Al-Qasas

طسٓمٓ 1

{ طسم } الله أعلم بمراده بذلك.

Tā sīn mīm: God knows best what He means by these [letters].

تِلْكَ ءَايَـٰتُ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ ٱلْمُبِينِ 2

{ تلك } أي هذه الآيات { ءايت الكتب } الإضافة بمعنى من { المبين } المظهر الحق من الباطل.

Those, namely, these signs, are the signs of the Manifest Book (the genitive annexation conveys the [partitive] sense of min, ‘of’ [‘verses from the Manifest Book’]), [the Manifest Book] which reveals truth from falsehood.

نَتْلُوا۟ عَلَيْكَ مِن نَّبَإِ مُوسَىٰ وَفِرْعَوْنَ بِٱلْحَقِّ لِقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ 3

{ نتلو } نقص { عليك من نبإ } خبر { موسى وفرعون بالحق } الصدق { لقوم يؤمنون } لأجلهم لأنهم المنتفعون به

We will recount, narrate, to you [something] of the tale of Moses and Pharaoh truthfully, for a people who believe, for their sake, since they are the ones to benefit from such [an account].

إِنَّ فِرْعَوْنَ عَلَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَجَعَلَ أَهْلَهَا شِيَعًا يَسْتَضْعِفُ طَآئِفَةً مِّنْهُمْ يُذَبِّحُ أَبْنَآءَهُمْ وَيَسْتَحْىِۦ نِسَآءَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ مِنَ ٱلْمُفْسِدِينَ 4

{ إن فرعون علا } تعظم { فى الأرض } أرض مصر { وجعل أهلها شيعا } فرقا في خدمته { يستضعف طآئفة منهم } هم بنو إسرائيل { يذبح أبنآءهم } المولودين { ويستحى نسآءهم } يستبقيهن أحياء، لقول بعض الكهنة له: إن مولودا يولد في بني إسرائيل يكون سبب زوال ملكك { إنه كان من المفسدين } بالقتل وغيره

Truly Pharaoh had exalted himself in the land, the land of Egypt, and reduced its people into sects, groups, to serve him, oppressing a group of them, namely, the Children of Israel, slaughtering their sons, the new-born, and sparing their women, keeping them alive — for some of the [Egyptian] priests had told him, ‘A new-born of the Children of Israel shall bring about the end of your kingdom’. Indeed he was of those who cause corruption, through [the use of] slaughter and otherwise.

وَنُرِيدُ أَن نَّمُنَّ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ ٱسْتُضْعِفُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَنَجْعَلَهُمْ أَئِمَّةً وَنَجْعَلَهُمُ ٱلْوَٰرِثِينَ 5

{ ونريد أن نمن على الذين استضعفوا فى الأرض ونجعلهم أئمة } بتحقيق الهمزتين وإبدال الثانية ياء: يقتدى بهم في الخير { ونجعلهم الوارثين } ملك فرعون

And We desired to show favour to those who were oppressed in the land, and to make them exemplars (read a’immatan, pronouncing both hamzas, or by replacing the second one with a yā’) whose good example would be followed, and to make them the inheritors, of Pharaoh’s kingdom;

وَنُمَكِّنَ لَهُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَنُرِىَ فِرْعَوْنَ وَهَـٰمَـٰنَ وَجُنُودَهُمَا مِنْهُم مَّا كَانُوا۟ يَحْذَرُونَ 6

{ ونمكن لهم فى الأرض } أرض مصر والشام { ونرى فرعون وهمن وجنودهما } وفي قراءة ويرى بفتح التحتانية والراء ورفع الأسماء الثلاثة { منهم ما كانوا يحذرون } يخافون من المولود الذي يذهب ملكهم على يديه

and to establish them in the land, the land of Egypt and Syria, and to show Pharaoh and Hāmān and their hosts (a variant reading has wa-yarā Fir‘awnu wa-Hāmānu wa-junūduhumā, ‘so that Pharaoh and Hāmān and their hosts might see’, with all three [nouns] in the nominative) from them that of which they were apprehensive, [that which] they feared of the new-born [Israelite] who would bring about the end of their kingdom.

وَأَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَىٰٓ أُمِّ مُوسَىٰٓ أَنْ أَرْضِعِيهِ ۖ فَإِذَا خِفْتِ عَلَيْهِ فَأَلْقِيهِ فِى ٱلْيَمِّ وَلَا تَخَافِى وَلَا تَحْزَنِىٓ ۖ إِنَّا رَآدُّوهُ إِلَيْكِ وَجَاعِلُوهُ مِنَ ٱلْمُرْسَلِينَ 7

{ وأوحينآ } وحي إلهام أو منام { إلى أم موسى } وهو المولود المذكور ولم يشعر بولادته غير أخته { أن أرضعيه فإذا خفت عليه فألقيه فى اليم } البحر أي النيل { ولا تخافى } غرقه { ولا تحزنى } لفراقه { إنا رآدوه إليك وجاعلوه من المرسلين } فأرضعته ثلاثة أشهر لا يبكي، وخافت عليه فوضعته في تابوت مطلي بالقار من داخل ممهد له فيه وأغلقته وألقته في بحر النيل ليلا

And We revealed, by inspiration or in a dream, to the mother of Moses — who was the said new-born; his sister was the only other person aware of his birth — ‘Suckle him, then, when you fear for him, cast him into the waters, namely, the Nile, and do not fear, that he should drown, or grieve, for being separated from him, for We will restore him to you and make him one of the messengers’. She suckled him for three months during which he never cried. She then began to fear for him and so she placed him in a basket coated with pitch and made as a cradle for him on the inside. She then closed it and cast it into the waters of the Nile at night.

فَٱلْتَقَطَهُۥٓ ءَالُ فِرْعَوْنَ لِيَكُونَ لَهُمْ عَدُوًّا وَحَزَنًا ۗ إِنَّ فِرْعَوْنَ وَهَـٰمَـٰنَ وَجُنُودَهُمَا كَانُوا۟ خَـٰطِـِٔينَ 8

{ فالتقطه } بالتابوت صبيحة الليل { ءال } أعوان { فرعون } فوضعوه بين يديه وفتح وأخرج منه موسى وهو يمص من إبهامه لبنا { ليكون لهم } في عاقبة الأمر { عدوا } يقتل رجالهم { وحزنا } يستعبد نساءهم وفي قراءة بضم الحاء وسكون الزاي لغتان في المصدر، وهو هنا بمعنى اسم الفاعل من حزنه كأحزنه { إن فرعون وهمن } وزيره { وجنودهما كانوا خطئين } من الخطيئة أي عاصين فعوقبوا على يديه

Then Pharaoh’s folk, aids, picked him up, with him [still] in the basket, the morning following that night — it was placed him in front of him [Pharaoh] and then opened and Moses was brought out of it, sucking milk from his thumb — to be, at the end of the affair, an enemy, slaying their menfolk, and a [cause of] grief to them, enslaving their womenfolk (a variant reading [for hazanan] is huznan, both of which are alternative forms of the verbal noun, and it functions as an active participle, derived from hazanahu, which is like ahzanahu, ‘he caused him grief’). Truly Pharaoh and, his minister, Hāmān, and their hosts were sinners, that is, disobedient, and so they were punished at his [Moses’s] hands.

وَقَالَتِ ٱمْرَأَتُ فِرْعَوْنَ قُرَّتُ عَيْنٍ لِّى وَلَكَ ۖ لَا تَقْتُلُوهُ عَسَىٰٓ أَن يَنفَعَنَآ أَوْ نَتَّخِذَهُۥ وَلَدًا وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ 9

{ وقالت امرأت فرعون } وقد هم مع أعوانه بقتله: هو { قرة عين لى ولك لا تقتلوه عسى أن ينفعنآ أو نتخذه ولدا } فأطاعوها { وهم لا يشعرون } بعاقبة أمرهم معه.

