Tafsir of Yunus 10:92

His statement, the Exalted in Majesty, "So this day We shall save you in your body," is a mockery of him, a disappointment to him, and a definitive severance of his ambitions. The meaning is: Today, We shall bring you forth from the depths of the sea where your people have fallen, and We shall cause you to float, encasing your body while it is stripped of the soul. However, He expressed this as "saving" metaphorically. The prepositional phrase is placed in the position of a state (hal) from the addressed pronoun for this reason, along with the allusion contained therein that what he intended by "belief" is [merely] salvation. It is said: The meaning of the hal is "stripped of garments" or "complete in limbs and members."

Some of the learned made the speech based on abstraction (tajrid). It was deemed permissible that the ba (in bi-badanika) is extra, and "your body" is a substitute (badal) for a portion of the addressed pronoun, as if it were said: "We shall save your body." It was also suggested that the ba is for the purpose of the sign (ayah), so that it follows the pattern of your saying, "I took it with your hand" and "I saw it with your eye," as a signal that this goal, which was difficult to attain, has been achieved. This is a possible interpretation, but it is not sound, as is evident.

It is said: "Saving" (tanjiyah) means casting upon the najwah, which is an elevated place. It is said: It was named such because of its salvation from the flood. This is the school of Yunus ibn Habib the grammarian, for Ibn al-Anbari and Abu al-Shaykh extracted from him that he said: The meaning is, "We shall place you on a high part of the earth so that the Children of Israel may see you, and they will know that you have arrived."

The interpretation of al-badan (the body) as "armor" has also come down to us, narrated from Muhammad ibn Ka'b and others; he had a golden armor by which he was known. In one narration, it was made of pearls. Ibn Abi Hatim and Abu al-Shaykh extracted from Abu Jahdam Musa ibn Salim that Pharaoh had something he wore called al-badan that glittered.

Ya'qub read nunajjika (We shall save you) from the if'al form, which is equivalent to the taf'il form in the two meanings mentioned previously. Ibn al-Anbari extracted from Muhammad ibn al-Sumayqa' al-Yamani and Yazid al-Barbari that they both read nuhika (We shall place you in a part) with the unpointed ha, and this was attributed to Ubayy ibn Ka'b and Abu al-Samal—meaning: We shall place you in a corner and cast you upon the shore.

Abu Hanifah—may Allah the Exalted be pleased with him—read bi-abdanika (in your bodies) in the plural form, making every limb equivalent to a body, thus applying the whole to the part metaphorically. Upon this is the pluralization of "bodies" in the saying: "How many a station, had I not fallen, I would have perished as he fell with his bodies from the peak of the mountain," or "with your armors," based on the fact that the disgraced one was wearing armor upon armor.

Ibn al-Anbari extracted from Ibn Mas'ud—may Allah be pleased with him—that he read bi-nida'ika (by your calling), meaning: by your supplication.

"That you may be a sign for those who come after you"—meaning: that you may be a sign for those nations who come after you when they hear the story of your affair from those who witnessed your state; a lesson and an exemplary punishment for tyranny, or an argument showing them that man, even if he reaches the ultimate pinnacle of great status, high pride, and strength of authority, is nevertheless a subject and subdued creature, far removed from the stations of divinity and lordship.

It is said: The meaning of "those who come after him" is those who remained after him from the Children of Israel—meaning: that you may be a sign for them of the truthfulness of Musa—upon him be peace—for there was in their souls such greatness of him that they imagined he would not die, and because of that, they disbelieved the news of Musa—upon him be peace—regarding his destruction, until they beheld him as they passed by the shore, red, short, as if he were a bull. This is narrated from Mujahid.

It was read min khalfa-ka as a past tense verb, meaning: he took your place. It was attributed to Ibn al-Sumayqa' and Abu al-Samal that they both also read liman khalaqaka (for Him who created you) with a fatha on the lam and the qaf—meaning: that you may be a sign for your Creator, like the rest of the signs. For His—Glory be to Him—singling you out by casting you to the shore is a proof that He—Glory be to Him—intended thereby to uncover your fraud and remove the doubts concerning your affair, and a luminous proof of the perfection of His knowledge, power, wisdom, and will. This is a meaning that is not objectionable, and the verse can be directed to it according to the famous reading as well. Al-Nashr mentions that among the readings not to be relied upon in transmission is the reading of Ibn al-Sumayqa' and Abu al-Samal: nunahika with a ha, and liman khalaqaka with a qaf.

