Ta Ha — Verse 48

Musa's fear of Fir`awn and Allah's strengthening Him Allah, the Exalted, informs that Musa and Harun pleaded to Allah, expressing their grievance to him: إِنَّنَا نَخَافُ أَن يَفْرُطَ عَلَيْنَآ أَوْ أَن يَطْغَى (Verily, we fear lest he should hasten to punish us or lest he should transgress.) They meant that Fir`awn might seize them unexpectedly with a punishment, or transgress against them by tormenting them, when they actually did not deserve it. Ad-Dahhak reported from Ibn `Abbas that he said that transgress here means, "To exceed the bounds." قَالَ لاَ تَخَافَآ إِنَّنِى مَعَكُمَآ أَسْمَعُ وَأَرَى (He (Allah) said: "Fear not, verily, I am with you both, hearing and seeing.") meaning; "Do not fear him (Fir`awn), for verily, I am with you and I hear your speech and his speech as well. I see your place and I see his place as well. Nothing is hidden from Me of your affair. Know that his forehead is in My Hand, and he does not speak, breathe, or use any force, except by My leave and after My command. I am with you by My protection, My help and My support." فَأْتِيَاهُ فَقُولاَ إِنَّا رَسُولاَ رَبِّكَ (So go you both to him, and say: "Verily, we are both Messengers of your Lord...") Musa admonishes Fir`awn Concerning his statement, قَدْ جِئْنَـكَ بِـَايَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكَ (indeed, We have come with a sign from your Lord!) meaning with evidence and a miracle from your Lord. وَالسَّلَـمُ عَلَى مَنِ اتَّبَعَ الْهُدَى (And peace will be upon him who follows the guidance!) meaning, `peace be upon you if you follow the guidance.' Because of this, when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ wrote a letter to Heraclius, the emperor of Rome, beginning with, «بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ، مِنْ مُحَمَّدٍ رَسُولِ اللهِ إِلَى هِرَقْلَ عَظِيمِ الرُّومِ، سَلَامٌ عَلَى مَنِ اتَّبَعَ الْهُدى، أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنِّي أَدْعُوكَ بِدِعَايَةِ الْإِسْلَامِ، فَأَسْلِمْ تَسْلَمْ يُؤْتِكَ اللهُ أَجْرَكَ مَرَّتَيْن» (In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, to Heraclius the emperor of Rome. Peace be upon him who follows the guidance. Thus, to proceed: Verily, I invite you with the invitation of Islam. So accept Islam and you will be safe, and Allah will give you a double reward.) Due to this, Musa and Harun said to Fir`awn, فَأْتِيَاهُ فَقُولاَ إِنَّا رَسُولاَ رَبِّكَ فَأَرْسِلْ مَعَنَا بَنِى إِسْرَءِيلَ وَلاَ تُعَذِّبْهُمْ قَدْ جِئْنَـكَ بِـَايَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكَ وَالسَّلَـمُ عَلَى مَنِ اتَّبَعَ الْهُدَى - إِنَّا قَدْ أُوحِىَ إِلَيْنَآ أَنَّ الْعَذَابَ عَلَى مَن كَذَّبَ وَتَوَلَّى (And peace will be upon him who follows the guidance! Truly, it has been revealed to us that the torment will be for him who denies, and turns away.) In His flawless revelation, Allah has revealed to us that torment is prepared exclusively for those who reject the signs of Allah and turn away from His obedience. As Allah says, فَأَمَّا مَن طَغَى - وَءاثَرَ الْحَيَوةَ الدُّنْيَا - فَإِنَّ الْجَحِيمَ هِىَ الْمَأْوَى (Then for him who transgressed all bounds, and preferred the life of this world, Verily, his abode will be Hellfire.) 79:37-39 Allah, the Exalted, also says, فَأَنذَرْتُكُمْ نَاراً تَلَظَّى - لاَ يَصْلَـهَآ إِلاَّ الاٌّشْقَى - الَّذِى كَذَّبَ وَتَوَلَّى (Therefore I have warned you of a blazing Fire. None shall enter it save the most wretched. Who denies and turns away.) 92:14-16 Allah also says, فَلاَ صَدَّقَ وَلاَ صَلَّى - وَلَـكِن كَذَّبَ وَتَوَلَّى (So he neither believed nor prayed! But on the contrary, he belied and turned away.) 75:31-32 This means that he denied with his heart and turned away by his actions.

Indeed it has been revealed to us that the chastisement shall befall him who denies the truth of what we have brought and turns away” ’ and who rejects it. And so they came to him and said to him all of what has been mentioned.

