Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Basir said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "The affliction that Ayyub (peace be upon him) suffered in this world — what was its cause?" He (peace be upon him) said: "It was because of a blessing which Allah the Exalted bestowed upon him in this world, and for which he gave thanks. The account is this: after Yusuf ibn Yaqub ibn Ishaq ibn Ibrahim (peace be upon him), Ayyub ibn Mus ibn Ra'wil ibn al-Is ibn Ishaq ibn Ibrahim, the Friend of Allah (peace be upon him), became a prophet. He was a wise, forbearing, pure and prudent man. His father had been a very wealthy man with vast possessions, owning many kinds of livestock — camels, cattle, sheep, donkeys, mules and horses — and in the land of Sham there was no one as rich as he. When he died, all that wealth passed by inheritance to Ayyub (peace be upon him). At that time Ayyub (peace be upon him) was thirty years old, and he wished to marry. Just then the description of Rahmah, daughter of Ifra'im ibn Yusuf (peace be upon him), reached his ears. Rahmah was living with her father in the land of Egypt, and her father was extremely delighted with her and loved her greatly, because he had seen in a dream that her grandfather Yusuf (peace be upon him) took off a shirt he was wearing and clothed Rahmah in it, saying: 'O Rahmah! This is my goodness, my beauty and my splendour — I have given it to you.' Rahmah was the most closely resembling Yusuf (peace be upon him) of all creation, and she was an ascetic and worshipful maiden. When Ayyub (peace be upon him) heard her description, he desired her, and so, with abundant wealth and many gifts, he set out for her land, journeying until he reached her father and asked for her hand. Because of Ayyub's (peace be upon him) piety and his wealth, Ifra'im gave his daughter to him in marriage and prepared her trousseau for the journey with Ayyub (peace be upon him). Ayyub (peace be upon him) took her to his own land, and Allah made his portion from Rahmah plentiful: she conceived twelve times, and each time bore a boy and a girl. Then Allah the Exalted raised Ayyub (peace be upon him) as a prophet to his people — they were the people of Hawran and al-Bathnah. Allah bestowed upon Ayyub (peace be upon him) such fine character and tender-heartedness that no one disobeyed him, and because of his nobility no one denied him. Allah honoured him in that place, and he laid down laws for them and built mosques. He spread tables for the poor, the destitute and guests, hosting them and honouring them. To the orphan he was like a merciful father, to the widow like a compassionate husband, and to the weak like a loving father. He instructed his agents and stewards not to keep anyone away from his crops and fruits, and the birds, the wild beasts and all the animals fed from his produce, while the blessing of Allah upon him increased day and night. All his livestock bore two young each year. Yet with all this, Ayyub (peace be upon him) rejoiced in nothing of what he possessed, and would say: 'O my Allah and my Master and my Sovereign and my Support! If this world is like this, then how must the Hereafter and the Paradise which You have created for those worthy of Your bounty be?' When night fell, those who sought refuge with him would gather in his mosque and pray with his prayer and glorify with his glorification, and in the morning he would order food to be prepared for them and for every weak person; and in this he spent wealth beyond count. He had a thousand horses, a thousand mares, a thousand male and female mules, three thousand male camels and one thousand five hundred she-camels, a thousand bulls and a thousand cows, ten thousand sheep, five hundred wild oxen and three hundred donkeys. Every mare had two or three foals, every she-camel a young one, and so it was with all his livestock. Over every fifty head there was a shepherd belonging to Ayyub (peace be upon him), and each of his servants had a wife and children. Iblis the accursed would not pass over anything of Ayyub's (peace be upon him) property without seeing on it the seal of thanksgiving and finding it purified by zakat. He envied him but could inflict no harm on him. In that age Iblis had no access to the Throne, but he could still ascend to the seventh heaven and stand wherever he wished in the heavens, until Isa ibn Maryam (peace be upon him) was raised, whereupon he was barred from four heavens and could ascend only to three. Then Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) was raised as a prophet, and at that point Iblis was barred from all the heavens; after that he would lie in wait to eavesdrop on the sounds of the heavens, and men and jinn were astonished at this. This is the meaning of the word of Allah the Exalted: 'And [we have believed] that we sought [to reach] the heaven but found it filled with powerful guards and burning flames. And we used to sit therein in positions for hearing, but whoever listens now will find a burning flame lying in wait for him.' (al-Jinn: 8–9)
In the time of Ayyub (peace be upon him), Iblis, who still had access to the region near the Throne, went there and stood in his usual place, and envy of the prophet of Allah, Ayyub (peace be upon him), blazed in his heart. Allah the Exalted, who knows the seen and the unseen, called out: 'O accursed one! From where have you come?' He said: 'My Lord! I have roamed the earth to lead astray those who obey me. I have led them all astray إِلَّا عِبَادَکَ مِنْهُمُ الْمُخْلَصِینَ [except Your chosen servants among them].' The call came: 'O accursed one! What has fallen into your heart on seeing the blessings of Ayyub (peace be upon him)?' He said: 'O Lord! You mentioned him, and Your angels sent blessings upon him.' The call came: 'O accursed one! Have you managed to gain anything from him despite the length of his worship? Can you seduce him away from My worship?' He said: 'My Allah and my Master! Ayyub has not given proper thanks for this blessing. I have looked into his affair: he is a servant whom You have given health, and he accepted Your health; whom You have provided for, and he thanked You. But You have not tested him with tribulation and calamity. If You afflicted him, You would find him the opposite of what he is. If You gave me power, O Lord, over his wealth, You would see how he forgets You.' The call came: 'O accursed one! I have given you power over his wealth, so that you may know that you are a liar in what you believe of him.'
