21. Surah Al Anbiya'

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ ...  

21: 85.  And (remember) Isma'il,

C2741. Isma'il is mentioned specially, apart from the line which descended through Isaac (21:72), as he was the founder of a separate and greater Ummah.

His sufferings began in infancy (see n. 160 to 2:158 ); but his steady constancy and submission to the will of Allah were specially shown when he earned the title of "Sacrifice to Allah" (see n. 2506 to 19:54). That was the particular quality of his constancy and patience.

... وَإِدْرِيسَ ...

Idris,

C2742. For Idris see n. 2508 to 19:56.

He was in a high station in life, but that did not spoil him. He was sincere and true, and that was the particular quality of his constancy and patience,

... وَذَا الْكِفْلِ...

and  Dhu al Kifl,

C2743. Dhu al Kifl would literally mean "possessor of, or giving, a double requital or portion"; or else, "one who used a cloak of double thickness," that being one of the meanings of Kifl.

The Commentators differ in opinion as to who is meant, why the title is applied to him, and the point of his being grouped with Isma'il and Idris for constancy and patience.

I think the best suggestion is that afforded by Karsten Niebuhr in his Reisebeschreibung nach Arabian, Copenhagen, 1778, ii. 264-266, as quoted in the Encyclopaedia of Islam under "Dhul-Kifl".

He visited Meshad 'All in 'Iraq, and also the little town called Kefil, midway between Najaf and Hilla (Babylon). Kefil, he says, is the Arabic form of Ezekiel. The shrine of Ezekiel was there, and the Jews came to it on pilgrimage.

If we accept "Dhul al Kifl" to be not an epithet, but an Arabicised form of "Ezekiel", it fits the context, Ezekiel was a prophet in Israel who was carried away to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar after his second attack on Jerusalem (about B.C. 599). His Book is included in the English Bible (Old Testament). He was chained and bound, and put into prison, and for a time he was dumb (Ezekiel, 3:25-26).

He bore all with patience and constancy, and continued to reprove boldly the evils in Israel.

In a burning passage he denounces false leaders in words which are eternally true: "Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken ...... etc. (Ezekiel, 34:2-4).

Dhu al Kifl is again mentioned in 38:48 along with Isma'il and Elisha.

...كُلٌّ مِّنَ الصَّابِرِينَ ﴿٨٥﴾

all (men) of constancy and patience;

Other versions:

21:85

Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning Muhammad Asad   AND [remember] Ishmael and Idris and every one who [like them] has pledged himself [unto God]: they all were among those who are patient in adversity, &#x21E8 M. M. Pickthall   And (mention) Ishmael, and Idris, and Dhu'l-Kifl. All were of the steadfast. &#x21E8 Shakir   And Ismail and Idris and Zulkifl; all were of the patient ones; &#x21E8 Yusuf Ali   And (remember) Isma'il, Idris, and Zul-kifl, all (men) of constancy and patience; &#x21E8 Wahiduddin Khan   Remember Ishmael and Idris and Dhul Kifl: they were all patient and steadfast. &#x21E8 [Al-Muntakhab]   Also Ismail, Idris -possibly Ozoris- and Zut-kifl -Dhoukefl-, possibly - Ezchiel each of whom faced hardship and tribulations with perseverance, patience and endurance. &#x21E8 [Progressive Muslims]   And Ishmael and Enoch and Isaiah, all of them were patient.

AND [remember] Ishmael and Idris, 80 and every one who [like them] has pledged himself [unto God]: " they all were among those who are patient in adversity,

(21:86) and so We admitted them unto Our grace: behold, they were among the righteous!

[[Asad’s note - 80 See surah 19, note 41. ]]

[[ Asad’s note - 81 Lit., "and him of the pledge". The expression

dhu '1-kifl is derived from the verb kafala and especially the form takaffala - which signifies "he became responsible [for something or someone)" or "pledged himself [to do something]". Although the classical commentators consider dhu '1-kifl to be the epithet or the proper name of a particular prophet - whom they variously, more or less at random, identify with Elijah or Joshua or Zachariah or Ezekiel - 1 fail to see any reason

whatever for such attempts at "identification", the more so since we have not a single authentic hadlth which would mention, or even distantly allude to, a prophet by this name. I am, therefore, of the opinion that we have here (as in the identical expression in 38 : 48) a generic term applying to every one of the prophets, inasmuch as each of them pledged himself unreservedly to God and accepted the responsibility for delivering His message to man. ]]