Transformations in the interpretations of  tales of the ancients'

For the first time, it is mentioned in the interpretation of Muqātil bin Sulayman that: ‘Nadr ibn al-Harith, who was familiar with the traditions of ancient Iran, claimed that the Qur’an contained ‘legends of the ancients’; i.e. stories like those of Rostam and Esfandiyār. Following Muqātil, commentators often quoted this view, associating and translating ‘legends of the ancients’ with and into mythologies and stories of ancient peoples. This understanding of the concept of ‘legends of the ancients’ is also seen in later interpretations. In this paper, the evolution of the concept of ‘legends of the ancients’ in interpretations has been investigated. In addition to what researchers have suggested, the following reasons have been presented in order to prove the assumption that ‘legends of the ancients’ refers to themes mentioned in the sacred texts prior to the Qur’an: (1) a semantics of the words ‘legends’ and ‘the ancients’ in the context of their association in Qur’anic verses; (2) the mismatch between Qur’anic themes and those of legends like Rostam and Esfandiyār; (3) the recognition of pre-Islamic scriptures in the Qur’an; (4) accusation and the Ifk (slandering) affair; (5) the themes preceding and following the verses which include the phrase ‘legends of the ancients’.