Tafsir of Ash-Shu`ara' 26:64

"And We brought near the others there."

This is a conjunction connected to "We revealed" (awhayna). It is also said that it is connected to an implied verb necessitated by the context, the estimation being: "So We led the Children of Israel into what had parted of the sea, and We brought near the others there."

"There" (thamma) means: in that place.

"The others" (al-akharin) refers to: Pharaoh and his hosts. That is, We brought them close to the people of Moses (peace be upon him) until they entered the passages they had taken, following in their tracks. It is also permissible that it be intended that We brought them close to one another and gathered them together so that not a single one of them would escape.

Ibn Abd al-Hakam narrated from Mujahid who said: Gabriel (peace be upon him) was between the people—between the Children of Israel and the family of Pharaoh. He would say to the Children of Israel: "Let your last reach your first," and he would face the family of Pharaoh and say: "Slowly, so that your last may join you." The Children of Israel said: "We have never seen a drover better than this one," and the family of Pharaoh said: "We have never seen a herald better than this one."

Al-Hasan and Abu Haywah read it as zallafna (without the hamza). Ubayy, Ibn Abbas, and Abdullah ibn al-Harith read it as azlaqna (with a qaf instead of a fa), meaning: We caused their feet to slip. The meaning is: We destroyed their might, as in the saying: "You both acted quickly while the throne was demolished, and Dhubyan, when the sandal slipped from their feet." It is possible that Allah (Exalted is He) made their path in the sea the opposite of what He made for the Children of Israel—a dry path—causing them to slip therein.

The author of al-Lawamih said: It is said that whoever read it with a qaf intended by "the others" Pharaoh and his people, and whoever read it with a fa intended by it Moses (peace be upon him) and his companions—meaning, We gathered their numbers together and brought them close to salvation. It is not hidden that the interpretation of "the others" as Moses (peace be upon him) and his companions is rendered remote by His (Glorified is He) saying [in the continuation of the verses]...