Ayyub (Job)

Ayyub, a prophet known for patience. Al-Bukhari relates that he bathed naked, and locusts of gold fell upon him, and he began to gather them in his garment. His Lord called to him: "Did I not enrich you from what you see?" He said: "Yes, by Your might, but I have no need of Your blessing." ²

The rest of his story is not set out here and needs an additional source.

The Qur'an names Ayyub twice, in lists of those whom God guided and inspired, and gives fragments of his story in two other passages, where the Prophet ﷺ is bidden to mention him in his preaching. The fragments tell of his affliction at the hands of Satan, of his cry to his Lord, and of his healing, so that his case becomes an admonition to men. The entry notes that the miraculous spring of his healing may be a confusion with the story of Naaman in II Kings, and that a verse about striking with a bundle may reflect the story in another chapter. ³

Later writers greatly amplified the meagre Qur'anic account, drawing on the biblical Book of Job, which Ibn 'Asakir quotes, on Rabbinic tales and Midrash, on the Greek Testament of Job, and on their own pious imagination. Job was of Abraham's line through Isaac, and his mother was a daughter of Lot. His wife, generally called Rahma, was a daughter of one of Joseph's sons, though some said she was Leah. His great wealth and his generosity to the poor, the unfortunate, the guest and the stranger provoked Iblis, who was allowed to test him in three stages: in his property, in his body, and through his wife. Abandoned by all but his faithful wife, Job was not moved; when Iblis tried to seduce him through her, he swore to beat her for having listened to Satan. At last Gabriel brought him news of his release: he drank from and bathed in a miraculous spring and was healed, and his wealth and children were restored to him double. He died at seventy-three in the place where he had lived. ⁴

As a prophet (nabi) he came after Joseph in the prophetic series, although Ibn al-Kalbi placed him after Jonah. He had a risala and preached to his own community in the Hawran, and he was unusual in that no one ever treated him as a liar. On the Last Day he will appear in the Accounting, when God uses him as an example to those who excuse their neglect of religion on the ground of ill health, and he will lead 'those who patiently endured' as the groups make their way to Paradise. Mas'udi reports that the shrine over his grave at Nawa, near Damascus, was a place of visitation, where people were still shown the rock on which he sat in his affliction and the spring in which he bathed and was healed. ⁵