Sayyidna Ayyub (علیہ السلام) — The Prophet of Patience
Sayyidna Ayyub (علیہ السلام) — The Prophet of Patience
Sayyidna Ayyub (علیہ السلام) — The Prophet of Patience
Sayyidna Ayyub (علیہ السلام) was once blessed in every way a man can be blessed: wealth and property, crops and livestock, magnificent houses, many children, and servants to attend him.
Then came the test by which Allah tries His prophets. The tafsirs tell us the trials struck him in wealth, children, and his own body, until he had lost everything. A serious disease took hold of him, and relatives, friends and neighbours drifted away, until almost no one came near him — except his wife. She did not leave him. She worked for people to earn a living, and fed and nursed him through his illness, morning and evening.
Stripped of everything, Ayyub (علیہ السلام) kept his heart and tongue busy remembering Allah and thanking Him. He never complained; instead, he called upon his Lord. In Surah Al-Anbiya, Allah preserves his prayer:
۞ وَأَيُّوبَ إِذْ نَادَىٰ رَبَّهُۥٓ أَنِّى مَسَّنِىَ ٱلضُّرُّ وَأَنتَ أَرْحَمُ ٱلرَّٰحِمِينَ
> "And (remember) Ayyūb (Job), when he called his Lord saying, “Here I am, afflicted by pain and You are the most merciful of all the merciful.”"
In Surah Sad, his call comes in other words — naming the one who troubled him in his sickness:
وَٱذْكُرْ عَبْدَنَآ أَيُّوبَ إِذْ نَادَىٰ رَبَّهُۥٓ أَنِّى مَسَّنِىَ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ بِنُصْبٍ وَعَذَابٍ
> "And remember Our servant, Ayyūb - when he called his Lord saying, “The ShaiTān (Satan) has inflicted weariness and pain upon me.”"
Ma'ariful Quran pauses here to protect us from a famous mistake. Some early storytellers claimed the Shaitan had been given power over the body, wealth and children of Ayyub (علیہ السلام). Discerning commentators have rejected that tale: the Shaitan can never gain control over a prophet of Allah. The tafsir explains what he meant: in his sickness the Shaitan kept planting painful whisperings in his heart — and even those could not shake his patience.
Then the Most Merciful answered him:
فَٱسْتَجَبْنَا لَهُۥ فَكَشَفْنَا مَا بِهِۦ مِن ضُرٍّ ۖ وَءَاتَيْنَـٰهُ أَهْلَهُۥ وَمِثْلَهُم مَّعَهُمْ رَحْمَةً مِّنْ عِندِنَا وَذِكْرَىٰ لِلْعَـٰبِدِينَ
> "So, We answered his prayer and removed whatever pain he had, and gave him (back) his family and the like thereof along with them, as a mercy from Our own Self and as a lesson for the worshippers."
His pain was removed, and his family restored. Surah Sad lets us see how the healing came:
ٱرْكُضْ بِرِجْلِكَ ۖ هَـٰذَا مُغْتَسَلٌۢ بَارِدٌ وَشَرَابٌ
> "(Allah said to him,) “Strike (the ground) with your foot: Here is a cool water to bathe, and a drink!”"
He struck the ground, and cool water flowed — to wash the sickness away, and to drink. And Allah completed His gift:
وَوَهَبْنَا لَهُۥٓ أَهْلَهُۥ وَمِثْلَهُم مَّعَهُمْ رَحْمَةً مِّنَّا وَذِكْرَىٰ لِأُو۟لِى ٱلْأَلْبَـٰبِ
> "And We let him have his family and the like of them besides, as a mercy from Us, and a reminder for the people of understanding."
