitly in the Quran, alongside the Torah, the Injil, and the Quran itself. Belief in all previously revealed scriptures is a pillar of iman.

Etymology

The Arabic root z-b-r conveys the sense of writing firmly, inscribing, or compiling. Classical lexicographers such as al-Raghib al-Isfahani note that زَبُور denotes a written book of wisdom and praise, distinct from the legislative weight of the Torah. The plural زُبُر appears in the Quran for revealed writings generally.

Quranic references

The Zabur is named directly in several passages:

وَآتَيْنَا دَاوُودَ زَبُورًا

• Surah An-Nisa 4:163 — 'And to David We gave the book [of Psalms].'
• Surah Al-Isra 17:55 — 'And to David We gave the book [of Psalms].'
• Surah Al-Anbiya 21:105 — 'And We have already written in the book [of Psalms] after the [previous] mention that the land is inherited by My righteous servants.'
• Surah Ali Imran 3:184 — '... and the scriptures and the enlightening Book.'

Commentators including Ibn Kathir understood the verse in Surah Al-Anbiya as echoing a promise found in the Psalms that the righteous shall inherit the earth.

Hadith and tradition

The Sunnah highlights Dawud's recitation as uniquely facilitated:

The Prophet ﷺ said: "The recitation of the Zabur was made easy for Dawud. He used to order that his riding animals be saddled, and he would finish reciting it before they were saddled."— Sahih al-Bukhari 3417

The narration is also reported in similar wording in Sahih Muslim, and underscores the devotional and praise-centered nature of the book.

Significance

Unlike the Torah given to Musa, the Zabur was not a book of new legislation; Dawud ruled by the law of the Torah given to Bani Israel. Scholars such as al-Albani's teachers and the classical mufassirun describe its contents as supplications, praises, and reminders of the akhirah. Affirming the Zabur as a true revelation is part of correct tawhid, even as Muslims hold that its present text has not been preserved verbatim like the Quran.

See also

• Torah
• Injil
• Quran
• Sulayman
• Messenger

References

1. Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Quran al-Azim, commentary on Surah An-Nisa 4:163 and Surah Al-Anbiya 21:105.
2. Al-Tabari, Jami al-Bayan an Tawil ay al-Quran, commentary on Surah Al-Isra 17:55.
3. Al-Qurtubi, Al-Jami li-Ahkam al-Quran, exegesis of Surah Al-Anbiya 21:105.
4. Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab Ahadith al-Anbiya, hadith 3417.