28. Surah Al-Qasad
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَقَالَ
فِرْعَوْنُ
يَا أَيُّهَا
الْمَلَأُ مَا
عَلِمْتُ لَكُم
مِّنْ إِلَهٍ
غَيْرِي...
28: 38. Pharaoh said:
"O Chiefs! no god do I know for you but myself:
C3370. Pharaoh claimed, himself, to be God,-not only one god among many, but the only god: "I am your Lord Most High": 79:24.
At any rate he did not see why his people should worship any one but him.
...فَأَوْقِدْ لِي يَا هَامَانُ عَلَى الطِّينِ فَاجْعَل لِّي صَرْحًا...
therefore, o Haman! light me a (kiln to bake bricks) out of clay, and build me a lofty palace,
C3371. I understand his speech to his minister Haman to be sarcastic. But some Commentators have taken it very seriously and imagined that he actually thought of reaching the heavens by budding lofty towers.
...لَّعَلِّي أَطَّلِعُ إِلَى إِلَهِ مُوسَى...
that I may mount up to the god of Moses:
...وَإِنِّي لَأَظُنُّهُ مِنَ الْكَاذِبِينَ ﴿٣٨﴾
but as far as I am concerned, I think (Moses) is a liar!"
Asad’s Version:
(28:38) Whereupon Pharaoh said: "O you nobles! I did not know that you could have any deity other than myself! 38 Well, then, O Haman, kindle me a fire for [baking bricks of] clay, and then build me a lofty tower, that haply I may have a look at the god of Moses 37 - although, behold, I am convinced that he is of those who [always] tell lies!"
Advanced Irrigation system controlled by Pharaoh royal power
43. Surah Zukhruf(Gold)
Mecca 63 [89 verses]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَلَقَدْ
أَرْسَلْنَا
مُوسَى بِآيَاتِنَا
إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ
وَمَلَئِهِ
...
43: 46. We did send Moses aforetime, with Our Signs, to Pharaoh and his Chiefs:
C4649. For the story of Moses in detail, see 7:103-137, but especially 7:104, 130-136.
... فَقَالَ إِنِّي رَسُولُ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿٤٦﴾
he said, "I am an messenger of the Lord of the Worlds."
فَلَمَّا
جَاءهُم بِآيَاتِنَا
إِذَا هُم مِّنْهَا
يَضْحَكُونَ
﴿٤٧﴾
43: 47. But when he came to them with Our Signs, behold, they ridiculed them.
C4650. For the mockery of Moses and his Signs see 17:101; also below, 43:49, 52-53.
وَمَا
نُرِيهِم مِّنْ
آيَةٍ إِلَّا
هِيَ أَكْبَرُ
مِنْ أُخْتِهَا...
43: 48. We showed them Sign after Sign, each grater then its fellow,
C4651. Moses showed them nine Clear Signs: see n. 1091 to 7:133; also 17:101.
Each one of them in its own setting and circumstances was greater than any of its "Sister" Signs.
The object was if possible to reclaim as many Egyptians as possible from their defiance of Allah.
...وَأَخَذْنَاهُم بِالْعَذَابِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ ﴿٤٨﴾
and We seized them with Punishment, in order that they might turn (to Us).
وَقَالُوا
يَا أَيُّهَا
السَّاحِرُ
ادْعُ لَنَا
رَبَّكَ بِمَا
عَهِدَ عِندَكَ
إِنَّنَا
لَمُهْتَدُونَ
﴿٤٩﴾
43: 49. And they said,
"O thou Sorcerer! invoke thy Lord for us according to His covenant with thee; for We shall truly accept guidance."
C4652. This speech is half a mockery, and half a ruse. In spite of their unbelief, they had fear in their minds, and in order to stop the plagues, one after another, they promised to obey Allah, and when the particular plague was removed, they again became obdurate.
See 7:133-135.
فَلَمَّا
كَشَفْنَا
عَنْهُمُ الْعَذَابَ
إِذَا هُمْ
يَنكُثُونَ
﴿٥٠﴾
43: 50. But when We removed the Penalty from them, behold, they broke their word.
وَنَادَى
فِرْعَوْنُ
فِي قَوْمِهِ
قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ
أَلَيْسَ لِي
مُلْكُ مِصْرَ...
43: 51. And Pharaoh proclaimed among his people, saying:
"O my people! does not the dominion of Egypt belong to me,
...وَهَذِهِ الْأَنْهَارُ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِي...
(witness) these streams flowing underneath my (palace)?
C4653. The waw here in Arabic is the Waw haliya:
the abundant streams from the Nile flowing beneath his palace being evidence of his power, prosperity, and sovereignty.
The Nile made (and makes) Egypt, and the myth of the god Osiris was a compound of the myths of the Nile and the sun. The Pharaoh, therefore, as commanding the Nile, commanded the gods who personified Egypt. He boasted of water, and he perished in water,-a fitting punishment!
...أَفَلَا تُبْصِرُونَ ﴿٥١﴾
What! see ye not then?
