been gracious unto us, by bringing us together; for whosoever feareth God and is patient [will be rewarded]: God will not suffer the reward of the well-doers to perish. They replied, By God, verily God hath preferred thee above us, and we have been indeed sinners. He said, [There shall be] no reproach [cast] on you this day: God forgive you; for He is the most merciful of those that show mercy. And he asked them respecting his father: so they answered, His eyes are gone. And he said, Go ye with this my shirt (it was the shirt of Abraham, which he wore when he was cast into the fire: it was on his [that is, Joseph's] neck [appended as an amulet] in the well; and it was from paradise: Gabriel commanded him to send it, and said, In it is its odour [that is, the odour of paradise], and it shall not be cast upon any one afflicted [with a disease] but he shall be restored to health), and cast it [said Joseph] upon the face of my father: he shall recover his sight; and bring unto me all your family.-And when the company of travellers had gone forth from El-'Areesh1 of Egypt, their father said, unto those who were present of his offspring, Verily I perceive the smell of Joseph (for the zephyr had conveyed it to him, by permission of Him whose name be exalted, from the distance of three days' journey, or eight, or more): were it not that ye think I dote, ye would believe me. They replied, By God, thou art surely in thine old error. And when the messenger of good tidings (namely, Judah) came with the shirt (and he had borne the bloody shirt; wherefore he desired to rejoice him, as he had grieved him), he cast it upon his face, and he recovered his sight. [Thereupon Jacob] said, Did I not say unto you, I know, from God, what ye know not? They said, O our father, ask pardon of our crimes for us; for we have been sinners. He replied, I will ask pardon for you of my Lord; for He is the Very forgiving, the Merciful.— He delayed doing so until the first appearance of the dawn,

The frontier town of Egypt towards Syria.

that the prayer might be more likely to be answered; or, as some say, until the night of [that is, preceding] Friday.

They then repaired to Egypt, and Joseph and the great men came forth to meet them; and when they went in unto Joseph, in his pavilion or tent, he received unto him (or pressed unto him) his parents (his father and his mother and his maternal aunt), and said unto them, Enter ye Misr, if God please, in safety.1 So they entered; and Joseph seated himself upon his couch, and he caused his parents to ascend upon the seat of state, and they (that is, his parents and his brethren) fell down, bowing themselves unto him2 (bending, but not putting the forehead) [upon the ground]: such being their mode of obeisance in that time. And he said, O my father, this is the interpretation of my dream of former times: my Lord hath made it true; and He hath shown favour unto me, since He took me forth from the prison (he said not, from the well, from a motive of generosity, that his brethren might not be abashed), and hath brought you from the desert, after that the devil had. excited discord between me and my brethren; for my Lord is gracious unto whom He pleaseth; for He is the Knowing, the Wise.—And his father resided with him four and twenty years, or seventeen; and the period of his separation was eighteen, or forty, or eighty years. And death came unto him; and thereupon he charged Joseph that he should carry him and bury him by his fathers. So he went himself and buried him. Then he returned to Egypt and remained after him three and twenty years; and when his case was ended, and he knew that he should not last [upon earth], and his soul desired the lasting possession, he said, O

1 El - Beydáwee tell us that Joseph sent carriages and provisions for his father and his family; and that he and the king of Egypt went forth to meet them. He adds that the number of the children of Israel who entered Egypt with him was seventy-two; and that when they were led out thence by Moses, they

were increased to six hundred thousand five hundred and seventy men, and upwards, besides the old people and children.-S.

2 A transposition is supposed to be in these words:-he seated his father and mother after they had bowed down to him, and not before. S. (B.)

my Lord, Thou hast given me dominion, and taught me the interpretation of events (or dreams): Creator of the heavens and the earth, Thou art my guardian in this world and in the world to come. Make me to die a Muslim, and join me with the righteous among my forefathers. And he lived after that a week, or more, and died a hundred and twenty years old. And the Egyptians disputed concerning his burial: so they put him in a chest of marble, and buried him in the upper part of the Nile, that the blessing [resulting from him] might be general to the tracts on each side of it.1 Extolled be the perfection of Him to whose dominion there is no end! (xii. 54-102).

1 But when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, he took up the coffin, and carried Joseph's bones

with him into Canaan, where he buried them by his ancestors.-S. (B.)

JOB.

And remember Our servant Job [Eiyoob1] when he called unto his Lord, Verily the devil hath afflicted me with calamity and pain. (The affliction is attributed to the devil, though all was from God.) And it was said unto him, Strike the earth with thy foot. And he did so; whereupon a fountain of water sprang forth. And it was said, This is cool water for thee to wash with, and to drink. So he washed himself and drank; and every disease that he had, external and internal, quitted him. And We gave unto him his family, and as many more with them (that is, God raised to life for him those of his children who had died, and blest him with as many more),3 in Our mercy and as an admonition unto those who are endowed with faculties

1 The Moḥammadan writers tell us that Job was of the race of Esau, and was blessed with a numerous family and abundant riches; but that God proved him by taking away all that he had, even his children, who were killed by the fall of a house; notwithstanding which he continued to serve God and to return Him thanks as usual; that he was then struck with a filthy disease, his body being full of worms and so offensive that as he lay on the dunghill none could bear to come near him: that his wife, however (whom some call Raḥmeh the daughter of Ephraim the son of Joseph, and others Makhir the daughter of Manasses), attended him with great patience, supporting him with what she earned by her labour; but that the devil appearing to her one day, after having reminded her of her past prosperity, promised

her that if she would worship him, he would restore all they had lost; whereupon she asked her husband's consent, who was so angry at the proposal, that he swore, if he recovered, to give his wife a hundred stripes. -S. (B., J., A.F.)

2 Some say there were two springs, one of hot water wherein he bathed, and the other of cold of which he drank.-S. (B.)

3 His wife also becoming young and handsome again, and bearing him twenty-six sons. Some, to express the great riches which were bestowed on Job after his sufferings, say he had two threshing-floors, one for wheat and the other for barley, and that God sent two clouds, which rained gold on the one and silver on the other till they ran over.-(J.) The traditions differ as to the continuance of Job's calamities: one

of understanding. [And We said unto him,] Take in thy hand a handful of dry grass, or of twigs,1 and strike with it thy wife (for he had sworn that he would inflict upon her a hundred blows, because she had staid away from him too long one day 2) and break not thine oath by abstaining from striking her. So he took a hundred stalks of schoemanthus, or some other plant, and gave her one blow with them. Verily We found him a patient person. How excellent a servant was he! For he was one who earnestly turned himself unto God. (xxxviii. 40-44.)

will have it to be eighteen years; another, thirteen; another, three; and another, exactly seven years seven months and seven hours.-S.

1 Or 'a palm-branch having & hundred leaves.'-S. 2 But see note 1.