Barṣīṣā

Barsisa, (“the man of priestly regalia,” from Aramaic bar, “son,” and ṣīṣaʾ, “gold plate,” referring specifically to the high priest’s breastplate) ^[1] in Islāmic history, an ascetic who succumbed to the devil’s temptations and denied God. He had an enormous impact on the entire Muslim world, from Alexandria to Aleppo and Ḥaḍramawt.

Barṣīṣā, a saintly recluse, is given care of a sick woman by her three brothers, who are going on a journey. At the devil’s suggestion Barṣīṣā seduces the woman. When he discovers that she has conceived, Barṣīṣā kills her and buries her body to hide evidence of his sin. The devil, however, reveals the murder to the woman’s brothers. Barṣīṣā, panic-stricken, again succumbs to the devil, renouncing God in return for safety, only to be mocked by Satan, in the words of the Qurʾān (59:16), “I am free of thee; I fear God, the Lord of the Worlds.”

The legend of the recluse, who is nameless and is described variously as a Jewish ascetic or a Christian monk, appeared first in aṭ-Ṭabarī’s commentary on the Qurʾān in the early 10th century. By 985 an author stated that the recluse was called Barṣīṣā, an Aramaic name meaning “he of priestly regalia.” Elements of the story are traced back to Coptic folklore, and the legend survived in the Islāmic world in several forms. By the end of the 18th century, it had made its way to England, where it became the subject of Matthew Gregory Lewis’s novel The Monk.

References

Resources

• Encyclopædia Britannica (15th ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2010.