The Heights, The Elevated Places — Verse 132

Allah punishes the People of Fir`awn because of Their Rebellion Allah describes the rebellion, tyranny, defiance of the truth and insistence on falsehood of the people of Fir`awn, prompting them to proclaim, مَهْمَا تَأْتِنَا بِهِ مِن ءَايَةٍ لِّتَسْحَرَنَا بِهَا فَمَا نَحْنُ لَكَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ ("Whatever Ayat you may bring to us, to work therewith your sorcery on us, we shall never believe in you.") They said, `whatever miracle, proof and evidence you bring us, we will neither accept it from you nor believe in you or what you came with.' Allah said, فَأَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمُ الطُّوفَانَ (So We sent on them the Tufan) Ibn `Abbas commented; "It was a heavy rain that ruined the produce and fruits." He is also reported to have said that Tuwfan refers to mass death. Mujahid said it is water that carries the plague every where. As for the locust, it is the well-known insect, which is permissible to eat. It is recorded in the Two Sahihs, that Abu Ya`fur said that he asked `Abdullah bin Abi Awfa about locust. He said, "We participated in seven battles with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and we used to eat locusts." Ash-Shafi`i, Ahmad bin Hanbal and Ibn Majah recorded from `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam that his father narrated from Ibn `Umar that the Prophet said, «أُحِلَّتْ لَنَا مَيْتَتَانِ وَدَمَانِ: الْحُوتُ وَالْجَرَادُ وَالْكَبِدُ وَالطِّحَال» (We were allowed two dead animals and two kinds of blood: fish and locust, and kidney and spleen.) Ibn Abi Najih narrated from Mujahid about Allah's statement, فَأَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمُ الطُّوفَانَ وَالْجَرَادَ (So We sent on them: the flood, the locusts ...) "Eating the nails on their doors and leaving the wood." As for the Qummal, Ibn `Abbas said that it is the grain bug, or, according to another view; small locusts that do not have wings. Similar was reported from Mujahid, `Ikrimah and Qatadah. Al-Hasan and Sa`id bin Jubayr said that `Qummal' are small black insects. Abu Ja`far bin Jarir recorded that Sa`id bin Jubayr said, "When Musa came to Fir`awn, he demanded, `Release the Children of Israel to me.' But, Fir`awn did not comply; and Allah sent the Tuwfan, and that is a rain which continued until they feared that it was a form of torment. They said to Musa, `Invoke your Lord to release us from this rain, and we will believe in you and send the Children of Israel with you.' Musa invoked his Lord and He removed the affliction from them. However, they did not believe, nor did they send the Children of Israel with him. In that year, Allah allowed (the earth) to grow various types of produce, fruits and grass for them as never before. They said, `This is what we hoped for.' So Allah sent the locusts, and the locusts started to feed on the grass. When they saw the effect the locusts had on the grass, they knew that no vegetation would be saved from devastation. They said, `O Musa! Invoke your Lord so that He will remove the locusts from us, and we will believe in you and release the Children of Israel to you.' Musa invoked his Lord, and He removed the locusts. Still, they did not believe and did not send the Children of Israel with him. They collected grains and kept them in their homes. They said, `We saved our crops.' However, Allah sent the Qummal, grain bugs, and one of them would take ten bags of grains to the mill, but only reap three small bags of grain. They said, `O Musa! Ask your Lord to remove the Qummal (weevil) from us and we will believe in you and send the Children of Israel with you.' Musa invoked his Lord, and Allah removed the Qummal from them. However, they did not send the Children of Israel with him. Once, when he was with Fir`awn, Musa heard the sound of a frog and said to Fir`awn, `What will you and your people suffer from this (the frogs)' Fir`awn said, `What can frogs do' Yet, by the time that night arrived a person would be sitting in a crowd of frogs that reached up to his chin and could not open his mouth to speak without a frog jumping in it. They said to Musa, `Invoke your Lord to remove these frogs from us, and we will believe in you and send the Children of Israel with you.' Musa invoked his Lord, but they did not believe. Allah then sent blood that filled the rivers, wells and the water containers they had. They complained to Fir`awn, saying, `We are inflicted with blood and do not have anything to drink.' He said, `Musa has bewitched you.' They said, `How could he do that when whenever we look for water in our containers we found that it has turned into blood' They came to Musa and said, `Invoke your Lord to save us from this blood, and we will believe in you and send the Children of Israel with you.' Musa invoked his Lord and the blood stopped, but they did not believe nor send the Children of Israel with him." A similar account was attributed to Ibn `Abbas, As-Suddi, Qatadah and several others among the Salaf. Muhammad bin Ishaq bin Yasar said, "The enemy of Allah, Fir`awn, went back defeated and humiliated, after the sorcerers believed (in Musa). He insisted on remaining in disbelief and persisted in wickedness. Allah sent down the signs to him, and he (and his people) were first inflicted by famine. Allah then sent the flood, the locusts, the Qummal, the frogs then blood, as consecutive signs. When Allah sent the flood, it filled the surface of the earth with water. But the water level receded, and they could not make use of it to till the land or do anything else. They became hungry. This is when, قَالُواْ يَمُوسَى ادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ بِمَا عَهِدَ عِندَكَ لَئِن كَشَفْتَ عَنَّا الرِّجْزَ لَنُؤْمِنَنَّ لَكَ وَلَنُرْسِلَنَّ مَعَكَ بَنِى إِسْرَءِيلَ (They said: "O Musa! Invoke your Lord for us because of His promise to you. If you remove the punishment from us, we indeed shall believe in you, and we shall let the Children of Israel go with you.") Musa invoked his Lord and He removed the affliction from them, but they did not keep their promises. So Allah sent locusts that ate the trees and consumed the nails on their doors, until the doors fell from their homes and residences. They again said what they said to Musa before, and he called on his Lord and He removed the affliction. Still, they did not keep their promises, and Allah sent the Qummal. Musa, peace be upon him, was commanded to go to a mound and strike it with his staff. So Musa went to a huge mound, struck it with his staff and the Qummal fell out of it in tremendous numbers, until they overwhelmed the houses and food reserves, ultimately depriving them of sleep and rest. When they suffered under this affliction, they said similar to what they said before, and Musa invoked his Lord and He removed the affliction. They did not keep their promise and Allah sent the frogs to them, and they filled the houses, foods and pots. One of them would not pick up a piece of clothing, or uncover some food, without finding frogs in it. When this affliction became hard on them, they made similar promises as before, Musa supplicated to his Lord and Allah removed the affliction. They did not keep any of the promises they made, and Allah sent the blood, and the waters of the people of Fir`awn turned to blood. Any water they collected from a well, a river, or a container, turned to blood."

