And remember Our servant Job [Eiyoob[248]] when he called unto his Lord, Verily the devil hath afflicted me with calamity and pain. (_The affliction is attributed to the devil, though all was from God._) _And it was said unto him_, Strike _the earth_ with thy foot. _And he did so; whereupon a fountain of water sprang forth.[249] And it was said_, This _is_ cool _water for thee_ to wash with, and to drink. _So he washed himself and drank; and every disease that he had, external and internal, quitted him._ And We gave unto him his family, and as many more with them (_that is, God raised to life for him those of his children who had died, and blest him with as many more_),[250] in Our mercy and as an admonition unto those who are endowed with faculties of understanding. [And We said unto him,] Take in thy hand a handful _of dry grass, or of twigs_,[251] and strike with it _thy wife_ (_for he had sworn that he would inflict upon her a hundred blows, because she had staid away from him too long one day_[252]) and break not thine oath _by abstaining from striking her._—_So he took a hundred stalks of schoemanthus, or some other plant, and gave her one blow with them._ Verily We found him a patient person. How excellent a servant _was he_! For he was one who earnestly turned himself unto God. (xxxviii. 40-44.) SHO´EYB. And _we sent_ unto Midian [Medyen] their brother Sho´eyb.[253] He said, O my people, worship God; _assert His unity_. Ye have no other deity but Him. And give not short measure and weight. Verily I see you [to be] in a state of prosperity _that placeth you above the need of doing so_; and verily I fear for you, _if ye believe not_, the punishment of a day that will encompass _you with destruction_. And, O my people, give full measure and weight with equity; and diminish not unto men _aught_ of their things nor commit injustice in the earth, acting corruptly, _by murder or other offences_. The residue of God (_His supply that remaineth to you after the completion of the measure_) will be better for you _than diminution_, if ye be believers. And I am not a guardian over you, _to recompense you for your actions: I have only been sent as an admonisher_.—They replied, _in mockery_, O Sho´eyb, do thy prayers command thee that we are to leave what our fathers worshipped, or _cease_ to do with our riches what we please? Verily thou art the mild, the right director. _This they said in mockery._—He said, O my people, tell me, if I act according to an evident proof from my Lord, and He hath supplied me with a good _lawful_ provision, shall I mix it up with what is forbidden, and shall I not desire to oppose you, _and shall I betake myself_ to that which I forbid you? I desire not [aught] but _your_ reformation, as far as I am able [to effect it], and my help is not [in any] but in God: on Him do I rely, and unto Him do I turn me. And, O my people, let not the opposition of me procure for you the