Tafsir of Ash-Shu`ara' 26:62

(Moses, peace be upon him, said—rebuking them for that and guiding them to the fact that the decree of Allah, Might and Majestic is He, suffices instead of his own decree—: "No indeed [kalla], they will not overtake you; for my Lord is with me," by way of preservation and support, "He will guide me," to that which contains your deliverance from them and your victory over them.

He, peace be upon him, did not include them in the [pronoun of] companionship and guidance, tailoring the speech according to what they had indicated in their statement, "We are indeed overtaken," which was a demand for [human] intervention from him.

It is said: Since he, peace be upon him, was the foundation and the others were followers, they were preserved and supported by way of him, his nobility, and his honor; thus he said, "with me," and not "with us." Similarly, he said, "He will guide me," and not "He will guide us."

It is also said: He said this as a rebuke to them for their heedlessness regarding the saying of Allah, the Exalted, to him, "You and those who follow you are the victors." They were heedless of this until they feared and said what they said, for it is apparent that they had heard that from Moses, peace be upon him, during the period of their stay with him in Egypt. Or [it was a rebuke for] their heedlessness regarding the care of Allah, the Exalted, for them while they were with the Copts in Egypt, at which time they were not afflicted by what befell [the Copts] in terms of blood and other such signs—which required them to have good thoughts [of Allah] by way of him—or for their deliverance from them when they were commanded to leave, only for [the Copts] to overtake them. His discipline of them for that was merely by not including them in what was mentioned, not that he negated it for them, as might be imagined from the advancement of the predicate [in the sentence structure]. For its advancement is for the sake of emphasizing the matter of companionship, which is the pivot of the sought-after deliverance.

It is said: It is for restriction, but relative to Pharaoh and his gathering.

It is said—based on the second view regarding the explanation of not including them—that it is for restriction relative to them as well, meaning: "My Lord is with me first and primarily, not with you in that manner."

It is said: The companionship was advanced here, whereas it was delayed in the saying of Allah, the Exalted, "Indeed, Allah is with us," because the one being addressed here were the Children of Israel, who were dull-witted and knew Allah, Might and Majestic is He, only after reflection and hearing from Moses, peace be upon him. The one addressed there [in the cave] was the Truthful One [Abu Bakr], may Allah be pleased with him, who was of those who see Allah, the Exalted, before everything else. Due to the difference in the situation, our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, included his companion with him in the companionship and did not advance himself [in the phrasing]; he addressed him in a manner similar to how Allah, the Exalted, addressed him—peace and blessings be upon him—when comforting him with what took the form of a prohibition against sadness, and he brought the all-encompassing Name, which is the word "Allah," rather than a name indicating a single attribute, for example. The speech of Moses, peace be upon him, and his addressing of his people was not in this style. Glorified is He, how He favors some of the worlds over others.

Some have claimed that there is an ellipsis in the speech and that the estimation is, "My Lord’s promise is with me," and that is why he said, "with me" instead of "with us." In this [claim], there is what is in it [of weakness].)