Qabil (Cain)

One of the two sons of Adam in al-Thaʿlabi's report, the one who worked the land. He killed his brother Habil, after Habil's offering was accepted and his own was not ^{1 2}.

The book says that Adam wanted each of his two sons to bring an offering, so that it might be known which of them had the greater right to the woman whom he had married. The sign of acceptance in that report was that fire would come down from heaven and consume the offering. Fire came down upon Habil's offering and did not consume anything of Qabil's ^{1 2}.

The report says that Qabil harboured envy and then told his brother that he would kill him. Habil replied that God accepts only from those who guard themselves against wrong, and that he would not raise his hand to kill his brother. Then Qabil killed him. The reports differ on the place of the killing and on the means used ².