Surah Al-A'raf 7:130-141 - Quran Translation Commentary

131. And whenever good befell them, they said: “It is our due,” and when evil befell them, they ascribed it to the evil omen of Moosa and those with him. Surely their evil omen was only with Allah,¹⁸⁶ but most of them knew not.

132. And they said: “whatever sign you may bring to enchant us, we will not believe in you.”

133. So we sent upon them storm,¹⁸⁷ and locusts,¹⁸⁸, and lice,¹⁸⁹ and frogs,¹⁹⁰ and blood,¹⁹¹ that were a succession of signs.¹⁹² But they acted proudly, (and) they were a people given to guilt.¹⁹³

134. And whenever punishment fell on them, they said: “O Moosa! Pray for us to your Lord,¹⁹⁴ because of His promise to you; if you remove the punishment from us, we will surely believe in you and will send Bani Israil with you.”

135. Then when We removed the punishment from them, till a term which they were to reach, they at once broke their promise.

136. So we punished them and drowned them in the sea,¹⁹⁵ for they belied our signs and gave no heed to them.

137.And We made the persecuted weak people inheritors of the eastern and western parts of , the land, which we had blessed.¹⁹⁶ And (O Prophet !) the fair word of your Lord for Bani Israil was fulfilled,¹⁹⁷ because they endured with patience;¹⁹⁸ and we razed to the ground what Firaun and his people had made and the edifices that they had erected.¹⁹⁹

138. And we took Bani Israil across the sea,²⁰⁰ and they came upon a people who devotedly worshipped the idols that they had.²⁰¹ They said: “ O Moosa Make for us a god like their gods.”²⁰² He replied: “You are indeed an ignorant people.

139. “Surely that which they are worshipping is destined to be doomed²⁰³ and what they are doing is in vain.”

140. He said: “Should I seek for you a god other than Allah, when it is He who has exalted you above the nations?”²⁰⁴

141. And (recall) when we delivered you from Firaun’s people who afflicted you with the worst punishment, slaying your sons and letting your daughters live.²⁰⁵ Indeed that was a great trial from your Lord.

Commentary

186. Due to their false belief. they ascribed their suffering to the ill-auspices of prophet Moosa and his followers. although the fact was that Allah was subjecting them to these tribulations on account of their wicked deeds.

187. The details of typhoon or the storm are described in the Bible in the following words:

“Then Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD send thunder and hail. and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt : there was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail. very heavy hail such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. The hail struck down everything that was in the field throughout all the land of the Egypt. both man and beast: and the hail struck down every plant of the field. and shattered every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, there was no hail.” (Exodus 9:23 to 26)

188. About the locusts the Bible has the following

“So Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt. and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that-day and all that night; and when it was morning the east wind had brought the locusts. And the locusts came up over all the land of Egypt. and settled on the whole country of Egypt. such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever shall be again. For they covered the face of the whole land so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left; not a green thing remained. neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 10: 13 to 15)

189. The onslaught of lice is described in the Bible as follows:

“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron. “Stretch out your rod and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt :” And they did so; Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and struck the dust of the earth, and there came gnats on man and beast; all the dust of the earth became gnats throughout all the land. of Egypt.” (Exodus 8: 16 to 17)

190. The punishment through the frogs is described in the ‘Bible thus:

“Then the LORD said to Moses. ‘Go in to Pharaoh and say to him. “Thus says the LORD. ‘Let my people go that they may serve me. But if you refuse to let them go. behold. I will plague all your country with frogs: The Nile shall swarm with frogs which shall come up into your house. and into your bedchamber and on your bed. and into the houses of your servants and of your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls: the frogs shall come upon you and your people and on all your servants. And the LORD said to Moses. ‘say to Aaron. “Stretch out your hand with your rod over the rivers. over the canals. and over the pools. and cause frogs to come upon the land of Egyp!” So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt: and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 8: 1 to 6)

191. About the punishment of blood. the Bible states: “Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded; in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, he lifted up the rod and struck the water that was in the Nile. and all the water that was in the Nile turned to blood. And the fish in the Nile died; and the Nile became foul. so that Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile:and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 7: 20.21)

192. That is: These signs were not made to appear simultaneously but one after the other, in succession, so that they might take heed. if not this time at least the next time, and thus they might realise their mistake.

193. That is: They had been committing guilt so often, that their mentality had become that of a guilty person. For this reason they did not take any lesson from these warnings.

194. Firaun and his people were not totally ignorant of the Lord of Moosa. that is the Creator of the world, otherwise they would not have requested Moosa to pray for them.

195. The details of the event of their drowning have been described in Surah Yunus, Verses Nos.90 to 93. and also in other Surahs.

196. Means the land of Palestine, which is rich in religious blessings, since a number of prophets preached here. Prophet Ibrahim had settled in this place his son, prophet Ishaq, the number of whose descendents increased by Allah’s blessings, and He raised them as the most distinguished nation in the world. Here prophet Sulaiman built Baitul Maqdis, which made the atmosphere of this place spiritual.

197. That is: The promise which Allah had made of giving power to Bani Israil was fulfilled. It has been mentioned in the Bible at various places, e.g.

“I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they dwelt as sojourners.........And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.” (Exodus 6: 4 to 8)

In the last days of prophet Moosa’s life, Bani Israil had conquered the region of Moab, which is adjacent to the borders of Palestine, and after his death, they conquered Canaan (Palestine) under the leadership of Yusha’ bin Noon:

“Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had spoken to Moses: and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.” (Joshua ll: 23)

198. Although the Bani Israil had their defects, they stuck to their religion inspite of the oppression of Firaun, and they migrated from Egypt under the leadership of prophet Moosa.

199. That is: All the progress of their civilization was destroyed, and those magnificent buildings which they had constructed with the help of the hard labour of Bani Israil were razed to the ground.

Probably this destruction was wrought by the easterly wind. which on the one hand caused devastation in Egypt and on the other hand provided the cause for drowning of Firaun and his army.

200. Allah caused the crossing of the sea by the Bani Israil in a miraculous way.

201. when after crossing the sea, they came to the Sinai Desert, they proceeded towards the Mount Sinai (Hoorab). During this journey they came upon a people who were devotedly worshipping their idols.

202. Earlier it was mentioned that the Bani Israil were favoured with divine blessings, because they endured their sufferings with steadfastness, and they were rescued from the oppression of Firaun, Here it is being shown how, after being rescued from the clutches of Firaun, they acted ungratefully that they asked of prophet Moosa to give them a false god. Both the accounts are correct in as much as there were both types of persons among the Bani Israil persons of good, character and those of bad character, and since they had collectively resisted Firaun and had accepted prophet Moosa as their leader, they deserved to be honoured and rewarded. But those of them who were influenced by the polytheistic environment of Egypt and had been showing signs of weakness of intelligence and faith, had committed such acts as tarnished the name of Bani Israil. Such a foolish act of their ignorance is mentioned here. Mention of their other foolish acts has been made at other places in Quran.

203. That is: The idol carved out by them, which they have made into their god, is bound to be destroyed and mixed up with dust, while their real God is one that will live for ever.

204. That is: Allah has appointed you as the leader of the world so that you might become a means of guidance for the nations of the world, but you are such ignorant fools that you want to follow the nations who are astray. You neither realize your own position, nor do you appreciate your benefactor.

205. So that they might serve Firaun’s people after they come of age.