And they said to Moses ‘Whatever sign you bring us to cast a spell upon us therewith we will not believe in you’ and so he Moses invoked God against them.

وقال قوم فرعون لموسى: أي آية تأتِنا بها، ودلالة وحجة أقمتها لتصرفنا عما نحن عليه من دين فرعون، فما نحن لك بمصدِّقين.

هذا إخبار من الله عز وجل عن تمرد قوم فرعون وعتوهم وعنادهم للحق وإصرارهم على الباطل في قولهم "مهما تأتنا به من آية لتسحرنا بها فما نحن لك بمؤمنين" يقولون أي آية جئتنا بها ودلالة وحجة أقمتها رددناها فلا نقبلها منك ولا نؤمن بك ولا بما جئت به.

ثم تحكى السورة الكريمة أن آل فرعون قد لجوا فى طغيانهم يعمهون فقالت : ( وَقَالُواْ مَهْمَا تَأْتِنَا بِهِ مِن آيَةٍ لِّتَسْحَرَنَا بِهَا فَمَا نَحْنُ لَكَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ ) .أى : قال الملأ من بنى إسرائيل لموسى بعد أن رأوا من حججه الدالة على صدقه : إنك يا موسى إن تجئنا بكل نوع من أنواع الآيات التى تستدل بها على حقية دعوتك لأجل أن تسحرنا بها ، أى تصرفنا بها عما نحن فيه ، فما نحن لك بمصدقين ، ولا لرسالتك بمتبعين .ومنطقهم هذا يدل على منتهى العناد والجحود ، فهم قد صاروا فى حالة نفسية لا يجدى معها دليل ولا ينفع فيها إقناع ، لأنهم قد أعلنوا الإصرار على التكذيب حتى ولو أتاهم نبيهم بألف دليل ودليل ، وهكذا شأن الجبارين الذين قست قلوبهم ، ومسخت نفوسهم وأظلمت مشاعرهم ، حين يدمغهم الحق ، ويطاردهم الدليل الساطع بنوره الواضح ، إنهم تأخذهم العزة بالإثم فيأبون أى لون من ألوان التفكير والتدبر .قال الجمل : و ( مَهْمَا ) اسم شرط جازم - يدل على العموم - ، و ( مِن آيَةٍ ) بيان له ، والضميران فى " به " و " بها " راجعان لمهما الأول مراعاة للفظها لإبهامه ، والثانى مراعاة لمعناها " .وسموا ما جاء به موسى - عليه السلام - آية من باب المجاراة له والاستهزاء بها حيث زعموا أها نوع من السحر كما بنبىء عنه قولهم ( لِّتَسْحَرَنَا بِهَا ) .

