Al-Zabur
Definition
Al-zabur — the Psalms — is the book of divine scripture given to Dawud, which the Quran mentions alongside the Torah and the Injil as one of the revealed books. Unlike the Torah's legal framework and the Injil's ethical teachings, the Zabur is primarily a book of devotional poetry and praise — the outpouring of a heart so moved by divine majesty that it could only respond in song. Ibn Kathir records that Dawud recited the Zabur with a voice so extraordinary that mountains echoed his praise back to him and birds gathered in the air above to join the sound. The Psalms represent a unique category of divine gift: a scripture that is also a work of beauty, worship expressed through the highest reaches of human artistic capacity.
As understood in the classical tradition of Ibn Kathir and the scholars of his school.
How the scholars use Al-Zabur.
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"and he would command his mounts to be saddled, completing his recitation before they were ready. He would only eat from the work of his own hands. The Qur'an referred to here is the Psalms that were revealed to him. As Allah says, And We gave Dawud the Psalms. The Psalms is a well-known book, revealed in the month of Ramadan, containing admonitions and wisdom for those who reflect upon it."
— Ibn Kathir, Volume 2 — From the Israelite Prophets to Pre-Islamic Arabia
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"and he would command his mounts to be saddled, completing his recitation before they were ready. He would only eat from the work of his own hands. The Qur'an referred to here is the Psalms that were revealed to him. As Allah says, and we gave Dawud the Psalms. The Psalms is a well-known book revealed in the month of Ramadan, containing admonitions and wisdom for those who reflect upon it."
— Ibn Kathir, Volume 3 — The Sīrah: From the First Revelation to Badr
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""God is more attentive to a man with a good voice reciting the Quran than the owner of a songstress to his songstress. And in a hadith presented in praise of David, peace be upon him, it is mentioned: He had a beautiful voice in lamentation upon himself and in reciting the Zabur [Psalms] until humans, jinn, beasts, and birds would gather to hear his voice. In his gathering, he could hold four hundred funerals or close to that."
— Imam al-Ghazali, Book 18: The Book of Listening and Ecstasy
Appears in
1 book in the library
Hear the term in context.
Every book above uses Al-Zabur the way the classical scholars meant it. Listen with the full Study Kit in the app.