Part 87

382 Mellfioll oflhe Progeny of Ihraheem ~

of Allah :J:S said, "None of you shou ld wish for death due to some

hann that has bef:1l1en hi m, bu t if he has to wish ror death, he

should say, '0, Allah! Keep me ali ve as long as li re is beUer ror

me, and let me die if death is better for me. '"~ t35) What is intended

by the word harm (dIllT) here is illness and the li ke, not hal111 in

(35) Narrated by AI· Bukhari (5671) and r.,'luslim (2680).

Ibn Ishaq said, " He was a man rrom Rome and hi s name was

Ayyoob, SOil of Moos, so n of Razaah, son of AI-'Ees, son of

Ishaq. son of Ibrahee m, A/-Klla/eel." Others said Ihal he was

Ayyoob (Job), son of Moos, son of Raghwee l, son of AI- ' Ees,

SOil of Ishaq , son ofYa ' qoob, And other genea log ies have been

All ah, Most Hi gh, says, ( And (remember) Ayyoob (Job),

when he cri cd 10 hi s Lord, "Ve rily, distress has se ized me, and

You are the Most Merciful of all those who show mercy." So

We answe red his ca li , and We removed the di slress Ihal was on

him, and We reslOred hi s fa mil y 10 hi m (that he had lost), and

the like Ihereof along wilh them, as a me rcy from Ourse lves

and a Rc mind er fo r all who worshi p Us.) (SoOl'all A /-AlIhiya'

In Soorall Sad, !-I e, Mos t High, says, ( And rCITI!'llbcr Our

sla ve Ayyoo b, when he in voked his Lord (say ing) , "Vcrily!

SImi/Gil has touc hed mc with d islress (by losing my health) and

torment (by losing my wealth)!" (Allah sa id to him). "S trike the

ground with your foor: This is a spring of wate r 10 wash, cool

and a (refreshi ng) drink," And We gave him (back) his fam ily,

and along with them the like Ih e reo f~ as a Mercy from Us, and a

Re minder for those who understa nd . "A nd tak e in your hand a

bu ndle o f thin grass and strike therew ith (your w i Fe), and break

110 1 you r oa th.'"Truly! We fo und him pa li enl. How excell ent (a)

slave! Veri ly, he was eve r oil-returnin g in repentan ce (to Us)!

Scholars of ta/seer and history, and others have sa id that

Ayyoob ~ (Job) was a man o f great wea lth, consis ting of

grazing stock, sla ves, ca tt le and vast lan ds in Batheniyyah ,

w hich is located in I-Ioora n.

Ibn ' Asakir re lated that Ayyoob ~ had all of th is and he

al so had many children and a large family, but a ll o f this was

taken from him and he was affi icted in hi s body by a vari ety

of ill nesses; and it has been aut hentica ll y reported that the

Messenger of All ah :ti: said, "The peop le who are tested the

most severe ly a re the Prophets, then the ri ght eous, th en the

next best an d the nex t bes t. A man is tried in accordance wi th

his fai th ; ifhi s faith is finn , then his affl ict ion is hard and if his

fa ith is weak, then his affii ction is li ght." (3 6) But all of thi s onl y

increased Ayyoob ~ in pati ence, hope of Allah's Reward and

praise and thanks for Him - to sllch an ex ten t that his namc

has become a bywo rd for pati ence; and it has a lso become a

byword fo r tribu lat ion, due 10 thc many tria ls that he endured.

Ib n Abi Hal im and Ibn Jareer narrated on the authority of

Anas Ibn Mali k ..~ ' hal the Prophel :IS said, "Allah's Prophet,

Ayyoob, suffered lor e ighteen years from hi s affl iction a nd

was shunned by re latives and strangers a like, besides two men

who were the cl osest of his brothers to him. They used to visi t

(36) The mcaning of this can be found in the Sall ee/will and it was narrated

with an authcntic chain ofnarmtors by Imam Ahmad, on the authority of

Sa' d Ibn Abi Waqqas .:;;. (1484).

