Editing Balaam (section)

==In the Quran==
{{Musa|related}}

No clear reference is made to Balaam in the [[Qur'an]]. However, the commentators argue that he is the one to whom the following text is referring:
{{Blockquote|And relate to them ˹O Prophet˺ the story of the one to whom We gave Our signs, but he abandoned them, so Satan took hold of him, and he became a deviant.<br>
If We had willed, We would have elevated him with Our signs, but he clung to this life—following his evil desires. His example is that of a dog: if you chase it away, it pants, and if you leave it, it ˹still˺ pants. This is the example of the people who deny Our signs. So narrate ˹to them˺ stories ˹of the past˺, so perhaps they will reflect.| Surah Al-A'raf 7:17–5176<ref>{{qref|7|175-176|c=y}}</ref>}}

The [[Muslim]] commentators explain that '''Bal'am bin Ba'ura''' ({{Langx|ar|بلعام بن باعوراء}}) was a [[Canaan]]ite who had been given knowledge of some of the books of [[God in Islam|God]]. His people asked him to curse [[Moses]] ([[Islamic view of Moses|Musa]]) and those who were with him, but he said, "How can I curse one who has [[angel]]s with him?" They continued to press him, however, until he cursed the [[Israelites]], and, as a consequence, they remained 40 years in the Wilderness of the Wanderings. Then, when he had cursed Moses, his tongue came out and fell upon his breast, and he began to pant like a dog.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tafsir Surah Al-A'raf - 175 |url=https://quran.com/7:175/tafsirs/en-tafisr-ibn-kathir |access-date=2024-02-29 |website=Quran.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Tafsir Surah Al-A'raf - 175 |url=https://quran.com/7:175/tafsirs/en-tafsir-maarif-ul-quran |access-date=2024-02-29 |website=Quran.com |language=en}}</ref>

The story as told by [[Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari|Tabari]]<ref>"Annales," ed. De Goeje, i. 508 et seq.</ref> is somewhat more [[Bible|Biblical]]. Balaam had the knowledge of the [[Names of God|Most Sacred Name of God]], and whatever he asked of God was granted to him. The story of Balaam and the ass, then follows at length. When it came to the actual cursing, God "turned his tongue" so that the cursing fell upon his own people and the blessing upon Israel. Then his tongue came out and hung down on his breast. Finally, he advised his people to adorn and beautify their women and to send them out to ensnare the Israelites. The story of the plague at [[Heresy of Peor|Baal-peor]] and of [[Cozbi]] and [[Zimri (prince)|Zimri]]<ref>Num. xxv. 14, 15.</ref> follows.

According to another story which al-Tabari gives, Balaam was a renegade Israelite who knew the Most Sacred Name, and to gain the things of this world, went over to the Canaanites. [[Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tha'labi|Al-Tha'labi]]<ref>'i'a' al-Anbiyya, pp. 206 et seq., Cairo ed., 1298.</ref> adds that Balaam was descended from Lot. He gives, too, the story of Balaam's dream, his being forbidden by God to curse Israel. Another version is that [[Balak]], the king of [[Bal'a]], compelled Balaam to use the Most Sacred Name against Israel. The curse fell automatically, and Moses, having learned whence it came, entreated God to take from Balaam his knowledge of the Name and his faith. This being done, they went out from him in the form of a white dove.

The Baghdadi historian Al Masudi said in his book Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems that Balaam ben Beor was in a village in the lands of Shem (Canaan), and he is the son of Baura(Beor) ben Sanur ben Waseem ben [[Moab]] ben [[Lot (biblical person)|Lot]] ben Haran (PUT), and his prayers were answered, so his folks asked him to pray against [[Joshua|Joshua ben Nun]] but he could not do it, so he advised some of the kings of the giants to show the pretty women and release them toward the camp of Joshua ben Nun, and so they did, and they (the Israelites) hurried up to the women and the plague spread among them and seventy thousand of them were dead.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Prophets, Their Lives and Their Stories: Elias, Elisha, Ishmael and Balaam: Some of The Conditions of a Group of Prophets (PUT) |url=https://sacred-texts.com/isl/pro/grp00.htm |access-date=2023-09-11 |website=sacred-texts.com}}</ref>