Tafsir of Al-Qasas 28:9

It is narrated that when they retrieved the chest, they tried to open it but could not. They tried to break it, but it defied them. Then Asiya approached and saw a light inside the chest. She handled it, and it opened. Inside was a boy with light between his eyes, sucking milk from his thumb. They loved him.

Pharaoh had a daughter afflicted with leprosy. The physicians told him: "She will not be cured except by someone who comes from the sea, in whom there is a likeness of a human, whose saliva is her cure." The leprous girl smeared her leprosy with his saliva and was cured. It is also said that she was cured the moment she looked at his face. She said: "This is truly a blessed soul." This was one of the reasons they felt affection for him.

The misguided among his people said: "This is the boy we fear; permit us to kill him." Pharaoh intended to do so, but Asiya said: "[He will be] a comfort of the eye for me and for you." Pharaoh replied: "For you, but not for me."

It is narrated in a Hadith: "If he had said, 'He is a comfort of the eye for me,' just as she said for her, Allah would have guided him as He guided her." This is by way of hypothesis and estimation; meaning, had his heart not been sealed like Asiya’s, he would have said what she said and submitted [to Islam] as she submitted. This is the interpretation, if the Hadith is authentic; and Allah knows best regarding its authenticity.

It is narrated that she said to him: "Perhaps he is from other people, not from the Children of Israel."

"A comfort of the eye": This is the predicate of an omitted subject. It is not strong to make it the subject with "Do not kill him" as the predicate. If it were in the accusative case (nasb), it would be stronger. The recitation of Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) is evidence that it is a predicate; he recited: "Do not kill him; [he is] a comfort of the eye for me and for you," placing "Do not kill him" first.

"Perhaps he will benefit us": For in him were signs of auspiciousness and indications of benefit for his people. This was due to what she witnessed of the light, the sucking of the thumb, and the curing of the leper. Perhaps she perceived in his features the nobility that promised he would be a source of benefit.

"Or we may adopt him as a son": For he is worthy of adoption and of being a child to some kings.

"While they do not perceive": This is a circumstantial clause (hal). Who is the subject of this state? I say: The family of Pharaoh. The structure of the speech is: "The family of Pharaoh picked him up to be an enemy and a source of grief for them, and the wife of Pharaoh said such-and-such, while they did not perceive that they were in great error in picking him up, hoping for benefit from him, and adopting him."

His saying: "Indeed, Pharaoh..." is a parenthetical sentence occurring between the conjoined and the conjunction, emphasizing the meaning of their error. How beautiful is the arrangement of this speech to one trained in the science of the beauties of composition.

"And the heart of the mother of Moses became empty. She was about to disclose [the matter of] him had We not bound fast her heart, that she might be of the believers. And she said to his sister, 'Follow him.' So she watched him from a distance while they did not perceive."