Dhul-Kifl (peace be upon him) is one of the servants of Allah (﷾) named in the Qur'an. He is named twice, and each time in a short list of good people. The Qur'an tells no story about him.
So this guide is short. It says what the Qur'an says about him, and stops where the Qur'an stops. It is the story as Islam tells it, and nothing has been added to fill the gap.
At a glance
- The Qur'an names him twice, and says nothing else about his life.
- It calls him a man of constancy and patience.
- Allah (﷾) admitted him to His mercy, and he was one of the righteous and of the Company of the Good.
- Scholars differ about who he was, and the Qur'an does not say.
What the Qur'an says about him
The Qur'an tells us little about Dhul-Kifl; this is what it says. It names him in two places. The English translation spells his name Zul-kifl.
In the first, Allah (﷾) tells the Prophet (ﷺ) to remember some of the good servants who came before him. Dhul-Kifl is named beside Isma'il (Ishmael) and Idris: Qur’an 21:85
Isma'il, Idris, and Zul-kifl, all (men) of constancy and patience
Then comes what Allah (﷾) did for them:
We admitted them to Our mercy: for they were of the righteous ones.
In the second place, Allah (﷾) again tells the Prophet (ﷺ) to commemorate some of His servants, and names Dhul-Kifl among them. Each of them, He says, was of the Company of the Good: Qur’an 38:45–48
And commemorate Isma'il, Elisha, and Zul-Kifl: Each of them was of the Company of the Good.
That is everything the Qur'an says about him. It does not tell us where he lived, who his people were, what he preached, or what happened to him.
Why his story is not told
The Qur'an says plainly that it does not tell the story of every messenger: Qur’an 40:78
Of some messengers We have already told thee the story; of others We have not
Dhul-Kifl is one of those whose story is not told. The Qur'an gives his name, and the praise Allah (﷾) gives him. Muslims have usually counted him among the prophets, because the Qur'an names him beside prophets. Scholars differ about who he was, and we do not guess. Which prophets are named in the Qur'an?
Later books tell stories about him. None of them comes from the Qur'an or from an authentic saying of the Prophet (ﷺ), so this guide leaves them out.
How the Bible tells it differently
The Bible has no account of a person called Dhul-Kifl, and the Qur'an gives nothing that would match him to a person named in it. Scholars have made several suggestions, and none of them is certain. So there is nothing here to compare. The Qur'an names him, praises him, and says no more. Which prophets are named in the Qur'an?
What we can learn
Allah (﷾) praised Dhul-Kifl for one thing, his patience, and that was enough to count him among the good.
- Patience is praised by Allah (﷾). Of all that He could say about Dhul-Kifl, Allah (﷾) chose this: he was a man of constancy and patience. Qur’an 21:85
- Righteousness opens the door to Allah's (﷾) mercy. He admitted Dhul-Kifl and the others to His mercy, because they were of the righteous ones. Qur’an 21:86
- You don't need a long story to be remembered by Allah (﷾). We know almost nothing about Dhul-Kifl's life. Allah (﷾) knows all of it, and told us He counted him among the good. Qur’an 38:48
The Qur'an keeps its silence about Dhul-Kifl, and so do we. What it does say is enough: constancy and patience, and a place in Allah's (﷾) mercy. That mercy is open to everyone who turns to Him.