Tafsir of Al-Qasas 28:13

The fa (ف) is faṣīḥah (eloquent/elliptical), meaning: "They accepted that from her, and she guided them to his mother, and they spoke to her about nursing him, and she accepted; thus, We returned him to her," or something similar is implied.

It is narrated that when his sister said what she said, Pharaoh ordered her to bring someone who would care for him. She brought his mother, while Moses (peace be upon him) was in Pharaoh's hands, crying, and he was trying to soothe him. He handed him over to her. When the infant smelled her scent, he found comfort and latched onto her breast. Pharaoh said, "Who are you to him? For he has refused every breast except yours." She replied, "I am a woman of pleasant scent and pleasant milk; no child is brought to me but that he accepts me." So, he left him in her care, and she returned with him to her house that same day, and it was ordered that she be provided for. Her accepting this was not like taking a wage for nursing him; even if it were conceded, we do not admit that it was prohibited under their religious law. The provision, according to al-Baḥr, was one dinar every day.

{كَيْ تَقَرَّ عَيْنُهَا} through the arrival of her child to her, {وَلَا تَحْزَنَ} over his separation, {وَلِتَعْلَمَ أَنَّ وَعْدَ اللَّهِ}—meaning everything He—the Exalted—promised her, of returning him to her and making him one of the messengers—{حَقٌّ}—in which there is no failure, proven by witnessing a portion of it and drawing analogy of the rest upon it. Otherwise, her knowledge of its truth through revelation was already established beforehand.

Abū Ḥayyān used this verse as evidence against the weakness of the view held by those who claim that the revelation was merely an inspiration (ilhām) or a dream, because it is unlikely that this would be described as a "promise" (wa‘d). This is a point for consideration.

{وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ} Meaning: They do not know His promise—the Exalted—nor its truthfulness, or they are not certain of what He—the Majestic—promised them because they deem it possible for it to be unfulfilled, whereas He—the Exalted—does not fail in His promise. It is also said: They do not know that the primary purpose behind returning him to her was her knowledge of that truth, and that all else—the cooling of her eyes and the departure of her sorrow—was secondary. However, the implication of the discourse is that both the cooling of the eyes and the knowledge function as purposes, or as an independent purpose. As for the claim that the others are secondary to the knowledge, especially given that they precede it, this is not sound. The suggestion that this is indicated by the omission of the particle of causation in the first instance is clearly tenuous.

Regarding His saying—the Exalted—{وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ} etc., it has been said that this is a subtle reproach concerning what transpired from his mother when she heard he had fallen into Pharaoh's hands, due to her fear and confusion. You know, however, that what afflicted her was among the requirements of human nature, which is consistent with the knowledge that what she feared would not come to pass. To deny knowledge in such a state requires a degree of interpretation, as is not hidden. Furthermore, the istidrāk (adversative clause) applies to what was chosen from among the events that occurred after the knowledge, and it is permissible for it to be part of the knowledge itself, if the meaning is: they do not know that the primary purpose of returning him to her was her knowledge of the truth of Allah's promise. So, contemplate this.