Tafsir of Ta-Ha 20:40

"When your sister walked..."

The operative word governing idh (when) is alqaytu (I cast) or tasanna‘tu (I fashioned). It is also permissible for it to be a substitute (badal) for idh awhayna (when We inspired).

If you ask: "How can a substitution be valid when the two times are different and far apart?" I say: It is valid even if the time is vast and its ends are distant, just as when a man says to you, "I met so-and-so in such-and-such a year," and you reply, "I met him at that time," even if he met him at the beginning of the year and you at the end.

It is narrated that his sister, whose name was Maryam, came to inquire about his news. She found them searching for a wet nurse whom he would accept, for he would not accept the breast of any woman. She said, "Shall I guide you?" She brought his mother, and he accepted her breast. It is also narrated that Asiya requested him from Pharaoh and adopted him; she was the one who felt compassion for him and sought wet nurses for him.

"And you killed a soul..."

It is the same Copt whom the Israelite sought his help against. He killed him when he was twelve years old. He was distressed by the killing, fearing God’s punishment and Pharaoh’s retribution. God forgave him through his seeking forgiveness when he said, "My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, so forgive me" (Al-Qasas: 16), and He saved him from Pharaoh sinking his claws into him when he migrated to Madyan.

"And We tried you with a trial..."

Futunan may be an infinitive (masdar) on the pattern of fa‘ul for transitive verbs, like thubur, shukur, and kufur. Or it may be the plural of fatan or fitnah, disregarding the feminine ta’, like hujuz and budur for hujzah and badrah. It means: We tried you with various kinds of trials.

Sa‘id ibn Jubayr asked Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), and he replied: "We delivered you from one ordeal after another. You were born in a year when male children were being killed—this is a trial, O Ibn Jubayr. Your mother cast you into the sea. Pharaoh intended to kill you. You killed a Copt. You hired yourself out for ten years. You lost your way and your sheep scattered on a dark night." For every one of these, he would say, "This is a trial, O Ibn Jubayr."

Fitnah means an ordeal, and everything that burdens a human being or with which God tests His servants is a fitnah. God says: "And We test you with evil and good as a trial" (Al-Anbiya: 35).

"Madyan..."

It is eight stages away from Egypt. According to Wahb, he remained with Shu‘ayb for twenty-eight years, including the dowry for his daughter, and he fulfilled the longer of the two terms.

"And I have prepared you for Myself."

This means: It has preceded in My decree and predestination that I would speak to you and appoint you as a prophet at a specific time I have set for that. You have come only according to that measure, neither early nor late. It is also said: It means at a period of time in which He reveals to prophets, which is at the age of forty.

This is a metaphor for the status of proximity, honor, and direct speech He granted him. He likens his state to that of a king who sees in a person such comprehensive qualities and characteristics that he deems him worthy of being closer to him than anyone else, and of holding a more refined position. Thus, he cultivates him with honor and preference, singles him out for himself, does not see or hear except through his eyes and ears, and entrusts no one with his hidden secrets except the confidant of his conscience.

"Go, you and your brother, with My signs, and do not slacken in My remembrance. Go, both of you, to Pharaoh. Indeed, he has transgressed. And speak to him with gentle speech, that perhaps he may be reminded or fear [Allah]."