Verses 41–48
This is the third story telling the Prophet to be patient and mindful of the past. It tells of Job who was tried; then, God bestowed upon him healing and gifts. Then it tells the Prophet to remember Abraham and five of his descendants who were prophets.
Commentary
وَاذْكُرْ عَبْدَنَا أَيُّوبَ إِذْ نَادَىٰ رَبَّهُ أَنِّي مَسَّنِيَ الشَّيْطَانُ بِنُصْبٍ وَعَذَابٍ٤١
(38:41) And remember Our servant Job, when he called out to His Lord: “Satan has afflicted me with toil and torment (bi-nuṣb wa ʿadhāb)!”
Here, Job implores God to heal him and dispel the calamites that had stricken him. He does not specifically verbalize what he is asking for out of humbleness and humility. However, the expression His Lord (rabbahu) implies that he was beseeching God in a time of distress.
Nūṣb means “exhaustion”. When he called out to his Lord… hones in on who is meant by Our servant or Job. “Satan has afflicted me” recounts Job’s prayer.
Toil and torment alludes to calamities that had struck his health and family, as explicated by his prayer in Sūrah al-Anbiyāʾ: “Affliction (ḍarr) has befallen me, and You are the most merciful of the merciful!” () Here, affliction is understood to include the difficulties he faced with his health and family. However, nothing in Sūrah Ṣād or Sūrah al-Anbiyāʾ indicates that he lost his wealth; this is mentioned in narrations.
Satan has afflicted me with toil and torment expresses a cause-and-effect relationship, which is also specified in narrations. Illness and the like can be attributed both to Satan and to natural causes, because the two types of cause do not conflict since they do not operate at the same level of existence. Rather, one operates at a higher level than the other. We explained that in our exegesis of Had the people of towns had faith and been reverent, We would have showered them will blessings from the sky ().
There is no reason to think that Satan cannot affect human beings this way. Take this verse: Wine, gambling, idols, and divining arrows are a defilement, wrought by Satan (). Here, these things are attributed to Satan. Similarly, Moses implies that Satan fomented killing in: This is the work of Satan; he is a misguiding, clear enemy ().
If one closes their eyes to the narrations, it is possible to take this to mean that Satan caused this toil and torment by whispering into people’s hearts. “Stay away from this man!” he whispered. “If he were truly a prophet, he would not be suffering so! He would never have come to this.” Such did he slander, and so they slandered him, and mocked him.
Tafsīr al-Kashshāf actually rejects what we said. It insists:
God would not grant Satan authority over His prophets, such that he might torment or exhaust whomever he wanted. If that were to happen, not a single righteous person would remain—Satan would have sent all of them spiraling into misery and misfortune! The Qur’an repeatedly says that Satan only has the authority to whisper to people.
However, the flaw with this argument is that the sinlessness enjoyed by the prophets and infallibles only protects them from being influenced by Satan’s whispering inwardly. It does not protect from being harassed, exhausted, or otherwise vexed by Satan in other ways which do not entail misguidance; for instance, in their physical bodies or other aspects of their lives. There is no evidence to suggest that Satan cannot bother them in other ways. For instance, God relates that the boy accompanying Moses—who is none other than Joshua the prophet—said:
“I forgot the fish, and the only one who made me forget to mention it was Satan” ().
Furthermore, tinkering with the bodies of the prophets does not necessitate tinkering with their hearts. Satan may torment or weary the prophets to [inadvertently] fulfil a higher goal, such as demonstrating their patience with God or how they turn towards Him. Satan’s grasp over their bodies does not place him outside of God’s will. God decrees whatever He wills for all of His servants, and nothing happens without His permission.
ارْكُضْ بِرِجْلِكَ ۖ هَٰذَا مُغْتَسَلٌ بَارِدٌ وَشَرَابٌ ٤٢
(38:42) “Strike with your foot. This is cool [water], for washing and drinking.”
Here, God announces that Job’s prayer was answered; this is understood from the fact that this verse comes directly after the verse telling of his prayer. There are two possibilities for “Strike with your foot…”: either this was revealed directly to Job, or else it paraphrases something along the lines of, “We responded to him and told him to strike with his foot.” The command strike with your foot implies—nay, specifies—that he was unable to stand and walk on his feet. His entire body had been afflicted, but God healed his feet and caused a spring to flow there. Then, He commanded him to wash in it and drink from it, until his entire body, inwardly and outwardly, was cured; this interpretation is bolstered by narrations, which shall be presented soon.
Some of this interpretation is elided from the verse. That is, the full sequence of events is that he struck with his foot, washed, drank, and was healed by God.
