ﲄ ﲅ 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 ﲟ
[Pharaoh] said, "You believed him before I gave you permission. Indeed, he is your leader who has taught you magic. So I will surely cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and I will crucify you on the trunks of palm trees, and you will surely know which of us is more severe in [giving] punishment and more enduring."
Tafsir
Verse range: 20:70-71
There is an indication in the phrase, "So the magicians fell down in prostration," that Moses cast down what was in his staff, and it became a serpent that swallowed what they had made. When the matter became clear, they immediately fell down prostrating.
This is because they were at the highest level of the knowledge of magic. When they saw what Moses (peace be upon him) did, realizing it was outside the scope of their craft, they knew it was absolutely not magic.
It is narrated that their leader said: "We used to overcome people with magic, and our instruments would remain with us even if we were defeated. If this were magic, where are the things we cast down?"
Thus, they inferred the existence of the All-Knowing, Capable Maker from the change in the state of the bodies. And by its appearance at the hand of Moses (peace be upon him), they inferred that he was a truthful messenger from God Almighty. Consequently, they repented, believed, and performed the ultimate act of submission: prostration.
As for the Almighty's saying, {فَأَلْقَى السَّحَرَةُ سُجَّدًا} (So the magicians fell down in prostration), it does not mean they were forced to prostrate, nor that they were praised for it. Rather, the interpretation given by Al-Akhfash is that they prostrated so quickly as if they were thrown down.
The author of Al-Kashshaf said: "How astonishing is their affair! They cast down their ropes and staffs in disbelief and denial, and then, an hour later, they cast down their heads in thanks and prostration. What a great difference between the two castings down!"
It is narrated that they did not lift their heads until they saw Paradise and Hellfire and the reward of their inhabitants. It is reported from 'Ikrimah that when they fell prostrate, God showed them in their prostration the stations they would attain in Paradise.
The Judge (Al-Qadi) commented that this is unlikely, because if God had shown them visibly, they would have been compelled (to believe), which does not suit their subsequent statement: {إِنَّا آمَنَّا بِرَبِّنَا لِيَغْفِرَ لَنَا خَطَايَانَا} (Indeed, we have believed in our Lord, that He may forgive us our sins) (Taha: 73).
The response is: Just as it was permissible for Abraham (peace be upon him), despite his certainty that his sins were forgiven, to say: {وَالَّذِي أَطْمَعُ أَنْ يَغْفِرَ لِي خَطِيئَتِي} (And who I hope will forgive me my sin) (Ash-Shu'ara: 82), why would it not be permissible for the magicians to say the like?
Know that this story points to wonderful secrets concerning Lordship and the penetration of Divine Decree and Predestination into all created things. This is because the manifestation of those proofs occurred in full view and hearing of everyone, so the basis for inference was clear and manifest: Events occurred, so there must be an Agent. Knowledge of this is necessary.
That Agent is either creation itself or something else. The first (creation itself) is self-evidently false, because every rational person knows by necessity from himself that he cannot create living creatures and magnify their bodies all at once, and then reduce them again as they were. When these clear pieces of knowledge are established in the mind, they yield certainty that there must be a Manager for this universe.
What do the deniers say? Do you not see that those deniers were ignorant of the validity of these premises? This is extremely far-fetched, because we have explained that each premise is such that a rational person cannot doubt it. If they knew the validity of these premises, yet insisted on ignorance and disliked acquiring knowledge and happiness for themselves, preferring to acquire ignorance and misery—I do not see any rational person willingly accepting that for himself.
Therefore, the only remaining conclusion is that reason and proof are insufficient; rather, there must be a Manager who creates these premises in the hearts, and creates the perception of how they are arranged and how the conclusion is derived from them, such that when He does so, the results occur in the hearts. This indicates that everything is by His Decree and Predestination, as reliance cannot be placed on minds and hearts in their courses and actions. Whoever removes prejudice from his heart and reflects upon his own state in the flow of his thoughts and reflections will increase in certainty regarding what we have mentioned.
The Mu'tazila used this verse as proof, arguing that they believed in the God whom they knew before Aaron and Moses, implying that knowledge of God can only be gained from the Imam. This view is weak. Rather, in their statement, {آمَنَّا بِرَبِّ هَارُونَ وَمُوسَى}, there are two benefits beyond what they mentioned:
Pharaoh claimed Lordship in his saying: {أَنَا رَبُّكُمُ الْأَعْلَى} (I am your Lord, the Most High) (An-Nazi'at: 24), and Divinity in his saying: {مَا عَلِمْتُ لَكُمْ مِنْ إِلَٰهٍ غَيْرِي} (I know of no deity for you other than myself) (Al-Qasas: 38). If they had said, "We believe in the Lord of the Worlds," Pharaoh would have claimed that they believed in him and no one else. To cut off this suspicion, they chose this phrasing.
