44 Preface وَخُذ بِيَدِكَ ضِغثًا فَاضرِب بِهِ وَلا تَحنَث ۗ إِنّا وَجَدناهُ صابِرًا ۚ نِعمَ العَبدُ ۖ إِنَّهُ أَوّابٌYusuf Ali“And take in thy hand a little grass, and strike1 therewith: and break not (thy oath).” Truly We found him full of patience and constancy. How excellent in Our service!2 ever did he turn (to Us)!In his worst distress Job was patient and constant in faith, but apparently his wife was not. According to the book of Job (2:9-10), “Then said his wife unto him, dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die. But he said unto her, thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.” He must have said in his haste to the woman that he would beat her: he is asked now to correct her with only a wisp of grass, to show that he was gentle and humble as well as patient and constant.Cf. 38:30 above, where similar words are spoken of Solomon. Patience and constancy are also a form of service, if our attitude is due to an active faith in God, and not mere passivity. So Milton in his Sonnet: “They also serve who only stand and wait.”