وَوَهَبْنَا لَهُ أَهْلَهُ وَمِثْلَهُمْ مَعَهُمْ رَحْمَةً مِنَّا وَذِكْرَىٰ لِأُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ ٤٣
(38:43) And We gave him his family and their like, as a mercy from Us and a reminder to those with understanding.
Narrations relate that he was tried with many things, including the death of his whole family, except for his wife. Then, God brought them back to life and gave him others as well, who were like them.
Some say that they were separated from him during his difficult times, but then God reunited all of them after he was healed. By then, his children had borne children, and so they were similar in number to how they had been before.
As a mercy from Us and a reminder to those with understanding: This phrase is framed as an object. That is, the implied meaning is, “We did what we did to him so that it would be a form of mercy from Us, and a reminder to those with understanding, that they may contemplate it.”
وَخُذْ بِيَدِكَ ضِغْثًا فَاضْرِبْ بِهِ وَلَا تَحْنَثْ ۗ إِنَّا وَجَدْنَاهُ صَابِرًا ۚ نِعْمَ الْعَبْدُۖ إِنَّهُ أَوَّابٌ ٤٤
(38:44) “And take in your hand a bundle of rushes (ḍighthan), and strike therewith, and do not break your oath.” And We found him patient. A most excellent servant! He ever turned [to Us].
Majmaʿ al-Bayān says:
A digh is a handful of straw, hay, twigs, branches, or the like.
Job had sworn that if he was healed, he would strike his wife with one hundred lashes, since she had upset him over something, as will be mentioned in the section on narrations. So when God healed him, He told him to take a handful of rushes—one stalk for each lash—to thereby keep to the word of his oath.
This is something the verse hints at. It does not outright say anything about his wife, or why he swore this oath, out of politeness and respect towards him.
We found him patient: Meaning, We found him patient with Our trials—the loss of his health, family, and wealth. This expression offers further explanation for and remember () or Our servant (); that is, it explains why He was called a servant, or why he was specifically called “God’s servant”. The first interpretation is preferable.
A most excellent servant! He ever turned [to Us]: This praises him.
وَاذْكُرْ عِبَادَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ أُولِي الْأَيْدِي وَالْأَبْصَارِ ٤٥
(38:45) And remember Our servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—men of might and insight.
This praises them by describing them as being full of might (ayd, from yad, “hand”) and insight (abṣār, from baṣar, “vision”). A human’s hand and eyes are praised when they are used what they are created for and serve a human in his essential humanity. That is, the hand is used to work righteous deeds, through which benevolence flows towards the creation, and the eyesight is used to discern the path towards safety and security, away from the pitfall of destruction; it is also used to pinpoint truth and avoid being perplexed by falsehood.
Their being possessed of might and insight (“hands and eyesight”) is a metaphor for their stalwartness in obeying God and bringing goodness to others, as well as their insight in honing in on the truth in matters pertaining to faith and acts. Both meanings are synthesized in this verse:
And We delivered him as well as Lot to the land which We had blessed for all people. And We gave him Isaac and Jacob, a son’s son, and We made them all good. And We made them Imams who guided by Our command, and We revealed to them the doing of good and the keeping up of prayer and the giving of the alms, and Us did they serve. ()
Thus, He made them imams. The divine command and revelation relate to their vision, and the doing of good, establishing the prayer, and giving alms relate to their hands. It is also narrated that this verse speaks of their strength and insight in worship.
إِنَّا أَخْلَصْنَاهُمْ بِخَالِصَةٍ ذِكْرَى الدَّارِ ٤٦
(38:46) We purified them (aklaṣnāhum bi-khāliṣatin, lit. “We purified them with a purification”) through the trait of remembering the [final] abode (dār).
Grammatically speaking, purification (khāliṣah) is an adjective used in place of what it is being described. The preposition bi- in bi-khāliṣatin denotes causality, and means “for the sake of a purifying them completely”. Remembering the [final] abode elaborates on “purification” and refers to the hereafter.
This verse provides an explanation for either men of might and insight, Our servants, or And remember, all of which fall in the previous verse; the first view is preferable. For when a person is wholly immersed in remembering the hereafter and nearness to the Lord of the Worlds, and it is their main preoccupation, that person must necessarily attain perfect cognizance near their Lord. Their sight shall pinpoint the truths of faith and yield insight into wayfaring on the path of worship. They shall be saved from the mere materiality of the worldly life and its adornments, just as the prophets were:
Therefore turn aside from whoever turns his back upon Our reminder and does not desire anything but the worldly life ().
Some exegetes say that abode (dār) refers to the worldly life [not the hereafter], and that the verse means that people will continue to speak well of them as long as the world subsists. To that end, they cite this verse: We gave him Isaac and Jacob, and each one of them We made a prophet. We granted them Our mercy, and We left [behind them] a truthful mention of eminence for them. () However, the previous view is better.
