28. Surah Al-Qasad

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

فَلَمَّا جَاءهُم مُّوسَى بِآيَاتِنَا بَيِّنَاتٍ قَالُوا مَا هَذَا إِلَّا سِحْرٌ مُّفْتَرًى...

28: 36. When Moses came to them with Our Clear Signs, they said:

"This is nothing but sorcery faked up:

C3367. This is what Moses was thinking of when he had said: "They may accuse me of falsehood".

To accuse the purest Truth of lying is a favourite trick of those whose chief stock-in-trade is deception and sorcery and catching the attention of the vulgar by arts adapted to their ignorant minds!

...وَمَا سَمِعْنَا بِهَذَا فِي آبَائِنَا الْأَوَّلِينَ ﴿٣٦﴾

never did we hear the like among our fathers of old!"

C3368. 'As to this higher talk of the worship of the One true God, why, our ancestors have worshipped power and patronage, as concentrated in Pharaoh, from the most ancient times!'

وَقَالَ مُوسَى رَبِّي أَعْلَمُ بِمَن جَاء بِالْهُدَى مِنْ عِندِهِ...

28: 37. Moses said:

"My Lord knows best who it is that comes with guidance from Him

...وَمَن تَكُونُ لَهُ عَاقِبَةُ الدَّارِ...

and whose End will be best in the Hereafter:

...إِنَّهُ لَا يُفْلِحُ الظَّالِمُونَ ﴿٣٧﴾

certain it is that the wrongdoers will not prosper."

C3369. Cf. 6:135.

The only argument in such a case is an appeal to Allah, and to the ultimate Future. Both of these appeals require Faith. But even if you do not rely on anything so high, you can see that Falsehood or evils crystallised in ancestral customs are not going to do any one any good.

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!"

وَاسْتَكْبَرَ هُوَ وَجُنُودُهُ فِي الْأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ...

28: 39. And he was arrogant and insolent in the land, beyond reason -- he and his hosts:

...وَظَنُّوا أَنَّهُمْ إِلَيْنَا لَا يُرْجَعُونَ ﴿٣٩﴾

they thought that they would not have to return to Us!

C3372. They did not believe in the Hereafter. They did not understand that every deed must have its inevitable consequence, good, or evil, unless the Grace of Allah intervenes to save us from ourselves!

فَأَخَذْنَاهُ وَجُنُودَهُ فَنَبَذْنَاهُمْ فِي الْيَمِّ...

28: 40. So We seized him and his hosts, and We flung them into the sea:

C3373. Pharaoh and his hosts were drowned in the sea in their pursuit of the Israelites: see 7:130-136.

They are the type of men who lead-only to Destruction. They invite, not to Peace and Happiness, but to the Fire of Wrath, mutual Envy, and Hatred.

...فَانظُرْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الظَّالِمِينَ ﴿٤٠﴾

now behold what was the End of those who did wrong!

وَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ أَئِمَّةً يَدْعُونَ إِلَى النَّارِ...

28: 41. And We made them (but) leaders inviting to the Fire;

...وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ لَا يُنصَرُونَ ﴿٤١﴾

and on the Day of Judgment no help shall they find.

وَأَتْبَعْنَاهُمْ فِي هَذِهِ الدُّنْيَا لَعْنَةً...

28: 42. In this world We made a Curse to follow them:

C3374. Power and patronage may be lauded by sycophants and selfish place-hunters; but when they are misused, and when their exposure causes their fall, they suffer ignominy even in this life. If they manage to escape exposure while alive, it often happens that they are found out after their death, and the curses of many generations follow those whose oppressions and wrong-doing spoiled the fair face of Allah's earth.

But even this is nothing to the true Punishment that will come in the Hereafter. There, true values will be restored, and some of the highest and mightiest will be in the lowest depths of degradation.

...وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ هُم مِّنَ الْمَقْبُوحِينَ ﴿٤٢﴾

and on the Day of Judgment they will be among the loathed (and despised).

وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا مُوسَى الْكِتَابَ مِن بَعْدِ مَا أَهْلَكْنَا الْقُرُونَ الْأُولَى...

