Tafsir of Al-Qasas 28:8

The Fa (the letter fā) in His saying, "Then the family of Pharaoh picked him up," is fasīḥah (eloquent/explanatory). The implied meaning is: So she did what she was commanded regarding nursing him and casting him into the sea when she feared for him. What has been omitted is omitted, relying upon the indication of the circumstances and signaling the completeness and swiftness of the compliance.

It is narrated that when labor pains struck her, she summoned a midwife from those appointed to the pregnant women of the Children of Israel to assist her. When Moses, peace be upon him, fell to the ground, a light between his eyes terrified her, every joint in her body trembled, and his love entered her heart to such an extent that it prevented her from reporting him. She said to his mother: "Keep him safe."

When she went out, Pharaoh's spies arrived. She wrapped him in a rag and threw him into a heated oven, not knowing what she was doing due to her confused mind. They searched but found nothing, so they left. While she did not know his whereabouts, she heard his crying from the oven. She went to him, and Allah—the Exalted—had made the fire cool and safe for him, so she took him. When Pharaoh persisted in seeking the infants and the spies exerted themselves in searching for them, Allah—the Exalted—inspired her with what He inspired. She nursed him for three, four, or eight months, according to differing narrations.

When she feared for him, she proceeded to take papyrus and made a chest (a box) of it, coating it with bitumen from the inside. According to Al-Suddi, she summoned a carpenter who made a chest for her, and she made a key for it from the inside. She placed Moses, peace be upon him, inside it and cast him into the Nile among stones near Pharaoh’s house.

The maidservants of Asiya, Pharaoh’s wife, went out to bathe and found it. They brought it to her, thinking it contained wealth. When they opened it, Asiya saw him, and her mercy fell upon him, so she loved him. Pharaoh wanted to kill him, but she did not cease speaking to him until he left him for her.

It is narrated from Ibn Abbas and others that Pharaoh had a daughter at that time, and he had no children other than her. She was the most honorable of people to him, and she suffered from a severe leprosy that exhausted the physicians. It had been mentioned to him that she would not be cured except by something from the sea—it would be taken on such-and-such day of such-and-such month, when the sun rises, and his [the child's] saliva would be taken and smeared on her leprosy, and she would be cured.

When that day arrived, Pharaoh went out in a session he held on the bank of the Nile, accompanied by his wife Asiya. His daughter approached with her maidservants until she sat on the shore of the Nile. Suddenly, a chest was struck by the waves and caught on a tree. Pharaoh said, "Bring it to me." They hurried with boats and brought it before him. They attempted to open it but could not. They intended to break it, but it resisted them. Asiya looked, and a light was revealed to her inside it that no one else saw. She attended to it and opened it; behold, there was a small infant inside with a light between his eyes, sucking his thumb for milk. Allah—the Exalted—cast His love—peace be upon him—into her heart and the hearts of the people. Pharaoh’s daughter took his saliva and smeared it on her leprosy, and she was cured on the spot.

It is also said: When she looked at his face, she was cured. The instigators among Pharaoh’s people said, "We suspect this is the one we are warned against; he was cast into the sea in fear of you, so kill him." He intended to kill him, but Asiya begged for his life, so he left him, as will come, if Allah wills. The reports concerning this story are numerous, and we have presented what we have presented.

"The family of Pharaoh" refers to his followers. Their claim—that the word Āl (family/kin) is only used for that which possesses honor—is based on the majority usage, or that honor here is more general than true and formal honor.

The meaning of them picking him up—peace be upon him—is their taking him as a luqṭah (foundling), meaning: taking him with concern for him and protection against loss, "so that he might become an enemy and a source of grief for them." This contains a sarcastic metaphor (istiʿārah tahkamiyyah), because what prompted them to pick him up was not that he would become an enemy and a source of grief to them; rather, something else prompted them, such as adoption and the benefit they would receive from him when he grew up.

