قَالَ فَعَلْتُهَا إِذًا وَأَنَا مِنَ الضَّالِّينَ (20) فَفَرَرْتُ مِنكُمْ لَمَّا خِفْتُكُمْ فَوَهَبَ لِي رَبِّي حُكْمًا وَجَعَلَنِي مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ (21) وَتِلْكَ نِعْمَةٌ تَمُنُّهَا عَلَيَّ أَنْ عَبَّدتَّ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ (22) قَالَ فِرْعَوْنُ وَمَا رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ (23) قَالَ رَبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا ۖ إِن كُنتُم مُّوقِنِينَ (24) قَالَ لِمَنْ حَوْلَهُ أَلَا تَسْتَمِعُونَ (25) قَالَ رَبُّكُمْ وَرَبُّ آبَائِكُمُ الْأَوَّلِينَ (26) قَالَ إِنَّ رَسُولَكُمُ الَّذِي أُرْسِلَ إِلَيْكُمْ لَمَجْنُونٌ (27) قَالَ رَبُّ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا ۖ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ (28) قَالَ لَئِنِ اتَّخَذْتَ إِلَٰهًا غَيْرِي لَأَجْعَلَنَّكَ مِنَ الْمَسْجُونِينَ (29) قَالَ أَوَلَوْ جِئْتُكَ بِشَيْءٍ مُّبِينٍ (30) قَالَ فَأْتِ بِهِ إِن كُنتَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ (31) فَأَلْقَىٰ عَصَاهُ فَإِذَا هِيَ ثُعْبَانٌ مُّبِينٌ (32) وَنَزَعَ يَدَهُ فَإِذَا هِيَ بَيْضَاءُ لِلنَّاظِرِينَ (33) قَالَ لِلْمَلَإِ حَوْلَهُ إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَسَاحِرٌ عَلِيمٌ (34) يُرِيدُ أَن يُخْرِجَكُم مِّنْ أَرْضِكُم بِسِحْرِهِ فَمَاذَا تَأْمُرُونَ (35) قَالُوا أَرْجِهْ وَأَخَاهُ وَابْعَثْ فِي الْمَدَائِنِ حَاشِرِينَ (36) يَأْتُوكَ بِكُلِّ سَحَّارٍ عَلِيمٍ (37) فَجُمِعَ السَّحَرَةُ لِمِيقَاتِ يَوْمٍ مَّعْلُومٍ (38) وَقِيلَ لِلنَّاسِ هَلْ أَنتُم مُّجْتَمِعُونَ (39)He said, “I did it then, and I am among those astray.” (20) So, I fled from you when I feared you, and my Lord granted me judgment and made me among the messengers (21) And that is a blessing that You bestowed upon me that you worshiped the Children of Israel (22) Pharaoh said, “And what is the Lord of the worlds?” (23) He said: The Lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, “If you are certain.” (24) He said to those around him, “Will you not listen?” (25) Your Lord and the Lord of your forefathers said: (26) He said, “Indeed, your messenger who was sent to you is crazy.” (27) The Lord of the East and the West and all that is between them said, “If you only understand.” (28) He said, “If you take a god other than me, I will certainly make you among those in prison.” (29) He said, “Have I brought to you anything clear?” (30) He said, “Then bring it if you are truthful.” (31) So, he threw his staff, and behold, it was a clear snake. (32) And he took out his hand, and behold, it was white to the onlookers (33) He said to the people around him, “This is an all-knowing magician.” (34) He wants to expel you from your land by his magic, so what do you command? (35) They said, “delay him and his brother, and send gatherers to the cities.” (36) They will bring to you every knowledgeable magician. (37) So, the magicians were gathered for the appointed times of a day. (38) And it was said to the people: Are you gathered? (39)
The Interpretation of Imam Al-Qurtubi - may God have mercy on him -
Moses said to Pharaoh: I did that deed that I did, that is, I killed that soul that was killed then, and I am one of the lost. He says: I was one of the ignorant people before I received a revelation from God prohibiting me from killing him, The Arabs place misguidance as the place of ignorance, and ignorance as the place of misguidance, which is in one sense, and the two are one.