28: 43. We did reveal to Moses the Book after We had destroyed the earlier generations,

...بَصَائِرَ لِلنَّاسِ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةً لَّعَلَّهُمْ يَتَذَكَّرُونَ ﴿٤٣﴾

(to give) Insight to men and Guidance and Mercy, that they might receive admonition.

C3375. After the destruction of the Pharaonic Tyranny and other similar Tyrannies before them, Allah began a new age of Revelation, the age of Moses and his Book.

Humanity began as it were with a clean slate again. It was a full Revelation (or Shariah) which may be looked at from three points of view:

1. as Light or Insight for men, so that they should not grope in darkness;

2. as a Guide to show them the Way, so that they should not be misled into wrong Paths; and

3. as a Mercy from Allah, so that by following the Way they may receive Allah's Forgiveness and Grace.

In 6:91, we have a reference to Light and Guidance in connection with the Revelation of Moses, and in 6:154 we have a reference to Guidance and Mercy in the same connection.

Here all three are combined, with the substitution of Basair for Nur.

Basair is the plural of Basirat, and may also be translated Proofs, as I have done in 6:104.

Cf. also 7:203, n. 1175, where the word is translated "Lights".

وَمَا كُنتَ بِجَانِبِ الْغَرْبِيِّ إِذْ قَضَيْنَا إِلَى مُوسَى الْأَمْرَ...

28: 44. Thou wast not on the Western Side when We decreed the commission to Moses,

C3376. The Sinai Peninsula is in the north-west comer of Arabia. But the reference here is, I think, to the western side of the valley of Tuwa. Mount Tur, where Moses received his prophetic commission, is on the western side of the valley.

...وَمَا كُنتَ مِنَ الشَّاهِدِينَ ﴿٤٤﴾

nor wast thou a witness (of those events).

وَلَكِنَّا أَنشَأْنَا قُرُونًا فَتَطَاوَلَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْعُمُرُ...

28: 45. But We raised up (new) generations, and long were the ages that passed over them;

C3377. That is, there were many generations that passed between Moses and the holy Prophet. Yet he knew by inspiration of the events of those times. Even if he had lived then, he could not have known the events that took place among the Midianites, except by inspiration, as he did not dwell among them.

...وَمَا كُنتَ ثَاوِيًا فِي أَهْلِ مَدْيَنَ تَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِنَا...

but thou wast not a dweller among the people of Madyan, rehearsing Our Signs to them;

...وَلَكِنَّا كُنَّا مُرْسِلِينَ ﴿٤٥﴾

but it is We Who send Messengers (with inspiration).

C3378. 'Though thou wast not among the Midianites, Our inspiration has told thee of the momentous events that took place among them when Moses was with them. This is itself a Sign that should make thy people understand.'

وَمَا كُنتَ بِجَانِبِ الطُّورِ إِذْ نَادَيْنَا...

28: 46. Nor wast thou at the side of (the Mountain of) Tur when We called (to Moses),

...وَلَكِن رَّحْمَةً مِّن رَّبِّكَ لِتُنذِرَ قَوْمًا مَّا أَتَاهُم مِّن نَّذِيرٍ مِّن قَبْلِكَ...

Yet (art thou sent) as a Mercy from thy Lord, to give warning to a people to whom no warner had come before thee:

C3379. This people was the Quraish.

'Though thou didst not see how Moses was invested with the prophetic office at Mount Tur, thou hast had similar experience thyself, and We have sent thee to the Quraish to warn them of all their sins, and to repent and come into the Faith'.

...لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَذَكَّرُونَ ﴿٤٦﴾

in order that they may receive admonition.

وَلَوْلَا أَن تُصِيبَهُم مُّصِيبَةٌ بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ فَيَقُولُوا...

28: 47. If (We had) not (sent thee to the Quraish) -- in case a calamity should seize them for (the deeds) that their hands have sent forth, they might say:

...رَبَّنَا لَوْلَا أَرْسَلْتَ إِلَيْنَا رَسُولًا ...

"Our Lord! why didst Thou not send us a messenger?

