قصص
Qaṣaṣ
The reports and narratives of those who relate, as in qaṣṣa; in the Quran, accounts of earlier peoples.
What it means
Qaṣaṣ is the plural noun for accounts that are related, formed from the verb qaṣṣa, to relate. It is the word for the stories and reports narrated, above all those of earlier prophets and peoples that the Quran tells in order to teach. The Quran speaks of itself as the best of narratives (12:3), and a whole chapter, al-Qaṣaṣ (chapter 28), takes its name from the word. Muslims read these accounts as lessons and warnings, set down with a purpose, and not as entertainment.
Often misunderstood as
That the Quranic stories are legends or folktales, when the term means true reports told for guidance.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 44, listed as QAṢAṢ. The definition is restated here.