اركُض بِرِجلِكَ ۖ هٰذا مُغتَسَلٌ بارِدٌ وَشَرابٌ

[We told him:] ‘Stamp your foot on the ground; this [ensuing spring] is a cooling bath and drink.’

EXEGESIS

Mughtasal (bath) comes from ightisāl, meaning to wash oneself. It is either a place where one washes,^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Tibyan, 8/568.”][1][/su_tooltip]} or it refers to the water that is used to wash oneself.^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Tabari, 23/107; Zamakhshari, 4/97; Nemuneh, 19/297.”][2][/su_tooltip]}

Bārid (cooling) literally means cold.

EXPOSITION

In the call of Prophet Job (a) that we read in the previous verse we are told that he simply stated his difficulty to God, although much of what Prophet Job (a) said is obviously omitted there. In this verse too, like in the previous stories (for example verse 33) there is omission; he was commanded Stamp your foot on the ground, and as soon as he did that a spring gushed forth and he was told this is a cooling bath and drink.^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Tabrisi, 8/745.”][3][/su_tooltip]} It is said that two springs gushed forth, he drank from one and bathed in the other.^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Tibyan, 8/568; Tabari, 23/107. See also Muhit, 9/163 and Nemuneh, 19/297, for a discussion of the various opinions on this.”][4][/su_tooltip]} In any case, the drinking and bathing was meant to cure him of all internal and external ailments,^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Zamakhshari, 4/97.”][5][/su_tooltip]} and as soon as he did that he was cured of all his bodily ailments.^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Tibyan, 8/568.”][6][/su_tooltip]}

Like with Prophet David (a) and Prophet Solomon (a), the story of Prophet Job (a) points the reader to the main theme of wonder present in the surah. Prophet Job’s (a) miraculous recovery by simply bathing and drinking water is one of the amazing stories that invokes wonder in the reader.

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Makārim Shīrāzī says that the water is described with the quality of being cold because washing with cold water should have health benefits. He also adds that the water one washes oneself with should be potable, that is why in some narrations it is recommended to first drink a bit of it.^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Nemuneh, 19/297.”][7][/su_tooltip]}

[1] Tibyan, 8/568.
[2] Tabari, 23/107; Zamakhshari, 4/97; Nemuneh, 19/297.
[3] Tabrisi, 8/745.
[4] Tibyan, 8/568; Tabari, 23/107. See also Muhit, 9/163 and Nemuneh, 19/297, for a discussion of the various opinions on this.
[5] Zamakhshari, 4/97.
[6] Tibyan, 8/568.
[7] Nemuneh, 19/297.