The Poets — Verse 67

Fir`awn's Pursuit and Expulsion of the Children of Israel, and how He and His People were drowned More than one of the scholars of Tafsir said that Fir`awn set out with a huge group, a group containing the leaders and entire government of Egypt at that time, i.e., the decision-makers and influential figures, princes, ministers, nobles, leaders and soldiers. فَأَتْبَعُوهُم مُّشْرِقِينَ (So, they pursued them at sunrise.) means, they caught up with the Children of Israel at sunrise. فَلَمَّا تَرَآءَا الْجَمْعَانِ (And when the two hosts saw each other,) means, each group saw the other. At that point, قَالَ أَصْحَـبُ مُوسَى إِنَّا لَمُدْرَكُونَ (the companions of Musa said: "We are sure to be overtaken.") This was because Fir`awn and his people caught up with them on the shores of the Red Sea, so the sea was ahead of them and Fir`awn and his troops were behind them. Hence they said: فَلَمَّا تَرَآءَا الْجَمْعَانِ قَالَ أَصْحَـبُ مُوسَى إِنَّا لَمُدْرَكُونَ - قَالَ كَلاَّ إِنَّ مَعِىَ رَبِّى سَيَهْدِينِ ("We are sure to be overtaken." (Musa) said: "Nay, verily with me is my Lord. He will guide me.") meaning, `nothing of what you fear will happen to you, for Allah is the One Who commanded me to bring you here, and He does not go back on His promise.' Harun, peace be upon him, was in the front, with Yusha` bin Nun and a believer from the family of Fir`awn, and Musa, peace be upon him, was in the rear. More than one of the scholars of Tafsir said that they stood there not knowing what to do, and Yusha` bin Nun or the believer from the family of Fir`awn said to Musa, peace be upon him, "O Prophet of Allah, is it here that your Lord commanded you to bring us" He said: "Yes." Then Fir`awn and his troops drew near and were very close indeed. At that point Allah commanded his Prophet Musa, peace be upon him, to strike the sea with his staff, so he struck it, and it parted, by the will of Allah. Allah says: فَانفَلَقَ فَكَانَ كُلُّ فِرْقٍ كَالطَّوْدِ الْعَظِيمِ (And it parted, and each separate part became like huge mountain.) meaning, like mighty mountains. This was the view of Ibn Mas`ud, Ibn `Abbas, Muhammad bin Ka`b, Ad-Dahhak, Qatadah and others. `Ata' Al-Khurasani said, "It refers to a pass between two mountains." Ibn `Abbas said, "The sea divided into twelve paths, one for each of the tribes." As-Suddi added, "And in it there were windows through which they could see one another, and the water was erected like walls." Allah sent the wind to the sea bed to make it solid like the land. Allah says: فَاضْرِبْ لَهُمْ طَرِيقاً فِى الْبَحْرِ يَبَساً لاَّ تَخَافُ دَرَكاً وَلاَ تَخْشَى (and strike a dry path for them in the sea, fearing neither to be overtaken nor being afraid) (20:77). And here He says: وَأَزْلَفْنَا ثَمَّ الاٌّخَرِينَ (Then We brought near the others to that place.) Ibn `Abbas, `Ata' Al-Khurasani, Qatadah and As-Suddi said: وَأَزْلَفْنَا (Then We brought near) means, "We brought Fir`awn and his troops near to the sea." وَأَنجَيْنَا مُوسَى وَمَن مَّعَهُ أَجْمَعِينَ - ثُمَّ أَغْرَقْنَا الاٌّخَرِينَ (And We saved Musa and all those with him. Then We drowned the others.) meaning: `We saved Musa and the Children of Israel and whoever followed their religion, and none of them were destroyed, but Fir`awn and his troops were drowned and not one of them remained alive, but was destroyed.' Then Allah says: إِنَّ فِى ذَلِكَ لآيَةً (Verily, in this is indeed a sign,) meaning, this story with its wonders and tales of aid to the believing servants of Allah is definitive proof and evidence of Allah's wisdom. إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لأَيَةً وَمَا كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُمْ مُّؤْمِنِينَ - وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ (yet most of them are not believers. And verily your Lord, He is truly the All-Mighty, the Most Merciful. ) The explanation of this phrase has already been discussed above.