And Pharaoh’s wife said, after he and his aids had resolved to slay him: he is, ‘A joyous sight for me and you. Do not slay him. Perhaps he will be of benefit to us, or we will adopt him as a son’, and so they obeyed her [wish]. And they were not aware, of the sequel to their affair with him.

وَأَصْبَحَ فُؤَادُ أُمِّ مُوسَىٰ فَـٰرِغًا ۖ إِن كَادَتْ لَتُبْدِى بِهِۦ لَوْلَآ أَن رَّبَطْنَا عَلَىٰ قَلْبِهَا لِتَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ 10

{ وأصبح فؤاد أم موسى } لما علمت بالتقاطه { فرغا } مما سواه { إن } مخففة من الثقيلة واسمها محذوف أي إنها { كادت لتبدى به } أي بأنه ابنها { لولآ أن ربطنا على قلبها } بالصبر أي سكناه { لتكون من المؤمنين } المصدقين بوعد الله، وجواب لولا دل عليه ما قبله

And the heart of Moses’s mother, when she found out that they had picked him up, became empty, of everything other than him. Indeed (in, softened from the hardened form, its subject omitted, in other words [understand it as] innaha) she was about to expose him, that is, as being her son, had We not fortified her heart, with patience, that is, We made it at peace, that she might be of the believers, [of] those who have faith in God’s promise (the response to [the conditional] lawlā, ‘had … not’, is given by the preceding [statement]).

وَقَالَتْ لِأُخْتِهِۦ قُصِّيهِ ۖ فَبَصُرَتْ بِهِۦ عَن جُنُبٍ وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ 11

{ وقالت لأخته } مريم { قصيه } أي اتبعي أثره حتى تعلمي خبره { فبصرت به } أبصرته { عن جنب } من مكان بعيد اختلاسا { وهم لا يشعرون } أنها أخته وأنها ترقبه

And she said to his sister, Mary, ‘Follow him’, in other words, follow where he goes in order to find out his news. So she watched him from afar, from a distance, secretly, while they were not aware, that she was his sister, or that she was [even] watching him.

وَحَرَّمْنَا عَلَيْهِ ٱلْمَرَاضِعَ مِن قَبْلُ فَقَالَتْ هَلْ أَدُلُّكُمْ عَلَىٰٓ أَهْلِ بَيْتٍ يَكْفُلُونَهُۥ لَكُمْ وَهُمْ لَهُۥ نَـٰصِحُونَ 12

{ وحرمنا عليه المراضع من قبل } أي قبل رده إلى أمه أي منعناه من قبول ثدي مرضعة غير أمه فلم يقبل ثدي واحدة من المراضع المحضرة له { فقالت } أخته { هل أدلكم على أهل بيت } لما رأت حنوهم عليه { يكفلونه لكم } بالإرضاع وغيره { وهم له نصحون } وفسرت ضمير «له» بالملك جوابا لهم فأجيبت، فجاءت بأمه فقبل ثديها وأجابتهم عن قبوله بأنها طيبة الريح طيبة اللبن فأذن لها في إرضاعه في بيتها، فرجعت به كما قال تعالى:

And We had forbidden him to [take to the breasts of] fostermothers from before, that is to say, we prevented him from taking to the breasts of any suckling mother other than his own mother. Therefore he would not accept the breasts of any of the foster-mothers brought for him. So she, his sister, said, ‘Shall I show you a household — having seen their affection for him — who will take care of him for you, by having him suckled and so on, and who will act in good faith towards him?’ (the [suffixed] pronoun in lahu has been interpreted as referring to the king, as a response to them [when they asked Mary how she could be sure]). Her suggestion was accepted. So she brought his mother and he took to her breast. She explained to them that he had taken to her [breast] because of her pleasant scent and the wholesome taste of her milk. Permission was given to her to breast-feed him in her own house and so she returned with him, just as God, exalted be He, says: