Al-Yasa (AS) — Rawzat

The Calling — From the Field to the Mission

Before al-Yasa (AS) was a prophet, he was a farmer. Nabi Ilyas (AS) found him plowing a field with twelve yoke of oxen — al-Yasa himself driving the twelfth pair. Without ceremony, Ilyas (AS) passed by and cast his mantle (his prophetic garment) over al-Yasa.

The young man immediately understood the significance of this act. He ran after Ilyas and said: “Let me first kiss my father and mother farewell, and then I will follow you.”

Ilyas (AS) replied: “Go back — for what have I done to you?” — a statement understood in the tradition not as rejection but as a test: would al-Yasa find excuses to delay, or would he understand that the call of prophethood admits no postponement?

Al-Yasa returned — not to say farewell and delay, but to slaughter the oxen, use the plowing equipment as wood for the fire, cook the meat and give it to his people, then rise and follow Ilyas (AS). His decisive action was the answer to the test. He left his old life completely, without return, and entered the service of the prophet.

This is the pattern of the da’i — the one called into service who, when the call comes, does not turn back. The burning of the farming equipment was al-Yasa saying: “I will not return to this life. The new life begins now.”

The Inheritance of the Mantle

When Nabi Ilyas (AS) was taken in his miraculous departure, al-Yasa (AS) received his mantle — the outward symbol of prophetic authority. According to the tradition transmitted through al-Tabari, he stood at the river Jordan, struck the waters with the mantle of Ilyas, and the waters divided — repeating the miracle that had been performed for both him and Ilyas (AS) together just before Ilyas’s ascension.

This moment established beyond doubt that the divine power had passed to the new prophet. The division of the Jordan was the divine confirmation that al-Yasa (AS) was the rightful wasi and successor, carrying the same authority, serving the same Lord, continuing the same mission.

The principle enshrined in this transfer is central to the Ismaili understanding of the da’wa chain: divine authority is never without a living representative. When one is taken, another is appointed. The light passes from hand to hand through a chain of designated, divinely confirmed representatives — the wasi is not self-appointed but identified by the previous holder of the trust.

The Miracles of Al-Yasa (AS)

Al-Yasa (AS) performed a series of remarkable miracles, each testifying to the power of Allah working through His prophet:

The Purification of the Waters

When the people of Jericho complained that their water was bad and the land was barren, al-Yasa (AS) asked for a new bowl and salt. He cast the salt into the spring, and the waters were healed. “The waters were healed to this day.” The miracle is understood in ta’wil as the purification of the community’s spiritual wellspring — the prophet who corrects the source so that everything downstream is renewed.

The Miracle of the Widow’s Oil

A widow came to al-Yasa (AS) in despair: her husband had died, her creditors were coming to take her sons as debt-slaves, and she had nothing but a small jar of oil. Al-Yasa (AS) instructed her to gather every empty vessel she could find from her neighbors, then to pour from her single jar into all the vessels — and not to stop.

She poured. The oil multiplied — filling vessel after vessel until there were no more vessels to fill. Then the flow stopped. She sold the oil, paid her debts, and had enough to live on.

This miracle teaches: the blessing of Allah multiplies in proportion to the vessel prepared to receive it. The widow gathered every vessel available — her faith determined the scope of the miracle. When the vessels were exhausted, the oil stopped. The limit was not in the divine generosity but in the preparation of the receiver.

The Raising of the Shunamite’s Son

A wealthy woman of Shunam had shown great hospitality to al-Yasa (AS), building him a room in her home. When al-Yasa (AS) asked what he could do for her in return, his servant Gehazi mentioned that she had no son and her husband was old. Al-Yasa (AS) told her: “At this season next year, you will hold a son in your arms.”

The son was born as promised. Years later, the child suddenly took ill and died. The woman — in remarkable faith — said nothing of his death, traveled immediately to al-Yasa (AS), and fell at his feet.

Al-Yasa (AS) came to the house, closed the door, prayed to Allah, and stretched himself over the child. The child’s body grew warm. He sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

This miracle — the raising of a dead child — is among the most dramatic in the Bani Isra’il prophetic tradition before the coming of Isa (AS). It demonstrates that the power to restore life belongs to Allah alone, exercised through His prophet by divine permission.