He plunged down from the heavens until he alighted upon the rock upon which Qabil had crushed the head of his brother Habil (peace be upon him) — a black rock from which oozes the pus of the curse. Iblis stood upon it and let out such a wail that the rebellious demons gathered to him from east and west, and they said: 'O our father! What is behind you, and what has befallen you?' He said: 'I have been given an opportunity the like of which I have not had since I got Adam (peace be upon him) expelled from Paradise. I have been given power over the wealth of Ayyub (peace be upon him) to impoverish him and destroy his property.' One of the demons said: 'Give me power over his trees — I will turn into fire, and I will burn everything I pass over and reduce it to ashes.' Iblis said: 'That task is yours.' Another said: 'Give me power over his livestock, that I may cry a cry which will draw out the souls of them all.' He said: 'That task is yours.' The first went and turned into fire and burned all those trees and thickets, and the other advanced upon the livestock and cried such a cry over them that they all dropped dead together with their shepherds. The villagers saw a mighty smoke and heard a terrifying cry and were seized with intense fear.
Iblis approached Ayyub (peace be upon him) — who was in his prayer — and it was made to appear to Ayyub (peace be upon him) that Iblis had been scorched by the heat of that fire, his face blackened and his hair singed. The accursed one called out to him: 'O Ayyub, help me! I am the one who has escaped, none other. Did you not see a fire come from the sky with smoke in it and burn your wealth, O Ayyub (peace be upon him)? A gust of its flames struck me, and I heard a caller from the sky saying: This is the recompense of one who was ostentatious in his worship, seeking thereby the people rather than Allah the Exalted. And I heard the fire itself saying: I am the fire of wrath, I am the fire of displeasure.' When Ayyub (peace be upon him) heard this, he continued with his prayer and paid him no heed until he had completed his prayer fully and perfectly, and then said: 'O you! These are not my properties; they are only the properties of Allah the Exalted, who does with them as He wills.' Iblis said: 'You have spoken truly.'
Meanwhile the people were in uproar. Some of them said: 'This came upon him because of his vanity.' Others said: 'Ayyub (peace be upon him) was not truthful in his repentance, and therefore he has been requited with this recompense.' Their words weighed heavily on Ayyub (peace be upon him), but he gave them no reply and merely said: 'Praise be to Allah for His decree and His decree.' Then the prophet of Allah, Ayyub (peace be upon him), turned to the accursed Iblis and said: 'O servant, who are you? You seem to be one of those whom Allah has expelled from His mercy and stripped of His blessing. For had He known any good in you, He would have informed me of you, and He would have taken your soul along with the souls of the shepherds. But He knew there was evil in you, and so He separated you from them as the tares are separated from the wheat. So depart from me, O servant, dispraised and driven away.' Iblis said: 'True indeed was he who said: Do not serve the arrogant. O Ayyub (peace be upon him), now I know that you were ostentatious in your prayer. Was I not one of your compassionate servants? Was I not zealous for your property? Is my reward from you nothing but that you reproach me for what has struck me of the heat of the burning, instead of speaking as you spoke?' But Ayyub (peace be upon him) did not speak to Iblis and turned to his prayer, and Iblis withdrew from him defeated and humiliated, and ascended to the heaven as he used to ascend and stood as he used to stand. Then the call came: 'O accursed one! How did you find My servant Ayyub? How he bore patiently the loss of all his properties — livestock and servants and everything else? How he praised Me for the affliction?' The accursed one said: 'My Allah and my Master! You have blessed him with the well-being of his children and the finery of his houses. If You give me power over his worldly life, You will know that he will never render You thanks for any blessing.' The call came: 'O accursed one, go! I have given you power over his children.'
The enemy of Allah plunged down towards the palace of Ayyub (peace be upon him) in which his children lived. As for the sons: Hizqil — who was the eldest — Muqbil, Rushd, Rushayd, Baharun, Bashir and Aqrun; and there were other sons whose names we have not found in the books and stories. As for the daughters: Nahah (or Munjah), Ubaydah, Salihah, Afiyah, Taqiyyah and Mu'minah. Iblis shook the palace over them and brought it down until parts of it fell upon others, and he began stuffing their mouths with wood and rags and pelting them with stones until he mutilated them in the most hideous manner. Then Allah the Exalted revealed to the earth: 'Preserve the children of Ayyub, for I shall accomplish My will regarding them, and I shall requite them for this with a good reward.'
Iblis came to Ayyub (peace be upon him) and said: 'O Ayyub! Had you seen your palaces and your children — what has become of them! Their palaces have become their graves, its clay has become their embalming perfume, and their garments and bedding have become their shrouds. Had you seen how those beautiful faces have been altered with blood and dust, how the bones have been shattered, how the flesh has been crushed among the stones, how the skins have been torn.' Iblis the accursed kept enumerating such things to him with grief and dejection and wailing until Ayyub (peace be upon him) wept, and Iblis wept with him. Then Ayyub (peace be upon him) regretted his weeping, took a handful of dust and placed it on his head and asked forgiveness of Allah the Exalted, and fell down prostrate. Then he turned to Iblis and said: 'O accursed one! Depart from me, defeated, humiliated and driven away. For my children were only a loan from Allah the Exalted with me, and it was inevitable that they be joined with Him.' Iblis withdrew, having gained nothing from him, and ascended to the heaven as he used to ascend and stood as he used to stand. Then the call came: 'O accursed one! How did you find My servant Ayyub (peace be upon him) and his repentance and his seeking of forgiveness after his weeping?' Iblis said: 'My Allah and my Master! You have blessed him with the health of his body, and in it there is compensation for wealth and children. If You give me power over his body, You will see how he forgets Your remembrance and abandons thanking You.' The call came: 'O accursed one, go! I have given you power over his body, except for his two eyes, his intellect, his tongue — which does not weary of remembering Me — and his two ears.'
Iblis plunged down and found Ayyub (peace be upon him) in his mosque humbly beseeching Allah the Exalted with all kinds of praise, calling upon Him with the greatest supplication, thanking Him for all blessings, and praising Him for every affliction, saying: 'By Your might and Your majesty! I shall add nothing to Your affliction but thanks; and if You should clothe me in the garment of affliction forever, I shall add nothing to Your affliction but patience.' When Iblis heard this, he was enraged at his words and did not wait for him to raise his head from prostration; he swooped down into the earth until he came beneath his nose, then blew into his mouth and nostrils the fire of flame. At once Ayyub's (peace be upon him) face turned black, and he became a single sore from his crown to his feet, and his hair fell out. On the second day it swelled and became large; on the third it turned black; on the fourth it filled with yellow water; on the fifth it turned to pus; on the sixth worms fell into it, its discharge flowed, and itching set in. He scratched his body for two months until his nails fell off; then he scratched with hair-cloth and rags and rough stones. Whenever he saw a worm that had fallen from his body, he would return it with his hand to its place and say to it: 'Eat of my flesh and my blood until Allah brings relief.'
Rahmah said: 'O Ayyub! Wealth and children are gone, and now the harm has appeared in the body.' Ayyub (peace be upon him) said: 'O Rahmah! Allah the Exalted afflicted the prophets before me, and they were patient. Indeed Allah the Exalted has promised the patient good.' Then Ayyub (peace be upon him) fell down prostrate and said: 'My Allah and my Master! Even if You clothe me in the garment of affliction forever, deprive me of health, and let the worms tear me to pieces, I shall add nothing but thanks. My Allah! Do not let my enemy, Iblis the accursed, rejoice over me.'
Rahmah, seeing the affliction of Ayyub (peace be upon him), would sometimes weep and sometimes cry out, and he would forbid her from this and say: 'Are you not of the daughters of the prophets, and do you not know that I am the prophet of Allah and that I have in the prophets and the messengers, and in your fathers Ibrahim (peace be upon him), Ismail, Ishaq, Yaqub and Yusuf (peace be upon him), an example?' Then he asked Allah the Exalted to grant her patience over what she witnessed of him. Then Ayyub (peace be upon him) said to her: 'Go and find me a place other than my mosque, and carry me to it.' Rahmah went and found a place for him and returned and carried him to an open piece of ground, for he had said to her: 'I do not like the mosque to be defiled.' Then she went to a people whom Ayyub (peace be upon him) had shown much kindness, and asked them to help her in taking Ayyub (peace be upon him) out of the mosque, but they said: 'His Lord has become wrathful with Ayyub (peace be upon him) and has torn away his veil for the ostentation he was doing. Would that between us and him there was the distance between the two easts! For had there been any good in his worship of his Lord, He would not have afflicted him.' Rahmah returned to Ayyub (peace be upon him) and said: 'O Ayyub (peace be upon him)! The calamity has become severe; our hope in the people of knowledge and the people of good deeds has been dashed.' He said to her: 'O Rahmah! Thus are the people of affliction. But come to me and say: There is no power and no strength except in Allah, the High, the Great. Put your right hand under my head and your left hand under my feet and lift me.' She did that and lifted him by the strength of Allah the Exalted until she brought him out to an open space — the very place where Ayyub (peace be upon him) used to spread tables for the weak and the needy. He said: 'O Rahmah! Charity is forbidden to us and not lawful for us, so contrive some means of service.' Then he let a tear fall. Rahmah said: 'What makes you weep, O prophet of Allah?' He said: 'O Rahmah! You are of the daughters of the prophets and of the offspring of the messengers, and you are a woman of great beauty and grace, and no one in your time has been given beauty and grace except your grandfather Yusuf (peace be upon him). And in this village there are many wicked people, and you will be serving them, and I fear for you from the schemes of Iblis the accursed.' Rahmah wept and said: 'O prophet of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! Is my reward from you that you should suspect me and ascribe this to me, when I am of the daughters of the prophets and the pure truthful ones? By the right of my fathers and my forefathers! My eye has not turned towards any human being after you.' Then Ayyub gave her permission to serve, and she served the people of al-Bathnah, drawing water, sweeping houses, taking out the refuse and washing garments and rags. They would give her wages, and she would spend them on food and drink for Ayyub (peace be upon him).
