Tafsir of Sad 38:41

{Job}: An appositive (ʿaṭf bayān). {When}: A substitute of inclusion (badal ishtimāl) for it. {That I have been touched}: Meaning, "by the fact that I have been touched." This is a narration of his speech by which he called upon [God]. Had it not been a narration, he would have said "that he has been touched," because he is absent [in the third person].

{Al-naṣb}: It is read with the nūn vocalized with ḍamma or fatḥa while the ṣād is quiescent, and with both vocalized with fatḥa, or both with ḍamma. Al-naṣb and al-nuṣb are like al-rushd and al-rushd. Al-naṣb is the root form of the verbal noun, while al-nuṣb is the heavy form of naṣb. The meaning is one: fatigue and hardship.

{Al-ʿadhāb}: Pain. He means his illness and the various types of suffering he endured. It is said: al-ḍurr (harm) refers to the body, and al-ʿadhāb refers to the loss of family and wealth.

If you ask: Why did he attribute it to Satan, when it is not permissible for God to empower him over His prophets to satisfy his desire for their torment and suffering? If he were capable of that, he would not leave a single righteous person without afflicting and destroying them, and it is repeated in the Quran that he has no authority except for whispering?

I say: Because his whispering to him and his obedience to him in what he whispered were the cause of the naṣb and adhāb that God touched him with, he attributed it to him. He observed proper etiquette in this, as he did not attribute it to God in his supplication, even though He is the One who does it and no one is capable of it but Him. It is also said: He meant the whispering that Satan did to him during his illness, magnifying the affliction that had befallen him and inciting him to resentment and impatience. So, he sought refuge in God to suffice him against that by removing the affliction or by granting him success in repelling it through beautiful patience.

It is narrated that three believers used to visit him; one of them apostatized. When asked about him, it was said: Satan cast into him that "God does not afflict prophets and righteous people." It is mentioned regarding the cause of his affliction that a man sought his help against an oppressor, but he did not help him. It is also said: His livestock were in the territory of an infidel king, and he flattered him and did not fight him. It is also said: He was proud of the abundance of his wealth.

{Strike with your foot}: A narration of what Job was answered with, meaning: strike the earth with your foot. According to Qatada, it was the land of Al-Jabiya. He struck it, and a spring gushed forth. It was said: {This is a cool washing-place and a drink}, meaning: this is water for you to wash with and drink from, so your inner and outer self will be healed, and your condition will be transformed. It is said: Two springs gushed for him; he washed from one and drank from the other, and the disease departed from his exterior and interior by God's permission. It is said: He struck with his right foot and a hot spring gushed, so he washed from it; then with his left, and a cold one gushed, so he drank from it.

{As a mercy from Us and a reminder}: Both are objects for the sake of which the action was done (mafʿūl lahu). The meaning is: the gift was for mercy toward him and as a reminder for those of understanding, because when they hear of what We bestowed upon him for his patience, it encourages them to be patient during affliction and [shows them] the outcome of the patient and what God does for them.

{And take}: Conjoined to "strike." {A bundle}: A bunch of grass, basil, or similar things. According to Ibn Abbas: a handful of twigs. He had sworn in his illness that he would strike his wife one hundred times once he recovered. God made his oath permissible through the easiest thing for him and her, due to her good service to him and his satisfaction with her. This concession remains.

From the Prophet (peace be upon him): He was brought a man who had committed adultery with a slave girl, and he said: "Take a bundle containing one hundred stalks and strike him with it once." It is required that the one being struck be hit by every one of the hundred, whether their tips are upright or their sides are laid out, while maintaining the form of a strike. The reason for his oath was that she was slow in returning to him while on an errand, which distressed him. It is said: She sold her braids for two loaves of bread, and they were what Job held onto when he stood up. It is said: Satan said to her: "Prostrate to me once, and I will return your wealth and children to you." She intended to do so, but protection (ʿiṣma) overtook her, and she mentioned it to him, so he swore [the oath]. It is said: Satan deluded her into thinking that if Job drank wine, he would recover, so she suggested that to him. It is said: She asked him to offer a sacrifice to Satan.

{We found him patient}: We knew him to be patient. If you ask: How did He find him patient when he complained to Him of his state and sought His mercy? I say: Complaining to God Almighty is not called impatience. Jacob (peace be upon him) said: {I only complain of my suffering and my grief to God} (Yusuf: 86). Likewise is the complaint of the sick to the doctor. The most patient of people regarding affliction is not free from wishing for health and seeking it. If it is valid to be called "patient" while wishing for health and seeking a cure, then he is also "patient" while seeking refuge in God, praying for the removal of his state, seeking treatment, and consulting doctors. Furthermore, Job (peace be upon him) was seeking a cure out of fear for his people regarding their faith, as Satan was whispering to them—just as he was whispering to him—that if he were a prophet, he would not be afflicted with what he was afflicted with, and [he sought it] to gain strength for obedience. His condition had reached the point where nothing remained of him but his heart and tongue. It is narrated that he said in his supplication: "My God, You know that my tongue has not contradicted my heart, my heart has not followed my sight, I have not withheld what my right hand possessed, I have not eaten unless an orphan was with me, and I have not spent a night full or clothed while a hungry or naked person was with me." So God removed it from him.