In the description of his being saved as mentioned, as some of the verifiers have said, is an indication that it was not for his honor, but for another benefit returning to Him: the perfection of despising him and exposing him before the eyes of witnesses, and increasing the horror of his state, like one who is killed and then his corpse is dragged through the markets and thrown as carrion in the square, or his head is paraded through the districts and towns.

The first lam is connected to the verb, and the second is attached to an omitted element that occurred as a hal (state) from ayah, meaning: "existing for those who come after you." The rebuttal to this disgraced one is well-crafted, in the style of what he brought in his saying: "I have believed that..." etc., in its inclusion of exaggeration, as is not hidden from one who reflects on the verse. The purport of the narrated [story] is confirmed by the saying of the Exalted: "And indeed, many of the people are heedless of Our signs" (92)—meaning: they do not reflect upon them and do not take heed from them. This is a tail-piece objection brought at the narration of that.

Because of this verse and its likes, there is a consensus on the disbelief of the disgraced one and the non-acceptance of his belief. Bearing witness to this also is what Ibn 'Adi and al-Tabarani narrated: that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: "Allah the Exalted created Yahya ibn Zakariya in his mother's womb a believer, and created Pharaoh in his mother's womb a disbeliever; he is one of the dwellers of the Fire, to remain therein forever, without doubt."

The Great Shaykh—may his secret be sanctified—spoke to this in the beginning of his book al-Futuhat in its sixty-second chapter, where he mentioned that those whom Allah the Exalted has disgraced among the servants, He made them into two groups... [omitted detailed explanation of the four groups] ...and these four classes are the people of the Fire who will not emerge from it, from the jinn and mankind. This is explicit regarding what we have said, yet in another place in the mentioned book, he went to the contrary... [extensive discussion on the interpretation of the Shaykh and his views on Pharaoh's faith] ...but the manifest sense of the verses is explicit in the disbelief of Pharaoh and the non-acceptance of his belief. Included in that is His saying, the Exalted: "...and 'Ad and Thamud, and it has become clear to you from their dwellings... And Korah, Pharaoh, and Haman, and Musa had come to them with clear signs, but they acted arrogantly in the land, and they were not survivors. So each We seized for his sin..." It is manifest in the continuity of Pharaoh in disbelief and the sins that necessitated what befell him, as indicated by the expression "was" (kana) and the present-tense verb. With belief, there is no continuity. Moreover, his arrangement in the sequence of those mentioned with him is also evident in the claim.

Some have added to this His saying, the Exalted: "My enemy and his enemy," based on the fact that "enemy" is a sifah mushabbahah (resembling adjective), which is for permanence; thus, it indicates the permanence of his enmity toward Allah and his enmity toward His Messenger—upon him be peace—and the proof of one of the two enmities is sufficient for the evil of his state, contrary to what one who is mistaken [thinks]. They have also explicitly stated that the belief [offered] at the time of distress and despair is not accepted, and there is no doubt that the belief of the disgraced one was of that kind. To deny this is stubbornness. The consensus of the mujtahid Imams has been narrated on the non-acceptance, and their basis in that is the Book, the Sunnah, and what is transmitted from Imam Malik regarding acceptance is not established among those knowledgeable of the sayings of the mujtahids and their disagreements.

...And if we were to concede that Pharaoh believed in Allah—the Exalted—with a correct belief, he did not believe in Musa—upon him be peace—and did not address him at all, so his belief would not be beneficial. Do you not see that if a disbeliever were to say a thousand times, "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah" or "but He whom the Muslims believe in," he would not be a believer until he says "and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." ...The matter of Pharaoh is settled, and all praise is for Allah, the Guide to the straight path.