________________
XXXVIII, 34-45.
THE CHAPTER OF S.
179
"My Lord, pardon me and grant me a kingdom that is not seemly for any one after me; verily, thou art He who grants !
[35] And we subjected to him the wind to run on at his bidding gently wherever he directed it; and the devils—every builder and diver, and others bound in fetters—' this is our gift, so be thou lavish or withhold without account !'
And, verily, he had with us a near approach, and a good resort.
[40] And remember our servant Job when he called upon his Lord that the devil has touched me with toil and torment !
'Stamp with thy foot, this is a cool washing-place and a drink.' And we granted him his family, and the like of them with them, as a mercy from us and a reminder to those endowed with minds,—'and take in thy hand a bundle, and strike therewith, and break not thy oath !' Verily, we found him patient, an excellent servant; verily, he turned frequently to us.
[45] And remember our servants Abraham and
the signet into the sea, where it was swallowed by a fish, which was afterwards caught and brought to Solomon, who by this means recovered his kingdom and power.
i The Mohammedan legend is that when Job was undergoing his trials, the devil appeared to his wife and promised, if she would worship him, to restore their former prosperity; this she asked her husband to allow her to do. Job was so enraged at her conduct that he swore if he recovered to give her a hundred stripes. When Job had uttered the prayer recorded on page 52, line 19, Gabriel appeared and bade him in the words of the text to strike the ground with his feet. A fountain at once gushed forth, in which he washed and was healed, his wife also becoming young and beautiful again. In order not to break his oath he was commanded to strike her with a bundle of palm leaves, giving her a hundred painless blows at once.
N 2
Digitized by Google
