Tafsir of Ghafir 40:36-37

"And Pharaoh said, 'O Haman, construct for me a tower...'"

It is said: The sarh (tower) is a visible structure that cannot be hidden from the viewer, even from a distance. They derived it from the phrase "the thing saraha" (it became apparent).

{Asbab al-samawat} (the means/ways of the heavens) refers to their paths, gates, and whatever leads to them. Everything that leads you to a thing is a sabab (means) to it, like a rope and its bucket.

If you ask: What is the benefit of this repetition? If he had said, "So that I may reach the means of the heavens," would it not have sufficed?

I say: When a thing is mentioned vaguely and then clarified, it serves to magnify its importance. Since he intended to magnify what he hoped to reach of the heavenly means, he mentioned them vaguely, then clarified them. Furthermore, because reaching them is an astonishing matter, he wanted to present it to a soul yearning for it, so that the listener might give it its due share of wonder. Thus, he kept it vague to stir Haman’s soul toward it, then clarified it.

It is recited: {fa-attali'a} (so that I may look) in the accusative case, as a response to the hope (tarajji), treating hope similarly to a wish (tamanni).

"And thus was made fair-seeming to Pharaoh the evil of his deed, and he was averted from the path."

The one who made it fair-seeming is either:

1. Satan, through his whispering, as in the Almighty’s saying: "And Satan made their deeds fair-seeming to them and averted them from the path" (An-Naml: 24).
2. Allah Almighty, by way of causation, because He enabled Satan and granted him respite. Similar to this is: "We have made their deeds fair-seeming to them, so they wander blindly" (An-Naml: 4).

It is also recited: {wa zayyana lahu su'a 'amalihi} (and He made fair-seeming to him the evil of his deed), in the active voice, with the action attributed to Allah—the evidence for this being his saying: "to the God of Moses."

{Sadda} (he was averted) is read with the sad having a fatha, damma, or kasra, by transferring the vowel of the middle letter to the first, just as it is said: qila (it was said).

{Al-tabab} means loss and destruction. {Sadd} is a verbal noun conjoined to {su'a 'amalihi}, meaning he and his people were averted.

"And the one who believed said, 'O my people, follow me, I will guide you to the path of right conduct. O my people, this worldly life is only a [temporary] enjoyment, and indeed, the Hereafter is the home of permanent settlement.'"