It has been related that when Ebrahim—u. w. b., etc.— settled in Filisteen, he sent Esahâq to the land of Kana’an. Esahâq obtained his mission during his father’s lifetime, engaged in directing and guiding the people, married Rufqah [Rebecca], the daughter of his uncle, who gave birth to twins, namely: A’is [Esau] and Ya’qûb, the latter being called by this name because, when A’is was born, Ya’qûb was found to have laid hold of A’is’s heel [a’qub].* Both these sons were growing up in the bosom of the instruction of their parents, but the favourite of Esahâq was A’is, and that of Rufqah was Ya’qûb. Esahâq became in his old age afflicted with weak eyes, and was unable to distinguish external objects. One day he told his son A’is, who was very fond of hunting, that he desired to have some game, and that A’is ought to kill, roast, and bring him some, whereon he would beseech the Almighty to confer upon him some blessings and felicity. A’is then took his bow and arrows, and hastened to the desert and mountain. Rufqah, being aware of what was taking place, called Ya’qûb, because she loved him greatly, and said: ‘Esahâq has spoken to thy brother thus and thus, therefore thou must immediately take a kid which we have been feeding for some time, kill it, roast it, and place it before Ebrahim.’ A’is being very hirsute, Rufqah instructed her favourite son to put the goatskin on his arm, so that when conversing with his father he might, by imitating the voice of A’is, be mistaken for him. He obeyed his beloved mother, and waited on his father with the roasted kid. After placing his hand on Ya’qûb’s arm and hearing him speak, Esahâq said: ‘It is strange that, touching the arm of A’is, I hear the voice of Ya’qûb.’ Thereon Esahâq ate the roast kid, was much pleased therewith, and exclaimed: ‘May Allah bless thy children, and grant them prophecy and the book!’ Historians inform us that seventy thousand individuals of the seed of Ya’qûb were honoured by the noble dignity of prophecy. When A’is had returned from the chase, and had prepared food from his game, he brought it to his father, saying: ‘I have brought thee what thou hast asked for.’ Thereon Esahâq became aware that a trick had been played upon him, and said to A’is: ‘The consequence of my prayer will benefit Ya’qûb and his descendants; now, however, I beseech the Lord and Granter of requests greatly to increase thy seed, and to produce therefrom mighty potentates and great sovereigns, and one of thy offspring will beget a very patient prophet.’ This last promise has been recorded by the traditions of those who consider Ayûb [Job] to have been a descendant of A’is.
After the just-mentioned event the flames of envy and rancour blazed up in the breast of A’is. Therefore he invited one day Ya’qûb to his house for dinner. The latter consented, and after the repast had been finished A’is presented Ya’qûb with horses, camels, sheep, etc.; but when they took leave of each other and embraced, he bit his throat, intending to kill him. The omnipotent Lord of Glory, however, softened the teeth of A’is, so that they became like wax, and when the latter perceived the futility of his efforts he exclaimed: ‘I ask pardon from God, and repent of [the sins] which I committed against Him.’ He also said: ‘O brother, now I know that the blessing, in which thou hast forestalled me, was given by the permission of God, w. n. b. e. Return now, under the guardianship and peace of God, for the advantages of the blessing are thine.’ Ya’qûb accordingly returned safe and sound to his habitation. But that which has been recorded in the histories of Tabari and of Hâfez Abru and others concerning Ya’qûb’s visit to his maternal uncle, and his meeting his brother A’is after the return of the latter and departure to the country of Rûm,*, shall be narrated according to the above-named authorities in the story of Ya’qûb. After Esahâq had been a prophet for many years, he was attacked by a malady that lasted but a few days, whereon he responded to the call of the Almighty, and being received into the propinquity of the mercy of the Lord of Glory, he exchanged this abode of darkness for the mansion of life.
He was of a full stature, had black eyes, and the hue of his blessed countenance inclined to a green colour. He was prayerful, pious, kind, and merciful. He performed numerous miracles, one of which was that he placed his blessed hand upon the back of a sheep and pronounced a benediction, whereon, by the power of the Omnipotent—w. n. b. e.— seventy sheep were born from that one ewe. The duration of his life amounted to one hundred and eighty years according to one tradition, and to one hundred and sixty according to another. It is also said that he lived one hundred and twenty years. The first statement, however, is the most correct. When he departed this life A’is performed the funeral rites, and buried his blessed body in the place at present known by the name of ‘Qasat Halil,’ near the sepulchre of both his parents.