The term dābba appears in its literal sense in the Qurʾānic verses 6:38, 11:6, 16:49, 27:82 and 34:14. However, the term has quite a different connotation in 27:82: ‘When the word is fulfilled against them, We shall bring forth a creature (dābba) out of the earth, to speak to them, as people had no faith in Our revelations’; it takes on a deeper significance when read along with the following verse, 27:83: ‘And [remind them of] the Day when We shall bring together, out of every community, a group of those who denied Our revelations, an…