Tafseer of The letter Saad · Saad · 38:44
[We said], "And take in your hand a bunch [of grass] and strike with it and do not break your oath." Indeed, We found him patient, an excellent servant. Indeed, he was one repeatedly turning back [to Allah].
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
And His statement wa-khudh bi-yadika ḍighthan ("And take in your hand a bundle"): He says: and We said to Ayyūb: take in your hand a bundle (ḍighth) — and that is what is gathered together of something, like a bundle of fresh herbs, and like a handful of tree branches or grass and blossom-clusters and the like, of what stands upon a stalk. From this is the statement of ʿAwf ibn al-Khariʿ:
And below me there is a strong mare that I have tethered, and I have cast down a bundle (ḍighth) of fragrant fresh herbage. (1)
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement wa-khudh bi-yadika ḍighthan ("And take in your hand a bundle"): he says: a bundle.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement wa-khudh bi-yadika ḍighthan fa-ḍrib bihi wa-lā taḥnath ("And take in your hand a bundle and strike with it and do not break your oath"): he said: he was commanded to take a bundle of fresh herbs equal to the number upon which he had sworn, and to strike with it.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, concerning His statement wa-khudh bi-yadika ḍighthan ("And take in your hand a bundle"): he said: fresh twigs.
Abū Hishām al-Rifāʿī related to us, saying: Yaḥyā related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Muhājir, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās wa-khudh bi-yadika ḍighthan: he said: it is the tamarisk (al-athl).
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda wa-khudh bi-yadika ḍighthan — the verse — he said: his wife had proposed something to him, and Iblīs had wanted to incite her to something. He said: if you were to say such-and-such — and what drove her to that was only despair. Then the prophet of Allah swore: if Allah heals him, he will surely give her a hundred lashes. He said: then he was commanded to take a branch on which there were ninety-nine twigs, and the main twig completed the hundred, and he struck her a single blow. Thus the prophet of Allah fulfilled his oath, and Allah made it easy for His handmaid; and Allah is merciful.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His statement wa-khudh bi-yadika ḍighthan ("And take in your hand a bundle"): that is to say: a bundle of the fresh wood. He had sworn an oath, and he took of the wood the number upon which he had sworn, and he struck her with it a single blow, and thus he fulfilled his oath. And this, up to this very day, is among the people the oath of Ayyūb; whoever adheres to it does well.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement wa-khudh bi-yadika ḍighthan fa-ḍrib bihi wa-lā taḥnath ("And take in your hand a bundle and strike with it and do not break your oath"): he said: one bundle of the herb on which there were more than a hundred twigs, and he struck her with it a single blow, and that is a hundred blows.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAwf related to me, saying: Abū l-Mughīra related to us, saying: Ṣafwān related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Jubayr related to us wa-khudh bi-yadika ḍighthan fa-ḍrib bihi ("And take in your hand a bundle and strike with it"): he says: strike your wife with the bundle, so that you may fulfill your oath that you swore concerning her, namely that you would strike her. wa-lā taḥnath ("and do not break your oath"): he says: and do not break your oath.
And His statement innā wajadnāhu ṣābiran niʿma l-ʿabd ("Indeed, We found him patient; excellent was the servant"): he says: indeed, We found Ayyūb patient in the affliction, such that the affliction did not lead him to abandon obedience to Allah and to enter into disobedience to Him. niʿma l-ʿabdu innahu awwāb ("excellent was the servant; indeed, he was ever-returning [to Allah]"): he says: indeed, he was devoted to obedience to Allah and ever-returning to His good pleasure.
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The footnotes:
(1) The verse is by ʿAwf ibn al-Khariʿ (Majāz al-Qurʾān of Abū ʿUbayda, folio 215-b). It is supported by what is in Muʿjam al-shuʿarāʾ: ʿAwf ibn ʿAṭiyya ibn al-Khariʿ, and likewise in al-Tāj. Abū ʿUbayda said in the explanation of His statement, the Exalted, "wa-khudh bi-yadika ḍighthan": it is a handful of the trees or the grass and the blossom-clusters and what resembles that. ʿAwf ibn al-Khariʿ said: "wa-asfal minnī…" — the verse. And in al-Lisān: a nahd horse is a great, noble horse, and it is said: al-nahd is the great, strong one; its feminine is nahda. And al-khalā is the fresh of the grass (such as clover, or it is clover).