القول في تأويل قوله : وَقَالُوا مَهْمَا تَأْتِنَا بِهِ مِنْ آيَةٍ لِتَسْحَرَنَا بِهَا فَمَا نَحْنُ لَكَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ (132)قال أبو جعفر: يقول تعالى ذكره: وقال آل فرعون لموسى: يا موسى، مهما تأتنا به من علامة ودلالة = " لتسحرنا ", يقول: لتلفتنا بها عما نحن عليه من دين فرعون =(فما نحن لك بمؤمنين)، يقول: فما نحن لك في ذلك بمصدقين على أنك محق فيما تدعونا إليه.* * *وقد دللنا فيما مضى على معنى " السحر " بما أغنى عن إعادته. (4)* * *وكان ابن زيد يقول في معنى: (مهما تأتنا به من آية)، ما: -14988 - حدثني يونس قال، [أخبرنا ابن وهب]، قال ابن زيد في قوله: (مهما تأتنا به من آية)، قال: إن ما تأتنا به من آية = وهذه فيها زيادة " ما ". (5)---------------------الهوامش :(4) انظر تفسير (( السحر )) فيما سلف ص : 27 ، تعليق : 3 ، والمراجع هناك .(5) الأثر : 14988 - الزيادة بين القوسين ، لا بد منها ، وهو إسناد دائر في التفسير ، أقربه رقم 14985 ، وإنما هذا سهو من الناسخ .

( وقالوا ) يعني : القبط لموسى ( مهما تأتنا ) متى ما كلمة تستعمل للشرط والجزاء ، ( تأتنا به من آية ) من علامة ، ( لتسحرنا بها ) لتنقلنا عما نحن عليه من الدين ، ( فما نحن لك بمؤمنين ) بمصدقين .

جملة : { وقالوا } معطوفة على جملة { ولقد أخذنا آل فرعون بالسنين } [ الأعراف : 130 ] الآية ، فهم قابلوا المصائب التي أصابهم الله بها ليذكّروا ، بازدياد الغرور فأيسوا من التذكر بها ، وعاندوا موسى حين تحداهم بها فقالوا : مَهْما تأتنا به من أعمال سحرك العجيبة فما نحن لك بمؤمنين ، أي : فلا تتعب نفسك في السحر .و { مهما } اسم مضمن معنى الشرط ، لأن أصله ( ما ) الموصولة أو النكرة الدالة على العموم ، فركبّت معها ( ما ) لتصييرها شرطية كما ركبت ( ما ) مع ( أي ) و ( متى ) و ( أيْنَ ) فصارت أسماء شرط ، وجعلت الألف الأولى هاء اسْتثقالاً لتكرير المتجانسين ، ولقرب الهاء من الألف فصارت مهما ، ومعناها : شيء ما ، وهي مبهمة فيؤتى بعدها بمن التبْيينية ، أي : إن تأتنا بشيء من الآيات فما نحن لك بمؤمنين .و { مهما } في محل رفع بالابتداء ، والتقدير : أيّما شيء تأتينا به ، وخبره الشرط وجوابه ، ويجوز كونها في محل نصب لفعل محذوف يدل عليه { تأتنا به } المذكور . والتقدير : أي شيء تُحضرنا تأتينا به .وذُكّر ضمير { به } رعياً للفظ { مهما } الذي هو في معنى أي شيء ، وأنّث ضمير { بها } رعياً لوقوعه بعد بيان { مهما } باسم مؤنث هو { آية }.و { من آية } بيان لإبهام { مهما }.والآية : العلامة الدالة ، وقد تقدم الكلام عليها عند قوله تعالى : { والذين كفروا وكذبوا بآياتا أولئك أصحاب النار } في سورة البقرة ( 39 ) ، وفي قوله تعالى : { وقالوا لولا نزل عليه آية من ربه } في سورة الأنعام ( 37 ).وسموا ما جاء به موسى آية باعتبار الغرض الذي تحداهم به موسى حين الإتيان بها ، لأن موسى يأتيهم بها استدلالاً على صدق رسالته ، وهم لا يعدونها آية ولكنهم جارَوْا موسى في التسمية بقرينة قولهم لتسحرنا بها } ، وفي ذلك استهزاء كما حكى الله عن مشركي أهل مكة وقالوا : { يأيها الذي نزل عليه الذكر إنك لمجنون } [ الحجر : 6 ] بقرينة قولهم : إنك لمجنون .وجملة { فما نحن لك بمؤمنين } مفيدة المبالغة في القطع بانتفاء إيمانهم بموسى لأنهم جاءوا في كلامهم بما حوته الجملة الاسمية التي حَكَتْهُ من الدلالة على ثبوت هذا الانتفاء ودوامه . وبما تفيده الباء من توكيد النفي ، وما يفيده تقديم متعلق مؤمنين من اهتمامهم بموسى في تعليق الإيمان به المنفي باسمه .