أَمْ
أَنَا خَيْرٌ
مِّنْ هَذَا
الَّذِي هُوَ
مَهِينٌ وَلَا
يَكَادُ يُبِينُ
﴿٥٢﴾
43: 52. "Am I not better than this (Moses), who is a contemptible wretch and can scarcely express himself clearly?
C4654. Being a despised Israelite in any case, and having further an impediment in his speech.
See 20:27, and notes 2552-53.
فَلَوْلَا
أُلْقِيَ عَلَيْهِ
أَسْوِرَةٌ
مِّن ذَهَبٍ
أَوْ جَاء مَعَهُ
الْمَلَائِكَةُ
مُقْتَرِنِينَ
﴿٥٣﴾
43: 53. "Then why are not gold bracelets bestowed on him
or (why) come (not) with him angels accompanying him in procession?"
C4655. Gold bracelets and gold chains were possibly among the insignia of royalty. In any case they betokened wealth, and the materialists judge a man's worth by his wealth and his following and equipage.
So Pharaoh wanted to see Moses, if he had any position in the spiritual kingdom, invested with gold bracelets, and followed by a great train of angels as his Knight-companions!
The same kind of proofs were demanded by the materialist Quraish of our holy Prophet. These were puerilities, but such puerilities go down with the crowd. Barring a few Egyptians who believed in Allah and in the Message of Moses, the rest of Pharaoh's entourage followed Pharaoh in his pursuit of revenge, and were drowned in the Red Sea.
فَاسْتَخَفَّ
قَوْمَهُ فَأَطَاعُوهُ
إِنَّهُمْ
كَانُوا قَوْمًا
فَاسِقِينَ
﴿٥٤﴾
43: 54. Thus did he make fools of his people, and they obeyed him:
Truly were they a people rebellious (against Allah).
فَلَمَّا
آسَفُونَا
انتَقَمْنَا
مِنْهُمْ ...
43: 55. When at length they provoked Us, We exacted retribution from them,
C4656. Allah is patient, and gives many and many opportunities to the most hardened sinners for repentance. But at length comes a time when His justice is provoked, and the inevitable punishment follows.
... فَأَغْرَقْنَاهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ ﴿٥٥﴾
and We drowned them all --
C4657. Cf. 7:136.
فَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ
سَلَفًا وَمَثَلًا
لِلْآخِرِينَ
﴿٥٦﴾
43: 56. And We made them (a people) of the Past and an Example to later ages.
C4658. Pharaoh and his hosts were blotted out, and became as a tale of the past.
Their story is an instructive warning and example to future generations.
The later course of Egyptian religion after the Exodus is referred to in Appendix V.
Asad’s Version:
43:46 THUS, INDEED, 39 have We sent Moses with Our messages unto Pharaoh and his great ones; and he said: "Behold, I am an apostle of the Sustainer of all the worlds!"
(43:47) But as soon as he came before them with Our [miraculous] signs,'" lo! they derided them,
(43:48) although each sign that We showed them was weightier than the preceding one: and [each time] We took them to task through suffering, so that they might return [to Us]. 41
43:49 And [every time] they exclaimed: "O thou sorcerer! Pray for Us to thy Sustainer on the strength of the covenant [of prophethood] which He has made with thee: for, verily, we shall now follow the right way!"
(43:50) But whenever We removed the suffering from them, lo! they would break their word.
43:51 And Pharaoh issued a call to his people, saying: "O my people! Does not the dominion over Egypt belong to me, since all these running waters flow at my feet? 42 Can you not, then, see [that I am your lord supreme]?
(43:52) Am I not better than this contemptible man who can hardly make his meaning clear? 43
43:53 "And then - why have no golden armlets been bestowed on him? 44 - or why have no angels come together with him?"
(43:54) Thus he incited his people to levity, and they obeyed him: for, behold, they were people depraved!
(43:55) But when they continued to challenge Us, We inflicted Our retribution on them, and drowned them all:
(43:56) and so We made them a thing of the past, and an example to those who would come after them.
39 I.e., in pursuance of the principle, referred to above, that it is not permissible to worship anyone or anything but God.
40 See note 94 on the last sentence of 6:109.
41 The concept of "returning" to God implies that the instinctive ability to perceive His existence is inherent in human nature as such, and that man's "turning away" from God is only a consequence of spiritual degeneration, and not an original tendency or predisposition: cf 7:172-173.- The "suffering" ('adhab) mentioned above relates to the plagues with which the recalcitrant Egyptians were struck (see 7:130 ff).
42 Lit., "beneath me", i.e., "at my command": a reference to the imposing irrigation system originating in the Nile and controlled by royal power.
43 An allusion to the impediment in speech from which Moses suffered (cf. 20:27-28 and the corresponding note 17), or perhaps to the contents of his message, which to Pharaoh appeared unconvincing.
44 In ancient Egypt, golden armlets and necklaces were regarded as princely insignia (cf. Genesis xli, 42),or at least as evidence of high social dignity. This is apparently an echo of the pagan objection to Muhammad, mentioned in verse 3 1 above: "Why was not this Qur'an bestowed from on high on some great man of the two cities?" The same is the case with the subsequent reference to the "absence of angels" .
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