This is the story of al-Yasaʿ (Elisha), peace be upon him.

Allah, exalted is He, mentions him among the prophets in Sūrat al-Anʿām (6:86):
“And Ismāʿīl, al-Yasaʿ, Jonah, and Lot—each of them We favored above all peoples.”
He likewise says in Sūrat Ṣād (38:48):
“Remember Ismāʿīl, al-Yasaʿ, and Dhū al-Kifl; each of them was among the righteous.”

Ishāq ibn Bishr Abū Ḥudhayfah related: Saʿīd told us, from Qatādah, from al-Ḥasan, who said:
“After Elijah there came al-Yasaʿ, peace be upon him. He remained for as long as Allah willed, calling the people to Allah while holding fast to Elijah’s way and law, until Allah took him to Himself. Then a degenerate generation succeeded him; calamities and sins multiplied, tyrants became numerous, and they killed the prophets. Among them was a mighty, obstinate, and oppressive king (1).

It is said that this was the very king for whom Dhū al-Kifl guaranteed that, should he repent and return, he would enter Paradise—hence the name Dhū al-Kifl.”

Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq said: “He is al-Yasaʿ ibn Akhṭūb.”

The ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Qāsim Ibn ʿAsākir, in the letter Yāʾ section of his History, wrote: “Al-Yasaʿ is al-Asbaṭ ibn ʿAdī ibn Shūtilm ibn Afrāyīm ibn Joseph son of Jacob son of Isaac son of Abraham, the Friend of Allah.

It is also said that he was a cousin of the prophet Elijah, peace be upon him.

Another report states that he and Elijah hid together on Mount Qāsiyūn from the king of Baʿlabakk; later they travelled there together. When Elijah was raised up, al-Yasaʿ succeeded him among his people, and Allah commissioned him as a prophet after him (2). This was transmitted by ʿAbd al-Munʿim ibn Idrīs (3) from his father, from Wahb ibn Munabbih.

He added: “Others said that al-Asbaṭ (4) was in Bāniyās.” Ibn ʿAsākir then cited the variant readings of the name: al-Yasaʿ with a light pronunciation, with a doubled consonant, and al-Layasaʿ (5)—all referring to the same prophet.

I say: We have already presented the story of Dhū al-Kifl after the story of Job, peace be upon him, because it has been said that he was the son of Job—and Allah knows best.

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Ibn Jarīr (6) and others said: “Thereafter the affairs of the Children of Israel became confused; their trials and sins grew great, and they killed …”