زبور

Core meaning

Name of the Scripture given to Dawud. The text draws it from ز ب ر, precisely cut work, which also gives the blocks of iron and the writings of the ancients; the translation renders it by a common noun borne as a title: "the Formulary".

Uses

1. زَبُورًا → "a Formulary" : the Scripture Dawud receives; the same sentence occurs twice.

   • «وَءَاتَيْنَا دَاوُۥدَ زَبُورًۭا» — "and We gave Dawud a Formulary" (4:163)

2. ٱلزَّبُور → "the Formulary" : the same Scripture, named with the article, with a word written in it.

   • «وَلَقَدْ كَتَبْنَا فِى ٱلزَّبُورِ مِنۢ بَعْدِ ٱلذِّكْرِ» — "We have certainly written in the Formulary, after the Remembrance" (21:105)

Evidence from the text

The word occurs twice in the same sentence, "and We gave Dawud a Formulary" (4:163, 17:55): in 4:163, at the end of the list of those who received revelation; in 17:55, after "We have indeed favored some informants above others". The third occurrence quotes its content: "that the earth will be inherited by My sound obedient ones" (21:105).

The plural زُبُر names the writings of the ancients, "the Formularies of the ancients" (26:196), and the root gives, in the material sense, "blocks of iron" (18:96). The rendering keeps this common trait: a writing cut with precision, which fixes a form. With Sulayman, Dawud received "judgment and knowledge" (21:79).

See also

زبر (the root: cut pieces and writings) · داود (Dawud)