Encyclopaedia Islamica

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Barṣīṣā
(2,296 words)

Barṣīṣā, a semi-historical Jewish ascetic about whom numerous legends and tales arose. He is described as one whose prayers and petitions were granted (mustajāb al-daʿwa), but then fell from grace. The cautionary tale about him is cited in com-mentaries on certain verses of the Qurʾān. In most Islamic sources his name appears alongside Balʿam Bāʿūr (q.v.) and Satan due to the similarity between their stories and their ill-fated outcomes. According to Muslim sources, Barṣīṣā was a pious Jewish ascetic who, having underg…

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Arsanjani, Homeira and Translated by Farzin Negahban, “Barṣīṣā”, in: Encyclopaedia Islamica, Editors-in-Chief: Farhad Daftary. Consulted online on 28 November 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1875-9831_isla_SIM_00000085>
First published online: 2015



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