In the early 1990s, an archaeological discovery confirmed what the Quran had described over 1400 years ago: the existence of the ancient city of Iram, home of the people of Ad. This lost city, mentioned nowhere else in historical texts, was found exactly as the Quran described it.
How the Lost City Was Found
Nicholas Clapp, a noted documentary filmmaker and archaeology lecturer, pieced together clues from multiple sources to locate the legendary city. His research combined ancient manuscripts, a map drawn by the Greek-Egyptian geographer Ptolemy in 200 AD, and modern NASA satellite imagery.
“The trails in the ancient map corresponded with the trails in the satellite pictures taken by NASA. The final destination of these trails was a broad site understood to have once been a city.”
The Quran’s Description Confirmed
When excavations began, the remains that emerged provided undeniable proof that this was the city described in the Quran:
- Among the structures unearthed were massive pillars, exactly as the Quran describes
- The Quran states: “Don’t you see what your Lord did with Ad? Iram of the columns, whose like was not created in any land”
- No other ancient text or historical record mentions this city by name
- Only the Quran preserved the memory of Iram and its distinctive pillared architecture
“Among the structures unearthed during the excavations were pillars. This is just as is revealed in the Quran: ‘Iram of the columns, whose like was not created in any land.'”
The discovery of Iram is a powerful reminder that every word of the Quran is truth from Allah. A city mentioned only in the Quran, unknown to any other source, was found exactly where and how the Quran described it. This is the Book that contains no doubt.