Iblis came in the form of an old man and stood before the people of the village and said to them: 'How can you be at ease with a woman who tends the pus, discharge and stinking odour of her husband, then enters your houses and puts her hands into your vessels and your food and your drink?' His words fell upon their hearts, and from that day they did not let Rahmah enter their houses. Rahmah disliked to tell Ayyub (peace be upon him) of this, lest grief be added to his grief. The people no longer employed her, and would give her a little something which she would feed to him, without telling him anything of her situation.
Ayyub's (peace be upon him) affliction and the stench of his odour became so severe that no one of the villagers could remain in his own house because of the intensity of the bad smell, and they did not know what to do. Their opinion converged that they should set dogs upon him to devour him. This reached Rahmah, and she came to Ayyub (peace be upon him) and told him. He said: 'O Rahmah! Allah the Exalted is not one to set dogs upon me while I am His prophet and the son of His prophets.' The people of the village gathered the shepherds' dogs and set them upon Ayyub (peace be upon him). The dogs ran towards Ayyub (peace be upon him), but when they came near him they turned back and fled from the land, so that not a single dog remained in that village. The people came to Ayyub (peace be upon him) and said: 'We have no patience left for your affliction. Either you leave us, or we will stone you with stones until you die and we may be rid of you.' Ayyub (peace be upon him) said to them: 'Do not stone me; but take me out from your village to one of your rubbish heaps, for I hope from Allah the Exalted that He will not let me perish.' They said: 'We find you filthy, and you are far from us — how then shall we come near you and carry you?' Then they turned away from him.
Ayyub (peace be upon him) said to Rahmah: 'O truthful, pure, righteous one! You know that these people have come to hate me and are weary of me. Stand at the fork of the road; perhaps you may come upon someone and tell him of my case and ask him to help you carry me out of this village.' Rahmah said: 'Do not hasten, until I go out to such-and-such a place and prepare a shelter for you there.' Then she stood on the road, watching who might pass by, and behold, two men like two moons, from whom wafted a sweet fragrance. She saw goodness in them, but was too shy to ask them her need. When they drew near her, they said: 'And where is Ayyub (peace be upon him), our friend and our beloved, and how is he in his affliction?' She told them of his state and of the villagers' weariness of him, and how she had prepared a shelter for him upon the rubbish heap. Then she said to them: 'I have a request of you both: a prayer from you for his well-being.' They said to her: 'Yes; but when you return to him, convey to him our salam.' Then they departed. Rahmah returned to Ayyub (peace be upon him) and told him the story of the two men and what had passed. Ayyub (peace be upon him) cried out and said: 'How I long for you, O Jibrail! And how I long for you, O Mikail!' Then he said: 'O Rahmah! Who is like you now, since the angels have spoken to you?' Rahmah said: 'I have prepared the shelter for you; but wait until I stand on the highway — perhaps someone will pass by and help me carry you.' Then she went and stood on the highway, and behold, four persons of the angels. They asked her: 'O woman, do you have a need?' She said: 'Yes: that you help me carry the prophet of Allah, Ayyub (peace be upon him), to such-and-such rubbish heap.' They came and stood over Ayyub (peace be upon him) and urged him to patience over his affliction, and prayed for his well-being, and carried him by the corners of a leather mat and laid him at the door of the shelter, then departed. Rahmah had gathered much dust inside the shelter and made of it a raised bed, and said: 'Arise, O Ayyub (peace be upon him), to your bed of dust after those spread carpets, and your pillow of stone after those piled cushions.' Ayyub (peace be upon him) said to her: 'Did I not forbid you to mention anything of the comforts of this world?' Then Ayyub (peace be upon him) crawled and threw himself upon that dust, glorifying Allah the Most High, the Most Exalted, and saying: 'سُبْحَانَ الْعَزِیزِ الْأَدْنَی سُبْحَانَ الرَّفِیعِ الْأَعْلَی سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَی [Glory be to the Mighty, the Near; glory be to the Elevated, the Most High; glory and exaltation be to Him].' Then Rahmah took a cloak she had and made it a cover, curtaining the door of the shelter, and she busied herself in serving him and bringing him whatever she found.