Moses to Pharaoh: (So I fled from you) the assembly of the chiefs of Pharaoh’s people (when I feared you) that you would kill me by killing the slain one among you. (So, my Lord granted me judgment) He says: So, my Lord granted me prophecy, which is judgment.
And that was Pharaoh’s upbringing of him. He said: Your upbringing of me, and your abandoning my enslavement, just as you enslaved the children of Israel, is a blessing from you that you bestowed upon me.
Pharaoh said: And what is the Lord of the worlds?
If you are certain that what you see is as you see it, then likewise be certain that our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them.
Pharaoh said to his people around him: Don't you listen to what Moses says?
He said to them, “The One to whom I have called and to worship Him is (your Lord) who created you” and the Lord of your forefathers. So, Pharaoh said, “When Moses told them that.”
This Messenger of yours who claims that he was sent to you is out of his mind, because he says something that we do not know or understand, but he only said that and attributed Moses, the enemy of God, to Paradise, because he and his people believed that there was no Lord other than Him to be worshiped, and that what Moses called him to was false and had no reality.
The One whom I call upon you and Pharaoh to worship is the Lord of the East and the West and all that is between them, meaning the King of the rising of the sun and its setting and all that is between them, not to worship the kings of Egypt, Those who were its kings before Pharaoh belong to your fathers, so they went away, nor to worship Pharaoh who is its king. (If you understand) He says: If you have minds with which you can understand what is said to you, And you understand by it what you hear from what is assigned to you. When he, peace be upon him, informed them of the matter which they knew to be the clear truth, since Pharaoh and those before him were kings of Egypt, and their kingdom did not go beyond the throne of Egypt, It became clear to Pharaoh and those around him among his people that the one whom Moses was calling to worship was the king who ruled over kings. Pharaoh said then, out of arrogance about the truth, and going too far in wronging Moses.
Was Moses - peace be upon him - challenging Pharaoh with words? For example, he did not want to answer his questions. On the contrary, he answered all the questions raised by Pharaoh, Why does he carry a heavenly message to the claimant of divinity? We agree that debate is only possible for great minds, and Moses’ discussion of Pharaoh will expose Pharaoh’s flimsy arguments after a while, Because Moses carries the message of truth, not only because it is a heavenly message, but because it is an issue of standing up and supporting the oppressed before the oppressor, for it is an issue of justice.
If you acknowledge a deity other than Me (I will certainly make you among the prisoners) He says: I will imprison you with those of his family in prison.
(Have I not brought you anything clear) that would make clear to you the truth of what I say, O Pharaoh, and the truth of what I am calling you to? He only said that to him, because it is among the morals of people to be calm for the sake of fairness, and to respond to the truth after clarification.
When Moses said to him what he said of that, Pharaoh said to him: Bring what clearly shows the truth of what you say, for we will not imprison you then if you take a god other than me, if you are of the truthful ones.
So Moses threw his staff and it turned into a serpent, and it is the male serpent, as was explained previously from his description and his saying (shown) saying: He makes clear to Pharaoh and the chiefs of his people that he is a serpent.
Moses took his hand out of his pocket and saw that it was white and shining (to the onlookers) for those who looked at it and saw it.
Meaning to the nobles of his people who were around him. (Indeed, this is a knowledgeable magician.) He says: Moses bewitched his staff until he made it appear as a snake. (A Knower) He says: He has knowledge of magic and saw it, (He wants to expel you from your land with his magic) He says: He wants to expel the Children of Israel from your land to the Levant by subjugating you with magic.
He wants to expel you, so he made the speech to the Copts around him, and he meant the children of Israel, because the Copts had enslaved the children of Israel, and took them as servants to themselves and humiliated, That is why he said to them: (He wants to expel you) and he wants: for your servants and servants to depart from the land of Egypt to the Levant.
Pharaoh answered the people around him by saying to him: Delay Moses and his brother and see him
And send gatherers to your lands and the lands of Egypt who will gather to you every magician who knows magic.
