21. Surah Al Anbiya'
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَأَيُّوبَ
إِذْ نَادَى
رَبَّهُ...
21: 83. And (remember) Job when he cried to his Lord,
...أَنِّي مَسَّنِيَ الضُّرُّ وَأَنتَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ ﴿٨٣﴾
"Truly distress has seized me, but Thou art the Most Merciful of those that are merciful."
C2739. Job (Ayub) was a prosperous man, with faith in Allah, living somewhere in the north-east comer of Arabia.
He suffers from a number of calamities:
- his cattle are destroyed,
- his servants slain by the sword,
- and his family crushed under his roof.
But he holds fast to his faith in Allah.
As a further calamity he is covered with loathsome sores from head to foot. He loses his peace of mind, and he curses the day he was born. His false friends come and attribute his afflictions to sin.
These "Job's comforters" are no comforters at all, and he further loses his balance of mind, but Allah recalls to him all His mercies, and he resumes his humility and gives up self-justification.
He is restored to prosperity, with twice as much as he had before; his brethren and friends come back to him; he had a new family of seven sons and three fair daughters. He lived to a good old age, and saw four generations of descendants.
All this is recorded in the Book of Job in the Old Testament.
Of all the Hebrew writings, the Hebrew of this Book comes nearest to Arabic. The account given in the Biblical sources and the image that it projects of Prophet Job is decidedly different from that found in the Quran and the Hadith, which present him as a prophet and brilliant example of dignified patience becoming of a great Prophet of Allah ever trustful in Him and His promises.
Nothing could be farther from truth than saying that he lost his peace of mind or resorted to curses during the period of his trial. (R).
فَاسْتَجَبْنَا
لَهُ فَكَشَفْنَا
مَا بِهِ مِن
ضُرٍّ...
21: 84. So We listened to him:
We removed the distress that was on him,
...وَآتَيْنَاهُ أَهْلَهُ وَمِثْلَهُم مَّعَهُمْ رَحْمَةً مِّنْ عِندِنَا وَذِكْرَى لِلْعَابِدِينَ ﴿٨٤﴾
and We restored his people to him, and doubled their number -- as a Grace from Ourselves,
and a thing for commemoration, for all who serve Us.
C2740. Job is the pattern of humility, patience, and faith in Allah. It was with these weapons that he fought and conquered evil.
Asad’s Version:
21:83
AND [remember] Job, when he cried out to his Sustainer, "Affliction has befallen me: but Thou art the most merciful of the merciful !" 78 –
(21:84) whereupon We responded unto him and removed all the affliction from which he suffered; and We gave him new offspring, 79 doubling their number as an act of grace from Us, and as a reminder unto all who worship Us.
[[Asad’s note
78 The story of Job (Ayyub in Arabic), describing his erstwhile happiness and prosperity, his subsequent trials and tribulations, the loss of all his children and his properly, his own loathsome illness and utter despair and, finally, God's reward of his patience in adversity, is given in full in the Old Testament (The Book of Job). This Biblical, highly philosophical epic is most probably a Hebrew translation or paraphrase - still evident in the language employed - of an ancient
Nabataean (i.e., North-Arabian) poem, for "Job, the author of the finest piece of poetry that the ancient Semitic world produced, was an Arab, not a Jew, as the form of his name (Iyyob) and the scene of his book, North Arabia, indicate" (Philip K. Hitti, History of the Arabs, London 1937, pp. 42-43). Since God "spoke" to him, Job ranks in the Qur'an among the prophets, personifying the supreme virtue of patience in adversity (sabr).
79 Lit., "his family" - i.e., new children in place of those who had died. ]]
38. Surah Sad [88 verses]
Mecca Period 38
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَاذْكُرْ
عَبْدَنَا
أَيُّوبَ...
38: 41. Commemorate Our servant Job,
C4198. For this passage, verses 41-44, Cf. 21:83-84.
... إِذْ نَادَى رَبَّهُ أَنِّي مَسَّنِيَ الشَّيْطَانُ بِنُصْبٍ وَعَذَابٍ ﴿٤١﴾
behold he cried to his Lord: "The Evil One has afflicted me with distress and suffering"!
C4199. The distress was of many kinds. See n. 2739 to 21:83.
