Tafsir of Al-Qasas 28:9

"And the wife of Pharaoh said..."

She is Asiya, daughter of Muzahim, son of Ubayd, son of al-Rayyan, son of al-Walid—the one who was the Pharaoh of Egypt during the time of Yusuf the Truthful, peace be upon him. Based on this, she was not of the Children of Israel. It is also said that she was of them, from the tribe of Musa, peace be upon him. Al-Suhayli recounted that she was his (Musa’s) paternal aunt, though this is a strange opinion, and the first opinion is the most well-known.

The sentence is a conjunction linked to the sentence, “And the family of Pharaoh picked him up,” meaning: Pharaoh’s wife said to him when she took him out of the chest, “A comfort of the eye for me and for you.” This means he is a comfort of the eye existing for me and for you, on the basis that "comfort" (qurrat) is the predicate of an omitted subject, and the prepositional phrase serves as an adjective for it. It is weak—as mentioned in al-Bahr—for it to be a subject whose predicate is the sentence of His saying, “Do not kill him.”

She said this because of the love Allah placed in her heart for him, or because He unveiled her vision and she saw the light between his eyes, or because she witnessed the daughter of Pharaoh being cured of leprosy through his saliva, or simply upon looking at his face. To emphasize the status of this "comfort," she shifted from "for us" to "for me and for you." It is as if, knowing Pharaoh’s excessive love for her and that her interests were more important to him than his own, she placed herself before him. This is more effective in persuading him to refrain from killing him. It should not be said that "for us" would have been more apparent for persuasion; the reverse is true. One might draw comfort for the fact that her interest was more important to him than his own from what al-Nasa'i narrated from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them: that when she said that to him, he said, "For you, not for me." Had he said, "For me," as it was for her, Allah would have guided him just as He guided her. This is a hypothetical matter and does not contradict what has been reported regarding his being, the curse of Allah be upon him, sealed as a disbeliever.

Regarding the address in “Do not kill him” (la taqtulu-hu): It is said that it is directed at Pharaoh, and the attribution of the verb to him is metaphorical because he is the one who commands, and the plural form is used for glorification. The assertion that this usage is not found in the speech of reliable Arabs except in the first-person plural (like "we did") is something uniquely claimed by al-Radi, and those who followed him in it; it has no foundation in transmission or reasoning. Abu Ali al-Farisi said in Fiqh al-Lugha that it is the custom of the Arabs to address a single person using the plural form, such as saying to a great man, "Look into my affair." This is also found in Sirr al-Adab and the Khasa’is of Ibn Jinni. It is a masterful metaphor, and there are instances of it in the Holy Quran whose interpretation as metaphorical is considered ignorance.

It is also said that the address is to Pharaoh and his present aides. This is supported by the narration that the misguided ones among his people said when he was brought out, "This is the boy we were warned about, so permit us to kill him." It is also said that it is directed at him and those from whom killing is feared—even if they were not present—by way of generalization. Some chose the view that it is addressed to those commanded to kill the boys; as if, after she addressed Pharaoh and told him what would make him sympathetic toward Musa, peace be upon him, she secured him against any new impulse to kill him, then turned her speech toward those commanded [to kill], forbidding them from doing so, justifying it with the statement recounted from her: “Perhaps he will benefit us, or we shall take him as a son.” This aligns better with the shift in style: she first detailed in her speech "for me and for you," kept the address to Pharaoh singular, then addressed and pluralized the pronoun in "do not kill him," then abandoned the detail in "perhaps he will benefit us," not employing the structure of "a comfort of the eye for me and for you" (i.e., by saying "perhaps he will benefit me and benefit you"). Reflect upon this.

The hope for his benefit arose when she saw in him the signs of blessing and evidence of nobility—in the cradle he spoke of the happiness of his destiny, the traces of nobility shining with clear proof. And "we shall take him as a son" because he was suitable for the adoption of kings due to the majesty he possessed. Conjoining this to what preceded it is an instance of conjoining the specific to the general, or one may consider them distinct, which is more appropriate with 'aw (or).

“And they did not perceive” is a circumstantial clause referring to the family of Pharaoh. The implication is: The family of Pharaoh picked him up to be an enemy and a cause of grief to them—and Pharaoh’s wife said such and such—while they did not perceive that they were in great error in what they had done. Qatada said: They did not perceive that he was the one who would destroy their kingdom at his hands. Mujahid said: That he was an enemy to them. Muhammad ibn Ishaq said: "I do what I will, not what they will." The first interpretation is more comprehensive.

It is permissible that it is a circumstantial clause referring to both the speaker (the wife) and the one spoken to (Pharaoh) together, with the plural signifying two people, based on the possibility that the address in "do not kill him" was to Pharaoh alone. Or it may be a circumstantial clause referring to the speaker only, meaning: Pharaoh’s wife said that to him, while those who suggested killing him did not perceive her speaking to him and her softening of his heart toward him, lest they trick him into killing him. Under all three possibilities, it is from the speech of Allah the Almighty. It is also permissible that it is a circumstantial clause referring to one of the two pronouns in "we take him," where the pronoun refers to the people, not the subject, since the waw (and) is sufficient for linkage; meaning: We take him as a son, and the people do not know that he is not ours and that we have adopted him. In this case, it would be from the speech of Asiya, may Allah be pleased with her.