For a time, Pharaoh promised for Moses to meet with him on an appointed day, and that was the Day of Decoration and that the people would be gathered in the morning. It was said to the people: Are you gathered to see what the two groups are doing, and who will prevail, Moses or the magicians?
A view around the verses
His response to the first question was: “The Copt was killed.”
The Copts: They are the inhabitants of Egypt. They were called Copts at that time, and it does not mean Christians. He said to him: Yes, I did, but I strayed from the path of guidance, and here lie two hints:
1 - The first glance: Moses did not exaggerate the fact that he had committed a grave mistake in relation to a heavenly religion (murder).
2 - The other glimpse: Pharaoh’s attempt to distract Moses from his goal (liberating the children of Israel and that God is one and thereby destroying Pharaoh’s slavery) was clear.
Moses was not satisfied with saying, “I was one of those who went astray.” Rather, he went on to say: “So I fled from you, O Pharaoh, and from your entourage, for fear of your oppression against me.” Here is a clear indication of the humanity of Moses - peace be upon him - And moral courage in declaring that he was afraid of Pharaoh yesterday, who is facing him now, as it is another declaration of the change in the character of Moses - peace be upon him -
So my Lord granted me wisdom and made me one of the messengers
A gift other than a gift, a gift: a gift that cannot be returned and cannot be returned, and from God - the Almighty - is the best gift. God - the Almighty - granted Moses - peace be upon him - with prophecy, It is an acknowledgment by Moses that he is one of God’s prophets, and the ruling here is: it is prophecy and the beginning of the message.
Then Moses - peace be upon him - broke from his relative calm, and began to develop prophetic courage and said to Pharaoh: Have you wished upon me that you made me a descendant of kings?
In fact, I am not one of them, and you enslaved all of the children of Israel?
Pharaoh also began to delve into the main topic that Moses - peace be upon him - brought about - which is the oneness of God - the Almighty - and he said to him, as it was stated on the tongue of the Qur’an: And what is the Lord of the worlds? He knows nothing about him, he is just claiming divinity, and people worship 3 types of gods in most cases.
(Gods in the form of human figures, such as: Pharaoh) (And gods in the form of inanimate objects: such as the sacred river in a country) or (Gods in the form of multiple gods, more than one). Here is Pharaoh’s disapproving statement.
Moses - peace be upon him - replied and said: God is the Lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them. What is between the heaven and the earth, you and I and us, the kingdom of animals, the jinn, the kingdom of birds and insects, fish, even the mountains, seas and rivers are between the heaven and the earth, and God is Most High and Most Knowing.
If you have a certainty
Who was Moses - peace be upon him - talking to? He was talking to Pharaoh alone. Why did the speech become for the group? It seems that the corrupt elite around Pharaoh, they begin to realize that the rug could be pulled from under the Pharaoh, and thus their interests as well.
Of course: is it a denouncing question to those around him? And to alert the heedless among them until they rise up as one man against Moses - peace be upon him -
No messenger or prophet came without his people accusing him of madness, and we read the verses: We pass by them unnoticed, but they are very painful. How old are you now? We assume in your forties: Would you accept someone describing you as mad? and you are fully competent and wise, better than those who describe you as such? The truth is that it is very difficult for someone to stand up and say: I am a prophet. It has been claimed in an Arab country these days that he is a prophet from God. Do people accept this? If he brought the miracles of the universe, only those with absent-mindedness would believe in him. Why? Because today, sensory miracles are just technology, but in the time of the apostles, miracles remain their splendor and miraculousness for all of humanity at the time of their revelation.
Did Moses - peace be upon him - stop his preaching as soon as he was accused of madness in front of the elite in whose arms he was raised yesterday? On the contrary, he continued his words as if he had not heard with his own ears anything that would offend his honorable person, and he is truly generous, for he is a prophet from among the most powerful among the messengers, so he said: The East (the Arab countries) and the West (the Frankish countries), but what is between them is known only to God - the Almighty - Wisdom has faded away, argument has disappeared, and in fact, threats and intimidation. Take it as a rule: Only one who cannot take his share and his right by simply speaking should curse and curse, either because he cannot argue and does not do it well, or because the person in front of him is very cunning, once again, Moses - peace be upon him - had the ability to set his compass in a way that Pharaoh and his entourage could never stop before puberty, so he began to list the verses that he had with him: “If I had come to you with something clear that you could not deny like words.