She went out to seek some food for him. She came to a house and asked them, but a woman inside the house said to her: 'Away from us! For the Lord of Ayyub (peace be upon him) is wrathful with him.' She went on to another door and they said the like, until she had gone around the village and they gave her nothing. She returned weeping to Ayyub and said: 'The people drove me away and shut their doors against me.' Ayyub (peace be upon him) said to her: 'No harm upon you, O Rahmah. If they shut their doors upon us, Allah does not shut the doors of His mercy upon us. But O Rahmah! Perhaps you have grown weary of me and wish to leave me?' Rahmah said: 'I take refuge in Allah from that! What excuse would I have before Allah for parting from the prophet of Allah? Never, never! But I shall carry you from this village to another village; perhaps they will be more merciful than these.' She took him upon the mat, and he swooned from the pain. She brought water and sprinkled it upon him until he revived, then covered him with that cloak — and Ayyub's body was as if flayed. Then she carried him to another village of Hawran and set him down by the side of the village, raised her hand to Allah and prayed to Allah to protect him from beasts and other dangers. Then she entered the village and said: 'Who wants me to wash their clothes or rags, or sweep their house, or carry dust to a rubbish heap, or draw water, in exchange for something of food that I may carry to the prophet of Allah, Ayyub?' The women of the village came out to her, and one of them said: 'This is a she-ghoul who has entered our village.' Rahmah said to her: 'Do not say such a thing. I am Rahmah, daughter of Ifra'im the prophet of Allah, son of Yusuf the truthful one of Allah, son of Yaqub, Israel of Allah, son of Ishaq, the chosen one of Allah, son of Ibrahim (peace be upon him), the Friend of Allah — the wife of Ayyub (peace be upon him) the afflicted, the prophet of Allah.' They said to her: 'And where is Ayyub (peace be upon him)?' She said: 'There he is at the gate of the village, beside your churches and your rubbish heaps.' They came to Ayyub (peace be upon him), and when they saw the affliction upon him they wept most bitterly and said: 'Is this the prophet Ayyub, the owner of the maidservants and slaves and livestock?' Ayyub (peace be upon him) and Rahmah wept bitterly, and he said: 'I am Ayyub (peace be upon him), the servant of my Lord and His messenger. I am the hungry one who is satisfied only by His remembrance, and I am the thirsty one who is quenched only by His glorification.' They wept, and Rahmah wept with them, and she said to them: 'I have a request of you: give me an axe with which to cut trees, that I may make for Ayyub a shelter to protect him from heat and cold, and let me prepare some food for him.' They brought her all of that. She turned to an earthen basin she had with her and soaked that bread in the basin and mashed it with her hand and fed it to him, for his teeth had fallen out. Then she cut branches and made with them a canopy like a shelter over the head of Ayyub. Then she entered the village, and the villagers welcomed her and honoured her, and she worked in five houses and got ten loaves of bread. When she returned she told Ayyub (peace be upon him) of this and said: 'Today I have obtained much food of my Lord's provision, and I shall sit with you and not leave you until this food is finished.' Ayyub (peace be upon him) said: 'May Allah reward you with good, O Rahmah! For you are of the daughters of the prophets (peace be upon them).' Then he opened his tongue in supplication: 'Praise be to Allah, who does not forget one who remembers Him, and does not disappoint a servant who thanks Him, and does not let perish one who trusts in Him. To Him belongs judgement, and to Him returns the whole affair, and He is powerful over all things.'
The women of the village came one day and sat near the shelter of Ayyub (peace be upon him). When his odour reached them, they hurried back to their houses and shut the doors against Rahmah, and said to Rahmah: 'Do not enter our houses; but we will share our food with you.' Rahmah agreed to that.
One day, as Rahmah was returning from the village to Ayyub (peace be upon him), Iblis the accursed appeared to her in the form of a physician carrying the instruments of medicine. He said to Rahmah: 'I have come from Palestine when I heard the news of your husband Ayyub. I have come to treat him, and I shall come to him tomorrow. Inform him of my case and say to him: Let him take a sparrow, slaughter it without mentioning the name of Allah over it, eat it, drink a cup of wine with it, and smear his body and his private parts with the blood — for his cure lies in this.' Rahmah came joyfully to Ayyub (peace be upon him) and informed him. But anger appeared on his face and he said to her: 'When have you seen me eating that over which the name of Allah has not been mentioned, or smearing myself with any blood? O Rahmah! Yesterday you were a messenger from Jibrail and Mikail, and today a messenger from Iblis the accursed?' She realised she had erred and apologised to him, and kept being gentle with him until he was pleased with her, and he warned her not to do the like again.
