Tafsir of Ghafir 40:26

{ذروني أقتل موسى} When Pharaoh intended to kill Moses, his people would restrain him by saying: "He is not the one you fear; he is lesser and weaker than that. He is merely one of the sorcerers, and one like him can only be countered by a sorcerer like him." They would add: "If you kill him, you will cast doubt upon the people, and they will believe that you were unable to oppose him with argument."

The manifest truth is that Pharaoh—may God’s curse be upon him—had become certain that Moses was a Prophet and that what he brought was not sorcery. However, the man possessed cunning and craftiness, and he was a killer who shed blood for the most trivial reasons. How, then, would he not kill the one from whom he sensed the shaking of his throne and the destruction of his kingdom? Yet, he feared that if he attempted to kill him, he would be hastened to destruction.

His saying {وليدع ربه} (And let him call upon his Lord) is a truthful witness to his extreme fear of him and his calling upon his Lord. His saying {ذروني أقتل موسى} was a deception toward his people, creating the illusion that it was they who were restraining him, while in reality, he was restrained only by the terror and dread within his own soul.

{أن يبدل دينكم} Meaning: That he will change what you are upon. They used to worship him and worship idols, as evidenced by the verse: {ويذرك وءالهتك} (And abandon you and your gods) [Al-A'raf: 127].

{أو أن يظهر في الأرض الفساد} "Corruption in the land" refers to the discord and chaos that causes security to vanish, disrupts agriculture, earnings, and livelihoods, and leads to the destruction of people through killing and loss. It is as if he said: "I fear that he will corrupt your religion by calling you to his religion, or corrupt your worldly life through the discord that appears because of him."

In the codices of the people of the Hijaz, it is written as {وأن يظهر} (with a waw), meaning: "I fear the corruption of your religion and your worldly life together."

It has been recited as {يُظهِر} (from azhara), with "corruption" (al-fasad) in the accusative case, meaning: "Moses will manifest corruption." It has also been recited as {يُظَهِّر} (with a shadda on the za and ha), from tazahhara, meaning to follow up and cooperate.

{وقال موسى إني عذت بربي وربكم من كل متكبر لا يؤمن بيوم الحساب}