So he threw his stick and it turned into a visible snake. Our goal here is not the difference between the snake, the serpent, and the jinn.
Thaban: is the male
ِAl Hayah: It is the female
The jinn: the smallest of them, and it is the fastest and lightest in movement, so the first time Moses’ staff turned it was a jinn, so he turned away and was afraid of it despite its smallness, instead of the sign that he has now.
More importantly
Someone might say: A stick turns into a snake. Who are you talking to? Don’t you know that we have a doctorate in biochemistry, etc., and we say to them: The time period in which the messengers came, It did not have any kind of technology, and a heavenly prophet could not come to a people among whom he lived for 40 years and then suddenly emerge among them saying, “I am a prophet,” except with very strange sensory miracles, It is miraculous, meaning that ordinary people are unable to produce anything like it.
This is another physical miracle. I, Moses, was dark in color, and he used to put his hand through the opening of his shirt from above, and it came out sparkling white, without leprosy, disease, or anything. It is a physical miracle that no one who sees this miracle can deny, and the question here is: Why did God give the children of Israel greater sensory miracles than the miracles of the Prophet Muhammad - may God bless him and grant him peace, whose biggest miracle was the Qur’an along with some other sensory miracles? God knows, but perhaps because the children of Israel are very materialistic and love material things to the degree that they asked Moses to see God openly. and God is superior and knows best.
Look at Pharaoh’s response: He said to the people: Who are the people? The elite, who fill the first rows of the councils, who fill the gaze with pomp and magnificence: What did Pharaoh say to them: This is a knowledgeable magician, and why is he a magician and why is he knowledgeable? Magician: Because this is the highest science that the Egyptians reached at that time. Magic is chemistry and they were skilled at it, so why knowledgeable? That is, he has knowledge of the sciences of magicians, but he has vast knowledge that is greater than them or equivalent to them. Of course, God is Most High and Most Knowing.
Then Pharaoh continued: He wants to expel you from your land, and the question here is: Did Moses ask to expel the ruling elite from Egypt in his speech? Of course not. He only asked to liberate the children of Israel from slavery, so why did Pharaoh claim to lie to Moses - peace be upon him -? Mawlana Metwally Al-Shaarawi - may God have mercy on him - says in this verse that Pharaoh knew how closely connected the Egyptians were to their land, to the Nile, and to the abundance around the banks of the Nile, So their exodus from Egypt - notice in the story of Joseph - peace be upon him - in Surah Joseph, God Almighty said (and He brought you from the Bedouins), meaning that all the countries around Egypt at that time were nomads, and Egypt was civilized, of course there were civilizations like Babylon in Iraq and Hadhramaut. In Yemen, and others in China, India and others, except that Egypt seems to have had a special status, and as for God - the Almighty - choosing a civilization, he speaks about the reason for its emergence and that injustice is its knees. He spoke about Egypt at that time.
So Pharaoh said, “He wants to expel you from your land, so what do you command?”
He arouses their anger against Moses, so who will take us out of the palaces built on the Nile River? The Egyptians are among the peoples most connected to the Nile and to their land because they are abundant in blessings, as God Almighty said about Egypt (Go down to Egypt, for you will have what you ask.)
The elite around Pharaoh said
(Yes, Moses and his brother) until you send and gather all your skilled magicians in the palace
(Yes, Moses and his brother) until you send and gather all your skilled magicians in the palace
Indeed, skilled magicians, scholars of the principles of chemistry and magic, were gathered for a specific day, and the people (the general Egyptians, not the elite, and perhaps the children of Israel with them) were asked to all come together to see what Moses would do without Pharaonic tricks, while he and his brother were alone.