One day, as she was returning from the village to Ayyub (peace be upon him) with some food, Iblis the accursed appeared to her in the form of a man of splendid appearance and handsome face, mounted on a red donkey. The accursed one said to her: 'It is as if I know you. Are you not Rahmah, daughter of Ifra'im the prophet of Allah, wife of the afflicted Ayyub (peace be upon him), the prophet of Allah?' She said: 'Yes.' The accursed one said: 'I know you all. Were you not a wealthy and prosperous family? What has changed your state?' She said: 'We were afflicted with the loss of all our wealth and children; then a greater affliction came upon my husband Ayyub (peace be upon him) himself.' The accursed one said: 'Why did these misfortunes befall you?' She said: 'Because Allah the Exalted willed to test our patience in His affliction.' The accursed one said: 'What an evil thing you have said! Rather: the god of the heaven is Allah, and the god of the earth is I. I wanted you for myself, but you worshipped the god of the heaven and did not worship me, so I did to you what I did — I stripped you of your wealth, and I put your children, servants and livestock to death, and now they are all with me. If you wish, follow me and I shall show you your children and your servants and your livestock, for they are with me in such-and-such valley.' When she heard this, she remained bewildered and astonished, and followed him a short distance until he brought her to that valley and bewitched her eyes so that she saw there all that she had lost. He said: 'Am I now truthful to you, or a liar?' Rahmah said: 'I do not know what to say to you until I return to Ayyub (peace be upon him).'
She returned to Ayyub (peace be upon him) and told him all that she had seen. Ayyub (peace be upon him) said: 'إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَ إِنَّا إِلَیْهِ رَاجِعُونَ [Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we shall return]. Woe to you, O Rahmah! Do you not know that there is no god with Allah, and that whom Allah has caused to die, no one is able to bring to life?' She said: 'Yes.' He said: 'Then had you been of intellect, you would not have listened to his words until he bewitched your eyes.' Rahmah said: 'O prophet of Allah! Forgive me this sin, for I shall never repeat the like of it again.' Ayyub (peace be upon him) said to her: 'Once I warned you against this accursed one, and this is the second time. I make a vow to Allah: if Allah gives me health from what I am in, I shall strike you with one hundred lashes for what you did in speaking with Iblis, may Allah curse him.' Rahmah kept saying: 'Would that he might rise from his affliction and give me one hundred lashes!'
Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him) said: He remained in his affliction for eighteen years, until nothing was left of him except his two eyes rolling in his head, his tongue with which he spoke, his heart in its condition, and his two ears with which he heard. Beneath his tongue there was a great black worm which caused him pain when it came out from under his tongue, and its return to its place made him groan. Then Allah the Exalted revealed to him: 'O Ayyub (peace be upon him)! You were patient in My ease; now be patient in My trial.'
Rahmah went out one day seeking food, but could obtain nothing. She raised her head to the heaven and said: 'Our Allah and our Master, have mercy on our exile and our weakness.' Some of the villagers heard this and said: 'Go to the women of the village, for they are more tender-hearted.' Rahmah went and knocked at the door of an old woman and said: 'I am Rahmah, wife of Ayyub (peace be upon him). I have gone about all this day and found no food, and severe hunger has reached me.' The old woman said: 'O Rahmah! I have a request of you: I have given a daughter of mine in marriage. Will you give me two braids of your hair to adorn my daughter with, and I shall give you two loaves of bread?' Rahmah said: 'Will nothing else content you but that?' She said: 'Yes.' Rahmah said: 'Bring me the two loaves. By Allah! Had you wanted all of my hair, I would have given it to you for the food of Ayyub.' The old woman brought the two loaves and the scissors and cut off the two braids. Rahmah took the two loaves and went to Ayyub (peace be upon him), but he found them strange and said to her: 'From where did you get this?' She told him the story, of how the search for food had become hard upon her. Ayyub (peace be upon him) cried out and said: 'My Allah! What sin have I committed that You have turned Your generous face from me? My Allah! Death is fairer for me than what I am in. رَبِّ إِنِّی مَسَّنِیَ الضُّرُّ وَ أَنْتَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِینَ [My Lord! Harm has touched me, and You are the Most Merciful of the merciful].' (al-Anbiya: 83)
Allah the Exalted revealed to him: 'O Ayyub (peace be upon him)! I have heard your words and your wish for death in your harm. But had you died by other than this affliction, you would not have had of reward and recompense what you shall have with this affliction. I shall requite you for your patience. As for Rahmah — by My might and majesty! — I shall content her in Paradise.' At that Ayyub (peace be upon him) rejoiced and was comforted.
