Surah Ash-Shu'ara: (52 - 62) And We inspired to Moses...

It was read as {أَسْرِ} (asri) with both the hamza cut off and connected, and as {سِرْ} (sir).

When the matter of Moses (peace be upon him) became evident through the signs they witnessed, Allah Almighty commanded him to depart with the Children of Israel. This was due to Allah's known plan for Moses: to deliver him from the people, and to grant him possession of their lands and wealth. Even after this apparent victory, there was no guarantee that Pharaoh would not inflict harm upon the Children of Israel leading to their annihilation. Therefore, Allah commanded him to travel by night (أَسْرِ) with the Children of Israel—those who believed and were among Moses' people.

There is an implied omission in the speech: that he made them travel by night, as Allah commanded. Then, the people of Moses said to Pharaoh's people that they had a festival that night, and they borrowed jewelry and fine garments from them for this reason. Then they left with those possessions at night toward the sea. When Pharaoh heard this, he sent recruiters (حَاشِرِينَ) to the cities.

Then, he strengthened himself and his companions by describing Moses' people with two attributes of blame, and described his own people with an attribute of praise.

The First Attribute: His saying: {إِنَّ هَٰؤُلَاءِ لَشِرْذِمَةٌ قَلِيلُونَ} (Indeed, these are but a small band).

• Ash-Shirzmah means a small group. From this comes the saying, "a garment of sharaadhim" for something worn out and torn into pieces.
• He mentioned them by a noun indicating fewness, then described them as few, and then pluralized the few (choosing the sound plural for fewness, although the plural for few can also be aqallun or qulal).
• It is also possible that "fewness" here means abasement and lowliness (dhillah and qama'ah) rather than a small number. The meaning is that because of their fewness, they are not to be taken seriously, and their triumph or elevation is not expected.
• The commentators differed on the number of this band. Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: They were six hundred thousand fighting men, with no youth under twenty years old and no elder over sixty, apart from the servants. Pharaoh minimized their number because of the multitude accompanying him. This description can sometimes be used for a large number when contrasted with something even larger. It is narrated that Pharaoh came out on a black, spirited horse, and his army, matching the color of his horse, numbered three hundred thousand.

The Second Attribute: His saying: {وَإِنَّهُمْ لَنَا لَغَائِظُونَ} (And indeed, they are provoking us).

• This means they do things that anger us and narrow our chests. They differed regarding these actions:
  1. What was previously mentioned regarding the jewelry and other items.
  2. The departure of the Children of Israel from Pharaoh's servitude and their independence.
  3. Their opposition to Pharaoh in religion and their rebellion against him.
  4. Simply that they did not take Pharaoh as a god.

As for what Pharaoh described his own people with, it is His saying: {وَإِنَّا لَجَمِيعٌ حَاذِرُونَ} (And indeed, we are all on guard).

• There are three readings for this: (Hadhirūn), (Hādhirūn), and (Hādirūn) with a non-dotted dāl.
• When an attribute is derived from an active verb, like the active participle (fā'il) or passive participle (maf'ūl), such as ḍārib (striker) or maḍrūb (struck), it implies immediacy/occurrence (ḥudūth). If it is not like that, it implies permanence (thubūt).
  • Whoever reads {حَاذِرُونَ} (Hādhirūn - active participle) implies: "We are a people whose habit is caution and employing firmness."
  • Whoever reads {حَاذِرُونَ} (Hādhirūn - with a different nuance) implies: "We are a people who only become cautious in this current time."
  • As for the one who reads {حَادِرُونَ} (Hādirūn) with a non-dotted dāl, he implies a negation of caution altogether, because hādir means one who is fully prepared or girded up. Thus, he means: "We are a strong, mighty people," or "We are fully armored."
• The purpose of these excuses is to prevent the people of the cities from thinking that he (Pharaoh) is defeated or afraid of Moses' people.

As for His saying: {حَاذِرُونَ فَأَخْرَجْنَاهُمْ} (on guard, so We brought them out), it means: We placed the call to leave in their hearts, and that call necessitated the action. Thus, the action is necessarily attributed to Allah.

