Tafsir of Al-Qasas 28:23

{Water of Madyan}: Their water from which they draw; it was a well, as reported. Its "arrival" (wurud): coming to it and reaching it. {He found upon it}: He found upon its edge and its watering place {a group}: a dense, numerous crowd {of people}: of various people {below them}: in a place lower than theirs.

"Driving away" (al-dhawd): to repel and push back. The two women were driving [their sheep] away because those at the water were stronger than them, so they could not water [their flock]. It is said: they disliked the crowding at the water. It is also said: so their sheep would not mix with theirs. And it is said: they were driving them away from the sight of onlookers to remain veiled.

{What is your affair?}: What is your business? Its reality is "what is your sought-after matter" (ma-makhtubukuma), meaning: what is your request? He called the sought-after thing a "matter" (khatb), just as he called the intended thing a "concern" (sha'n) in your saying: "What is your concern?" It is said: "I intended your concern," meaning: I sought your goal.

{A great [old man]}: Advanced in age. {So he watered for them}: He watered their sheep on their behalf. It is reported that the shepherds used to place a stone over the mouth of the well that only seven men could lift. Some say ten, some forty, some a hundred; he lifted it alone. It is reported that he asked them for a bucket of water, and they gave him their bucket, saying: "Draw with it." It was a bucket that only forty men could pull, yet he drew with it, poured it into the trough, and prayed for blessing. It is also said he pushed them away from the water until he watered for them.

The meaning is that he reached that water while a dense, numerous crowd of various people were jostling over it, and he saw the two weak women behind them with their small flock, waiting for them to finish. His ambition in the religion of God did not miss that opportunity, despite the exhaustion, the wearing out of his feet, and his hunger. He had mercy on them, aided them, and spared them the trouble of watering in such a crowd through the strength of his heart and the power of his arm, and the excellence God granted him in the soundness of his nature and the firmness of his character.

If you ask: Why was the object omitted in his saying: {they water}, {they drive away}, and {we water}? I say: Because the purpose is the action, not the object. Do you not see that he only had mercy on them because they were the ones being driven away while the others were the ones watering? He did not have mercy on them because their drivers were sheep and those watering were camels, for example. Likewise, their saying {we do not water until the shepherds depart}—the intention is the watering, not the watered.

If you ask: How did their answer match his question? I say: He asked them about the reason for the driving away. They said: The reason is that we are two weak, veiled women; we cannot compete with men and jostle them. We must delay watering until they finish, and we have no man to do it, and our father is an old man weakened by age, so he is not fit to do it. They offered him their excuse for handling the watering themselves.

If you ask: How was it permissible for the Prophet of God, Shu'ayb (peace be upon him), to be content with his daughters watering the livestock? I say: The matter in itself is not forbidden; the religion does not reject it. As for chivalry, people differ on that, and customs vary. The conditions of the Arabs differ from the non-Arabs, and the way of the Bedouins differs from the city-dwellers, especially in a state of necessity.

{I am... for whatever}: For what thing {you have sent down to me}: little or much, lean or fat, {of good}: I am {poor}. "Poor" is connected with the lam because it implies the meaning of "beggar" or "seeker." It is said he mentioned this while the greenness of the herbs was visible in his stomach from starvation; he only asked God for a meal. It is possible he meant: I am poor in worldly goods because of the good of religion sent down to me, which is salvation from the oppressors, for he was with Pharaoh in wealth and riches. He said this in contentment with the superior substitute, rejoicing in it, and thanking God for it.

{With shyness}: In the position of a state, meaning: shy and modest. It is said she covered herself with her garment. It is reported that when they returned to their father, he said: "What hastened you?" They said: "We found a righteous man who had mercy on us and watered for us." He said to one of them: "Go and call him for me." Moses followed her, and the wind pressed her garment against her body, so she described him. He said to her: "Walk behind me and point out the path to me." When he told him his story, he said: "Do not fear; Pharaoh has no authority in our land."

If you ask: How was it permissible for Moses to act upon the word of a woman and walk with her while she was a stranger? I say: As for acting upon the word of a woman, one acts upon the word of an individual—whether free or slave, male or female—in reports. She was merely informing him on behalf of her father that he was calling him to reward him. As for walking with a strange woman, there is no harm in it in such circumstances, with that caution and piety.

If you ask: How was it valid for him to take a wage for kindness and good deeds? I say: It is possible he did it for the sake of God and as a way of kindness. It is said Shu'ayb's feeding and kindness were not by way of taking a wage, but by way of accepting a voluntary favor. How could it be otherwise when he told him his story and let him know he was from the house of prophecy, from the children of Jacob? Such a person is worthy of being hosted and honored, especially in the house of a prophet of God. It is not denied that he did it out of the necessity of poverty and need, seeking a reward.

{The best you can hire is the strong, the trustworthy}: A wise, comprehensive statement that cannot be added to. For when these two qualities—competence and trustworthiness—are combined in one who manages your affairs, your mind is at ease and your goal is achieved. She dispensed with saying "hire him for his strength and trustworthiness" by sending this statement, which is in the style of a proverb.

{I want to marry you to one of these two daughters of mine, on condition that you work for me for eight years}: This was not a marriage contract, but a promise and a specification of a matter he had resolved upon. If it were a contract, he would have said: "I have married you," not "I want to marry you."

{If you complete ten, it is from you}: Meaning: it is from you, not from me. I do not obligate you to it, but if you do it, it is a favor and a voluntary act from you. {And I do not want to make it difficult for you}: By obligating you to the longer of the two terms. He promised him ease and leniency, and that he would not be difficult regarding the shepherding, nor would he act like those who make things hard for their employees by nitpicking over times or demanding work beyond the conditions. Thus were the prophets (peace be upon them), taking the easiest path in their dealings with people.

{This is between me and you}: This is a reference to what Shu'ayb made a covenant with him upon. He meant: That which I have said and you have covenanted with me upon is binding between us both; neither of us shall depart from it. {Whichever of the two terms I fulfill, there shall be no injustice against me}: Meaning: no one shall transgress against me by demanding more.

{The Trustee}: The one to whom the matter is entrusted.

[Regarding the staff]: It is reported that Shu'ayb had the staff of the prophets. He told Moses to enter a room and take a staff. He took the staff that Adam brought down from Paradise. Shu'ayb, being blind, touched it and cherished it, so he said: "Choose another." Seven times he reached for it, and each time it was the same one, so he knew it had a special status. He gave it to him, then regretted it because it was a trust. They disputed over it and agreed that the first person to appear would judge between them. An angel came in the form of a man and said: "Cast it down; whoever can lift it, it is his." The old man tried and could not, but Moses lifted it.

When morning came, Shu'ayb told him: "When you reach the fork in the road, do not take the right path, for although the pasture is more abundant there, there is a dragon I fear for you and the sheep." The sheep took the right path, and he could not stop them. He followed them and found grass and shade the likes of which he had never seen. He slept, and the dragon approached. The staff fought it until it killed it and returned to Moses' side, stained with blood. When he saw it stained and the dragon dead, he was relieved. When he returned to Shu'ayb, he felt the sheep and found them full-bellied and rich in milk. He told Shu'ayb, who rejoiced and knew that Moses and the staff had a special status. He gifted him all the spotted and striped offspring of his sheep that year. God revealed to him in a dream to strike the watering place of the sheep with his staff. He did so, and every single one gave birth to spotted and striped offspring, so he fulfilled his condition.