Surely in that drowning of Pharaoh and his folk there is a sign a lesson for those generations who would come after them; but most of them are not believers in God. The only ones to believe were Āsiya — Pharaoh’s wife — Hizqīl the believing man of Pharaoh’s family and Maryam daughter of Nāmūsī she who pointed out the bone remains of the prophet Joseph peace be upon him.

إن في ذلك الذي حدث لَعبرة عجيبة دالة على قدرة الله، وما صار أكثر أتباع فرعون مؤمنين مع هذه العلامة الباهرة.

ثم قال تعالى "إن في ذلك لآية" أي في هذه القصة وما فيها من العجائب والنصر والتأييد لعباد الله المؤمنين لدلالة وحجة قاطعة وحكمة بالغة "وما كان أكثرهم مؤمنين وإن ربك لهو العزيز الرحيم" تقدم تفسيره.

ثم ختم - سبحانه - هذه القصة - كما ختم غيرها - بقوله : ( إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَةً وَمَا كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ العزيز الرحيم ) .أى : إن فى ذلك الذى قصصناه عليك - أيها الرسول الكريم - من قصة موسى وفرعون ، ( لآيَةً ) عظيمة تدعو إلى إخلاص العبادة والطاعة لنا ، ومع ذلك فلم يؤمن بما جاء به نبينا موسى ، إلا عدد قليل .

وقوله: ( إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَةً ) يقول تعالى ذكره: إن فيما فعلت بفرعون ومن معه تغريقي إياهم في البحر إذ كذبوا رسولي موسى, وخالفوا أمري بعد الإعذار إليهم, والإنذار لدلالة بينة يا محمد لقومك من قريش على أن ذلك سنتي فيمن سلك سبيلهم من تكذيب رسلي, وعظة لهم وعبرة أن ادكروا واعتبروا أن يفعلوا مثل فعلهم من تكذيبك مع البرهان والآيات التي قد أتيتهم, فيحلّ بهم من العقوبة نظير ما حل بهم, ولك آية في فعلي بموسى, وتنجيتي إياه بعد طول علاجه فرعون وقومه منه, وإظهاري إياه وتوريثه وقومه دورهم وأرضهم وأموالهم, على أني سالك فيك سبيله, إن أنت صبرت صبره, وقمت من تبليغ الرسالة إلى من أرسلتك إليه قيامه, ومظهرك على مكذّبيك, ومعليك عليهم.( وَمَا كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ ) يقول: وما كان أكثر قومك يا محمد مؤمنين بما أتاك الله من الحقّ المبين, فسابق في علمي أنهم لا يؤمنون.

( إن في ذلك لآية وما كان أكثرهم مؤمنين ) أي : من أهل مصر ، قيل : لم يكن آمن من أهل مصر إلا آسية امرأة فرعون وحزبيل المؤمن ، ومريم بنت ناقوسا التي دلت على عظام يوسف عليه السلام .

إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآَيَةً وَمَا كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ (67) تقدم القول في نظيره آنفاً قبل قصة موسى . وكانت هذه القصة آية لأنها دالة على أن ذلك الانقلاب العظيم في أحوال الفريقين الخارج عن معتاد تقلبات الدول والأمم دليل على أنه تصرف إلهي خاص أيد به رسوله وأمته وخضّد به شوكة أعدائهم ومن كفروا به ، فهو آية على عواقب تكذيب رسل الله مع ما تتضمنه القصة من دلائل التوحيد .

إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَةً عظيمة, على صدق ما جاء به موسى عليه السلام, وبطلان ما عليه فرعون وقومه، وَمَا كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ مع هذه الآيات المقتضية للإيمان, لفساد قلوبكم.