When Ayyub's (peace be upon him) affliction became long, and Iblis the accursed saw his patience, he brought to him companions of his who were monks in the mountains. One of them was named Nufayr and was from Yemen; another was named Sawti and was from Palestine; and the third was Malham and was from Hims. All three were sages, and they were his students and had been raised by him — it was Ayyub (peace be upon him) who had brought them up and elevated their standing, and they would come to him and inquire after his state. They mounted grey mules and came, but when they drew near him, their mules bolted from the stench. So they tied the mules together and continued on foot, and sat beside Ayyub (peace be upon him) and said: 'O Ayyub (peace be upon him)! Would that you told us of your sin, that we may pray to Allah the Exalted at such a time and beseech Him to grant it to us and give you well-being. For we do not think that He has afflicted you with this affliction — which no one has been afflicted with — except because of something you were concealing. For had you been truthful of intention in His worship, this great affliction would not have befallen you.' Then it entered their hearts to gather upon him and slaughter him.
Ayyub (peace be upon him) said: 'By the might of my Lord! He knows that I have never eaten a meal without an orphan or a weak one eating with me, and never have two matters been presented to me, both of them being obedience to Allah the Exalted, without my taking the harder of the two upon my body. O people! I see you admonishing me and reproaching me without knowledge. This is not my due from you. Allah the Exalted afflicts whom He wills as an increase in his reward, as He afflicted the rest of the prophets and the righteous.' Then he raised his gaze to the heaven and said: 'My Allah and my Master! Let me taste the flavour of well-being, if even for one hour of the day, and do not let the enemies rejoice over me, and do not turn Your generous face from me. For the affliction has exhausted me; my joints have been severed; my lips have swelled until the upper covers my nose and the lower covers my chin; my flesh and the flesh of my head have fallen; my ears are no longer visible from the swelling of my face; my insides are choked with pus and discharge; my bones have grown brittle from the worms; and those who used to honour me have grown weary of me and turned from me.' Then he wept bitterly.
When they had finished reproaching him and were about to rise, a young man of tender years, who had heard their speech and whom Allah had prepared for them, turned to them and said: 'Shame upon you! You have come to the prophet of Allah and reproached him, and you have abandoned the sound judgement in your reproach of Ayyub (peace be upon him). He has such rights over you that it was incumbent upon you to fall short of what you said. Woe to you! Do you know whom you have reproached? Do you not know that he is the prophet of Allah, whom He chose for His messengership and entrusted with His revelation? Allah the Exalted has not informed you that He is wrathful with him. This affliction that has befallen him has made him small in your eyes; but you know that Allah the Exalted afflicts the prophets and the truthful ones and the martyrs and the righteous, and that this is not out of wrath or humiliation. Even if he were not a prophet, it does not befit a brother to reproach his brother at the time of affliction, nor to blame him at the time of calamity, nor to add grief to his grief. Fear Allah, fear Allah in your own selves; for if you looked into yourselves, you would find many faults.' Then he turned to Ayyub (peace be upon him) and consoled him and calmed his pain.
Ayyub (peace be upon him) turned to the three and said: 'You are pleased with yourselves, but if you looked into yourselves you would find many faults. Yet I today have no standing with you, for my family have grown weary of me, my acquaintances have turned strangers, my friends have fled from me, my companions have cut me off, and the people of my religion have disbelieved in me — otherwise you would not be saying what you say. Glory be to Him who, if He willed, would relieve me of the affliction I am in, which the firmly rooted mountains cannot bear.' Then Ayyub (peace be upon him) said: 'My Lord! Were I to sit in the seat of pleading with You, I would present my argument.' At once Allah sent to him a black, dark cloud with thunder, lightning and successive thunderbolts, and there was called out from it with more than ten thousand voices: 'O Ayyub (peace be upon him)! Allah the Exalted says to you: Present your argument, for I have seated you in the seat of the pleader. Here I am, near you, and I have ever been and shall ever be near.' He said: 'My Lord! You know that never have two matters been presented to me, both of them obedience to You, without my taking the harder of the two upon myself. Did I not praise You? Did I not thank You? Did I not glorify You and remember You and magnify You?' Then it was called out from the cloud with ten thousand tongues: 'O Ayyub! Who made you worship Allah while the people were heedless of Him, and praise and thank Him while the people were oblivious of Him? Would you claim a favour upon Allah in this? Rather, the favour is Allah the Exalted's upon you.' He took dust and placed it in his mouth and said: 'To You belongs the plea; my Lord, You have done that.'
