The five most famous ancient Arab priests
Before Islam, the Arabs, like most pagan peoples, were prone to superstitions and conjecture. They paid attention to the words of soothsayers and priests, believing these figures possessed hidden knowledge passed down from ancient times. Some took their predictions seriously; others listened for amusement. Even so, the pagan Arabs of old trusted the prophecies of their priests. Here are five of the most famous soothsayers in Arab history who left a lasting mark on the minds of their contemporaries and elders.
Show key points
- Before Islam, many Arabs believed in superstitions and relied on priests and fortune tellers for insight into the unknown.
- The fortune teller of Yamamah, known by various names due to historical transcription errors, was believed to communicate with jinn for hidden knowledge and healing remedies.
- Halees Al-Asadi practiced divination by drawing lines in the sand, using intelligence and observation to predict the unseen.
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- Crack and Surface, two uniquely deformed priests, were adopted and mentored by the priestess Tarifa, eventually gaining widespread fame across Arabia and Persia.
- These twin prophets once amazed the Persian king Khosrau by recalling and interpreting a forgotten dream, foretelling the Abyssinian invasion of Yemen.
- A priest in Yathrib suggested a unique sacrificial method that ultimately spared Abdullah, the Prophet Muhammad's father, from being offered to the gods.
- Fortune telling played a central role in major tribal decisions and personal destinies, revealing its deep roots in pre-Islamic Arab culture.
Fortune-teller of the Dove
The fortune-teller of Yamamah was a nickname for Riah bin Kahila; he was also called Riah bin Rashid and nicknamed Abu Kahla Mawla Labani Yashkar. Heritage sources differ on his name—Rabbah, Riah, or Rabaj—and on whether he was the son of Kahla or the son of Ajla. This divergence stems from copyists' errors in earlier manuscripts and later printing mistakes. In my view the correct form is Rabbah or Riah, not "Rabbaja," and it is more likely Ibn Kahla. He reportedly had a jinn companion who informed him of news and prescribed remedies for certain illnesses. As a priest, he dealt in knowledge of the unseen, claiming to know future events and hidden matters. The fortune-teller of the dove is mentioned in poetry, where he said:
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So I said to the fortune-teller of the dove, Downey
If you treat me to a doctor
Halees al-Asadi, the calligrapher
Halees relied on lines as a method of fortune-telling. He would draw lines, then interpret them to deduce and predict matters for people. The fortune-teller would study the lines and say, "Eyesons, hurry up the statement," and then relate what he saw. This method relied on observation and experience; it was widely used before Islam to discover what was unknown. The soothsayer, using his faculties and the gifts attributed to him, judged and foretold to people whatever he perceived.
The Cleft and the Flat
They were successors of a renowned soothsayer: when Tarifa sensed her death was near, she ordered her servants to find two newborns on the day she died. They found two malformed infants—one a half-formed "cleft," with only one organ where the completed child had two, and the other a "flat" with no bones in his body except the skull, so it was said he folded like a garment. The servants brought the infants to the priestess; she blew into their mouths and told the servants not to breastfeed them, saying this would suffice. Thus the rites transferring the practice of soothsaying from Tarifa to the Cleft and the Flat took place. Over time they became the most famous priests of Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula, until their fame reached Khosrow, king of Persia.
Their fame was not unfounded. One day the king dreamed that lava would pour from black rocks and burn everything, but upon waking he could not recall the dream’s details. He summoned the Cleft and the Flat, questioned each of them separately, and asked them about the forgotten dream. Both accurately described the dream he had seen, and when he asked for an interpretation, they gave the same answer: "Abyssinia will invade Yemen."
The king found this terrifying, so he pressed them for more detail. They prophesied that the Abyssinians would invade Yemen during the reign of a different king than the dreamer, that they would remain there for decades, and that they would later be expelled by one of the sons of a man named Dhi Yazan. Time passed: the persecution of Christians by the Himyarite king Yusuf Dhu Nuwas provoked Abyssinia, leading to invasion and the fall of his kingdom. Decades later, Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan rose in revolt and allied with the Persians to effectively expel them.
The priest who saved the Prophet’s father from sacrifice
Abd al-Muttalib wanted to dig out the Zamzam well after it had been filled in. The Quraysh opposed him, fearing that restoring the well would raise his standing among the people. Abd al-Muttalib felt aggrieved and vowed to sacrifice one of his sons to the gods if he had ten sons to be his pledge. When his wish was fulfilled, he cast lots among them; the lot fell on Abdullah, and Abd al-Muttalib prepared to offer him to the idol Hubal.
Abdullah’s brothers protested and his uncles were angered, and the leaders of Quraysh tried to dissuade Abd al-Muttalib. They agreed to consult a priest in Yathrib. The priest asked, "How many of you will serve as ransom for the man?" They replied, "Ten camels." The way out of the dilemma then came: "Return to your country, bring the ten camels, strike them and strike your companion with the mug, and if the lot falls on your companion, add one-tenth more until your Lord is satisfied. If the lot falls on the camels, then slaughter them, for your Lord is pleased and your companion is spared, and there is redemption for him." This was what saved Abdullah from being sacrificed.