his head and said, “O Sovereign of the heavens, where is the appointed time You promised me?” Then he was called and told: “Nothing that befell them did so except because of your ruling and your supplication.” The Prophet Jeremiah then realized that it had been his ruling, and that the one who had questioned him was a messenger from Allah. So Jeremiah fled until he joined the wild beasts.
Nebuchadnezzar and his troops entered Jerusalem, overran Syria, and slaughtered the Children of Israel until they had nearly annihilated them. He destroyed Jerusalem, then ordered his soldiers, each man among them, to fill his shield with earth and cast it into Jerusalem. They did so until they had filled it. He then commanded them to gather all those who were in the towns of Jerusalem. Thus the young and old alike of the Children of Israel were gathered before them. He selected seventy thousand boys from among them and divided them among the kings who were with him, so that each of them received four youths. Among those youths were Daniel and Hananiah.
He divided those who remained of the Children of Israel into three groups: one-third he killed, one-third he took captive, and one-third he left in Syria. This was the first calamity that Allah sent down upon the Children of Israel because of their wrongdoing. When Nebuchadnezzar turned back toward Babylon, taking with him the captives of the Children of Israel, Jeremiah came riding his donkey, carrying grape juice in a small vessel and a basket of figs, until he reached Jerusalem. When he stopped there and saw its ruin, he said: “How can Allah bring this town to life after its death?”
Those who held that the passer-by was Ezra said: When Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and arrived in Babylon with the captives of the Children of Israel, Ezra, Daniel, and seven thousand members of the House of David were among them. When Ezra escaped from Babylon, he set out on his donkey until he came to Dayr Hiraql, on the bank of the Tigris. He walked about the village but saw no one in it. Most of its trees bore fruit, so he ate some of the fruit and pressed grapes, from which he drank. He put the remaining fruit in a basket and the remaining juice in a skin. When he saw the village in ruins and its people destroyed, he said: “How can Allah bring this town to life after its death?” He said this in wonder, without any doubt 46/A concerning the Resurrection.
We return to the report of Wahb. He said: Jeremiah then tethered his donkey with a new rope, and Allah Most High caused him to sleep. When he had fallen asleep, Allah took his soul for one hundred years and caused his donkey to die. His grape juice and figs remained beside him, and Allah concealed him from people’s eyes, so that no one saw him. This was in the forenoon. Allah also prevented beasts of prey and birds from eating his flesh.
When seventy years of his death had passed, Allah sent an angel to a king of Persia named Nushk, who said: “Allah commands you to march forth with your people and rebuild Jerusalem and Iliyā’ until it returns to a state more prosperous than it had ever been.” The king appointed one thousand overseers, with three hundred thousand laborers under each overseer, and they began rebuilding it. Allah destroyed Nebuchadnezzar by a mosquito that entered his brain, and Allah saved those of the Children of Israel who remained. None of them died in Babylon, and He restored them all to Jerusalem and its surrounding regions. They rebuilt it for thirty years and grew in number until they returned to the best condition they had ever known.
When the hundred years had passed, Allah brought Jeremiah’s eyes back to life while the rest of his body remained dead. Then He brought his body back to life as Jeremiah watched it. He then looked at his donkey and saw that its bones lay scattered, white and gleaming. Then he heard a voice from heaven: “O decayed bones, Allah commands you to come together.” So some of them came together with others, and some joined to others. Then it was proclaimed: “Allah commands you to clothe yourselves in flesh and skin.”