C3380. Now that a warner has come among them with all the authority that previous Messengers possessed and with all the knowledge which can only come by divine inspiration, they have no excuse left whatever. They cannot say, "No warner came to us."

If any evil comes to them, as the inevitable result of their ill-deeds, they cannot blame Allah and say that they were not warned.

Cf. 20:134.

... فَنَتَّبِعَ آيَاتِكَ وَنَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿٤٧﴾

We should then have followed the Signs and been amongst those who believe!"

فَلَمَّا جَاءهُمُ الْحَقُّ مِنْ عِندِنَا قَالُوا لَوْلَا أُوتِيَ مِثْلَ مَا أُوتِيَ مُوسَى...

28: 48. But (now), when the Truth has come to them from Ourselves, they say,

"Why are not (Signs) sent to him, like those which were sent to Moses?"

...أَوَلَمْ يَكْفُرُوا بِمَا أُوتِيَ مُوسَى مِن قَبْلُ...

Do they not then reject (the Signs) which were formerly sent to Moses?

C3381. When a Revelation is sent to them, in the Quran, adapted to all their needs and the needs of the time they live in, they hark back to antiquity.

The holy Prophet was in many respects like Moses, but the times in which he lived were different from the times of Moses, and his age did not suffer from the deceptions of sorcery, like that of Moses.

The remedies which his age and future ages required (for his Message was universal) were different. His miracle of the Quran was different and most permanent than the Rod and the Radiant-White Hand of Moses.

But supposing that the Quraish had been humoured in their insincere demands, would they have believed?

Did they believe in Moses?

They were only put up by the Jews to make objections which they themselves did not believe in.

...قَالُوا سِحْرَانِ تَظَاهَرَا ...

They say: "Two kinds of sorcery, each assisting the other!"

C3382. Moses was called a sorcerer by the Egyptians, and the wonderful words of the Quran were called sorcery by the Quraish.

As the Quran confirmed the Message of Moses, the Quraish objectors said that they were in collusion.

The Quraish did not believe in Allah's Revelation at all.

... وَقَالُوا إِنَّا بِكُلٍّ كَافِرُونَ ﴿٤٨﴾

And they say: "For us, we reject all (such things)!"

Asad’s Version:

Encounter with Pharaoh

28:36 BUT AS SOON as Moses came unto them with Our clear messages [Pharaoh and his great ones] said: "All this is nothing but spellbinding eloquence devised [by man]: 34 and never did we hear [the like of] this, [nor has it ever been heard of] in the time of our forebears of old!"

[[34 See note 12 on 74:24, which is the earliest Qur'anic instance of the term sihr in the above connotation. ]]

28:37 And Moses replied: "My Sustainer knows best as to who comes with guidance from Him, and to whom the future belongs! 35 Verily, never will evildoers attain to a happy state!"

(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!"

28:39 Thus arrogantly, without the least good sense, 38 did he and his hosts behave on earth - just as if they thought that they would never have to appear before Us [for judgment]! 3 '

(28:40) And so We seized him and his hosts and cast them into the sea: and behold what happened in the end to those evildoers:

(28:41) [We destroyed them,] and We set them up as archetypes [of evil] that show the way to the fire [of hell]; 40 and [whereas] no succour will come to them on

Resurrection Day,

(28:42) We have caused a curse to follow them in this world as well; 41 and

on Resurrection Day they will find themselves among those who are bereft of all good. 42

28:43 And [then,] indeed, after We had destroyed those earlier generations [of sinners], We vouchsafed unto Moses [Our] revelation as a means of insight for men, 43 and as a guidance and grace, so that they might bethink themselves [of Us].

28:44 NOW [as for thee, O Muhammad,] thou wert not present on the sunset slope (of Mount Sinai] when We imposed the Law upon Moses, nor wert thou among those who witnessed [his times]: 44 (28:45) nay, but [between them and thee] We brought into being [many] generations, and long was their span of life. And neither didst thou dwell among the people of Madyan, conveying Our messages unto them: 45 nay, but We have [always] been sending [Our message-bearers unto man].

