Aiûb—upon whom be the blessing of the pardoning Sovereign—had for his mother one of the virtuous daughters from the chamber of innocence of Lôt the prophet. According to one tradition his father was of the children of A’is [Esau], the son of Esahâq. Muhammad Jarir-ut-Tabari has, however, rejected this tradition, and alleged that none of the children of A’is were distinguished by the previous dignity of prophetship. The spouse of Aiûb, who consoled him in his state of helplessness, is by some asserted to have been the fortunate daughter of Ya’qûb, her name being Duniah [Dinah?]. The majority of historians, however, agree that the wife of Aiûb was Rahmat, the daughter of Efrahim, the son of Yusuf. At any rate, his lordship was distinguished by great possessions, abundant revenues, innumerable quantities of cattle, other quadrupeds, and landed property. He had numerous intelligent children, multitudes of servants and slaves. He separated himself from the population of Syria, and was constantly engaged in feeding the needy, cherishing the poor, instructing orphans, and comforting the distressed, always thanking and praising the Almighty. When the traveller across the celestial mansions [sic] beheld the sincerity of his adoration, and the guilelessness of his conscience in the performance of religious duties, he informed the angelic hosts, and showed the purity of his religious sentiments to the dwellers in the holy regions. The angels then besought the Lord of Magnificence, saying: ‘Our God and Lord, Thou hast distinguished one of Thy servants by copious favours, and Thou hast, despite his worldly opulence, adorned his head with the crown of inspired messengership, and hast invested his stature with the robe of prophecy; Thou hast given him a meek heart, a free mind, and a healthy body; how should this servant not obey Thee? and how could he avoid Thy reprobation if he were to relax his duties, and to be remiss in his religious observances? If he were to spend every moment of his life in thanksgivings, he could not requite one of the blessings received from Thee! If he were to omit his duties in one single instance he would, in the opinion of all the righteous, incur the guilt of responsibility and rebellion!’ When the prayers of the angels had ceased, this divine allocution reached them: ‘Since you attribute his good acts and laudable deeds to his opulence and the sincerity of his religion to his riches; be ye aware that I shall take these away from him, and subject him to indigence in order to convince you how firm and constant he is in the duties of adoration and obedience.’ A short time after this, Aiûb became afflicted with various troubles, and in seven days all his cattle perished, but he did not cease to pray, to fast, and to praise God even more than before.* On the eighth day, when his children had gone to school, an earthquake* took place, which so shook the house that all his sons were buried under its ruins. Their loving father, having been apprised of this dreadful accident, was distressed for some time, but taking hold of the strong cable of patience he pronounced the blessed verse: ‘We belong to Allah, and unto him we shall surely return,’* and taking his position at the altar, he adored the Creator who has no partner. On that occasion strong heat overpowered his precious nature, and troubled his unparalleled body; at last, however, that ardour degenerated into a burning fever, and his malady increased to such a degree, that skilful physicians despaired of his recovery, and that his own family and friends shunned his company.
In some trustworthy chronicles that state of Aiûb’s affairs and the beginning of his troubles are described in another way than that which has been here recorded. The princes of the realms of literature are great critics; the author of these pages, therefore, refrains from prolixity, which is disapproved by all intelligent persons, who might, from a regard for the writer of these lines, and for the hearers of these stories, say with the tongue of the circumstances:
Distich: Though a man may have the patience of Aiûb,
He cannot live as long as Nûh [to record events].
On some occasions, however, the author has lost the bridle of self-restraint from his hands, and the pen, as his pleasantly trotting courser, diverts itself by jotting down various traditions. The writer certainly believes and confidently hopes, that the enlightened and kind reader will, in conformity with the saying that ‘whatever [produce] is profitable to men, they continue [to cultivate] it on the earth,’ be inclined to peruse these pages in their totality, wishing that his life may be as long as that of Nûh, and that the enemies of the threshold of his dignity and station may be overtaken by the deluge of affliction, and may in the sea of exclusion be drowned by the waves of perdition. Trusting that under providence, and by his own strenuous efforts, the author will be able to bring this collection of histories and biographies of exalted individuals of various countries to a prosperous conclusion, he confides in the grace of God, and proceeds as follows:
The Emâms of historians have related that in ancient times the accursed Satan ascended to heaven and conversed with the angels, offering his petitions occasionally at the palace of omnipotence, some of which were responded to. When Aiûb attained the dignity of a prophet, he also became outwardly very religious and a great almsgiver, and more so than any of his contemporaries. When Satan found no opportunity to seduce him, or to inspire him with diabolical suggestions, the flames of envy blazed up in his impure entrails, and he felt great enmity towards him. Then the exclamation reached the devil from the mysterious curtains of grandeur to the following purport: ‘O accursed one, Aiûb is my pious, sincere, and grateful servant, and thou hast no power to deceive him and to lead him astray.’ Satan replied: ‘O Lord, how can I touch him, and why ought not he to be grateful to Thee, despite all the wealth and prosperity which Thou hast bestowed upon him, and with all the children wherewith Thou hast rejoiced him? If Thou wilt take away what Thou hast given him, he will not adore Thee even once, and will turn away from Thy worship.’* Then the divine allocution came: ‘O Eblis, thou hast lied, and thy surmise about one whom I have elected is false.’ Satan rejoined: ‘Appoint me over the children and property of Aiûb, that Thou mayest see how his obedience will be changed to rebellion.’ The Omnipotent Sovereign continued: ‘I appoint thee over the children and property of Aiûb.’ Eblis now rejoiced, assembled his offspring and adherents, explained to them what had taken place, and ordered some of them to drown the sheep and cattle of Aiûb in water. Then he himself appeared in the guise of a shepherd, to inform Aiûb of his misfortunes. The latter, however, recognised him, and said: ‘Thanks be to God, He has, by His justice, taken away from me that which He had granted to me by His bounty, and if thou hadst been with the sheep, the Almighty—w. n. b. pr.— would have annihilated thee also with them.’ Satan arose disappointed and sad, returned and commanded his legions and assistants to burn the harvests, fields and meadows of Aiûb with fire. Then he assumed the shape of one of Aiûb’s agents, and said to him: ‘O Aiûb, thou art praying, and now the fire has devoured thy sown fields and fruit-trees, and has reduced them to ashes.’ Aiûb repeated his former answer, and began to pray. Eblis returned vexed and distressed, destroyed all the [remaining] possessions of Aiûb, and informed him one by one of their loss; but Aiûb reiterated his former reply, with a melancholy countenance. Eblis, having been unsuccessful in his preceding machinations, now shook the house in which the children of Aiûb, endowed with propitious signs, were being educated, whereon it fell and destroyed them. Then he went to Aiûb and brought him the news of this catastrophe; but that noble individual placed the head of assent upon the handle of confidence and patience, and was not at all influenced by that information. Then the stoned Satan* continued: ‘O my God, Aiûb knows that, instead of the children and possessions which have perished, Thou wilt make him a better reparation, and therefore he does not complain. Give me power over his body that I may act as I deem fit.’ Then the exclamation arrived: ‘I give thee power over his body, excepting only his tongue, audition, sight, and heart; because he needs his tongue for [uttering] prayers, his audition for hearing revelations, his sight to behold created things, and his heart for gratitude; therefore I have preserved these organs from thy power.’ When Eblis was dismissed, he made his appearance in the form of a sorcerer, and breathed a wind into Aiûb’s nostrils, which so heated his blessed nature that it produced the itch, in consequence whereof all his skin and flesh pealed off; but his lordship did not lament, complain, moan or manifest any signs of suffering; on this point, however, traditions differ. When the malady became chronic, and worms had commenced to infest his blessed limbs, they exhaled a great stench, so that the inhabitants made a hut outside the town in which they housed him, and after that no living being cared for him except his noble spouse Rahmat, who girded her waist of diligence and agility, and the loins of sincerity, in his service. When she had spent all she possessed to support Aiûb, and nothing remained, she hired herself out as a day-labourer, but distributed one-half of her gains in alms, hoping thereby to procure her husband’s recovery, and with the other moiety she purchased food for Aiûb. Traditionalists have recorded, that every time Aiûb’s spouse went out to work, the accursed Eblis obstructed her way, saying: ‘It is a pity that thou shouldst, with all thy beauty, be obliged to gain a livelihood by day labour, for the support of a man who has incurred the wrath of God. I am one of the principal inhabitants of Egypt, and possess untold wealth. Let alone this wretched fellow; take my advice and come with me, that I may marry thee as a true lover, and promote thee to the height of dignity and of an exalted station.’ The spouse of Aiûb never lent an ear to the wicked proposals of Satan, but attended to her own affairs. In the evenings, when she returned to Aiûb, she narrated all these conversations, whereon her husband said: ‘God forbid that thou shouldst go astray, because that wretch is Eblis; thou must not be deceived by his words, which are full of fraud and seduction.’ The stratagems of Satan having been unsuccessful, he fell upon the trick of doctoring, and met Rahmat on the road to examine her on the origin and continuance of her husband’s disease, and said: ‘As the sickness is so long, there is no doubt that the eating of pork and the drinking of wine will remedy it.’* The wife of Aiûb, who actually believed that by these means her husband might regain his health, accordingly purchased that day from her earnings some wine and hog’s flesh, brought the two articles to Aiûb, and narrated to him how she had met a skilful physician who had given her this advice. Aiûb, however, who suspected the whole stratagem, blamed her, and said: ‘Have I not, ere this, told thee that he is Eblis the stoned? Knowest thou not that pig’s flesh and the juice of the grape are prohibited to all prophets, and that the transgression of this command is one of the greatest sins? I swear by Allah that I shall give thee a sound beating when I get well, to punish thee for this act!’
It is recorded in the history of Hâfez Abrû, that one day the wife of Aiûb went in search of food, but was refused at all the houses where she asked, and returned disappointed. Satan, however, met her on the road in the shape of a woman with short hair, and said to her: ‘Give me both thy side-locks and I shall do thee a favour, in consequence whereof thou wilt be enabled to provide for the wants of Aiûb.’ Necessity having forced the poor woman to comply, she received a little money for her ringlets, and purchased some food for her husband. Eblis, however, had preceded her, and said to Aiûb: ‘Thy wife has been taken in an improper act, and both her curls have been cut off.’ Hearing this, Aiûb swore an oath that after his recovery from this malady he would strike his wife one hundred blows with a stick.
It is related that the unfortunate Rahmat, though greatly distressed at the crime imputed to her by Satan, and by the oath of her husband also, nevertheless continued to serve and to comfort him. Aiûb was also in the highest degree patient under his trials and never ceased to worship God, so that the dwellers in the regions of purity, as well as the inhabitants of this nether world, were equally awed by his long-suffering:
Verses: Do not look for rest in the fields of time,
Do not ask for comfort in this world.
Thy pains appear, and will be relieved;
Thy patience is thy surety; ask not for remedies.
When the accursed Eblis perceived this state of affairs, he became still more inflamed with envy and hatred. He knew not how to effect his purpose, therefore he assumed an extraordinary shape, and said to the inhabitants of that region: ‘Be it known unto you that I am one of the angels dwelling in the fourth heaven. Listen to me, I shall inform you of an important matter: Aiûb had formerly been a prophet of Allah, and one who approached the mansion of grandeur; the Almighty’s wrath, however, became incensed against him, and his name was expunged from the volume of inspired messengers. Do you, therefore, expel him from this country, lest you also incur the displeasure of God.’ After Eblis had rehearsed tales like this, he disappeared; Rahmat reported them to Aiûb, who forgot his malady and trouble, but turned in the height of his agony to the Qiblah of prayer, and cried unto his Lord, saying: ‘Verily evil hath afflicted me, but Thou art the most merciful of those who show mercy.’*
Historians have broached various opinions about the oath of Aiûb, and his promise to strike Rahmat one hundred blows with a stick, and have discussed them at length in their books.
When the disease had left Aiûb and he had recovered his health, Jebrâil the faithful descended, and first conversed about the machinations which the accursed one had planned; then he congratulated Aiûb on the health of his body and safety of his circumstances, took hold of his hand, pulling him out of his place, and said: ‘Strike the earth with thy foot.’* Aiûb accordingly moved his right foot, and every worm that was on his body fell down, whereon under his foot a spring of water bubbled forth, in which he performed his ablutions by order of Jebrâil, in consequence whereof all the external signs of his malady disappeared from his body, which was restored to its former state of health. Then, by the advice of Jebrâil, he moved his left foot, and a fountain of cold water issued beneath it, of which he drank a little. This removed all his internal complaints and changed them into health. Jebrâil had also brought a carpet from paradise, spread it out, and both took seats thereon. Rahmat, who had gone out to purchase victuals, now returned, and not perceiving Aiûb in the arbour, she lamented and wept; then she approached Jebrâil and Aiûb, saying: ‘Do you know what has become of the sick man who was in this arbour?’ Jebrâil replied: ‘If thou seest him thou wilt know him.’ At these words Aiûb began to laugh, and Rahmat recognised him. After that he tied together one hundred tender sticks,* and struck his wife once with them, whereby he fulfilled the oath he had made. Then he returned to his own habitation, where the Omnipotent inscrutable one again bestowed on him all his horses, cattle, sheep, and possessions in as great abundance as formerly. Some allege that the Lord and Reviver again resuscitated his children to life, others say that He presented him with new children. It is related that when Aiûb returned to his habitation, golden locusts rained, by order of the Creator of heaven and earth, upon his house; one of these, however, fell near the margin of the roof, and well-nigh upon the public road, therefore Aiûb took it and set it up. Some persons were astonished and perplexed by this fact; his lordship, however, knew by his sagacity that this was a blessing of God, the more of which are granted the better it is. Qotada has related in the Ma’aruf that the dwelling of Aiûb was in the country of Syria, between Damascus and Ramlah, in a place called Mithnah. It was a cultivated region, and the fountain that bubbled forth under his august feet exists to this day; the sick and decrepit travel to it from all directions, and return from it cured to their habitations. During Aiûb’s mission only three persons were converted by him; the remainder persisted in walking on the wrong path of error and infidelity, and even the said three individuals were at last staggered by the heaviness of his trials, and kept aloof from his society. When Aiûb recovered from his sickness, he was sent to the inhabitants of Rûm, where he accordingly went. When he had reached the term of his life and was near death, he installed Hûmal, who was the most intelligent of his children, to be his executor and successor, and ordered him to perform the funeral ceremonies.