Al-Walid ibn Mus'ab

Al-Walid ibn Mus'ab (Arabic: الوليد بن مصعب) is an ancient, legendary character who is claimed to be the Pharaoh of the Exodus, the biblical pharaoh who encountered Moses. His story was mainly transmitted by Arabian historians, some of which cite him as the sixth Pharaoh of Egypt with a foreign origin from the city of Balkh.

A Moorish warrior, commonly used to depict Al-Walid ibn Musab

Name

His name is Al-Walid ibn Mus'ab. His full name is disputed. Some sources give his full name as Al-Walid ibn Mus'ab ibn ar-Rayyan ibn al-Halut ibn Qaran ibn 'Amr ibn Amaliq, which gives him an Amalekite descent. On the other hand, Tabari names him as Al-Walid ibn Mus'ab ibn Mu'awiya ibn Abi Namir.^[1][2]

Fictional character biography

First version

Al-Walid ibn Mus'ab was a man from Greater Khorasan, who was lame and had a beard seven inches long.^[3][4] He originally worked as a perfumer. However, debts accumulated on him, forcing him to leave his country and go to Egypt in search of a livelihood.^[3] In one way or another, he was able to sit on the throne of Egypt for 300 to 400 years, and he lived a very long life. This led to him becoming very arrogant, and soon his arrogance got the best of him, and he began telling the Egyptians that he was their supreme lord.^[3][4] The Egyptians naively believed him, and they began to worship him until the arrival of Moses.^[3]

Second version

Al-Walid ibn Mus'ab was the brother of the previous Pharaoh, Qabus ibn Mus'ab.^[2][5][1] When Qabus died, Al-Walid took the throne.^[2][6][5] Qabus was contemporary to the birth of Moses, while Al-Walid was contemporary to Moses' adulthood.^[2][5][6] He is the Pharaoh whom Moses first met upon his departure from Midan and return to Egypt.^[2][5][6]

See also

• Daluka
• Surid ibn Salhouk