Only two surahs of the Qur'an provide narrative details of the Prophet Ayyub (Job): Al-Anbiya' (21):83–4 and Ṣād (37):41–4. That in Ṣād is probably earlier in order of revelation, and includes more information, but essentially they complement each other. This information, while given in language of great intensity and beauty, is brief and allusive in its presentation. Job has, nevertheless, an important place in the Qur'anic panorama of the prophets, and a distinctive role in the spiritual life and religious imagination of Muslims. There is a rich ‘hinterland’ to be discovered in these verses. Al-Ṭabarī (d.923 H) offers a classical account of this ‘hinterland’ in his commentary on the relevant āyāt of Sūrat al-Anbiyā' in his Jāmic al-Bayān. He includes in it three narratives of how Job was put to the test. The first and longest is attributed to Wahb ibn Munabbih (d.728 H), and has been discussed in detail in Part I of this article. It has a binary structure and of the three narrations it has the most shared elements with the Biblical Book of Job. It is nonetheless thoroughly Islamic and redolent with echoes of Qur'anic phrasing. The second is also attributed to Wahb ibn Munabbih, but through a different line of transmission. It is unitary in structure, and though shorter, has undergone a measure of episodic development which in part features the role of Job's wife. The third is attributed to al-Ḥasan al-Baṣri (d.728 H). It too has a unitary structure, and though briefer than the second, develops further the role of Job's wife, and her devotion to him. Together these narratives enable a full understanding of the āyāt in both surahs. Further, they offer a range of perspectives and emphases in the accounts they give of the ways in which Job was put to the test and how his patience never wavered, telling how, when at length he cried out in pain, God relieved his suffering and rewarded him. Part II of this article suggests interpretations of the structure of the narratives, the literary art with which they are related and the spiritual values implicit within them. Al-Ṭabarī's presentation of them shows him an outstanding scholar and theologian, a great writer and a marvellous exponent of the humanistic tradition in Islam.