As for His saying: {مِن جَنَّاتٍ وَعُيُونٍ * وَكُنُوزٍ} (from gardens and springs and treasures):

• Mujahid said: He called them treasures because they did not spend them in obedience to Allah.
• Al-Maqām al-Karīm (the noble station) refers to fine dwellings and splendid gatherings.
• The meaning is: We brought them out from their gardens which contained springs of water, treasures of gold and silver, and the places where they enjoyed luxury, in order to hand them over to the Children of Israel.
• As for the phrase {كَذَلِكَ} (thus/likewise), it can have three grammatical interpretations:
  1. Accusative (Naṣb): Meaning We brought them out with such a departure as We have described.
  2. Genitive (Jarr): As an adjective describing al-maqām al-karīm (a noble station like that station they had).
  3. Nominative (Rafʿ): As the predicate of an omitted subject, meaning: "The matter is thus."

As for His saying: {فَأَتْبَعُوهُم} (So they pursued them), meaning they caught up with them, and it was read as {فَاتَّبَعُوهُم} (fa-ttaba'ūhum). {مُشْرِقِينَ} (at sunrise), entering the time of sunrise, as in ashraqat ash-shams shurūqan when the sun rises.

When the two hosts saw each other ({فَلَمَّا تَرَاءَى الْجَمْعَانِ}), the companions of Moses said: {إِنَّا لَمُدْرَكُونَ} (Indeed, we will be overtaken).

• They said: "O Moses, we were afflicted before you came to us and after you have come to us." (They used to slaughter our sons, and now, whether before you came or after you came, they will catch us, meaning immediately, and kill us.)
• It was also read as {فَلَمَّا تَرَاءَتِ الْفِئَتَانِ} (when the two parties faced each other) and {إِنَّا لَمُدْرَكُونَ} (with a doubled dāl and a kasra on the rā'), from adraka ash-shay'u idhā tatāba'a fa-fanā (when a thing follows successively until it is finished), as in His saying: {بَلْ أَدْرَكَ عِلْمُهُمْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ} (Nay, their knowledge has reached its limit concerning the Hereafter) [An-Naml: 66]. Al-Hasan said: They were ignorant of the knowledge of the Hereafter.
• The meaning is: We will be successively destroyed by their hands until none of us remains.

At that point, he told them: {كَلَّا} (No!), which is a prevention of what they assumed. Then he strengthened their souls with two things:

1. {إِنَّ مَعِيَ رَبِّي} (Indeed, with me is my Lord): This is evidence of support and a guarantee of aid.
2. His saying: {سَيَهْدِينِ} (He will guide me): Guidance here means the path to salvation and deliverance. If He shows him the path to his salvation and the destruction of his enemies, then he has reached the ultimate level of support.

{فَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَىٰ مُوسَىٰ أَنِ اضْرِب بِّعَصَاكَ الْبَحْرَ فَانفَلَقَ فَكَانَ كُلُّ فِرْقٍ كَالطَّوْدِ الْعَظِيمِ * وَأَزْلَفْنَا ثَمَّ الْآخَرِينَ * وَأَنجَيْنَا مُوسَىٰ وَمَن مَّعَهُ أَجْمَعِينَ * ثُمَّ أَغْرَقْنَا الْآخَرِينَ * إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَةً ۖ وَمَا كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ * وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ}

{فَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَىٰ مُوسَىٰ أَنِ اضْرِب بِّعَصَاكَ الْبَحْرَ} (So We inspired to Moses, "Strike with your staff the sea.") {فَانفَلَقَ فَكَانَ كُلُّ فِرْقٍ كَالطَّوْدِ الْعَظِيمِ} (And the sea split, and every part became like a great mountain.) {وَأَزْلَفْنَا ثَمَّ الْآخَرِينَ} (And We brought the others near there.) {وَأَنجَيْنَا مُوسَىٰ وَمَن مَّعَهُ أَجْمَعِينَ} (And We saved Moses and those with him, all together.) {ثُمَّ أَغْرَقْنَا الْآخَرِينَ} (Then We drowned the others.) {إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَةً} (Indeed, in that is a sign.) {وَمَا كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ} (And most of them were not believers.) {وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ} (And indeed, your Lord is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful.)