84 Preface وَوَهَبنا لَهُ إِسحاقَ وَيَعقوبَ ۚ كُلًّا هَدَينا ۚ وَنوحًا هَدَينا مِن قَبلُ ۖ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِهِ داوودَ وَسُلَيمانَ وَأَيّوبَ وَيوسُفَ وَموسىٰ وَهارونَ ۚ وَكَذٰلِكَ نَجزِي المُحسِنينَYusuf AliWe gave him Isaac and Jacob: all (three) we guided:1 and before him, We guided Noah,2 and among his progeny, David, Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses, and Aaron: thus do We reward those who do good: We have now a list of eighteen Prophets in four groups, covering the great Teachers accepted among the three great religions based on Moses, Jesus, and Muḥammad. The first group to be mentioned is that of Abraham, his son Isaac, and Isaac’s son, Jacob. Abraham was the first to have a Book. His Book is mentioned in Q. 87:19, though it is now lost. They were therefore the first to receive Guidance in the sense of a Book.In the second group, we have the great founders of families, apart from Abraham, viz., Noah, of the time of the Flood; David and Solomon, the real establishers of the Jewish monarchy; Job, who lived 140 years, saw four generations of descendants, and was blessed at the end of his life with large pastoral wealth (Job 42:16, 12); Joseph, who as Minister of State did great things in Egypt and was the progenitor of two Tribes; and Moses and Aaron, the leaders of the Exodus from Egypt. They led active lives and are called “doers of good.”