One thread remained. In his illness, Ayyub (علیہ السلام) had sworn: if Allah healed him, he would strike his wife with one hundred strokes, for something she had done that had upset him. But she was the one soul who had never abandoned him — how could her faithfulness be repaid with a beating? In His mercy, Allah showed him a gentle way that kept both his oath and her honour:
وَخُذْ بِيَدِكَ ضِغْثًا فَٱضْرِب بِّهِۦ وَلَا تَحْنَثْ ۗ إِنَّا وَجَدْنَـٰهُ صَابِرًا ۚ نِّعْمَ ٱلْعَبْدُ ۖ إِنَّهُۥٓ أَوَّابٌ
> "And (We said to him,) “Take (a bundle of) thin twigs in your hand, and strike with it, and do not violate your oath. Surely, We found him very enduring. He was really an excellent servant. Surely, he was great in turning (to Us, in penitence and praise)."
A bundle of thin twigs, one symbolic strike — and the oath stood fulfilled. Over the whole story Allah sets His seal: "Surely, We found him very enduring. He was really an excellent servant."
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🌿 Stop and Think About This Scene
Sit a moment with the prayer of Ayyub (علیہ السلام). Wealth, children, health, company — he had lost them all, yet there is no complaint in his words, no "why has this happened to me?" He lays his pain before his Lord and, in the same breath, praises Him: "You are the most merciful of all the merciful." His patience was not mere silence; it was a heart that kept facing its Lord through every dark year.
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❤️ The Greatest Lesson
A trial is not a sign that Allah is displeased with you. The prophets faced the severest tests of all, and Ayyub (علیہ السلام) stood at their head in endurance. Ibn Kathir tells us why Allah made him an example: so that no one struck by calamity would think it happened because Allah does not care for him. Allah cared for him through every moment of it — and in the end praised him with His own words.
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📚 Important Lessons From This Story
1. Being tested does not mean being rejected. Allah tested His prophet in wealth, children and body — and still called him "an excellent servant."
2. Patience does not mean never asking Allah. Ma'ariful Quran notes his prayer was not against patience: he asked — but without a word of complaint.
3. Gratitude is not only for the good days. Even in illness, he remembered Allah and thanked Him with heart and tongue.
4. Stand by your loved ones in their trials. His wife worked, fed him, nursed him, and never left him. Faithfulness in another's dark days is worship too.
5. The end of patience is a way out. Allah removed his pain, returned his family, and gave him the like of them besides.
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🏠 How Can We Apply This in Our Daily Lives?
When illness or loss enters our homes, we can borrow his words and take our complaints to Allah, not to everyone else. We can keep prayer and remembrance alive even when our bodies are weak — and when someone near us suffers, be like his wife: present, serving, refusing to walk away.
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🌹 The Most Beautiful Message
The world saw a sick man who had lost everything; Allah saw an excellent servant. What matters is not the judgement of people who drift away, but the word of the Lord who never leaves: "Surely, We found him very enduring... Surely, he was great in turning (to Us, in penitence and praise)."
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📖 What the Tafsir Says
Ma'ariful Quran begins its account of Ayyub (علیہ السلام) with an honest caution — much of what is popularly told of him comes from old legends, and only the reliable core should be repeated:
> The story of Sayyidna Ayyub (علیہ السلام) is based mostly on Jewish legends. Those which are considered as historically reliable by scholars of hadith are being reproduced here. The Holy Qur'an tells us only that he suffered from some serious disease but he endured his suffering with fortitude. Ultimately he prayed to Allah for recovery which was granted.
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged) opens with the blessings that were taken away:
> Allah tells us about Ayyub (Job), and the trials that struck him, affecting his wealth, children and physical health. He had plenty of livestock, cattle and crops, many children and beautiful houses, and he was tested in these things, losing every thing he had.
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📖 Authentic Reference
Book: The Holy Quran
Verses: Quran 21:83 · Quran 21:84 · Quran 38:41 · Quran 38:42 · Quran 38:43 · Quran 38:44
Tafsir: Ma'ariful Quran (Mufti Muhammad Shafi) and Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged), as shown on this site's verse pages.