ﱎ ﱏ ﱐ ﱑ ﱒ ﱓ ﱔ ﱕ ﱖ ﱗ ﱘ ﱙ ﱚ ﱛ ﱜ ﱝ ﱞ ﱟ ﱠ ﱡ ﱢ ﱣ ﱤ ﱥ
And We inspired to the mother of Moses, "Suckle him; but when you fear for him, cast him into the river and do not fear and do not grieve. Indeed, We will return him to you and will make him [one] of the messengers."
Tafsir
Verse range: 28:7
"The Yamm (the Nile):" The sea. It is said: It is the Nile of Egypt.
If you ask: What are the two fears intended, such that He commanded [to cast him] in one and forbade the other?
I say: As for the first, it is the fear for him of being killed; for whenever he cried, she feared the neighbors would hear his voice and report him. As for the second, it is the fear for him of drowning, being lost, falling into the hands of the spies deployed by Pharaoh to seek out the newborns, and other such dangers.
If you ask: What is the difference between fear (khawf) and grief (huzn)?
I say: Fear is distress that befalls a person due to something expected. Grief is distress that befalls a person due to something that has already occurred, which in her case was his separation and the danger to him. Thus, she was forbidden from both. She was reassured by revelation and promised that which would console her, calm her heart, and fill her with joy and happiness: namely, his return to her and his being made one of the messengers.
It is narrated that ninety thousand infants were slaughtered in the pursuit of Moses (peace be upon him).
It is also narrated that when she went into labor, one of the midwives assigned to the pregnant women of the Children of Israel—who was friendly toward her—said to her, "May my love for you benefit me today." She assisted her, and when he fell to the ground, a light between his eyes terrified her, every joint in her body trembled, and love for him entered her heart. She then said, "I did not come here except to receive your newborn and inform Pharaoh, but I have found for your son a love the likes of which I have never found; so protect him."
When she left, Pharaoh’s spies arrived. In her confusion and loss of reason, she wrapped him in a cloth and placed him in a heated oven, not knowing what to do. They searched but found nothing and left, while she did not know his whereabouts. Then she heard his crying from the oven; she rushed to him, and God had made the fire cool and peaceful for him. When Pharaoh persisted in seeking the newborns, God inspired her, and she cast him into the Nile. It is narrated that she nursed him for three months in a chest made of papyrus, coated with pitch from the inside.
"Then the family of Pharaoh picked him up, that he might become for them an enemy and a cause of grief. Indeed, Pharaoh and Haman and their soldiers were deliberate sinners."
