A MATTER OF WISDOM
Never Despair
THE Prophet Ayyub (Job) described in the Quran in brief, and in the Bible in detail, was born several hundred years before Jesus Christ in the plains stretching from Syria to Palestine. In the Bible, his place of birth is called the land of Uz.
According to the Bible ‘he possessed seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the East.’
After some time, such misfortunes befell him as left him impoverished yet Job was the epitome of patience. In the words of the Bible, (Job 1: 20-21) “…Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped. And said, ‘Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return to thither: the Lord gave, and Lord hath taken; blessed be the name of the Lord’.”
God, being All-Merciful, has devised the system of this world in such a way that here no loss or deprival is final.
The circumstances changed after some years. Job again came to possess all kinds of wealth and resources, even more than he had before. According to Bible, (Job 42: 12) “The Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand she-asses”. The Quran ended the tale with:
We restored his family to him, doubling their number as an act
of grace from Us, and as a reminder to all
who are endowed with insight.
THE QURAN 38: 43
Although given a very brief mention in the Quran, this account gives the very important lesson that one should never despair when afflicted by misfortune or loss in life. God, being All-Merciful, has devised the system of this world in such a way that here no loss or deprival is final. Here, one can always overcome any misfortunes and be the gainer once again, provided one remains patient and perseveres in one’s struggles, never losing hope of God’s succour.