قال الله لموسى وهارون: لا تخافا من فرعون؛ فإنني معكما أسمع كلامكما وأرى أفعالكما، فاذهبا إليه وقولا له: إننا رسولان إليك من ربك أن أطلق بني إسرائيل، ولا تكلِّفهم ما لا يطيقون من الأعمال، قد أتيناك بدلالة معجزة من ربك تدل على صدقنا في دعوتنا، والسلامة من عذاب الله تعالى لمن اتبع هداه. إن ربك قد أوحى إلينا أن عذابه على مَن كذَّب وأعرض عن دعوته وشريعته.

" إنا قد أوحي إلينا أن العذاب على من كذب وتولى" أي قد أخبرنا الله فيما أوحاه إلينا من الوحي المعصوم أن العذاب متحمض لمن كذب بآيات الله وتولى عن طاعته كما قال تعالى فأما من طغى وآثر الحياة الدنيا فإن الجحيم هي المأوى وقال تعالى فأنذرتكم نارا تلظى لا يصلاها إلا الأشقى الذي كذب وتولى وقال تعالى فلا صدق ولا صلى ولكن كذب وتولى أي كذب بقلبه وتولى بفعله.

ثم حكى - سبحانه - الجملة الخامسة التى أمر موسى وهارون أن يخاطبا بها فرعون فقال : ( إِنَّا قَدْ أُوحِيَ إِلَيْنَآ أَنَّ العذاب على مَن كَذَّبَ وتولى ) .أى : وقولا له ( إِنَّا قَدْ أُوحِيَ إِلَيْنَآ ) من عند ربنا وخالقنا ( أَنَّ العذاب ) فى الدنيا والآخرة ( على مَن كَذَّبَ ) بآياته وحججه - سبحانه - ( وتولى ) عنها . وأعرض عن الاستجابة لها .وبذلك نرى فى هذه الآيات الكريمة أسمى ألوان الدعوة إلى الحق وأحكمها ، فهى قد بدأت بالأساس الذى تقوم عليه كل رسالة سماوية ( إِنَّا رَسُولاَ رَبِّكَ ) وثنت ببيان أهم ما أرسل موسى وهارون من أجله ، ( فَأَرْسِلْ مَعَنَا بني إِسْرَائِيلَ وَلاَ تُعَذِّبْهُمْ ) وثلثت بإقامة الأدلة على صدقهما ( قَدْ جِئْنَاكَ بِآيَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكَ ) وربعت بالترغيب والاستمالة ( والسلام على مَنِ اتبع الهدى ) .ثم ختمت بالتحذير والترهيب من المخالفة ( إِنَّا قَدْ أُوحِيَ إِلَيْنَآ أَنَّ العذاب على مَن كَذَّبَ وتولى ) .

وقوله ( فَأْتِيَاهُ فَقُولا إِنَّا رَسُولا رَبِّكَ ) أرسلنا إليك يأمرك أن ترسل معنا بني إسرائيل، فأرسلهم معنا ولا تعذّبهم بما تكلفهم من الأعمال الرديئة ( قَدْ جِئْنَاكَ بِآيَةٍ ) معجزة (مِنْ رَبِّكَ) على أنه أرسلنا إليك بذلك، إن أنت لم تصدّقنا فيما نقول لك أريناكها، ( والسلام على من اتبع الهدى ) يقول: والسلامة لمن اتبع هدى الله، وهو بيانه ، يقال: السلام على من اتبع الهدى، ولمن اتبع بمعنى واحد.

( إنا قد أوحي إلينا أن العذاب على من كذب وتولى ) إنما يعذب الله من كذب بما جئنا به وأعرض عنه .

إِنَّا قَدْ أُوحِيَ إِلَيْنَا أَنَّ الْعَذَابَ عَلَى مَنْ كَذَّبَ وَتَوَلَّى (48) وقوله { إنَّا قد أُوْحِيَ إلينا } تعريض لإنذاره على التكذيب قبل حصوله منه ليبلغ الرسالة على أتمّ وجه قبل ظهور رأي فرعون في ذلك حتى لا يجابهه بعد ظهور رأيهِ بتصريح توجيه الإنذار إليه . وهذا من أسلوب القول اللّين الذي أمرهما الله به .وتعريف العَذَابَ تعريف الجنس ، فالمعرّف بمنزلة النكرة ، كأنّه قيل : إنّ عذاباً على من كذّب .وإطلاق السّلام والعذاب دون تقييد بالدنيا أو الآخرة تعميم للبشارة والنذارة ، قال تعالى في سورة النازعات ( 25 ، 26 ) : { فأخذه الله نكالَ الآخرة والأولى } إنّ في ذلك لعبرةً لمن يخشى .وهذا كلّه كلام الله الذي أمرهما بتبليغه إلى فرعون ، كما يدلّ لذلك تعقيبه بقوله تعالى : { قال فمَن ربُّكما يا موسى } [ طه : 49 ] على أسلوب حكاية المحاورات . وما ذكر من أول القصة إلى هنا لم يتقدّم في السور الماضية .

