Saad (The letter Saad)

41. “And remember Our servant Job, when he called to his Lord ‘Verily, Satan has afflicted me with toil and torment’.”

42. “(We told him:) ‘Stamp with your foot, here is a cool washing-place and a drink’.”

The history of the great men should not be forgotten. The history of the Divine prophets is instructive even for the friends of Allah: because being acquainted with others’ difficulties may strengthen patience and perseverance.

In the former verses the words were about Solomon and his glory which showed the god-given power and this itself was a glad tiding for the Prophet of Islam (S) and the Muslims of Mecca who were in a serious pressure at that proper time.

These verses are about Job, the sample of patience and perseverance in order to teach the Muslims of that day, today, and tomorrow to show perseverance in the face of difficulties of life, and to invite them to assistance and to make the good end of this patience clear.

Job is the third prophet a part of whose life story has been mentioned in this Surah, and our great Prophet was enjoined to remember his life story and to reiterate it for the Muslims so that they would not fear from tiresome difficulties and never become hopeless from the grace and favour of Allah.

The name or the life story of Job has been mentioned in several Suras of the Qur’an: in Surah An-Nisa’, No. 4, verse 163; and in Surah Al-’An‘am, No. 6, verse 84 where only his name has been mentioned in the row of other Divine prophets in order to confirm the rank of his prophethood.

It is contrary to the existing Torah which has not counted him among the Divine prophets, but it introduces him as a rich righteous servant of Allah who had a lot of properties and children.

There is a short explanation about his life in Surah Al-’Anbiya’, No. 21, verses 83 and 84, but his biography has been mentioned in the verses under discussion through four verses more in details than any other place of the Holy Qur’an.

The verse says:

“And remember Our servant Job, when he called to his Lord ‘Verily, Satan has afflicted me with toil and torment’.”

The Qur’anic terms /nusb/ and /nasb/ both mean: toil and torment.

By the Arabic phrase /‘abdana/, mentioned in this verse, firstly, the high rank of Job with Allah is clearly understood. Secondly, the holy verse ambiguously refers to the severe and tiresome afflictions of Job and that he had too much pain and toil.

The explanation of this affliction has not been mentioned in the Qur’an, but it has been said in the well known commentary books and traditions as follows:

“Someone asked Imam Sadiq (as): ‘What was the affliction for that Job tolerated?’ (And he thought Job had probably done a wrong action that Allah caused him to be so.)”

In reply to him, Imam Sadiq (as) gave a detailed answer the summery of which is as follows:

Job was not afflicted with those great calamities because of ungratefulness to blessings, but, on the contrary, it was for the gratitude to the blessings, since Satan said to Allah:

‘If You find Job grateful, it is because of the abundant bounties You have given him. It is certain that if these bounties are taken from him, he surely will not be a thankful servant’.

In order to make the sincerity of Job clear to all, and to set him be grateful to Allah at the time of both bountifulness and pain, He let Satan dominate his whole world.

Satan asked Allah that Job’s abundant wealth, his tilth, his sheep and his children would be entirely annihilated. Then the pests and calamities destroyed them all in a short length of time; but not only the status of the thankfulness of Job did not decrease, but also it was increased.

This time Satan asked to dominate over Job’s body and he should be so sick that he would twist in bed as the result of pain and sickness.

This bodily sickness did not decrease anything from his state of thankfulness, either. But there happened something that annoyed Job and hurt his spirit very much. This event was that a group of the monks of the children of Israel came to meet him. They said:

‘What have you done that you were afflicted with painful punishment?’

In answer to them Job said:

‘By my Lord! There has not been any wrong, and I have always been studious in the obedience of Allah. Whenever I ate a little food, there have been an orphan and an indigent present at my table.’

It is true that Job became worried from this taunt of the friends more than any other calamities, yet he did not lose his patience and did not polluted the pure sincere thankfulness with ungratefulness.

He only turned to Allah and uttered the abovementioned sentences. Since he had passed the Divine examinations successfully, He opened the doors of His favour again to him, this patient servant, and He returned the last bounties to him one after another and even more than before so that everybody might know the good end of patience and gratitude.¹

Some commentators believe that the pain and hurt of Satan to job might be from his different temptations. Sometime he said to Job that his sickness had become long and his Lord had forgotten him.

Sometimes he said:

“How great bounties you had! What a safety, power and strength you had and He took them all from you! Do you yet give thank to Him?”

Perhaps this commentary is for the sake that they have considered the domination of Satan on a prophet like Job and on his soul, property and progeny impossible.

But, regarding to the fact that firstly this domination had been done by the command of Allah, secondly it had been limited and temporal, and, thirdly, it had been done for the trial of this great prophet and electing his degree, it brings no problem.

However, it is said that the sickness, pain, and hurt of Job prolonged seven years, or, according to another narration, it lasted eighteen years, and his circumstances changed to a state that his closest friends and companions left him.

It was only his wife who showed steadfastness in loyalty to Job. This is itself an evidence for the loyalty of some wives to their husbands.

But among all these calamities and pains what hurt the Job’s spirit most was the taunts of the enemies.

So, a narration indicates that next to the time Job regained his health and the doors of Divine mercy were opened to him, he was asked what his worst pain was, and he said:

“The taunt of the enemies.”2

Through the next verse Job was ordered as follows:

“(We told him:) ‘Stamp with your foot, here is a cool washing-place and a drink’.”

The Arabic term /’urkud/ is derived from /rakd/ in the sense of ‘to stamp on the earth’ and sometimes it means ‘to run’, and here it has been used in the first meaning.

The same Lord Who caused the spring of Zamzam to gush in that dry hot desert under the foot of Ishmael, that little baby, and the same Lord from Whose side is every motion, every stop, every bounty, and every merit, also issued this command for Job (as). The spring began gushing cold and wholesome water and cured his inside and outside sicknesses.

Some commentators believe that this spring had a kind of mineral water which had been both wholesome for drinking and the effects of remedy for the sicknesses. Whatever it was, it was the grace and mercy of Allah, the Almighty, for a patient Divine prophet.

The Arabic word /muqtasil/ means the water with which washing is done, while some others have taken it in the sense of the place of washing, but the first meaning is more correct. However that water being qualified with ‘coldness’, perhaps is a hint to the special effect of washing with cold water for health and bodily welfare, as it has been proved in the medicine of today.

It is also a tender hint to this fact that the perfection of water is in this thing that from the point of purity and cleanliness it should be like drinking water. The reference of this statement is that in Islamic recommendations we also recite that before having a ritual ablution, you do drink a little of its water.²