Those who had reproached him departed, and the young man who had been on his right also departed. On the next day, which was Friday, at the time of decline of the sun, Jibrail the trustworthy descended and said: 'Peace be upon you, O Ayyub (peace be upon him).' He said: 'And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Who are you, O servant of Allah? For I hear from you a beautiful voice, and I find from you a sweet fragrance, and I see a beautiful form.' He said to him: 'I am Jibrail, messenger of the Lord of the worlds. I give you glad tidings, O Ayyub (peace be upon him), of the spirit and mercy of Allah — from it is your cure — and that Allah the Exalted has restored to you your family and the like of them with them, and your wealth and the like of it with it, that this may be a sign for those who have passed and a lesson for the people of affliction.'
Ayyub (peace be upon him), from the severity of the affliction, felt a wondrous joy after this, and said: 'Praise be to Allah, who — there is no god but He — is the Possessor of might and sovereignty and bounty and reach, the Possessor of majesty and honour, who did not let Iblis the accursed and his hosts rejoice over me.' Then Jibrail said: 'O Ayyub! Arise, by the permission of Allah the Exalted.' Ayyub (peace be upon him) rose up upon his feet, and Jibrail said to him: 'Strike the ground with your foot.' Ayyub (peace be upon him) did so, and behold, a spring of water gushed forth from beneath his feet, whiter than snow, sweeter than honey, and of purer fragrance than camphor. He drank a draught from it, and there did not remain a worm in his body without falling off, and Ayyub (peace be upon him) marvelled at the quantity of the worms. Then Jibrail told him to bathe, and he bathed in that spring and came out with his face like the moon on the night of the full moon; his beauty and grace returned to him, and he became more beautiful than he had been, and more fresh. Then Jibrail handed him two garments; he wrapped one around his waist and put on the other, and Jibrail gave him a pair of sandals of gold whose straps were of ruby, and gave him a quince from Paradise. He ate part of it and left the rest for his wife Rahmah, but Jibrail said: 'Eat it, O Ayyub (peace be upon him), for I have with me a second one for her.' So Ayyub (peace be upon him) ate the rest of the quince, then leapt up, put his feet together and stood in prayer.
Rahmah came, grieved and driven from every door of the villagers, her eyes weeping. When she reached the place, she saw the cleanness of the spot, that Allah the Exalted had caused a green meadow to grow there, and she saw the cleanness of the man who was praying. She thought she had lost her way. Then she said: 'O you who pray, turn to me that I may speak with you.' But Ayyub (peace be upon him) did not speak to her and remained silent. She cried out and said: 'O Ayyub (peace be upon him)! What has befallen you?!' When Ayyub (peace be upon him) had completed his prayer, Jibrail said to him: 'Speak to her, O Ayyub (peace be upon him).' Ayyub (peace be upon him) said to her: 'What is your need, O woman?' Rahmah said: 'Do you have knowledge of Ayyub (peace be upon him) the afflicted? For I find the place changed upon me — I left him here and I do not see him.' Ayyub (peace be upon him) smiled and said to her: 'If you see him, will you know him?' She said: 'You are the most resembling of people to him, before the affliction struck him.' Ayyub (peace be upon him) laughed and said to her: 'I am Ayyub (peace be upon him).' She rushed to him and embraced him, and he embraced her; and they had not finished their embrace when Jibrail gave them glad tidings of their children and their grandchildren and their maidservants and their servants and their livestock, and the like of them with them. Allah rained upon him locusts of gold, which he was gathering with his garment; and whenever the wind carried something away, he would run after it and bring it back. Jibrail said to him: 'Are you not satisfied, O Ayyub (peace be upon him)?!' He said: 'O Jibrail, who could ever be satisfied with the provision of Allah the Exalted?'
He had two great wells, and he poured silver into one and gold into the other, until one overflowed into the other. Allah the Exalted bestowed upon him forty thousand male camels, twenty thousand she-camels, forty thousand cows, forty thousand bulls, four thousand sheep, four thousand goats, five thousand male servants and the like of them of maidservants, and on his estates he had four thousand agents, the wage of each of them being one hundred mithqals of gold every month; and before him were twelve sons and twelve daughters. When Rahmah saw all this, she prostrated to Allah the Exalted in thanks. Allah gave him rule over all of Sham and over his children, and He restored to him the like of his past lifetime.
At that point Ayyub (peace be upon him) remembered Rahmah's conversation with Iblis in the time of his affliction and remembered his vow, and he became very grieved at it. Then Allah the Exalted revealed to him: وَ خُذْ بِیَدِکَ ضِغْثاً [And take in your hand a bundle], that is, a stalk containing one hundred [twigs], and strike with it your wife Rahmah, and do not break your vow. So Ayyub (peace be upon him) took a stalk of date-palm and struck her with a single blow with his right hand.
It is narrated that his striking her with the stalks was because when he saw her braids cut off he became angry and swore to strike her with a hundred lashes. She then informed him that the cause of their being cut was such-and-such. Ayyub was grieved at that, so Allah commanded him with the bundle out of caution against the breaking of the vow.