28:46 And neither wert thou present on the slope of Mount Sinai when We called out [to Moses]:" but [thou, too, art sent] as an act of thy Sustainer's grace, to warn people to whom no warner has come before thee, so that they might bethink themselves (of Us];

(28:47) and [We have sent thee] lest they say [on Judgment Day], when disaster befalls them as an outcome of what their own hands have wrought, "O our Sustainer, if only Thou hadst sent an apostle unto us, we would have followed Thy messages, and would have been among those who believe!"

28:48 And yet, now that the truth has come unto them from Us, they say, "Why has he not been vouchsafed the like of what Moses was vouchsafed?" 47 But did they not also, before this, deny the truth of what Moses was vouchsafed? [For] they do say, "Two examples of delusion, [seemingly] supporting each other!" 48 And they add, "Behold,

we refuse to accept either of them as true ! "

[[ Asad’s notes -- 35 For an explanation of the above phrase, see surah 6, note 118.

36 In view of the fact that the ancient Egyptians worshipped many gods, this observation is not to be taken literally; but since each of the Pharaohs was regarded as an incarnation of the divine principle as such, he claimed and received his people's adoration as their "Lord All-Highest" (cf. 79:24), combining within himself, as it were, all the qualities attributable to gods.

37 Or: "ascend to the god of Moses". Whichever of the two meanings is given to the verb ittali'u, Pharaoh's demand for a "lofty tower" is not only an allusion to the building of one of the great pyramids (see note 6 above), but also a derisory, contemptuous reference to Moses' concept of God as an all-embracing Power, inconceivably high above all that exists.

38 Lit., "without [any] truth" or "justification" (bi-ghayr al-haqq).

39 Lit., "and they thought that they would not be brought hack to Us". There is no doubt that the ancient Egyptians did believe in a life after death, and that this belief included the concept of a divine judgment as well. Since, however, the particular Pharaoh whom Moses confronted is said to have behaved with an arrogance opposed to all good sense, the Qur'an by implication - likens his attitude to that of a person who does not believe in resurrection and in maris ultimate responsibility

before God: hence my rendering of the conjunctive particle wa at the beginning of the above clause as "just as if".

40 Lit., "archetypes (a'immah) inviting to the fire". This is the pivotal sentence of the above fragment of the story of Moses. Just as verses 15-16 are meant to draw our attention to the sin of tribal or racial prejudice (see note 15), the present reference to Pharaoh as an "archetype [of evil]" points to the fact that false pride (takabbur) and arrogance (istikbar) are truly "satanic" attitudes of mind, repeatedly exemplified in the Qur'an by Iblis's symbolic "revolt" against God (for the meaning of which see note 26 on 2:34 and note 31 on 15:41). Inasmuch as they are intrinsically evil, these "satanic" impulses lead to evil actions and, consequently, to aweakening or even a total destruction of maris spiritual potential: which, in its turn, is bound to cause suffering in the hereafter.

41 I.e., in the pejorative connotation universally given to the adjective "pharaonic". It is to be noted that the term la'nah, here rendered as "curse", primarily denotes "estrangement" (ib'ad), i.e., from all that is good and, hence, really desirable.

42 I.e., among those who by their own actions will have removed themselves from God's grace: a meaning given to the term maqbuh, in this context, by most of the classical commentators and philologists (cf Lisan al-'Arab, Taj-'Aras, etc.). ]]

43 By virtue of its being the first instance of a divinely- inspired Law, the Torah inaugurated a new phase in mankind's religious history (cf the reference to the children of Israel as "forerunners in faith" inverse 5 of this surah).

44 Implying that the story of Moses as narrated in the Qur'an could not have come to

Muhammad's knowledge otherwise than through revelation: consequently, the Qur'an as such must obviously be a result of divine revelation. - The term al-amr, rendered above as "the Law", is the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew word torah ("law" or "precept"), the commonly-accepted title of the revelation granted to Moses.

45 I.e., "thou art not the first of Our apostles, O Muhammad: We have sent thee to the people of thy time just as We sent Shu'ayb to the people of Madyan" (Ad-Dahhak, as quoted by Razi). ]]