The evidence for this is that they mentioned Aaron before Moses. This is because Pharaoh claimed Lordship over Moses based on having raised him, saying: {أَلَمْ نُرَبِّكَ فِينَا وَلِيدًا} (Did we not raise you among us as a child?) (Ash-Shu'ara: 18). Since the people sought to guard against Pharaoh's insinuations, they mentioned Aaron before Moses to definitively cut off this notion.
Since they witnessed that God Almighty had singled out Aaron and Moses for those great miracles and noble stations, they naturally said, "The Lord of Aaron and Moses."
When Pharaoh witnessed their prostration and confession, he feared that this would become a reason for the rest of the people to follow them in believing in God and His Messenger. Immediately, he cast another doubt upon the Prophet (Moses), saying: {قَالَ آمَنْتُمْ بِهِ قَبْلَ أَنْ آذَنَ لَكُمْ إِنَّهُ لَكَبِيرُكُمُ الَّذِي عَلَّمَكُمُ السِّحْرَ} (He said, "Did you believe in him before I gave you permission? Indeed, he is your chief who taught you magic.")
This statement contains two doubts:
After presenting this doubt, he proceeded to threaten them, intending to repel them from faith and repel others from imitating them in this matter, saying: {لَأُقَطِّعَنَّ أَيْدِيَكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُمْ مِنْ خِلَافٍ} (I will surely cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides).
(It is recited as la-uqaṭṭi'anna and la-uṣallibanna with abbreviation.)
"Cutting off on opposite sides" means cutting off the right hand and the left foot, because each of these two limbs is opposite the other (one is a hand, the other a foot; one is right, the other left). The phrase {مِنْ خِلَافٍ} (on opposite sides) is in the accusative case, functioning as a circumstantial adverb, meaning: I will cut them off in a manner where they differ, as when some of them oppose others, they are characterized by difference.
Then he said: {وَلَأُصَلِّبَنَّكُمْ فِي جُذُوعِ النَّخْلِ} (And I will surely crucify you on the trunks of palm trees). He likened the firmness of the crucified person on the trunk to how a thing is firmly placed in its container, hence the mention of palm trunks. The common saying that fī (in) here means ʿalā (on) is weak.
Then he said: {وَلَتَعْلَمُنَّ أَيُّنَا أَشَدُّ عَذَابًا وَأَبْقَى} (And you will surely know which of us has the severer punishment and the more enduring). By saying {أَيُّنَا} (which of us), he intended himself, may God curse him. The word {أَيُّنَا} implies he meant himself and Moses (peace be upon him), evidenced by his preceding statement {قَبْلَ} (before). In this, there is a contradiction with his power and dominance, and with his habit of torturing people with various torments and belittling Moses (peace be upon him), as Moses had nothing to do with the torture.
If it is asked: How can it be conceived that Pharaoh, so soon after witnessing the transformation of the staff into a serpent of such magnitude—which you described as intending to swallow Pharaoh's palace, leading him to seek Moses' help against the serpent—how can it be conceived that he would threaten the magicians with such severe warnings and mock Moses by saying {أَيُّنَا أَشَدُّ عَذَابًا وَأَبْقَى} (which of us has the severer punishment and the more enduring)?
We reply: Why should it not be said that he was in the utmost fear in his heart, yet he displayed that boldness and impudence to maintain his authority and promote his cause? Whoever studies the conditions of people knows that the incapable person may do things like this.
What supports this is that every rational person knows by necessity that the punishment of God is severer than the punishment of humans, yet he denied that. Furthermore, he knew he was lying in his statement: {إِنَّهُ لَكَبِيرُكُمُ الَّذِي عَلَّمَكُمُ السِّحْرَ} (Indeed, he is your chief who taught you magic), because he knew that Moses had never associated with them or met them, and he knew from his magicians who their respective masters were and how they acquired that knowledge. Yet, despite this, he uttered these things. Thus, his path in all of this is what we have described.
Ibn Abbas (may God be pleased with him) said: "They were magicians at the beginning of the day, and martyrs at its end."
Translation:
(74) They said, "We will never prefer you over the clear proofs that have come to us and over Him Who created us. So decree whatever you are going to decree. You only decree concerning this worldly life.
(75) Indeed, we have believed in our Lord that He may forgive us our sins and what you compelled us to do of magic. And Allah is better and more enduring.
(76) Indeed, whoever comes to his Lord as a criminal, then indeed, for him is Hell; he will neither die therein nor live.
(77) But whoever comes to Him as a believer who has done righteous deeds, then for such are the highest degrees.
(78) Gardens of Eden beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide eternally. And that is the reward of those who purify themselves."
