The majority of what is known about Shaddād and his brother Shadīd stems from a composite corpus of legendary narratives, folkloric traditions, mythological themes, elements of cultural satire, and, in some instances, religious literature, rather than from historically verifiable sources. It is plausible that a historical figure named Shaddād may have existed and possibly ruled over a group of people; however, the available historical evidence is extremely limited, fragmentary, and lacks internal consistency. The narrative commonly known today is largely the result of later accretions and literary embellishments from subsequent periods.

In some traditional sources he is named as Shaddād bin ʽĀd (شدّاد بن عاد), with his lineage traced as, Shaddād bin ʽĀd bin 'Aws bin Iram bin Saam bin Nuh—where Saam corresponds to the biblical Shem and Nuh to Noah. This tradition relates that his father Iram was the eponymous ancestor of the ʿĀd people. However, a number of other historical sources suggest that Shaddad was the son of 'Ad al-Miltat ibn Saksak ibn Wa'il ibn Himyar.

Shaddad, along with the grandeur of his kingdom, is alluded to in Nights 277 through 279 of Alf Laylah wa-Laylah (One Thousand and One Nights), a layered compilation of classical folklore, literary invention, and cultural allegory. The narrations do not recount Shaddad's life directly; rather, his lost city is evoked in the context of a later tale about its rediscovery by Abdullah bin Abi Kilabah. Within this frame, Shaddad emerges as a remembered archetype of absolute kingship and as the fabled builder of a city adorned in gold—an emblem of pride and divine defiance.

The traditional narrative of Shaddad's life alludes that he, along with his brother Shaddid, reigned over the 1,000 Adite tribes, each consisting of several thousands of men. It is said Shaddad brutally subdued all Arabia and Iraq. Many Arab writers tell of an expedition of Shaddad that caused the Canaanite migration, their settling in Syria, and the Hyksos invasion in to Egypt also known as the "Shepherd Invasion of Egypt".

circa 150 BCE- 200 CE

Qur’anic-Exegetical Account
Shaddād’s reign is enveloped in myth, and his most enduring legacy is the purported construction of a grand, paradisiacal city named Iram dhāt al-ʿImād. This city was built, according to traditional lore, as a challenge to the Muslim concept of Paradise itself. It was mentioned in Quran as a "city of lofty pillars" and described in exegetical text as a metropolis of unparalleled beauty, supported by lofty pillars, adorned with gold, silver, pearls, and precious stones, and filled with gardens and rivers.

The Qurʾān mentions Iram briefly but powerfully in Surah al-Fajr (89:6–8): "Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with ʿĀd—[the people of] Iram of the Pillars, the like of whom was never created in the land?

While the Qurʾān does not mention Shaddād by name, some tafsīr (exegetical) literature and ḥadīth commentaries—particularly those attributed to early authorities such as Ibn Kathīr and al-Ṭabarī—identify him as the king associated with the construction of Iram. His story is often presented as a cautionary exemplar of arrogance and rejection of divine guidance. Early Islamic scholars and historians—including al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Masʿūdī, and authors of qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ (tales of the prophets)—most likely drawing from local folk traditions, greatly expanded on the skeletal Qurʾānic account. In these sources, Shaddād is described as the son of ʽĀd ibn ʿAws ibn Iram, placing him within the Semitic line of Nūḥ (Noah) through Sām (Shem). However, it categorically remains uncertain whether the Shaddād alluded to in these exegetical sources is the same figure implicitly referenced in the Qurʾānic account.

Classical and Medieval Literature
The classical sourcse premarily drawing on the similarity of names in the religious texts and folklore often portray Shaddad as co-ruling with a brother, Shadīd, before consolidating absolute power on the Arabian peninsula. His empire was said to extend across Arabia, Iraq, and parts of North Africa. Driven by pride and a desire to rival Paradise, Shaddād ordered the construction of Iram, a utopian city of gold, silver, pearls, and lush gardens—intended to immortalize his name and defy divine authority.

Legends say that when Iram was finally completed and Shaddād arrived to enter it, divine wrath struck him and his entire entourage down instantly—either through a thunderous cry from the heavens or an overpowering wind. This death-at-the-threshold motif became a key moral in later Sufi and ethical writings, emphasizing the futility of worldly grandeur.

The Qiṣṣat Shaddād ibn ʽĀd, a popular epic tale likely crystallized during the Abbasid period, preserved the elaborate narrative in prose form and influenced other storytelling traditions.

The story of Shaddad and the fabled city of Iram is included in the 1001 Nights as a medieval reworking of older oral traditions, augmented with the names of historical figures such as Muʿawiya ibn Abi Sufyan and Kaʿb al-Ahbar to lend it a sense of historicity. The tale recounts how Abdullah ibn Abi Kilabah, searching for a lost camel in the deserts of Yemen and Saba, stumbled upon a deserted, opulent city built of gold, silver, and jewels, with architecture reminiscent of paradise. When his report reached the Umayyad Caliph Muʿawiya, the Caliph consulted the Jewish convert and Islamic traditionist Kaʿb al-Ahbar, who identified the city as Iram dhāt al-ʿImād (Iram of the Many Pillars), said to have been built by Shaddad son of ʿĀd after reading about Paradise in ancient texts. According to Kaʿb, Shaddad, driven by hubris and ambition, commanded kings and craftsmen from across the world to construct a paradise on earth. After centuries of labor, as Shaddad approached the city to enter it, divine punishment struck him and his entire entourage with a deafening sound from the heavens, destroying them all before they could set eyes on it. The story is framed as a moral parable rather than a historical record—emphasizing divine retribution against arrogance and disbelief—and while the inclusion of real historical figures serves to root it in a recognizable time and space, the miraculous events, the scale of Shaddad’s empire, and the ultimate destruction through a heavenly cry all indicate that the narrative is allegorical, meant to evoke reflection on the limits of human power and the consequences of defiance against divine authority.

Modern Retellings and Scholarly Interest
In the 18th and 19th centuries, European Orientalists encountered the Shaddād legend through Arabic manuscripts and translated texts. Scholars such as Edward Pococke, Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall, and Richard F. Burton introduced the tale to Western readers, often comparing Shaddād to figures like Nimrod or Pharaoh, seeing in him a symbolic archetype of the blasphemous ancient king.

Burton, in his Supplemental Nights to the Thousand Nights and a Night, offered retellings that emphasized the city’s splendor and Shaddād’s ambition, embedding the story within a larger framework of exoticized Arab mythology.

In the late 20th century, the legend attracted renewed attention when the city of Ubar—an archaeological site sometimes linked by speculation to the Iram—was purportedly discovered in southern Oman through satellite imaging and archaeological surveys. Though the claim drew popular interest, mainstream scholars remain unconvinced of any direct correlation between the ruins at Shisr (the alleged Ubar) and the Iram of the Qurʾān or of Shaddād’s historicity.

A relatively modern mid-nineteenth century CE lesser known work, Ajaib ul-Quran m'a Gharaib ul-Quran (literally meaning "The Marvels of the Qur’an with Wonders of the Qur'an"), also relates the story of Shaddad ibn Ad, which is a retelling of the orignal story mentioned in the One Thousand and One Nights.

Contemporary Islamic scholarship treats Shaddād’s story as a mythic-ethical narrative. While tafsīr continues to present him as a cautionary figure, historians generally categorize him among ḥikāyāt (didactic tales), with symbolic rather than factual relevance. Sufi interpretations also highlight Shaddād as the embodiment of nafs al-mutmaʿinna (deluded self), contrasting him with exemplars of humility like Dhul-Qarnayn.