Tafsir of Ash-Shu`ara' 26:60

"فَأَتْبَعُوهُم": The meaning is "they caught up with them." It is said: "I followed (taba‘tu) the people, then I overtook them (ittaba‘tuhum)," meaning: I followed them and caught up with them. It is as if the meaning is: "I made them followers of me after I had been a follower of them," as an emphasis on reaching them. The subject (the doer of the verb) is Pharaoh’s people, and the object is the Children of Israel. Al-Hasan read it as fattaba‘uhum (joining the hamza and doubling the ta).

"مُشْرِقِينَ": That is, entering into the time of the sunrise, meaning its emergence. Just as one says asbaha (he entered into the morning) and amsa (he entered into the evening), ashraqa means he entered into the time of sunrise. Abu ‘Ubaydah said: It is derived from ashraqa meaning "he headed toward the east," just as anjada means "he headed toward the Najd" and a‘raqa means "he headed toward Iraq," meaning: they followed them heading toward the east. The majority, however, hold the first view.

Al-Suddi reported that Allah, Exalted is He, cast death upon the Copts on the night Moses (peace be upon him) departed with his people; every firstborn male among them died, so they were occupied with burying them instead of pursuing them until the sun rose. Similar accounts are in the Torah, with the addition of the death of the firstborn of their cattle as well.

The description (the state of being mushriqin) is a circumstantial qualifier (hal) for the subject. It is also said: It is a circumstantial qualifier for the object. Another interpretation of mushriqin is "in the light," based on what is narrated: that the Children of Israel were in light, while Pharaoh and his people were in a fog and darkness in which they were bewildered until the Children of Israel crossed the sea. This, however, is unlikely to be correct due to the words of the Exalted: [...]