إن في ذلك لآية أي علامة على قدرة الله تعالى وما كان أكثرهم مؤمنين لأنه لم يؤمن من قوم فرعون إلا مؤمن آل فرعون واسمه حزقيل وابنته آسية امرأة فرعون ، ومريم بنت ذا موسى العجوز التي دلت على قبر يوسف الصديق عليه السلام . وذلك أن موسى عليه السلام لما خرج ببني إسرائيل من مصر أظلم عليهم القمر فقال لقومه : ما هذا ؟ فقال علماؤهم : إن يوسف عليه السلام لما حضره الموت أخذ علينا موثقا من الله ألا نخرج من مصر حتى ننقل عظامه معنا . قال موسى : فأيكم يدري قبره ؟ قال : ما يعلمه إلا عجوز لبني إسرائيل ; فأرسل إليها ; فقال : دليني على قبر يوسف ، قالت : لا والله لا أفعل حتى تعطيني حكمي ، قال : وما حكمك ؟ قالت : حكمي أن أكون معك في الجنة ; فثقل عليه ، فقيل له : أعطها حكمها ; فدلتهم عليه ، فاحتفروه واستخرجوا عظامه ، فلما أقلوها ، فإذا الطريق مثل ضوء النهار في رواية : فأوحى الله إليه أن أعطها ففعل ، فأتت بهم إلى بحيرة ، فقالت لهم : أنضبوا هذا الماء فأنضبوه واستخرجوا عظام يوسف عليه السلام ; فتبينت لهم الطريق مثل ضوء النهار . وقد مضى في ( يوسف ) . وروى أبو بردة عن أبي موسى أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم نزل بأعرابي فأكرمه ، فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : حاجتك . قال : ناقة أرحلها وأعنزا أحلبها ; فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : فلم عجزت أن تكون مثل عجوز بني إسرائيل فقال أصحابه : [ ص: 102 ] وما عجوز بني إسرائيل ؟ فذكر لهم حال هذه العجوز التي احتكمت على موسى أن تكون معه في الجنة .

Pursued by Pharaoh, the Children of Israel reached a place where before them was the sea, and behind them were Pharaoh and his army. Seeing this critical situation, the Children of Israel were terrified. According to the Bible, they said to Moses, ‘Were there no graves in Egypt that you have brought us from there to this deserted place to die?’ But Moses was sure that Almighty God would help them. So, in obedience to the commandment of the Almighty, Moses struck the sea-water with his rod. The water was thereupon split asunder. On both the sides, the water stood like high walls and in between there appeared a dry path. The Children of Israel traversed this path and reached the other side. On seeing this, Pharaoh thought that he too could cross over by this path. He did not know that, only seconds before, the path had miraculously appeared by the order of God. Pharaoh set foot upon it along with his whole army. No sooner had they reached the middle than the standing sea water gushed from both sides and rose to a uniform level. Pharaoh and his entire army were immdediately drowned. At one and the same time, deliverance was planned for one group, and death and destruction for the other.

The reasoning for this he gave إِنَّ مَعِيَ رَ‌بِّي سَيَهْدِينِ (62) "Indeed with me is my Lord. He will guide me." Such are the moments for the test of faith, when Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) was not terror stricken at all, as if he was seeing for himself the way out. Almost the same thing happened with Holy Prophet ﷺ at the time of migration while hiding in the cave of Thaur. The enemy had reached right at the opening of the cave in his pursuit. In fact they were so close that they could have seen him if they had looked down towards their toes. Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ got alarmed a little, but Holy Prophet ﷺ said exactly the same thing لَا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ مَعَنَا ` Do not grieve, Allah is surely with us' (9:40). It is worth noting in the two incidents that while Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) said to his Ummah in order to console them مَعِيَ رَ‌بِّي ` With me is my Lord', Holy Prophet ﷺ said toSayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ in reply ` Allah is with us (two) '. It is a special privilege of the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ that his followers are also honoured by the company of Allah when they are with their Rasul.

(Lo! Herein) in that which We did to them (is indeed a portent) a sign and an admonition, (yet most of them are not believers) most of them were not believers.