Israfel

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Israfel or Israfil (Arabic: إسرافيل‎) ("The Burning One"), is the angel of the trumpet in Islam, though unnamed in the Qur'an. Along with Mikhail, Djibril and Izra'il, he is one of the four Islamic archangels.^[1]

In religious tradition

Die Wunder der Schöpfung des al-Qazwînî, Szene: Der Erzengel Isrâfîl (1280)

Although the name "Israfel" does not appear in the Qur'an, mention is repeatedly made of an unnamed trumpet-angel assumed to identify this figure: "And the trumpet shall be blown, so all those that are in the heavens and all those that are in the earth shall swoon, except Allah; then it shall be blown again, then they shall stand up awaiting." —Qur'an (39.68).

In Islamic tradition he is said to have been sent, along with the other three Islamic archangels, to collect dust from the four corners of the earth,^[2] although only Izra'il succeeded in this mission.^[3] It was from this dust that Adam was formed.

Israfel holds his holy trumpet to his lips century after century, awaiting the signal from God to sound it at the Last Judgement. At this time he will descend to Earth and stand upon the holy rock in Jerusalem. The first blow of his trumpet will shatter the world, and the second blow will awaken the dead and summon them to judgement.

Israfel has been associated with a number of other angelic names, including Uriel,^[4] Sarafiel^[5] and Raphael.^[6]

Certain sources indicate that, created at the beginning of time,^[7] Israfel possesses four wings, and is so tall as to be able to reach from the earth to the pillars of Heaven.^[2] A beautiful angel who is a master of music, Israfel sings praises to God in a thousand different languages, the breath of which is used to inject life into hosts of angels who add to the songs themselves.^[1]

According to Sunni traditions reported by Imam Al-Suyuti, the Ghawth or Qutb, who is regarded among Sunni as the highest person in the rank of siddiqun (saints), is someone who has a heart that resembles that of Archangel Israfel, signifying the loftiness of this angel. The next in rank are the saints who are known as the Umdah or Awtad, amongst whom the highest ones have their hearts resembling that of Angel Michael, and the rest of the lower ranking saints having the heart of Jibreel or Gabriel, and that of the previous prophets before the Prophet Muhammad. The earth is believed to always have one of the Qutb.^[8]

In the occult

Israfel appears in cabbalistic lore and 19th-century Occultism. He was given specific embodiment in Aleister Crowley's Liber Israfel, formerly Liber Anubis, a ritual designed to invoke the Egyptian god, Thoth,^[9] the deity of wisdom, writing, and magic who figures large in the Hermetica attributed to Hermes Trismegistus upon which modern practitioners of magick draw.

In literature

• Israfel is the subject and title of a poem by Edgar Allan Poe, used for the exotic effect of the name:

In Heaven a spirit doth dwell

Whose heart-strings are a lute;

None sing so wildly well

As the angel Israfel,

And the giddy stars (so legends tell),

Ceasing their hymns, attend the spell

Of his voice, all mute.

• Israfel appears as a character in the book Heavenly Discourse by C. E. S. Wood.

See also

• Angel
• Archangel
• Angels in Islam
• Eschatology
• Resurrection

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Lewis, James R., Oliver, Evelyn Dorothy, Sisung Kelle S. (Editor) (1996), Angels A to Z, p. 224, Visible Ink Press, ISBN 0-7876-0652-9
2. ^ ^{a b} Davidson, Gustav (1967), A Dictionary of Angels, Including The Fallen Angels, Entry: Israfel, pp. 151, 152, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 66-19757
3. ^ Weil, Dr. Gustav (1863), The Bible, the Koran, and the Talmud or Biblical Legends of the Mussulmans, Adam, p. 19, at sacred-texts.com
4. ^ Gabriel on jewishencyclopedia.com
5. ^ Death, Angel of on jewishencyclopedia.com
6. ^ Israfil at the Encyclopædia Britannica
7. ^ Lindemans, Michael, Israfel entry in the Encyclopedia Mythica
8. ^ See Jalaluddeen As Suyuti's compilation on the proofs of Qutb, Awtad and Abdals.
9. ^ Crowley, A., Bennet, A., Liber Israfel at sacred-texts.com

External links

• Poe's poem