وَإِنَّهُمْ عِنْدَنَا لَمِنَ الْمُصْطَفَيْنَ الْأَخْيَارِ ٤٧
(38:47) They were with Us, of the elect (al-muṣṭafīn), the finest (al-akhyār).
As we said previously, being “chosen” (muṣṭafīn) necessitates full submission to God. This verse alludes to:
Allah chose Adam and Noah and the descendants of Abraham and the descendants of ʿImrān above the nations. ()
Akhyār is the plural of khayr (“good”), which is the opposite of “evil”, according to what is said. Some say it is the plural of khayyir with doubled letter or khayr with a single letter, similar to how amwāt is the plural of mayyit or mayt (“dead body”).
وَاذْكُرْ إِسْمَاعِيلَ وَالْيَسَعَ وَذَا الْكِفْلِ ۖ وَكُلٌّ مِنَ الْأَخْيَارِ ٤٨
(38:48) And remember Ishmael, Elisha, and Dhū al-Kifl; each of them is among the finest.
The meaning here is clear.
Discourse
The discussion “Job in the Qur’an” appears here in the printed volume. Read it in the Al-Mizan App.
Narrations about Job
- In Tafsīr al-Qummī, it is related from Abū Baṣīr:
I asked Imām al-Ṣādiq about the trials that Job endured when alive, and why he had to endure them.
Imām al-Ṣādiq replied: “God—the Mighty and Glorious—had blessed Job copiously, and Job was thankful for that. Back in those days, Iblīs was not kept from the divine throne. One day, when Iblīs ascended towards the throne, he caught sight of Job thanking God for His blessings. Jealous, Iblīs said, ‘O Lord, Job is only thanking you because of the worldly blessings You have gifted him with. Were You to deprive him of them, he would be an ingrate. Allow me to beset him in his worldly matters, so that You see that he will never thank you for Your blessings, ever again.’
“Iblīs was told: ‘You may tinker with his wealth and offspring.’
“So Iblīs swooped down and beset all of Job’s wealth and children. Nothing remained; however, Job thanked and praised God even more! So Iblīs implored, ‘Allow me to beset his farmland, O Lord.’
“God said, ‘Thus it shall be.’
“Then Iblīs went with his demon-minions to Job’s farmland, blew onto it, and burnt it. Still, Job thanked and praised God even more.
“Iblīs went back to God and said, “O Lord, allow me to beset his sheep.” Then Iblīs wiped out his sheep. Still, Job thanked and praised God even more.”
“Iblīs said, ‘O Lord, allow me to beset his health.’ God assented and allowed him to afflict all of Job’s body, except for his soundness of mind and his two eyes. So Iblīs blew onto Job, and Job became a giant sore, from head to toe. He lingered long like that, praising God and thanking him, until worms hatched in his body and wriggled their way out. He sent them back, saying, ‘Go back to the place where God created you.’ Thus, he stank, until his townspeople cast him out into the rubbish-heap outside their town.
“His wife was Raḥmah, the daughter of Ephraim, the son of Joseph, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. She was forced to resort to begging and gave him whatever she could get.
“When his difficulties had gone on long, and Iblīs saw his patience, he went to some of Job’s associates who were monks, living in the mountains, and told them, ‘Come and see this worshipper who has been afflicted. Let’s go ask him what happened to him.’
“So they went to him, riding grey mules. When they approached Job, their mules recoiled at the stench. Glancing at each other, they walked to him. Among them was a young man. Sitting before him, they said, “Job, why don’t you tell us what sin you committed? For we fear that God might destroy us if we asked Him [to forgive you]. We cannot imagine that you would be suffering like this—in a way no one else has—unless there were some reason for it, something you have kept secret.”
“Job said, ‘By the glory of the Lord! Lord knows I never took a meal unless a guest or an orphan was eating with me. Whenever I was faced with two choices, both of which entailed obedience towards God, I always chose the one that was harsher on my body.”
“The young man said, ‘Shame on you! You embarrassed a prophet of God so much that you pushed him to publicize his worship, which used to be a secret.’
“Job said, ‘O Lord, if only I could sit for judgment before You and plead my case!’
“So God send a cloud to him and declared, ‘Job! Plead your case, for I have seated you for judgment. I am near and always have been!’
“He said, ‘O Lord! You know that whenever I was faced with two choices, both of which entailed obedience towards you, I always chose the more difficult one. Did I not praise You? Did I not thank You? Did I not glorify You?’
“Ten thousand tongues called out from the cloud, ‘Job! You used to worship God while the people knew not. You used to praise God, and glorify God, and exalt God, while the people knew not. And now you are angling for something in return from God, when this was God’s blessing upon you?’
