—relief and a way out.” Allah Most High then revealed to Elijah: “Everything they have brought you is deceit and lies, intended to gain control over you. If Ahab’s messengers inform him that you have met this man and that he has not brought you back, he will accuse him and realize that he has been conciliatory in your matter; nor will he be safe from being killed by him. So go with him, for I shall distract Ahab from you both by intensifying his son’s affliction, until he has no concern other than him. Then I shall cause him to die in the worst state. Once he has died, withdraw from him.”

So he went with them until they came before Ahab. When they arrived, Allah Most High intensified his son’s pain, and the pangs of death began to choke him. Thus Allah Most High distracted Ahab and his companions from Elijah, and Elijah returned safely to his place. When Ahab’s son died, and they had concluded his affairs, and his grief had somewhat subsided, he remembered Elijah and asked the scribe who had brought him about him. The scribe replied, “I know nothing of him. The death of your son and the grief over him distracted me from him, and I had assumed that you had secured him.” Ahab then turned away from him and left him alone, preoccupied as he was by grief for his son.

When Elijah’s ordeal became prolonged, he grew weary of remaining in the mountains and longed for people. He descended from the mountain and went on until he came to stay with a woman from the Children of Israel: the mother of Jonah son of Matta, the Man of the Fish. ⦗98/a⦘ He remained hidden with her for six months, while Jonah son of Matta was then a nursing infant. Jonah’s mother served Elijah herself and supported him from her own means.

Then Elijah became weary of the confinement of houses after having grown accustomed to the wide expanse of the mountains. Longing to return to the mountains, he left and went back to his place. Jonah’s mother was distressed by their separation, and his absence left her lonely. Shortly thereafter, her son Jonah died when she had weaned him. Her calamity became overwhelming, so she went out in search of Elijah. She continued climbing and wandering through the mountains until she found him. When she came upon him, she said, “After you left, I was struck by the death of my son. My loss has become immense, and my affliction over his absence has grown severe. I have no child other than him. So have mercy on me and supplicate to your Lord, may He be exalted, to restore my son to life for me. I have left him laid out and have not buried him, and I have concealed the place where he is.”

Elijah said to her, “This is not among that which I have been commanded to do. I am only a servant under command, acting as my Lord commands me.” The woman was overcome with grief and pleaded earnestly, whereupon Allah Most High inclined Elijah’s heart toward her. He asked her, “When did your son die?” She replied, “Seven days ago.” Elijah then set out with her and travelled another seven days until he reached her home. He found her son dead, having been so for fourteen days. He performed ablution, prayed, and supplicated; and Allah Most High restored Jonah son of Matta to life. When he came back to life and sat up, Elijah rose, left him, and returned to his place.

When the disobedience of his people continued for long, Elijah became deeply distressed by it. After seven years, while he was fearful and exhausted, Allah Most High revealed to him: “O Elijah, why are you in such grief and distress? Are you not My trustee over My revelation, My proof on earth, and My chosen one from among My creation? Ask Me, and I shall give you; for I possess boundless mercy and immense bounty.”

He said, “Cause me to die and join me with my forefathers, for I have grown weary of the Children of Israel, and they have grown weary of me.” Allah Most High then revealed to him: “This is not the day on which I shall leave the earth and its people without you. Its stability and well-being rest upon you and those like you, even though you are few. But ask Me, and I shall give you.”

Elijah said, “If You will not cause me to die, then grant me vengeance against the Children of Israel.” Allah Most High said, “What, then, do you want?”