The Qur'an tells the stories of the Prophets in pieces — a passage here, a fuller account there, a single verse elsewhere. Assembling them into continuous narratives, in order, without importing the fabrications that accumulated around them, is the work Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir did, and this is the full-color edition of it.
"There is, indeed, in their stories a lesson for people endowed with understanding. It is not any invented tale, but a confirmation of what went before it, and a detailed exposition of all things, and a guide and a mercy to people who believe." (Surah Yusuf 12:111)
What Ibn Kathir Actually Did
These accounts are compiled from Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah (The Beginning and the End), his major history and one of the most respected works in Islamic literature. Every event in a Prophet's life is supported by verses of the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. Where other sources were needed for historical continuity, he compared them against what is established rather than reporting them at face value — the discipline that separates this from the popular retellings circulating in his time and ours.
He also gathered the views of the great Qur'anic exegetes before him, and arranged the narratives in chronological order, which gives the book the character of a history rather than a story collection.
From Adam to 'Isa
Adam and Hawwa, and the story of their two sons. Idris. Nuh and the flood. Hud and 'Ad, Salih and Thamud with the she-camel. Ibrahim — his father, the idols, the fire, Nimrod, the migration, Isma'il and Hajar in Makkah, the sacrifice, the birth of Ishaq, the building of the Ka'bah. Lut. Shu'ayb. Yusuf, at length. Ayyub and his trial. Yunus. Musa — his birth, Pharaoh's palace, Madyan, Mount Tur, the magicians, the splitting of the sea, the calf, Al-Khidr, Qarun. Dawud and Sulayman with the hoopoe and the Queen of Sheba. Zakariyya and Yahya. And 'Isa — his birth to Maryam, the Gospel, the table, and the truth of what happened at the end.
Why the Color Edition
This edition is printed in full color on a large 6.85 x 9.7 inch page. For a book read aloud to children, worked through in a classroom, or kept out where a family will pick it up, that changes how much use it gets — and Qasas Al-Anbiya is a book that rewards being read to children as much as being studied alone.
Available Editions
| Edition | Size | Printing | Best For |
|---|
| Full Color Edition (this item) | 6.85 x 9.7 in | Full color | Illustrated reading, family and classroom use, gifting |
| Standard Edition | 6 x 9 in | Black & white | Reading through, study, buying in quantity |
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