A Cananean echo in the Quran?

Abstract

In this article, we suggest that the Canaanite formula lṭpn.il dp[id] (“ʼIlu the Benign, the Benevolent”), comprising a theophoric element accompanied by two epithets, may well stand as an antecedent included in the Islamic basmala, a formulation that appears to have reached the Qur’ān through an Aramaic adaptation, traces of which, amongst others, can likewise be discerned in the Hebrew biblical text.