The division of tongues at Babel
تفرق الألسنة ببابل
In Nimrod's reign the wind that wrecked his tower left mankind's single Syriac tongue split into seventy-two languages overnight — nineteen to Shem's line, sixteen to Ham's, thirty-seven to Japheth's — whence the name Babel 1.
At a glance
- Era
- Pre-Islamic Arabia
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Overview
al-Mas'udi, in "Muruj al-Dhahab", relates that a wind arose in the reign of Nimrod ibn Kush ibn Ham and levelled his palace at Babylon in the land of Iraq. People went to sleep speaking one language, and in the morning their tongues had divided into seventy-two languages. From that time the place was named Babel. 1
The distribution of tongues
The source says that the sons of Sam had nineteen tongues, the sons of Ham sixteen, and the sons of Japheth thirty-seven. 1
This is a historical report transmitted by al-Mas'udi. We have no second source here that supports or discusses it. It needs an additional source.
Sources
- Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi, p. 448
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “The division of tongues at Babel”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/babil-language-division/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.