And a believing man from the family of Pharaoh who concealed his faith said, "Do you kill a man [merely] because he says, 'My Lord is Allah' while he has brought you clear proofs from your Lord? And if he should be lying, then upon him is [the consequence of] his lie; but if he should be truthful, there will strike you some of what he promises you. Indeed, Allah does not guide one who is a transgressor and a liar.
{A believing man}: It is also recited as rajul with a quiescent jīm, similar to how one says ‘aḍd for ‘aḍud.
Identity: He was a Copt, a cousin of Pharaoh, who believed in Moses in secret. It is also said he was an Israelite.
{From the family of Pharaoh}: This is an adjective describing "a man," or it is connected to the verb "to conceal" (yaktum), meaning: he was concealing his faith from the family of Pharaoh. His name was Sam‘an, or Ḥabīb, or Ḥizbīl. The apparent meaning is that he was indeed from the family of Pharaoh, for the believers among the Children of Israel were not few, nor were they weak. The evidence for this is Pharaoh’s statement: “When he brought them the truth from Us” (Ghafir: 25).
{That he says}: Meaning, "for saying." This is a great denunciation and severe rebuke from him. It is as if he said: "Do you commit the heinous act of killing a soul that is forbidden to be killed, while you have no excuse for committing it other than the word of truth he uttered, which is his saying: 'My Lord is Allah'?"
{With clear proofs}: He means the great proofs you have known and witnessed.
The Argument: He then proceeds to argue using the method of division: He is either a liar or truthful.
{And if he is a liar, his lie is upon him}: Meaning, the harm of his lie returns to him and does not exceed him.
{And if he is a truthful one, some of what he promises you will strike you}.
Why "some"?: If you ask: Why did he say "some of what he promises you" when he is a truthful prophet, and surely all of what he promises must strike them, not just some?
I reply: Because he needed, in debating and arguing with the opponents of Moses, to be gentle and conciliatory with them, following the path of fairness in speech and approaching them through the gate of sincere advice. He brought what he knew was closer to their acceptance and more likely to make them believe him. This is the speech of a fair person, not one who is excessive, so that they might listen to him and not reject him.
By positing that he is truthful, he has established that he is truthful in everything he promises, but he followed it with "some of what he promises you" to diminish some of his right in the outward speech, showing them that he is not a partisan.
The Liar vs. The Truthful: Placing the "liar" before the "truthful" is also of this nature, as is his saying: “Indeed, Allah does not guide one who is a transgressor and a liar.”
Regarding Abu Ubaydah: If you ask: Abu Ubaydah interpreted "some" as "all," citing the verse of Labīd: "He leaves places if I am not pleased with them, or some of the souls are bound by death."
I reply: If the report about him is authentic, then the statement of al-Māzinī regarding the issue of al-‘alaqī is true of him: "He was too coarse to understand what I say to him."
{Indeed, Allah does not guide one who is a transgressor and a liar}: This implies that if he were a transgressor and a liar, Allah would have abandoned him and destroyed him, and no matter would have succeeded for him. If he were a transgressor and a liar, Allah would not have guided him to prophethood nor supported him with clear proofs.
Comparison to Abu Bakr: It is said that what Abu Bakr did for the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was even more intense:
The Prophet (ﷺ) was circumambulating the Kaaba. When he finished, they met him and grabbed the edges of his garment, saying: "Are you the one who forbids us from what our fathers worshipped?" He said: "I am he." Abu Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (ra) stood up, embraced him from behind, and said: "Do you kill a man for saying, 'My Lord is Allah,' while he has brought you clear proofs from your Lord?" raising his voice, his eyes shedding tears, until they released him.
Ja‘far al-Ṣādiq said: The believer of the family of Pharaoh said this in secret, while Abu Bakr said it openly.
