وَإِنَّ لَهُ عِنْدَنَا لَزُلْفَى وَحُسْنَ مَآبٍ ﴿۴۰﴾ وَاذْكُرْ عَبْدَنَا أَيُّوبَ إِذْ نَادَى رَبَّهُ أَنِّي مَسَّنِيَ الشَّيْطَانُ بِنُصْبٍ وَعَذَابٍ ﴿۴۱﴾ ارْكُضْ بِرِجْلِكَ هَذَا مُغْتَسَلٌ بَارِدٌ وَشَرَابٌ ﴿۴۲﴾ وَوَهَبْنَا لَهُ أَهْلَهُ وَمِثْلَهُمْ مَعَهُمْ رَحْمَةً مِنَّا وَذِكْرَى لِأُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ ﴿۴۳﴾ وَخُذْ بِيَدِكَ ضِغْثًا فَاضْرِبْ بِهِ وَلَا تَحْنَثْ إِنَّا وَجَدْنَاهُ صَابِرًا نِعْمَ الْعَبْدُ إِنَّهُ أَوَّابٌ ﴿۴۴﴾

﴾40﴿ Wa inna lahoo 'indanaa lazulfaa wa husna ma-aab
﴾41﴿ Wazkur 'abdanaaa Ayyoob; iz naada Rabbahooo annee massaniyash Shaitaanu bi nusbinw wa 'azaab
﴾42﴿ Urkud bi rijlika haaza mughtasalun baaridunw wa sharaab
﴾43﴿ Wa wahabnaa lahoo ahlahoo wa mislahum ma'ahum rahmatan minna wa zikraa li ulil albaab
﴾44﴿ Wa khuz biyadika dighsan fadrib bihee wa laa tahnas, innaa wajadnaahu saabiraa; ni'mal 'abd; innahooo awwaab

﴾40﴿ And indeed, he has a position of closeness with Us and a good place of return
﴾41﴿ And remember Our servant Job (peace be upon him), when he called upon his Lord, saying, Indeed, Satan has afflicted me with hardship and suffering
﴾42﴿ Strike the ground with your foot; this is a cool spring for bathing and drinking
﴾43﴿ And We granted him his family and the like of them along with them as a mercy from Us and a reminder for those of pure intellect
﴾44﴿ And take in your hand a bundle of sticks and strike with it, and do not break your oath. Indeed, We found him to be patient, a good servant. Indeed, he was one who frequently turned to Allah.

[40] This indicates that these worldly blessings were not a cause of distance from Allah the Exalted and Paradise, unlike the wealth of other rich people, which is often incompatible with the Hereafter.
[41] This is the third story of trial: the trial of Dāwūd (peace be upon him) was regarding legal judgments, the trial of Sulaymān (peace be upon him) was regarding his love for jihad, and the trial of Ayyūb (peace be upon him) was in his own self—that is, in his body and wealth.
The first two were kings and devout worshippers, while Ayyūb (peace be upon him) was a wealthy man and a worshipper.
Since the purpose of trials is to establish servitude ('ubūdiyyah), Allah mentioned his attribute as "Our servant", and explained the meaning of servitude with the words:
"When he called upon his Lord: Truly, hardship and suffering have touched me from Satan."
According to Qatādah, as quoted by Sharbīnī, "nuṣb" refers to physical illnesses, and "ʿadhāb" refers to external calamities—the loss of family and wealth.
Regarding the attribution of affliction to Satan, the correct view is that all actions—good or evil, faith and disbelief, obedience and disobedience—are created by Allah the Exalted.
However, proper etiquette dictates that evil should not be attributed directly to Allah.
The reason for attributing it to Satan is that he rejoices at the suffering of the righteous and he is a cause of their distress through his whisperings—just as Yūshaʿ (peace be upon him) attributed forgetfulness to Satan.
[42] This is the acceptance of his supplication, and the method of healing is from Allah the Exalted:
"Strike with your foot" – rakḍ means to strike something with the heel or foot.
In the commentary of Qurtubī, there is a strong refutation of those misguided mystics who use this word to justify dancing. He states that this is a clear distortion of the meaning, and we have already mentioned this objection in the commentary of "Do not walk on the earth with pride."
"This is a cool washing place and a drink" – this refers to the method of physical healing: external illnesses are cured by bathing, and internal illnesses are cured by drinking (from it).
[43] This is the acceptance of his supplication regarding his family—his family had either been scattered or had died, and Allah the Exalted either brought them back together or brought them back to life. This too is a miracle.
"And a reminder for those of understanding" – the lesson here is that success lies in patience, the mercy of Allah the Exalted is vast, and despair from it is not permitted. Allah the Exalted accepts humility and supplication.
[44] This is a solution for saving Ayyūb (peace be upon him) from breaking his oath. He had sworn, "I will strike this woman with a hundred lashes."
There are many opinions regarding why he intended to strike her. The main account is that Iblīs appeared to him in the form of a doctor and told his wife, "I will cure your husband's illness and ask for no payment—except that he must sacrifice a calf to me or say that this healing came from me."
The woman, not realizing who he was or what he meant, conveyed this message to Ayyūb (peace be upon him). He became very angry and said, "I will strike you a hundred times."
Since the woman neither believed in nor acted upon that message, and only passed it along, she was not guilty. Thus, actually striking her a hundred times would have been unjust.
But if he did not carry out the oath at all, then Ayyūb (peace be upon him) would be breaking his oath.
So Allah the Exalted taught him this clever solution and way out: to strike her with a bunch that contains a hundred twigs, thereby saving her from injustice and Ayyūb (peace be upon him) from breaking his oath.
"Ḍighth" refers to a broom-like bundle that contains a hundred stalks, or a branch made up of a hundred small twigs.
Note: The method taught to Ayyūb (peace be upon him) is referred to in Islamic law as a makhraj (legal way out). It is not appropriate to call it a ḥīlah (trick), because although ḥīlah in language refers to a subtle plan, it is mostly used in cases involving deceit or dishonesty. Rāghib mentioned this in Mufradāt al-Qur’ān.
There is scholarly disagreement regarding this method. It is narrated from Mujāhid and ʿAtāʾ that this was specific to Ayyūb (peace be upon him). Others said that this concession remains valid in matters of ḥudūd (legal punishments) and aymān (oaths) in our Sharīʿah.
The reason is based on a hadith about a deformed man who had committed fornication but was not married. The Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace) used a similar method to administer the punishment. Based on this, some scholars made an analogy for oaths (aymān) as well.
However, the sounder opinion is that in ḥudūd, such a method is allowed in cases of necessity, based on the hadith. But in the case of oaths, this method is not permissible, because there is no clear legal evidence for it. Furthermore, in our Sharīʿah, there is no expiation (kaffārah) for oaths in such a context.