28. Surah Al-Qasas, (The Story)

Mecca Period 49

Moses killing an Egyptian

The Quranic text and Ali’s version

وَدَخَلَ الْمَدِينَةَ عَلَى حِينِ غَفْلَةٍ مِّنْ أَهْلِهَا فَوَجَدَ فِيهَا رَجُلَيْنِ يَقْتَتِلَانِ...

28:15. And he entered the City at a time when its people were not watching:

and he found there two men fighting --

C3341. That may have been either the time of the noontime siesta, when all business is suspended even now in Egypt, or

the time of night, when people are usually asleep.

The latter is more probable, in view of verse 18 below. But there is also another suggestion.

A guest in a Palace is not free to wander about at will in the plebeian quarters of the City at all sorts of hours, and this applies even more to an inmate of the Palace brought up as a son.

Moses was therefore visiting the City privately and eluding the guards. His object may have been to see for himself how things were going on; perhaps he had heard that his people were being oppressed, as we may suppose that he had retained contact with his mother.

...هَذَا مِن شِيعَتِهِ وَهَذَا مِنْ عَدُوِّهِ...

one of his own religion, and the other, of his foes.

...فَاسْتَغَاثَهُ الَّذِي مِن شِيعَتِهِ عَلَى الَّذِي مِنْ عَدُوِّهِ... ...

Now the man of his own religion appealed to him against his foe,

...فَوَكَزَهُ مُوسَى فَقَضَى عَلَيْهِ... ...

and Moses struck him with his fist and made an end of him.

C3342. His object was apparently to strike him so as to release the Israelite, not to kill the Egyptian,

In fact he killed the Egyptian. This was unfortunate in more ways than one. His visit to the City was clandestine; he had taken the side of the weaker and despised party; and he had taken the life of an Egyptian. He was full of regrets and repentance, and he prayed to Allah, and obtained Allah's forgiveness.

...قَالَ هَذَا مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ...

He said:

"This is a work of Evil (Satan):

...إِنَّهُ عَدُوٌّ مُّضِلٌّ مُّبِينٌ ﴿١٥﴾

for he is an enemy that manifestly misleads!"

قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّي ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسِي فَاغْفِرْ لِي...

28:16. He prayed: "O my Lord! I have indeed wronged my soul! Do Thou then forgive me!"

...فَغَفَرَ لَهُ...

So (Allah) forgave him:

...إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ ﴿١٦﴾

for He is the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

قَالَ رَبِّ بِمَا أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ فَلَنْ أَكُونَ ظَهِيرًا لِّلْمُجْرِمِينَ ﴿١٧﴾

28:17. He said: "O my Lord! for that Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace on me, never shall I be a help to those who sin!"

C3343. He takes a conscious and solemn vow to dedicate himself to Allah, and to do nothing that may in any way assist those who were doing wrong.

This was his general idea, but no plan had yet shaped itself in his mind, until a second catastrophe brought matters to a head, and he was plunged in adventure.

فَأَصْبَحَ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ خَائِفًا يَتَرَقَّبُ...

28:18. So he saw the morning in the City, looking about, in a state of fear,

... فَإِذَا الَّذِي اسْتَنصَرَهُ بِالْأَمْسِ يَسْتَصْرِخُهُ...

when behold, the man who had, the day before, sought his help called aloud for his help (again).

...قَالَ لَهُ مُوسَى إِنَّكَ لَغَوِيٌّ مُّبِينٌ ﴿١٨﴾

Moses said to him: "Thou art truly, it is clear, a quarrelsome fellow!"

C3344. The man was an Israelite. But Moses was himself in a distracted mood, for the reasons given in n. 3342 above, and he was exasperated at this public appeal to him again.

فَلَمَّا أَنْ أَرَادَ أَن يَبْطِشَ بِالَّذِي هُوَ عَدُوٌّ لَّهُمَا قَالَ...

28:19. Then, when he decided to lay hold of the man who was an enemy to both of them, that man said:

C3345. When Moses considered further that the Egyptian was unjust, he was going to intervene again, when he received a double warning, one from the Egyptian who was fighting, and the other from some man (Israelite or Egyptian) who was friendly to him, as explained below.