The Healing of Naaman the Leper

Among the most detailed accounts in the prophetic tradition is the healing of Naaman — the commander of the Syrian army who was afflicted with leprosy. A young Israelite servant girl told him that the prophet in Samaria could cure him.

Naaman came with horses, chariots, silver, and gold — the expectations of a great general. Al-Yasa (AS) sent a simple message: “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored and you will be clean.”

Naaman was furious. Were not the rivers of Syria better than the Jordan? He had expected the prophet to come out, wave his hand over the afflicted skin, and call upon his God dramatically. Not a simple instruction to wash in a river.

His servants urged him: “If the prophet had commanded you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much rather, then, when he tells you simply — wash and be clean?”

Naaman went. He dipped himself in the Jordan seven times. His flesh became clean as a child’s. He returned to al-Yasa (AS) and declared: “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel.”

In ta’wil, the simplicity of the instruction — seven ritual immersions — points to the teaching that the divine’s healing does not always come through dramatic display. Sometimes the path to restoration is through humble obedience to the prophet’s instruction, even when the instruction seems too simple. The seven immersions recall the seven levels of ta’wil, the seven heavens, the seven Imams — the fullness of the divine’s wisdom embedded in ritual completeness.

The Feeding of the Multitude

When a man came to al-Yasa (AS) with twenty loaves of barley bread and some grain, al-Yasa (AS) said: “Give it to the people to eat.” His servant protested: “How can I feed a hundred men with this?” Al-Yasa (AS) repeated: “Give it to them to eat, for thus says the Lord: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’”

They ate. And there was left over. This miracle of the multiplied loaves — centuries before the parallel miracle in the mission of Isa (AS) — establishes that the blessing of Allah through His prophet is not bounded by natural calculation. A hundred men fed by twenty loaves, with remainder: the divine arithmetic does not follow the ordinary ledger.

The Quranic Praise

The Quran mentions al-Yasa in two places:

“And Ismail and al-Yasa and Yunus and Lut — and all of them We preferred over the worlds.” (6:86)

“And mention Ismail and al-Yasa and Dhul-Kifl — and all were among the outstanding.” (38:48)

The repeated placement of al-Yasa in the company of the greatest prophets — Ismail, Yunus, Lut, Dhul-Kifl — is the Quran’s endorsement of his prophetic stature. He is explicitly called min al-akhyar (among the outstanding, the elite) — a designation shared with the greatest messengers.

The relative brevity of the Quranic reference should not obscure the depth of the honor: many of the greatest figures in the prophetic tradition receive brief but weighty Quranic mention. The Quran’s economy of words does not correspond to smallness of station.

His Role as Wasi — The Ismaili Understanding

In the Ismaili ta’wil framework, al-Yasa (AS) represents the perfect wasi — the divinely designated successor who:

Was chosen by the preceding prophet during his lifetime (Ilyas cast his mantle on him)
Confirmed his authority through the continuation of divine power (the Jordan divided)
Did not seek authority for himself but received it as a trust
Carried the same mission, served the same Lord, and worked the same types of miracles
Guided the community through the transition from one prophetic cycle to the maintenance of the da’wa until the next Natiq

The Ismaili da’wa chain — from the Natiq to the Wasi to the Imam — is a living extension of the same principle that governed the relationship between Ilyas and al-Yasa. The divine authority does not die with the prophet; it passes through designated successors until it reaches its culmination in the next prophetic dispensation.

Al-Yasa’s willingness to be a wasi — not a Natiq claiming a new revelation but a carrier and maintainer of the existing mission — is itself a prophetic virtue. Not every great soul is called to bring a new shari’a. Some are called to carry, protect, and transmit what has already been given. This faithfulness in transmission is no lesser service than the original proclamation.

The Prayer of the Wasi

From the tradition of al-Yasa (AS), the supplication learned is one of dependence and trust in the divine sufficiency:

رَبِّ لَا تَكِلنِي إِلَى نَفسِي طَرفَةَ عَينٍ My Lord, do not entrust me to myself even for the blink of an eye.

The wasi is wholly dependent on the divine presence. His authority is borrowed; his power is Allah’s; his mission is given, not self-generated. This radical dependence — expressed in al-Yasa’s willingness to burn his plows and follow without a plan — is the foundation of genuine prophetic service.

Al-Yasa (AS) — The Wasi of Ilyas: Miracles, Healing, and the Continuation of the Mission