Ruh al-Ma'ani on Ghafir 40:37

Surah Ghafir 40:37

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ﲆ ﲇ ﲈ ﲉ ﲊ ﲋ ﲌ ﲍ ﲎ ﲏ ﲐ ﲑ ﲒ ﲓ ﲔ ﲕ ﲖ ﲗ ﲘ ﲙ ﲚ ﲛ ﲜ ﲝ ﲞ

The ways into the heavens - so that I may look at the deity of Moses; but indeed, I think he is a liar." And thus was made attractive to Pharaoh the evil of his deed, and he was averted from the [right] way. And the plan of Pharaoh was not except in ruin.

(Asbab al-Samawat) This is an explication of them; the vagueness followed by clarity serves to magnify their importance and incite the listener's eagerness to know them.

(Fa-attali‘a ila ilahi Musa) It is in the accusative case (nasb) as a response to an expression of hope (tarajji) according to the Kufans, for they permit the accusative after fa in response to hope, just as they do with a wish (tamanni). The Basrans forbade this, and they explain the accusative here by stating it is in response to a command (amr)—which is "build" (ibni)—as in the verse: "O camel, travel at a wide pace toward Sulayman, so that we may rest." It is also permitted that it is a conjunction following the predicate of la‘alli (that I may), based on the assumption that it contains [the meaning of a command], for it frequently comes accompanied by it. Or, it may be a conjunction following "the causes" (al-asbab), similar to the line: "He wore a cloak and my eyes became cooled." Some have said: "This 'hope' is in reality a wish, but the accursed one [Pharaoh] presented it in this form to deceive his listeners, so the accusative is in response to the wish." It is apparent that the Basrans do not distinguish between one type of hope and another.

The majority recite it in the nominative (raf‘), as a conjunction following "I shall reach" (ablugh). It is said: Perhaps he intended to build a high structure from which to observe the conditions of the stars—which are celestial causes indicating earthly events—to see if there is any indication within them regarding Allah’s sending of Musa. This indicates that he acknowledged Allah Almighty and only sought what would remove his doubt regarding the message. It is said that the accursed one and his contemporaries had a preoccupation with the stars and their judgments.

This possibility is extremely far-fetched in my view. Others have said: He wanted to inform the people of the falsehood of Musa's—peace be upon him—statement, "I am a messenger from the Lord of the heavens," by implying that if he were a messenger from Him, he would be one who could reach Him by ascending to the sky, which is impossible; therefore, that which is built upon it is likewise. The origin of this is his ignorance of Allah Almighty, thinking that He—Exalted is He—is settled in the sky and that His messengers are like the messengers of kings who meet Him and reach His residence. Yet He—Majestic is He—is exempt from the attributes of originated things and bodies, and His noble messengers—peace and blessings be upon them—do not require what the messengers of kings require. This is a denial of his messengership from Allah, and there is no indication in it of denying the Creator who sent him.

The Imam said: "My view on the interpretation of this verse is that Pharaoh was a materialist (Dahri), and his purpose in this speech was to cast a doubt to negate the Creator. His argument was: 'We do not see anything that we can judge to be the God of the world, so it is not permissible to affirm this God.' As for me not seeing Him, it is because if He existed, He would be in the sky, and we have no way to ascend to the heavens, so how is it possible for us to see Him?" To exaggerate the statement of impossibility, he said: "O Haman, build for me a tower," which was only to demonstrate the impossibility of what was mentioned to everyone. Perhaps "that I may" (la‘alli) does not reject this, as it is used for irony here. This is a claim of extreme falsehood, for the negation of one path to knowledge of a thing does not necessitate the negation of that thing itself.

I have seen from some of the Salafis that the accursed one did not say this except because he heard from Musa—peace be upon him—or from one of the believers the description of Allah Almighty as being "High" or that He is in the sky, and he interpreted it with a meaning impossible for Allah to possess—a meaning neither Musa nor any of the believers intended. So he said what he said out of irony and deception toward his people. The Imam has discussion in this place by which he refuted those who claim that Allah Almighty is in the sky, and he refuted their argumentation by what the verse implies, labeling them as "anthropomorphists" (mushabbiha). The research into this is long-winded, but the truth is with the Salaf—may the mercy of the Sovereign, the Most High, be upon them—and far be it from them, indeed far be it, to fall into anthropomorphism.

His saying: "And I think he is a liar" can be interpreted as meaning: a liar in his claim of messengership, or a liar in his claim that he has a god other than me, due to his statement: "I do not know that you have any god other than me."

"And thus"—that is, like that extreme and excessive embellishment—"was the evil of his deed made attractive to Pharaoh," so he became deeply engrossed in it, never turning back from it in any way, "and he was averted from the path," that is, from the path of right guidance. The definite article is for reference (al-‘ahd). Both verbs are in the passive voice, though the actual agent is Allah Almighty; yet He—Glory be to Him—did not perform the embellishment or the averting except because Pharaoh sought it with his disposition, and his own evil choice necessitated it. This is supported by the fact that it is recited "made attractive" (zuyyina) in the active voice [in some readings], and there is no mention preceding it except of Him—Exalted is He—not of Shaytan. It is also permitted that the agent is Shaytan, and the action is attributed to him through whispering.

The two Hijazis, the Shami, and Abu ‘Amr recited "and he averted" (wa-sadda) in the active voice, where the pronoun refers to Pharaoh, meaning: "And Pharaoh averted people from the path of right guidance with such deceits and doubts." This is supported by: "And the plot of Pharaoh was only in loss."

(37) That is, in destruction, for it implies a preceding mention of the "plot," and in this reading, it is more apparent. Ibn Wathab recited it with a kasrah on the sad (sidda), originally sadada, with the vowel transferred to the sad after the assumption of its elision. Ibn Abi Ishaq and ‘Abd al-Rahman bin Abi Bakra recited it with a fathah on the sad and a dammah on the dal with tanwin (suddun), as a conjunction following "evil of his deed." It is also recited as "and they were averted" (wa-suddu) with the collective waw.

Tafsir of Ghafir 40:37

Ruh al-Ma'ani

(Asbab al-Samawat) This is an explication of them; the vagueness followed by clarity serves to magnify their importance and incite the listener's eagerness to know them.