We may suppose that after the first day's fight, there had been a great deal of talk in the bazaars, both among Israelites and Egyptians. Probably the Israelites were elated at finding a champion-perhaps more elated than they should have been, and in a provocative mood, which deserved Moses' rebuke. Probably the Egyptians had discussed who this new champion was, and had already apprised the Palace, to which Moses had not dared to return.

...يَا مُوسَى أَتُرِيدُ أَن تَقْتُلَنِي كَمَا قَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا بِالْأَمْسِ...

"O Moses!

is it thy intention to slay me as thou slewest a man yesterday?

...إِن تُرِيدُ إِلَّا أَن تَكُونَ جَبَّارًا فِي الْأَرْضِ...

Thy intention is none other than to become a powerful violent man in the land,

...وَمَا تُرِيدُ أَن تَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُصْلِحِينَ ﴿١٩﴾

and not to be one who sets things right!"

C3346. The Egyptian saw the tactical advantage of his position. In effect he said:

'We have found out all about you. You live in the Palace, and yet you come clandestinely and kill our Egyptian. Are you going to do the same with me? You are nothing but a bully! And you talk of setting things right! That is what you should do if you were true to your salt!'

وَجَاء رَجُلٌ مِّنْ أَقْصَى الْمَدِينَةِ يَسْعَى قَالَ...

28:20. And there came a man, running, from the furthest end of the City. He said:

C3347. Apparently rumours had reached the Palace, a Council had been held, and the death of Moses had been decreed!

...يَا مُوسَى إِنَّ الْمَلَأَ يَأْتَمِرُونَ بِكَ لِيَقْتُلُوكَ فَاخْرُجْ...

"O Moses! the Chiefs are taking counsel together about thee, to slay thee:

so get thee away,

...إِنِّي لَكَ مِنَ النَّاصِحِينَ ﴿٢٠﴾

for I do give thee sincere advice."

فَخَرَجَ مِنْهَا خَائِفًا يَتَرَقَّبُ...

28:21. He therefore got away therefrom, looking about, in a state of fear.

C3348. Moses saw that his position was now untenable, both in the Palace and in the City, and indeed anywhere in Pharaoh's territory. So he suffered voluntary exile. But he did not know where to go to.

His mind was in a state of agitation. But he turned to Allah and prayed. He got consolation, and felt that after all it was no hardship to leave Egypt, where there was so much injustice and oppression.

...قَالَ رَبِّ نَجِّنِي مِنَ الْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ ﴿٢١﴾

He prayed:

"O my Lord! save me from people given to wrongdoing."

Asad’s version

28:14 NOW WHEN [Moses] reached full manhood and had become mature [of mind], We bestowed

upon him the ability to judge (between right and wrong] as well as [innate] knowledge: for

thus do We reward the doers of good. 12

28:15 And (one day] he entered the city at a time when [most of] its people were [resting in their houses,] unaware of what was going on [in the streets]; 13 and there he encountered two men fighting with one another - one of his own people, 14 and the other of his enemies. And the one who belonged to his own people cried out to him for help against him who was of his enemies - whereupon Moses struck him down with his fist, and [thus] brought about his end. [But then] he said [to himself]: "This is of Satan's doing! Verily, he is an open foe, leading [man] astray!" 15

28:16 [And] he prayed: O my Sustainer! Verily, I have sinned against myself! Grant me, then, Thy forgiveness!" And He forgave him - for, verily, He alone is truly forgiving, a dispenser of grace.

28:17 Said he: "O my Sustainer! [I vow] by all the blessings which Thou hast bestowed on me: Nevermore shall I aid such as are lost in sin!" 16

(28:18) And next morning he found himself in the city, looking fearfully about him, when lo! the one who had sought his help the day before [once again] cried out to him [for help 17 - whereupon] Moses said unto him: "Behold, thou art indeed, most clearly, deeply in the wrong!" 18

28:19 But then, 19 as soon as he was about to lay violent hands on the man who was their [common]enemy, the latter exclaimed: "O Moses, dost thou intend to slay me as thou didst slay another man yesterday? Thy sole aim is to become a tyrant in this land, for thou dost not care to be of those who would set things to rights!"