“Job took a fistful of dust and stuffed it in his mouth, then said, ‘Yes, O Lord, You are the one who blessed me with this.’”
“So God sent an angel to him. The angel took his two feet and struck the ground with them. From there, a spring sprang up. Then it washed him in the water, and he became even more handsome and hale than ever. God grew green gardens for him and returned his family, property, children and farms to him, while an angel sat with him, speaking with him and keeping him company.
“His wife was on her way towards him, bringing a crust of bread. When she neared his usual spot, she saw that things had changed, and there were now two [other] men sitting there. Bursting into tears, she cried out, ‘Job, what happened to you?’
“Job called back to her, and she came close and realized that God had healed his body and restored His blessings upon Him. Immediately she fell into prostration, thanking God.
“Job saw that her forelocks had been shorn. This was because she had asked people for some food for Job. Since her forelocks were very beautiful, they told her, “Give us your forelocks in exchange.” So she cut them off and traded them for food, then took it to Job. When he saw that her hair had been cut, he grew angry and swore that he would strike her with a hundred lashes. Then she told him why she had done it. Job regretted what he had sworn, and so God revealed to him, ‘And take in your hand a bundle of rushes, and strike therewith, and do not break your oath’ (). So he scooped up a handful of twigs and tapped her once, thusly fulfilling his oath.”
Author’s comments: Ibn ʿAbbās relates something similar from Wahab. He says that Job’s wife was the daughter of Mīshā, the son of Joseph, and that he was so afflicted that people were repelled from him. While some narrations support this, other narrations from the Imāms of the family of the Prophet staunchly deny this, as will be mentioned.
- In al-Khiṣāl, it is related that Imām al-Bāqir said:
Job was afflicted for seven years although he had committed no sin. The prophets do not sin, for they are protected and purified. They neither sin nor stray—neither big sins nor small ones.
Despite all of his difficulties, Job never exuded a foul odor, nor looked repulsive, nor oozed blood or pus—not even a drop. No one who saw him was repelled from him, nor did they shrink back in terror from him. Worms did not crawl out of his body. God never did this to any of His honored prophets or near ones (awliyāʾ). People left him because he was poor and appeared weak to worldly eyes, for they were ignorant of his status before his Lord. They did not realize that God was on his side and would soon bring relief.
The Prophet said: “Those afflicted with the greatest trials are the prophets, then those similar to them, and then those similar to them.”
God tried him enormously so that people would consider him unimportant lest they deify him when they saw the enormous blessings that God willed to bestow upon him; to show that there are two types of divine reward: earned and gifted; so they would not scorn the weak, the poor, or the ill since he had endured weakness, poverty, and illness; so they would know that God makes whoever He wills fall ill and heals whoever He wills, however he wills, through any means that He wills, and makes whomever He wishes a lesson for whomever He wills; that God brings fortune and misfortune to whomever He wills; and that He is mighty and glorious in all of that. His judgment is just. He is wise in his acts, and he only does things to His servants which are for their greater good. And all power is vested in Him.
- Regarding And We gave him his family and their like, as a mercy from Us and a reminder to those with understanding (), Tafsīr al-Qummī says:
God gave him back his family members, both those who had died before his time of trial and also those who had died afterwards. God brought them back to life, and they lived with him.
After he was healed, Job was asked, “What was the worst thing you went through?”
He replied, “The gloating of the enemies.”
- Regarding “Satan has afflicted me with toil and torment” (), Majmaʿ al-Bayān says:
It is said that his illness worsened until people avoided him and Satan began to whisper to them that they should toss him out like a piece of rubbish; they should not even let his wife, who had been looking after him, get near him. Although he was greatly pained by that, Job did not complain to anyone about it since his suffering was something that God had ordained.
Qatādah says: “This continued for seven years.” This is also narrated from Imām al-Bāqir.
Discourse
The discussion “The Accounts of Al-Yasaʿ98 and Dhū al-Kifl” appears here in the printed volume. Read it in the Al-Mizan App.
Lit. badal ishtimāl. [Trans.] ↩︎
This is narrated in Tafsīr al-Qummī from Abū al-Jārūd from Imām al-Bāqir. ↩︎
This is related from al-Qummī’s father, from Ibn Faḍḍal, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Baḥr, from Ibn Muskān, from Abū Baṣīr. ↩︎
This is related from al-Qaṭṭān from al-Sakrī from al-Jawharī from Ibn ʿAmmārah from his father from Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad [Imām al-Ṣādiq], from Imām al-Bāqir. ↩︎
However, he complained about what Satan had done, since Satan was not God. [Trans.] ↩︎