—from the infallible Prophet ﷺ.

Moreover, their figure can be harmonised with the ḥadīth. If what is found in the Torah has indeed been accurately preserved, it should be taken as the length of Adam’s stay on earth after the descent: nine hundred and thirty solar years, which correspond to nine hundred and fifty-seven lunar years. Added to this are the forty-three years he spent in Paradise before the descent, as related by Ibn Jarīr and others, bringing the total to one thousand years.

ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī said: “When Adam died, all created beings wept for him for seven days.” Ibn ʿAsākir narrated this.¹

When Adam—upon him be peace—passed away, the burden of leadership after him fell to his son Seth—upon him be peace—who, according to the explicit wording of the ḥadīth recorded by Ibn Ḥibbān in his Ṣaḥīḥ from Abū Dharr in a marfūʿ report, was a prophet to whom fifty scrolls were revealed.²

When Seth’s death approached, he charged his son Enosh with the task, and Enosh assumed it after him; after Enosh came his son Qaynan, and after him his son Mahalail. The non-Arab Persians claim that Mahalail ruled the seven regions of the world; that he was the first to fell trees and to build cities and great fortresses; that he founded the city of Babylon and the distant city of Sūs; that he subdued Iblīs and his troops, driving them to the farthest reaches of the earth and to the crevices of its mountains; that he slew multitudes of the rebel jinn and ghūls; that he wore a magnificent crown and addressed the people from a pulpit; and that his reign lasted forty years.

Upon his death, authority passed to his son Yarad. When Yarad’s own end drew near, he designated his son Khunūkh—who is, according to the most widely held view, the prophet Idrīs, upon him be peace—as his successor.

***
The Account of Idrīs—upon him be peace

Allah Most High says:
“Mention in the Book Idrīs; indeed, he was a man of truth, a prophet. And We raised him to a lofty station.” (Maryam 19:56–57)

Thus Allah praised Idrīs—upon him be peace—and described him as both a prophet and a man of veracious faith. He is this same Khunūkh, and, as more than one genealogist has noted, he appears in the lineage of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

He was the first of Adam’s offspring to be granted prophethood after Adam and Seth—upon them both be peace. Ibn Isḥāq reported that he was the first to write with a pen, and that he overlapped with Adam’s lifetime by three hundred and eight years.

A number of scholars have also said that he is the one referred to in the ḥadīth of Muʿāwiyah ibn al-Ḥakam al-Sulamī, when he asked the Messenger of Allah …

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¹ Ibn ʿAsākir, Tāʾrīkh Dimashq.
² Ibn Ḥibbān, Ṣaḥīḥ, “Kitāb al-Anbiyāʾ.”