Taboot-e-Sakeenah (The Blissful Box)

This was a box made of boxwood that was revealed to Sayyiduna Aadam . This box remained with him until the last days of his worldly life. Later on, it was passed onto his children one after the  other as inheritance. It reached Sayyiduna Ya’qoob  and remained under the custody of his progeny i.e. the Bani Israel. Later, it reached Sayyiduna Musa  kept Torah and his possessions in it. It was an extremely holy and blessed box. Whenever the Bani Israel would do Jihad against the pagans and whenever they would get worried due to the number of enemies being large, they would place the box in front of them. Blessings would emanate from it that would relief their worried hearts. When this box
would be carried ahead, the great glad-tidings of  نَصْرٌ مِّنَ اللہِ وَفَتْحٌ قَرِیْبٌ  would
bestow from the sky and they would become victorious. 
Whenever there was any difference of opinion among the Bani Israel, they would seek ad vice from the box and the judgement would be heard from the box accordingly. Furthermore, glad-tidings of the victory would be heard from the blissful box as well. The Bani Israel used to keep this box with them during their supplications by virtue of which supplications would be accepted due to its blessings, afflictions and calamities would be averted. In short, the blissful box was a source of great blessings and a treasure of bounties for the Bani Israel.
However, when sinful deeds of the Bani Israel exceeded all limits, the wrath of Allah  struck them. The people of the I Amaliqah tribe attacked the Bani Israel and a massive bloodshed took place. Many of the Bani Israel were killed, their homes were ruined and the city was destroyed. The I Amaliqah tribe also took the sacred box with them and disrespectfully threw it into
I
garbage. However, when the people of the Amaliqah did this, they themselves were punished. Different diseases, calamities and catastrophes struck them. The five cities of the people of
‘Amaliqah were completely destroyed and   deserted. The pagans realized that their destruction was due to their misconduct and disrespect towards the sacred box. Therefore, they loaded the box on a cart dragged by bulls and drove it towards the towns of the Bani Israel.

Allah   appointed four angels to carry this blessed box to Sayyiduna  Shamweel   the Nabi of the Bani Israel. This way, the lost blessing was returned to the Bani Israel. This blessed box reached Sayyiduna Shamweel   right at the time when he   appointed Taloot as king. The people of the Bani Israel were not accepting the kingship of Taloot and conditioned their acceptance with the recovery of the blissful box. Therefore, the box arrived and they agreed upon this decision. (Iafseer As­Saawi, vol. 1, pp. 209; Ruh-ul-Bayan, vol. 1, pp. 385; part 2, Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayah 247)

What was inside the blissful wooden box? 

The holy box contained: The holy staff and blessed shoes of Sayyiduna Musa   the turban of Sayyiduna Haroon   , the ring of Sayyiduna Sulayman   , some pieces of tablets on which Torah was written, some Mann and Salwa and some outlines of the appearances of Ambiya 
(Iafseer Ruh-ul-Bayan, vol. 1, pp. 386; part 2, Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayah 248)
This event of the blissful box has been described by Allah   in Surah Al-Baqarah in these words:

And their Nabi said to them, ‘Indeed the sign of his kingdom will be the coming of a (wooden) box to you, containing that which is the contentment of hearts from your Lord; some relics left behind by the honoured Musa and the honoured Haroon (Aaron), carried by the angels. Indeed in it is a great sign for you, if you believe.’
[Kanz-ul-Iman (Translation of Quran)J (Part 2, Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayah 248)
Moral: From this we learn various memorable Madani pearls:
1. The possessions and belongings of the chosen bondmen of Allah are very prestigious in the court of Allah   and are means of acquiring blessings and bounties. You see, the box contained the blessed shoes and staff of Sayyiduna Musa  , and a blessed turban of Sayyiduna Haroon   and by virtue of all these, the box was so revered that it was carried by angels on their luminous shoulders. The angels presented the box in the court of Sayyiduna Shamweel  . Allah   called it a heavenly sign, as mentioned in the Holy Quran:فِیْہِ سَکِّیْنَۃٌ مِّنْ رَّبِّکُمْ   . Divine blessings would descend on the box. The belongings of the chosen bondmen of Allah are centres of mercy and blessings that provide comfort to the souls of the believers.
2. When descending of Divine blessings on the sacred box that contained holy staff, sacred footwear and holy clothes of the beloveds of Allah is evident from the Holy Quran then how blissful would be the graves where the holy bodies of the beloved bondmen of Allah are present! Will there be no blessings on these places? Every sane person bearing spiritual insight will testify that since blessings descend on the clothes and footwear of the chosen people of Allah   then certainly those who wore them are even more blessed and revered. Of course there are Divine blessings upon the graves of the beloveds of Allah. A Muslim who visits the holy shrines will definitely receive shower of Divine blessings.
In fact, just a few drops of that rain of blessings will benefit him a lot. Whoever stands still in this heavy rain of blessings, his body and clothes will definitely be blessed with the Divine mercy. Because whoever dives  into the river of blessings, his body will definitely receive blessings, similar to someone sitting in a perfume shop will definitely smell fragrance. So it is proven that those visiting the blessed shrines of the chosen bondmen of Allah will surely be bestowed with the blessings and bounties and they will definitely be showered with the Divine Blessings and Mercies which will prevent them from afflictions and would benefit them in the worldly life as well as in the afterlife.
3. We also learnt that all those who show disrespectful and offensive attitude towards the sacred belongings and Shrines of the beloved bondmen of Allah; they will definitely be punished by Allah   because we learnt that the people of the ‘Amaliqah tribe showed disrespect to the sacred box, that led to the severe torment from Allah   Despite being unbelievers; they admitted that the cause of afflictions was their disrespect towards the blissful box. That’s why they loaded it on the vehicle and drove it towards the Bani Israel to attain salvation from Divine wrath.
4. The Bani Israel would remain successful in their campaigns of Jihad by virtue of the blissful box. Hence we may deduce that the troubles and afflictions of the Muslims will also be relieved by virtue of the graves of holy saints. Obviously the blessed bodies of beloveds of Allah are more revered and blissful than their belongings.
5. Another lesson we may learn is that those who disobey Allah   and His Rusul   are deprived of the blessings. The people of the Bani Israel transgressed and showed no attention to the commands of Allah   They indulged in various sins and consequently, the sacred box was taken away from them by the pagans of ‘Amaliqah and the Bani Israel remained deprived of the holy box for several years.