"And verily, Ilyas (Elias) was one of the Messengers. When he said to his people: 'Will you not fear Allah? Will you call upon Ba'l (a well-known idol of his nation whom they used to worship) and forsake the Best of creators, Allah, your Lord and the Lord of your forefathers?' But they denied him [Ilyas (Elias)], so they will certainly be brought forth (to the punishment), except the chosen slaves of Allah. And We left for him (a goodly remembrance) among generations (to come) in later times; Salamun (peace) be upon Ilyasin! Verily, thus do We reward the Muhsinun (good-doers, who perform good deeds totally for Allah's sake only). Verily, he was one of Our believing slaves."
He was Ilyas an-Nashabi. It is said that he was the son of Yasin ibn Fanhas ibn Al-Izar ibn Harun.
He was sent to the people of Bal back to the west of Damascus. He called them to worship Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, and he stressed upon them that they should give up their idol worship whom they had named Ba'l.
His people did not listen to him. They not only refused to believe in him but also opposed him tooth and nail so he had to flee from them. He returned only after their king died and another had taken over. He presented his religion to the new king too. A large number of his subjects became believers but the king had them all killed.
Makhul has reported from Ka'ab that four of the Prophets are alive. Two of them are living on earth, Sayyidina Ilyas, 'alayhis-salam, and Al-Khidr, 'alayhis-salam, and two who live in the heavens, Idris, 'alayhis-salam and 'Isa, 'alayhis-salam. There are quite a number of Israelite stories about him but they are all inauthentic and far-fetched, some of them we do not reject or accept though on the face of it they are untenable. We have argued already that Al-Khidr, 'alayhis-salam, is not alive and the same thing may be said of Sayyidina Ilyas, 'alayhis-salam.
As for the words "salamun 'ala ilyasin", the Arabs pronounce the nun in names very often. Thus "Isma'il" is "Isma'in", "Isra'il" is "Isra'in" and "Ilyas" is "Ilyasin".
Ibn Mas'ud has said that Ilyas was also the name of Idris, 'alayhis-salam. Ad-Dihak and others also hold this opinion. But the correct opinion is what we have already said.
From Stories of the Prophets, Darul-Ishaat Karachi 2000, translation by Rafiq Abdur-Rahman