him every morning a nd every eveni ng. One o f them said to

hi s companion , 'You know, by Allah, that Ayyoob committed

a great sin wh ich nobody in the world eve r committed. ' Hi s

compani on said , ' Why are you saying that?' I-I e sa id, 'For

e ightee n years he has bee n suffering and A lla h has not had

Mercy on him and re lieve hi s suffering.' When he went to him

the nex t morn ing, the (second) man could no t wait to te ll this

to Ayyoob. Ayyoob sa id , ' I do not know what you are ta lking

about , but A ll ah knows that if I passed by two men who were

arguing a nd they mentioncd the Namc of A llah , I wou ld go

back home and offer cxp iati o n lest they had mentioned the

Name of A lla h in an imprope r manner.' W henever he went out

to answer th e ca ll of naturc, w hen he fin ished, hi s wife wou ld

take hi s hand unt il he came back homc. One day he took a long

time, and Allah had revea led to Ayyoob, ( Strike with your

foot. Thi s is (a spring of) wa ter to wa sh, coo l and a (re freshing)

drink ) (SoO/"oil Sad 38:42) She thought that he had taken too

lo ng, so she turned to look at him, and saw that A llah had taken

away the afflicti ons he had been suffering, and he looked better

th an he had ever looked. When she saw him , she sa id , " May

A ll ah bless you! Have you see n Allah 's Prophet, the one who

is sore ly tested By A llah? I have ncver seen a man who looks

more likc him than you , if he were healthy." I-I e said, " I am

he." He had two threshing floors, o ne for wheat and one fo r

barley. All ah sent two c louds, and whe n o ne of them reached

the threshing floor of the whea t, it rained go ld until it was fu ll.

The o ther rained gold onlh c th reshing fl oor oft hc barley until

it was full. " 437)

Ibn Abi Hatim narra ted on the aut hority of Ab u Hura irah

.t;e, from the Prophet 3i$ that he said , " Whcn Allah restored to

hea lth , Ayyoob ~ He rained golden locusts down on him and

(37) Narrated by Ibn Jnrccr in his Ta/seer (23 / 167).

386 rhe Story ojAy)'ooh (Joh) ~

he began to gathe r them up wi th his han ds a nd place them in

hi s ga rme nt. It was sa id to him , ' 0 , Ayyoob! Do you not have

suffi cient ?' He sa id, ' 0 , my Lord! Who can ever have suffi cient

o f Your Mercy?' (3S) It was also narrat ed by Ibn Hi bban in hi s

Sahee" , 09) but non e of the compi lers o f the (six authentic)

boo ks narrated it, though it confo rm s to the criteria rcquircd for

a hadeefh to be accept ed as authenti c. And Allah knows bcltcr.

Imam Ahmad narrated on the authori ty o f Abu I-Iu rai rah ..#f,

th at he said : The Messe nger of All ah ;l'; said, " Wh ile Ayyoob

~ was bat hing nak ed, loc usts of gold fe ll upon him. Ayyoob,

peace bc upon hi m, began ga theri ng them in his ga nnenl. Th en

hi s Lord call ed to him , ' 0 , Ayyoob, have I not made you so

ri ch that you have no necd of what you sec?' I-I e said, ' Yes,

Lord ! Bu t I cannot do without Your Blessi ng' !" This was also

na rrated by AI-Bukhari,on Ihe au thorityo f ' Abdur-Razzaq ...;e. (40)

All ah's Sayi ng: ( Stri ke wi th your foot ) mean s: strike the

ground with you r foot; and he did as he wa s commanded to

do, upon whi ch, All ah ca used a spring, whose water was co ld,

to gush fo rth for him . Th en All ah co mma nded him to wash in

it and to drink from it; he did so, and Allah re moved th ereby

all of the pa in, di sfi guremcnt and ill ness that had affi icted his

body, both outside and inside. I-Ie replaced hi s former ill-hea lth

with good hea lth, bestowing on him perfec t beauty and great

wea lt h, to such an extcnt that I-I e rained down a shower of

golden loc llsts upo n hi m and He returned hi s famil y to him, as

He, Most Hi gh, says, ( and We restored his I~uni ly to him (th at

he had lost), and the lik e thereof along with the m. ) (Soorah

(38) Narrntcd by Imam Ahmad (10260).

(39) This is an authentic /wdeellt narr.ltcd by Ibn Hibban in his Saltcelt ( 141122,

(40) Narr.ltcd by im;llll Ahm;ld (27376).

AI-Anbiya' 21 :84) It was sa id th at He resto red the selfsame

fam ily to li fe. It was also said th at He rewarded him for those

he had losl and recompensed him in the li fe o f thi s worl d wit h

othe rs, and th at He re unit ed him with all of the m in the life o f

He, Most Hi gh, says, ( as a Mercy from O urselves. ) (Soorah

AI-Anbiya' 2 1:84) Th at is, We reli eved him of his hardship. (

and We removed th e di stress that was on him. ) (Soorah AI-