He suffered from loathsome sores; he lost his home, his possessions, and his family; and almost his balance of mind. But he did not lose Faith but turned to Allah (see verse 44 below), and the recuperative process began.
ارْكُضْ
بِرِجْلِكَ...
38: 42. (The command was given:) "Strike with thy foot:
C4200. The recuperative process having begun, he was commanded to strike the earth or a rock with his foot, and a fountain or fountains gushed forth,-to give him a bath and clean his body; to refresh his spirits; and to give him drink and rest.
This is a fresh touch, not mentioned in Surah 21. or in the Book of Job, but adding beautifully to our realisation of the picture.
... هَذَا مُغْتَسَلٌ بَارِدٌ وَشَرَابٌ ﴿٤٢﴾
here is (water) wherein to wash, cool and refreshing, and (water) to drink."
وَوَهَبْنَا
لَهُ أَهْلَهُ
وَمِثْلَهُم
مَّعَهُمْ
رَحْمَةً مِّنَّا...
38: 43. And We gave him (back) his people, and doubled their number -- as a Grace from Ourselves,
C4201. Cf. 21:84, and notes n. 2739 - 2740.
... وَذِكْرَى لِأُوْلِي الْأَلْبَابِ ﴿٤٣﴾
and a thing for commemoration, for all who have Understanding.
وَخُذْ
بِيَدِكَ
ضِغْثًا...
38: 44. "And take in thy hand a little grass,
... فَاضْرِب بِّهِ وَلَا تَحْنَثْ...
and strike therewith: and break not (thy oath)."
C4202. In his worst distress Job was patient and constant in faith, but apparently his wife was not. According to the Book of Job (2:9-10),
"Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips."
He must have said in his haste to the woman that he would beat her: he is asked now to correct her with only a wisp of grass, to show that he was gentle and humble as well as patient and constant.
... إِنَّا وَجَدْنَاهُ صَابِرًا نِعْمَ الْعَبْدُ...
Truly We found him full of patience and constancy:
how excellent in Our service!
C4203. Cf. 38:30 above, where similar words are spoken of Solomon. Patience and constancy are also a form of service, if our attitude is due to an active faith in Allah, and not mere passivity.
So Milton in his Sonnet: "They also serve who only stand and wait. "
... إِنَّهُ أَوَّابٌ ﴿٤٤﴾
Ever did he turn (to Us)!
Asad’s Version:
38:41 AND CALL to mind Our servant Job, 37 [how it was] when he cried out to his Sustainer, "Behold, Satan has afflicted me with [utter] weariness and suffering!" 38 –
(38:42) [and thereupon was told:] "Strike [the ground] with thy foot: here is cool water to wash with and to drink!" 39
38:43 And We bestowed upon him new offspring, 40 doubling their number as an act of grace from Us, and as a reminder unto all who are endowed with insight.
(38:44) [And finally We told him:] "Now take in thy hand a small bunch of grass, and strike therewith, and thou wilt not break thine oath!" 41 - for, verily, We found him full of patience in adversity: how excellent a servant [of Ours], who, behold, would always turn unto Us!
[[Asad’s notes –
37 See note 78 on 21:83.
38 I.e., with life- weariness in consequence of suffering. As soon as he realizes that God has been testing him, Job perceives that his utter despondency and weariness of life - eloquently described in the Old Testament (The Book of Job iii) - was but due to what is described as "Satan's whisperings" : this is the moral to be drawn from the above evocation of Job's story.
39 According to the classical commentators, the miraculous appearance of a healing spring heralded the end of Job's suffering, both physical and mental.
40 Lit., "his family" (cf. 21 :84 and the corresponding note 79).
4 1 In the words of the Bible (The Book of Job ii, 9), at the time of his seemingly hopeless suffering Job's wife reproached her husband for persevering in his faith: "Dost thou still retaip thine integrity? Curse God, and die." According to the classical Qur'an-commentators, Job swore that, if God would restore him to health, he would punish her blasphemy with a hundred stripes. But when he did recover, he bitterly regretted his hasty oath, for he realized that his wife's "blasphemy" had been an
outcome other love and pity for him; and thereupon he was told in a revelation that he could fulfil his vow in a symbolic manner by striking her once with "a bunch of grass containing a hundred blades or more". (Cf. 5:89 - "God will not take you to task for oaths which you may have uttered without thought") ]]