{ إِنَّا قَدْ أُوحِيَ إِلَيْنَا } أي: خبر من عند الله، لا من عند أنفسنا { أَنَّ الْعَذَابَ عَلَى مَنْ كَذَّبَ وَتَوَلَّى } أي: كذب بأخبار الله، وأخبار رسله، وتولى عن الانقياد لهم واتباعهم، وهذا فيه الترغيب لفرعون بالإيمان والتصديق واتباعهما، والترهيب من ضد ذلك، ولكن لم يفد فيه هذا الوعظ والتذكير، فأنكر ربه، وكفر، وجادل في ذلك ظلما وعنادا.

إنا قد أوحي إلينا أن العذاب يعني الهلاك والدمار في الدنيا والخلود في جهنم في الآخرة . على من كذب أنبياء الله وتولى أعرض عن الإيمان . وقال ابن عباس : هذه أرجى آية للموحدين لأنهم لم يكذبوا ولم يتولوا .

Pharaoh was an extremely haughty and arrogant person. Having acquired power, he had started considering himself to be a god. So Moses feared that when the message of the real God was presented to him, he would flare up in anger. But God’s messengers are under His protection. So Moses was commanded to proceed and to be rest assured that Pharaoh, despite his great might and power, would not be able to do him any harm. The Israelites were monotheists like the Muslims. But, being in the midst of the polytheistic community of Egypt, they were badly affected by its polytheistic culture. Moreover, the rulers had subjected them to such privation and hard labour as to render them incapable of thinking about such higher realities as the oneness of God and the life hereafter. Therefore, Moses was instructed to remove the Israelites from this sphere and settle them elsewhere, so that they could be brought up and educated far away from this vitiating atmosphere of polytheism and ignorance.

Allah said,إِنَّنِي مَعَكُمَا أَسْمَعُ وَأَرَ‌ىٰ "I am surely with you both. I hear and I see." - 20:46) Here the word "with you" is used in the sense of divine help and support which human senses cannot perceive. Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) called upon the Pharaoh to embrace the True Faith and also to deliver the Bani Isra'il from bondage This shows that the prophets have the duty of guiding mankind towards their salvation as well as to liberate their people from worldly and economic bondages. Therefore, in this verse Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) is reminded of both these duties. God created everything; and everything is performing the functions assigned to it by Him This point calls for some elucidation which is given in the following lines. The guidance which Allah gives to the prophets and which is in the nature of a duty imposed upon them is a special kind of guidance which is addressed only to human beings and Jinns who are gifted with intellect. There is also another kind of guidance known as guidance of Takwin (creation) which every created thing possesses. Allah has given to fire, water, earth and air, and their compounds a special kind of feeling and perception which are not of the same nature as given to human beings and Jinns. This is the reason why the laws governing things which are permissible and those which are forbidden do not apply to them. Through this feeling and perception Allah has assigned duties to all created things and in obedience to this command of Takwin and guidance, the earth, the sky and every other created thing is busy performing its allotted tasks. Air, water, fire and earth are all fulfilling the purpose for which they were created. They do not deviate from their destined course except by the command of Allah. And when He so commands the fire turns into a bed of flowers (as for Sayyidna Ibrahim علیہ السلام), and water acts as fire as for the people of Sayyidna Nuh أُغْرِ‌قُوا فَأُدْخِلُوا نَارً‌ا - 71:25). Who has taught a newly born baby to draw milk from its mother's breast or to cry when hungry or in pain? It is this same Divine guidance which every created thing receives without any formal training. In brief, every created thing has been programmed, by Allah, with a guidance of Takwin (creation) which it is genetically bound to follow and deviating from the same is beyond its power. The other kind of guidance which is given to the human beings and to Jinns is not inherent in the nature and thus, is not compulsory but optional. It is this freedom of choice which renders them liable to reward for good deeds and to punishment for their sins. The verse

(Lo! it hath been revealed unto us that the) continuous (doom will be for him who denieth) God's divine Oneness (and turneth away) from faith.