There are several views in verifying this:

1. That the state of his being an enemy and a source of grief is likened to the final cause—like adoption and benefit—a likeness implied in the soul. The non-likened element is not explicitly stated, and it is indicated by mentioning that which belongs to the object of the comparison: the Lām of Taʿlīl (causality). Thus, it is an original metaphor (istiʿārah makniyyah aṣliyyah) in the genitive object, and the Lām is in its literal sense.
2. That the sequence of the non-final cause is first likened to the sequence of the final cause; i.e., the comparison between the two total sequences is considered so that it flows into their parts. Thus, it is realized—consequently—the comparison of the sequence of his being an enemy and a source of grief (the specific sequence) upon picking him up, with the sequence of adoption and the like, which is the final cause (also the specific sequence) upon it. Then, the Lām placed to denote the sequence of the final cause (which is the object of the comparison) is used for the Musabbah (the likened). Thus, the metaphor is first in causality and purpose, and sequentially in the Lām. The ruling of the Lām becomes like that of the "lion" (asad)—where it is borrowed for that which resembles a lion, just as the lion is borrowed for that which resembles a lion—except that the metaphor here is makniyyah tabaʿiyyah.
3. That which the speech of Al-Khatib Al-Dimashqi in At-Talkhīs and Al-Īḍāḥ conveys: that the comparison of his being an enemy and a source of grief to the final cause is intended first, then that comparison flows into the comparison of its sequence to the sequence of the final cause. The Lām placed for the sequence of the final cause is borrowed for the sequence of his being an enemy and a source of grief, without a metaphor in the genitive object. This comparison is like the comparison of spring to a capable, free agent, then attributing the creation of vegetation to it. This is the content of the Kashshāf, and the scholar Abd al-Hakim chose this, saying: "This is the truth in my view, because since the meaning of the Lām requires the mention of a genitive object, it is appropriate that the metaphor and comparison in it follow the comparison of the genitive object, not follow the comparison of a universal meaning to a universal meaning, the meaning of the particle being from its parts, as Al-Sakkaki—and following him the scholar Al-Taftazani—went."

The original causality of the "picking up" was considered problematic, as "picking up" is finding without intent, whereas causality requires the reality of intent. This is a delusion, because finding without intent is taking what is found for a purpose. You have known that the meaning here is "So the family of Pharaoh took him as a foundling," meaning: they took him with concern for him, "so that he might be..." and the causality therein is for the taking, and there is no problem with it.

Some said it is possible for the Lām to connect to an implicit phrase, i.e., "We destined the picking up, so that he might be..." and upon this, there is no figurative usage in the speech except for those who say that the actions of Allah—the Exalted—are not to be reasoned. This is a matter other than what we are currently discussing. It is not hidden that the speech of Allah is more majestic and higher than for such a possibility to be considered within it. In making him—peace be upon him—the very grief itself, there is a hyperbolic quality that is not hidden.

Ibn Wathab, Al-A'mash, Hamzah, Al-Kisa'i, and Ibn Sa'dan read ḥuznan with a ḍammah on the ḥā' and a sukūn on the zāy. The reading of the majority is with two fatḥahs, which is the dialect of Quraysh.

"Indeed, Pharaoh and Haman and their soldiers were wrongdoers"—in everything they do and leave, or it is from their nature to err, so it is no innovation for them that they killed thousands for his sake, then took him, raising him so that he would grow up and do to them what they were fearing. It is narrated that ninety thousand infants were slaughtered in pursuit of him—peace be upon him.

Khāṭiʾīn (wrongdoers) in this context is from error in judgment. It is also permissible that it is from khaṭiʾa, meaning to commit a sin. In Al-Asās, it is said: "He sinned (khaṭiʾa) a sin (khaṭaʾan)" if he committed the sin intentionally. The meaning is: They were sinners, so Allah—the Exalted—punished them by having their enemy raised at their own hands. The sentence, according to the first interpretation, is a parenthetical clause between the coordinated clauses to emphasize their error, which is understood from His saying: "so that he might be an enemy and a source of grief for them," for it is—as you heard—a sarcastic metaphor. According to the second, it is a parenthetical clause to emphasize their sin, which is understood from the result of the speech. It is said: It is determined to be a parenthetical clause to clarify the cause for which they were afflicted. It is possible, upon this, that it is an explanatory inception if by "what they were afflicted with" it is intended that he became an enemy and a source of grief, and this does not contradict it being a parenthetical clause according to them.

It was read khāṭīn without a hamza. It is possible that its origin is with a hamza and it was elided, which is the apparent case. It is also said: It is from khaṭā-yakhtu, meaning deviating from the truth to its opposite, so it is figurative.