Surah Ta-Ha 20:78
ﱔ ﱕ ﱖ ﱗ ﱘ ﱙ ﱚ ﱛ
So Pharaoh pursued them with his soldiers, and there covered them from the sea that which covered them,
Tafsir of Ta-Ha 20:77-79
Tafsir
Al-Kashshaf
Verse range: 20:77-79
{فَاضْرِبْ لَهُمْ طَرِيقًا} Make for them a path. It is derived from the expression: "He struck (daraba) a share for him in his wealth." Also, "striking (darb) bricks" means to make them.
{يَبَسًا} *Yabas* is a verbal noun used as an adjective. It is said: *yabisa yabsan* and *yubusan* and the like. It means dryness and lack of moisture. Hence, it is used to describe the feminine, as in: "Our ewe is *yabas*" and "Our she-camel is *yabas*" when her milk has dried up.
It is recited as yabasan and yabisan. Yabas is either a simplified form of yabas, or an adjective on the pattern of fa‘l, or the plural of yabis (like sahib and sahb), used for the singular as an intensifier, as in the poet’s saying: And with me were hungry ones (jiya‘an). He treated him, due to the intensity of his hunger, as a group of hungry people.
{لَا تَخَافَا} This is a circumstantial qualifier (*hal*) for the pronoun in {فَاضْرِبْ}. It is also recited as *la takhaf* (singular) as a response to the command.
{دَرَكًا} Abu Haywah recited it as *darkan* with a quiescent *ra*. *Dark* and *darak* are nouns derived from *idrak* (attaining/overtaking), meaning: Pharaoh and his soldiers will not overtake you, nor will they catch up to you.
{وَلَا تَخْشَى} If read as *la takhaf*, there are three possibilities: 1. It is a new sentence, as if it were said: "And you are not afraid," meaning: It is your nature to be secure and unafraid. 2. The alif (at the end of *takhsha*) is not the radical letter of the verb, but an extra alif added for the sake of the rhyme (*itlaq*), as in: {فَأَضَلُّونَا السَّبِيلَا} and {وَتَظُنُّونَ بِاللَّهِ الظُّنُونَا}. 3. It is like the poet’s saying: *As if you had not seen before me a Yemeni captive.*
{مَا غَشِيَهُمْ} This is an example of conciseness (*ikhtisar*). It is among the "comprehensive words" (*jawami‘ al-kalim*) that, despite their brevity, contain many meanings. It means: "There covered them that which none knows the essence of except Allah." It is also recited: {فَغَشِيَهُمْ مِنَ الْيَمِّ مَا غَشِيَهُمْ}. *Taghshiyah* means covering. The subject of *ghashahum* is either Allah (Exalted is He), or "that which covered them," or Pharaoh, because he is the one who led his soldiers into the trap and caused their destruction.
{وَمَا هَدَى} This is a mockery of his (Pharaoh's) statement: {وَمَا أَهْدِيكُمْ إِلَّا سَبِيلَ الرَّشَادِ}.
{يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ قَدْ أَنْجَيْنَاكُمْ مِنْ عَدُوِّكُمْ وَوَاعَدْنَاكُمْ جَانِبَ الطُّورِ الْأَيْمَنَ وَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَنَّ وَالسَّلْوَى * كُلُوا مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ وَلَا تَطْغَوْا فِيهِ فَيَحِلَّ عَلَيْكُمْ غَضَبِي وَمَنْ يَحْلِلْ عَلَيْهِ غَضَبِي فَقَدْ هَوَى}