28:20 And [then and there] a man came running from the farthermost end of the city, and said: "O Moses! Behold, the great ones [of the kingdom] are deliberating upon thy case with a view to killing thee! Begone, then: verily, I am of those who wish thee well!"

(28:21) So he went forth from thence, looking fearfully about him, and prayed: "O my Sustainer! Save me from all evildoing folk!"

[[Asad’s notes –

12 This statement, almost entirely identical with 12:22 (where it refers to Joseph), stresses the supreme divine blessing of spiritual consciousness ('ilm in its deepest significance) combined with rational thought, as expressed in the concept of hukm, the "ability to judge [between right and wrong] ". As is evident from 26:20, Moses reached this spiritual maturity after the events described in verses 1 5 ff

13 Lit., "at a time of its people's unawareness".

14 I.e., of the Hebrews.

15 Regarding the reference to "Satan's doing", see first half of note 16 on 15:17. In the present instance, verses 16-17 seem to indicate that it was the Israelite, and not the Egyptian, who had been in the wrong (cf. next note). Apparently, Moses had come to the assistance of the Israelite out of an instinctive sense of racial kinship without regard to the rights and wrongs of the case; but immediately afterwards he realized that he had committed a grave sin not only by killing, however inadvertently, an innocent person, but also by basing his action on a mere tribal - or, as we would describe it today, racial or national - prejudice. Evidently, this is the purport of the above Qur'anic segment of the story of Moses. Its moral has been stressed and explained by the Prophet on many occasions: cf his famous saying, "He is not of us who proclaims the cause of tribal

partisanship ('asabiyyah); and he is not of us who fights in the cause of tribal partisanship; and he is not of us who dies in the cause of tribal partisanship" (Abu Da'ud, on the authority of .Tubayr ibn Mut'im). When he was asked to explain the meaning of "tribal partisanship", the Prophet answered, "It means helping thine own people in an unjust cause" (ibid., on the authority of Wathilah ibn al-Asqa').

16 According to Ibn 'Abbas and Muqatil (both of them quoted by Baghawi), "this is an indication that the Israelite whom Moses had helped was a denier of the truth (kafir)" - i.e., in the moral sense of this definition. (See also last sentence of verse 86 of this surah.)

17 Sc., "against another Egyptian" .

18 Lit, "lost in grievous error" or "deviating from what is right".

19 Sc, "swayed once again by his feeling of kinship with the Israelite", as indicated in the subsequent reference to the Egyptian as "their [common] enemy".]]

Yuksel’s version:Killing a man

28:14 When he reached his maturity and strength, We bestowed him with wisdom and knowledge. We thus reward the good doers.

28:15 He entered the city unexpectedly, without being noticed by the people. He found in it two men who were fighting, one was from his own race, and the other was from his enemy's. So the one who was from his own race called on him for help against his enemy, whereby Moses punched him, killing him. He said, "This is from the work of the devil; he is an enemy that clearly misleads."

28:16 He said, "My Lord, I have wronged my person, so forgive me." He then forgave him, for He is the Forgiver, the Compassionate.

28:17 He said, "My Lord, for what blessings you have bestowed upon me, I will never be a supporter of the criminals."

28:18 So he spent the night in the city, afraid and watchful. Then the one who sought his help yesterday, was asking again for his help. Moses said to him: "You are clearly a trouble maker."

28:19 But when he was about to strike their common enemy, he said, "O Moses, do you want to kill me, as you killed that person yesterday? Obviously, you wish to be a tyrant on earth; you do not wish to be of the righteous."

28:20 A man came running from the far side of the city, saying: "O Moses, the commanders are plotting to kill you, so leave immediately. I am giving you good advice."

28:21 He exited the city, afraid and watchful. He said, "My Lord, save me from the wicked people."