SHAAD — Ayat 41

Tafsir Ibnu Katsir

وَاذْكُرْ عَبْدَنَآ أَيُّوبَ إِذْ نَادَى رَبَّهُ أَنِّى مَسَّنِىَ الشَّيْطَـنُ بِنُصْبٍ وَعَذَابٍ - ارْكُضْ بِرِجْلِكَ هَـذَا مُغْتَسَلٌ بَارِدٌ وَشَرَابٌ - وَوَهَبْنَا لَهُ أَهْلَهُ وَمِثْلَهُمْ مَّعَهُمْ رَحْمَةً مِّنَّا وَذِكْرَى لاٌّوْلِى الاٌّلْبَـبِ - وَخُذْ بِيَدِكَ ضِغْثاً فَاضْرِب بِّهِ وَلاَ تَحْنَثْ إِنَّا وَجَدْنَـهُ صَابِراً نِّعْمَ الْعَبْدُ إِنَّهُ أَوَّابٌ

41.And remember Our servant Ayyub, when he invoked his Lord (saying): Verily, Shaytan has afflicted me with distress and torment! 42. (Allah said to him): ”Strike the ground with your foot. This is (a spring of) water to wash in, cool and a drink. 43. And We gave him (back) his family, and along with them the like thereof, as a mercy from Us, and a reminder for those who understand. 44. And take in your hand a bundle of thin grass and strike therewith (your wife), and break not your oath. Truly, We found him patient. How excellent a servant! Verily, he was ever oft-returning in repentance (to Us)! Here Allah tells us about His servant and Messenger Ayyub (Job) and how He tested him. These tests afflicted his body, his wealth and his children, until there was no part of his body that was healthy except his heart. Then he had nothing left in this world which he could use to help him deal with his sickness or the predicament he was in, besides his wife, who retained her devotion to him because of her faith in Allah and His Messenger. She used to work for people as a paid servant, and she fed and served him (Ayyub) for nearly eighteen years. Before that, he was very rich and had many children, being well off in worldly terms. All of that had been taken away until he ended up being thrown into the city dump where he stayed all this time, shunned by relatives and strangers alike, with the exception of his wife -- may Allah be pleased with her. She did not leave him, morning and evening, except for when she was serving people, then she would come straight back to him. When this had gone on for a long time, and things had gotten very bad, and the time allotted by divine decree had come to an end, Ayyub prayed to the Lord of the worlds, the God of the Messengers, and said: