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 Mohammadan 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 Rahmeh 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 I.

SHO'EYB.

And we sent unto Midian [Medyen] their brother Sho'eyb.1 He said, O my people, worship God; assert His unity. Ye have no other deity but Him. And give not short measure and weight. Verily I see you [to be] in a state of prosperity that placeth you above the need of doing so; and verily I fear for you, if ye believe not, the punishment of a day that will encompass you with destruction. And, O my people, give full measure and weight with equity; and diminish not unto men aught of their things nor commit injustice in the earth, acting corruptly, by murder or other offences. The residue of God (His supply that remaineth to you after the completion of the measure) will be better for you than diminution, if ye be believers. And I am not a guardian over you, to recompense you for your actions: I have only been sent as an admonisher.— They replied, in mockery, O Sho'eyb, do thy prayers command thee that we are to leave what our fathers worshipped, or cease to do with our riches what we please? Verily thou art the mild, the right director. This they said in mockery.—He said, O my people, tell me, if I act according to an evident proof from my Lord, and He hath supplied me with a good lawful provision, shall I mix it up with what is forbidden, and shall I not desire to

1 The commentators generally suppose him to be the same person with the father-in-law of Moses, who is named in Scripture Reuel or Raguel, and Jethro. But Aḥmad Ibn-'Abd-ElHaleem charges those who entertain this opinion with ignorance. They say (after the Jews) that he gave his

son-in-law [Moses] that wonder-working rod with which he performed all those miracles in Egypt and the Desert, and also excellent advice and instructions; whence he had the surname of 'Khateeb-el-Ambiya,' or the Preacher to the Prophets.'-S.

oppose you, and shall I betake myself to that which I forbid you? I desire not [aught] but your reformation, as far as I am able [to effect it], and my help is not [in any] but in God: on Him do I rely, and unto Him do I turn me. And, O my people, let not the opposition of me procure for you the befalling you of the like of that which befell the people of Noah or the people of Hood or the people of Sáliḥ. And the abodes of the people of Lot [are] not distant from you: (or the time of their destruction was not long ago:) therefore be admonished. And ask ye forgiveness of your Lord, and turn unto Him with repentance; for my Lord is merciful to the believers, loving to them. They replied, O Sho'eyb, we understand not much of what thou sayest, and verily we see thee to be weak1 among us; and were it not for thy family, we had stoned thee; for thou art not, in our estimation, an honourable person: thy family only are the honourable. He said, O my people, are my family more honourable in your estimation than God, and do ye abstain from slaying me for their sake, and not preserve me for God, and have ye cast Him behind you as a thing neglected? Verily my Lord comprehendeth that which ye do, and He will recompense you. And, O my people, act ye according to your condition: verily I will act according to mine. Ye shall know on whom shall come a punishment that shall render him vile, and who is a liar and await ye the issue of your case: verily I await with you. And when Our degree for their destruction came [to be executed], we delivered Sho'eyb and those who believed with him, in our mercy, and the cry of Gabriel assailed those who had offended, so that in the morning they were in their abodes prostrate and dead, as though they had not dwelt therein. Was not Midian removed as Thamood had been removed? (xi. 85–98.)

1 The Arabic word 'da'eef' (weak) signifying also in the Himyaritic dialect 'blind, ' some suppose that Sho'eyb was so, and that the

Midianites objected that to him as a defect which disqualified him for the prophetic office.-S.

MOSES AND HIS PEOPLE.

We will rehearse unto thee, [O Moḥammad, somewhat] of the history of Moses [Moosá] and Pharaoh [Fir❜own or Far'oon], with truth, for the sake of people who believe. Verily Pharaoh exalted himself in the land of Egypt, and divided its inhabitants into parties to serve him. He rendered weak one class of them, namely the children of Israel, slaughtering their male children, and preserving alive their females, because one of the diviners said unto him, A child will be born among the children of Israel, who will be the means of the loss of thy kingdom; for he was [one] of the corrupt doers. And We desired to be gracious unto those who had been deemed weak in the land, and to make them models of religion, and to make them the heirs of the possessions of Pharaoh, and to establish them in the land of Egypt, and in Syria, and to show Pharaoh and Hámán 2 and their forces what

1 Which of the kings of Egypt this Pharaoh of Moses was is uncertain. Not to mention the opinions of the European writers, those of the East generally suppose him to have been El-Weleed, who according to some was an Arab of the tribe of 'Ád, or according to others the son of Muş'ab the son of Er-Reiyán the son of El-Weleed the Amalekite. There are historians, however, who suppose Káboos the brother and predecessor of El-Weleed was the prince we are speaking of, and pretend he lived six hundred and twenty years and reigned four hundred. Which is more reasonable, at least, than the opinion of those who imagine it was his father Muş'ab or grandfather Er-Reiyán. Abu-1-Fida

says that Muş'ab, being one hundred and seventy years old and having no child, while he kept the herds saw a cow calve, and heard her say at the same time, 'O Muş'ab, be not grieved, for thou shalt have a wicked son, who will be at length cast into hell.' And he accordingly had this Weleed, who afterwards coming to be king of Egypt proved an impious tyrant.— S. (A.F., Z.)

2 This name is given to Pharaoh's chief minister; from whence it is generally inferred that Mohammad has here made Haman the favourite of Ahasuerus king of Persia, and who indisputably lived many years after Moses, to be that prophet's contemporary.-S.

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