وَقَالُوا مبينين لموسى أنهم لا يزالون، ولا يزولون عن باطلهم: مَهْمَا تَأْتِنَا بِهِ مِنْ آيَةٍ لِتَسْحَرَنَا بِهَا فَمَا نَحْنُ لَكَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ أي: قد تقرر عندنا أنك ساحر، فمهما جئت بآية، جزمنا أنها سحر، فلا نؤمن لك ولا نصدق، وهذا غاية ما يكون من العناد، أن يبلغ بالكافرين إلى أن تستوي عندهم الحالات، سواء نـزلت عليهم الآيات أم لم تنـزل.

قوله تعالى وقالوا مهما تأتنا به من آية لتسحرنا بها فما نحن لك بمؤمنينقوله تعالى وقالوا مهما تأتنا به من آية أي قال قوم فرعون لموسى مهما . قال الخليل : الأصل : ما ، ما ; الأولى للشرط ، والثانية زائدة توكيد للجزاء ; كما تزاد في سائر الحروف ، مثل إما وحيثما وأينما وكيفما . فكرهوا حرفين لفظهما واحد ; فأبدلوا من الألف الأولى هاء فقالوا مهما .وقال الكسائي : أصله مه ; أي اكفف ، ما تأتنا به من آية .وقيل : هي كلمة مفردة ، يجازى بها ليجزم ما بعدها على تقدير إن . والجواب فما نحن لك بمؤمنينلتسحرنا لتصرفنا عما نحن عليه . وقد مضى في " البقرة " بيان هذه اللفظة . قيل : بقي موسى في القبط بعد إلقاء السحرة سجدا عشرين سنة يريهم الآيات إلى أن أغرق الله فرعون ، فكان هذا قولهم .

Words have necessarily to be used to pronounce a thing right or wrong or to label a man innocent or guilty. But, the user of the words is man and in this present world of trial, he has been given the power to use these words in any way he pleases. The most critical part of the freedom given to him is his having the ability to justify his calling the Truth falsehood or falsehood the Truth. He can classify as magic what is clearly a miracle wrought by a prophet, and then ignore it. If God gives him some blessing, he can express this in a way which suggests that whatever he received was due solely to his own capabilities and efforts. If God sends some warning as a punishment to him for his ignoring the Truth, he is free to say that it was due to the inauspicious presence of those very God-worshipping servants whom he had ill-treated and on whose account he had been sent that warning. Everything flows from God so that man should learn a lesson from it. But by using certain words, man gives the opposite meaning to every admonition and thus remains deprived of its inherent lesson. ‘Whatever sign you might bring, we will not embrace the Faith.’ This statement made by Pharaoh shows that in spite of the Truth being apparent in an abundantly clear and perfect shape, only that person becomes a recipient of it who is open to it. In other words, the reality of Truth reveals itself only to that person who is serious about the Truth; who has the inclination and willingness to receive and accept the Truth, wherever and in whatever form it is offered. Unlike him, one who is not serious about this matter; whose mental condition is such that he is satisfied with the statusquo will not be capable of seeing the Truth as such; so he will not be able to accept it. Being happy with the condition in which a man finds himself makes him unaware of the things outside himself; he is ignorant in spite of having knowledge; he does not hear in spite of having ears. Man will certainly find the Truth if his mind is free from negatively conditioned thinking. But, mostly people have been subjected to such mental conditioning and that is why the Truth eludes them.

And they said, مَهْمَا تَأْتِنَا بِهِ مِنْ آيَةٍ لِّتَسْحَرَ‌نَا بِهَا فَمَا نَحْنُ لَكَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ 'Whatever sign you bring to us in order to enchant us therewith, we are not going to believe in you."

(And they said:) O Moses, whenever and (Whatever portent) sign (thou bringest wherewith to bewitch us) to dazzle our eyes with, (we shall not put faith in thee) we shall not believe in the message, and so Moses (pbuh) prayed against them.