The Ḥawqala and the Syriac Version of Zechariah: 4.6b

Abstract

Abstract The popular Islamic formula known as the ḥawqala (lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā bi-Llāh) is first attested in Ḥadīth and other written sources from around the eighth century CE. A similar formula is Q: 18 (al-Kahf).39b (lā quwwata illā bi-Llāh). Some scholars in the first Islamic centuries were concerned that the non-Qurʾānic ḥawqala would be more venerated than Q: 18.39b or confused with it. In this essay, I suggest in what respect the ḥawqala is related to Q: 18.39b. I argue that the ḥawqala is perhaps influenced by Zech: 4.6b (lō be-ḥayil we-lō be-koʾaḥ kī im be-rūḥī) and its Syriac version. Past scholars have noted the similarity between the ḥawqala and Zech: 4.6b, but the exact relation between these two phrases has not been fully explored. I therefore discuss the linguistic and thematic similarities between both phrases and note some Islamic traditions in which the ḥawqala is said to be of Biblical provenance. By this, I show that there is good reason to suspect that the ḥawqala is partly influenced by Zech: 4.6b and its Syrac version, and that this probably occurred at an early stage in the development of Islam when Jewish scripture was more regularly consulted as a means of confirming Islamic revelation.