Possessor of a Double Portion of Patience

Prophet Dhul-Kifl ذُو الْكِفْل

A prophet mentioned twice in the Qur'an, paired both times with the most patient of Allah's servants. The classical tradition gives his name as Bishr ibn Ayyub (the son of Ayyub, who took on a 'double portion' — kifl — of work after his father). Allah singled him out among the patient and admitted him into His mercy.

The Two Mentions

Dhul-Kifl is named in only two passages, both pairings with great prophets. First in Surah al-Anbiya: 'And [mention] Ismail and Idris and Dhul-Kifl — all were of the patient. And We admitted them into Our mercy. Indeed, they were of the righteous.' (Qur'an 21:85-86). And in Surah Sad: 'And remember Ismail, al-Yasa, and Dhul-Kifl, and all are among the outstanding.' (38:48). The classical mufassirun (Ibn Kathir, al-Tabari) are divided on whether he was a prophet (nabi) or a righteous servant of high rank — most lean toward prophet because of the company he is named in.

The Meaning of His Name

The name Dhul-Kifl is unusual. Kifl in Arabic carries the sense of a 'double portion' or a 'guarantee taken on behalf of another.' The classical commentary (Ibn Kathir) offers several explanations: he was the prophet who took a 'double portion' of work upon himself — twice the worship, twice the fasting, twice the standing in prayer — and so was given the title 'Possessor of the double.' Another tradition holds that he guaranteed (kafala) the work of an aging prophet of his time, taking on his community's responsibilities, and earned the name from that. Either reading points the believer to the same lesson: he carried more than was asked.

The Three Conditions

One famous tradition (cited by Ibn Kathir from earlier sources) tells of how he became Dhul-Kifl. A prophet of his community, dying, asked: 'Who will take on three things — fasting by day, standing in prayer by night, and never being angry — in exchange for the rulership?' A young man stood up: 'I will.' He was tested. The shaytan came to him in the form of an angry petitioner, then in the form of an unjust opponent, then in the form of a midday intruder when he was finally resting after the night of prayer — and at every stage the young man met patience with patience and did not break. He was named Dhul-Kifl — the one who carries the burden — and he ruled his people in the spirit of the Sunan of Allah.

The Patient

Whatever the exact history, the Qur'an's verdict is plain: 'all were of the patient.' Sabr in the prophets is not a passive endurance; it is sustained obedience under load. Allah pairs Dhul-Kifl with Ismail and Idris in Surah al-Anbiya — three prophets singled out for the same virtue across three completely different lives: a son raised in the desert, a writer of the heavens, and a young man who took on a triple oath. Patience can take any shape; it is the same virtue under different stresses.

Among the Outstanding

Surah Sad ends with a roll-call of the prophets and their qualities: Dawud and Sulayman (the awwabun), Ayyub (the awwab, the patient servant), Ibrahim, Ishaq, Ya'qub (the chosen ones), Ismail, al-Yasa, and Dhul-Kifl ('all of the outstanding'). The Qur'an's choice of company is itself a praise — Dhul-Kifl walks at the level of the greatest prophets in Allah's accounting, and that is the only accounting that ultimately matters.

Identifications in the Classical Tradition

Classical scholars have offered several identifications for Dhul-Kifl. Some hold he was Bishr ibn Ayyub — a son of the prophet Ayyub who carried on his father's mission after him, hence the 'double portion' (kifl); Allah names him in Surah al-An'am right after Ayyub (6:84-86), which lends some textual support. Others hold he was a prophet of Bani Israel between Sulayman and Zakariyya, sent to a particular town that had drifted into wrong worship. A third opinion (mentioned by Ibn Kathir, but treated cautiously) tries to identify him with Ezekiel from the biblical tradition. The Qur'an itself does not resolve the question, and that silence is its own lesson: the salvation of his soul does not depend on the precision of our biography of him.

The Sunan of a Prophet's Day

If we follow the tradition that Dhul-Kifl took on the triple oath — fasting by day, standing in prayer by night, and never being angry — then his life is a model of the integrated Sunan of all the prophets after him. The Prophet ﷺ later prescribed a similar discipline as the optimal voluntary practice: 'The most beloved fasting to Allah is the fasting of Dawud — he fasted one day and broke fast on the next day. And the most beloved prayer to Allah is the prayer of Dawud — he slept the first half of the night, prayed the third, and slept the last sixth.' (Bukhari 1131). And on anger: a man came to the Prophet ﷺ asking for advice, and he said only: 'Do not be angry.' The man asked again. He said: 'Do not be angry.' Three times the same advice (Bukhari 6116). Dhul-Kifl's life predates the Prophet's ﷺ Sunan, but it embodies the same spirit.

Patience as Sustained Obedience

The Qur'an's word for Dhul-Kifl's virtue, like Ismail's and Idris's, is sabr. The Arabic root means to restrain — sabr is not passive resignation but the active restraint of the lower self from giving in to fatigue, anger, or despair. Allah pairs him with two prophets who lived through entirely different trials: Ismail (a son raised in the desert, offered in sacrifice, ancestor of the Arabs), and Idris (a writer of the heavens, raised to a high station). The same Arabic word covers all three lives. The Prophet ﷺ said: 'Whoever exercises restraint, Allah will give him patience. And no one has been given a gift better and broader than patience.' (Bukhari 1469, Muslim 1053).

His Salam in Allah's Book

Dhul-Kifl's name is preserved in the Qur'an forever — read by every generation of Muslims, recited in every salah where Surah al-Anbiya' or Surah Sad is chosen, and saluted by every reader of the Qur'an who sends salam upon all the prophets after their names. He is mentioned more by company than by story; he is judged more by the company Allah keeps him in than by any biography we have of him. That itself is the highest lesson of his place: a believer who is faithful and patient enough to walk among the great will be remembered for that company, even if their own life is not narrated in detail.

Lessons

  • Patience can take any shape — the Qur'an names three completely different lives under the same virtue (21:85).
  • Take on a 'double portion' if you are able — the spirit of Dhul-Kifl is to carry more than is asked.
  • Never being angry is itself a prophetic discipline — the Prophet ﷺ once said 'la taghdab' (do not be angry) three times to a man asking for advice (Bukhari 6116).
  • Three nights, three trials — and the patient man passes through all of them (the tradition of his test).
  • Allah names His servants in the company He chooses for them — the company is the praise.
  • Even the prophets less known by name are 'of the outstanding' (38:48) — Allah's measure is not popular memory.

Quran references

21:85-86 · 38:48