Tafsir of Ta-Ha 20:56-58

Tā-Hā (20:56-58)

And We had certainly shown him of Our signs—all of them—but he denied and refused.

It is established that the Almighty demonstrated all the signs to Pharaoh, yet he did not accept them. There is a difference of opinion regarding what is meant by "the signs" (al-āyāt).

1. Some said: It refers to all proofs, both those related to Monotheism (tawḥīd) and those related to Prophethood (nubuwwah).
   • As for Monotheism, this includes what was mentioned in this Sūrah, such as: "Our Lord is He Who gave everything its creation, then guided it" (20:50), and "He Who made the earth a cradle for you" (20:53), and what was mentioned in Sūrat Ash-Shu‘arā’: "Pharaoh said, 'And what is the Lord of the worlds?' [Moses] said, 'The Lord of the heavens and the earth...'" (26:23-24).
   • As for Prophethood, these are the nine miracles specifically granted to Moses (ʿalayhi al-salām): the staff, the shining hand, the splitting of the sea, the stone, the locusts, the lice, the frogs, the blood, and the lifting of the mountain. According to this interpretation, the meaning of "We showed him" (araynāhu) is: We made him recognize their truthfulness and clarified the evidence within them.

2. Others held: It refers only to what is connected to Prophethood, which are these miracles.

The reason God Almighty attributed the signs to Himself, even though Moses (ʿalayhi al-salām) was the one manifesting them, is similar to how He attributed the breathing of the spirit to Himself: "So We breathed into it of Our Spirit" (21:91), even though the breathing was done by Gabriel (ʿalayhi al-salām).

If one asks: The word "all" (kulluhā) implies generality, but God did not show him all the signs, as some signs were shown through prophets before Moses and after him. We reply: Although the word kull generally implies totality, it can sometimes be used for specificity when context dictates, just as one might say, "I went to the market and bought everything," when they only bought what they needed. Alternatively, it could mean that Moses showed him his signs, and recounted the signs of other prophets to him, and Pharaoh disbelieved them all. Or, denying some miracles necessitates denying all of them, so God recounted this consequence as it necessarily followed.

Furthermore, the Almighty recounted that Pharaoh denied and refused (kadhdhaba wa abā). Al-Qāḍī stated that Ibā’ (refusal) implies unwillingness, and this quality is only ascribed to one who is capable of both action and inaction. Since God condemned him for denying and refusing, it implies he was capable of what he was in. This issue was previously discussed in Sūrat Al-Baqarah regarding Iblīs: "Except Iblīs; he refused and was arrogant" (2:34), and the answer is mentioned there.

Then, God recounted Pharaoh's pretext, which is His saying: "Have you come to us to drive us out of our land with your magic, O Moses?"

The structure of this pretext is remarkable. He first presented something that would make them intensely hostile toward Moses: "Have you come to us to drive us out of our land?" This is something extremely difficult for a person, which is why God equated it with killing in the verse: "Or expel yourselves from your homes" (4:66). Only after they reached the peak of hatred for him did he introduce the argument that undermined his Prophethood: that what he brought was magic, not a miracle.

Since a miracle is distinguished from magic by the impossibility of matching the miracle while magic can be matched, Pharaoh said: "Then we will surely bring you magic like it."

As for His saying: "So set between us and you an appointment that we will not fail, neither we nor you."

Understand that maw‘id (appointment) can be:

1. A verbal noun (masdar), meaning the act of promising.
2. A noun for the place of the promise, like His saying: "And indeed, Hell is the promised place for them all" (15:43).
3. A noun for the time of the promise, like His saying: "Indeed, their appointment is the morning" (11:81).

In this verse, it means the verbal noun (masdar), i.e., "Set between us and you a promise that we will not fail," because only a promise can be described by the attribute of "failing" (khalf). Time and place cannot be described this way. This is further supported by Al-Ḥasan’s reading of "the day of the adornment" (yawm az-zīnah) with the accusative case (naṣb), which does not fit time or place. Rather, it is accusative because it is the second object of the verb "set" (ij‘al), with the implied meaning: "Set a place for the appointment that we will not fail, other than..."

As for His saying: "other than" (sawā), ʿĀṣim, Ḥamzah, and Ibn ʿĀmir read it with a ḍammah on the sīn (sūwā), while the rest read it with a kasrah (siwā). These are two variations of the same word, like ṭawā and ṭawā. It was also read with and without tanwīn.

They mentioned several interpretations for its meaning:

1. Abū ʿAlī said: A place whose distance is equal for both parties. This is what Mujāhid meant when he said: "equal between us." Qatādah meant "equitable."
2. Ibn Zayd said: "Sawā" means level, such that no elevation or depression obstructs the view. In the first interpretation, sawā is an adjective describing the distance; in this interpretation, it describes the place. The goal was that they requested a level location, without elevation or depression, so that everyone present could witness everything that transpired.
3. A place where our state of satisfaction with it is equal.
4. Al-Kalbī said: A place other than this place where we are now.

[7] He said, "Your appointment is the Day of the Adornment, and that people be gathered in the forenoon."

[8] So Pharaoh withdrew and gathered his plot, then he came.

[9] Moses said to them, "Woe to you! Do not invent a lie against God, lest He destroy you with a punishment, for ruined is he who invents a lie."

[10] So they disputed the matter among themselves and kept their counsel secret.