Surah Az-Zukhruf 43:46-56 - Quran Translation Commentary

(43:51) And Fir`awn made a proclamation among his people, saying, ‘O my people, does not the dominion of Egypt belong to me, and these canals that flow beneath me?⁴⁷ What! Do you not see then?

(43:52) Or, am I better than this who is insignificant,⁴⁸ who can scarcely express himself clearly?

(43:53) Why not bracelets of gold were cast on him,⁴⁹ or angels came with him in accompaniment?’

(43:54) Thus did he make light of his people. So they obeyed him. They were indeed a corrupt people.

(43:55) At length when they provoked Us to anger,⁵⁰ We took vengeance on them and drowned them all.⁵¹

(43:56) We made them a precedent and an example for the later ones.⁵²

Commentary

41. The other signs are quite well known such as, the storms, locusts, lice, frogs, blood, losses in agricultural products, loss of lives, and, of course, the shining hand and the rod becoming snake (Zamakhshari, Ibn Kathir). As for being greater, it is possible that every new one was so apparently Allah’s handiwork as to be impossible to dismiss as a natural phenomenon (Au.).

42. “The concept of ‘returning’ to God implies that the instinctive ability to perceive His existence is inherent in human nature as such, and that man’s ‘turning away’ from God is a consequence of spiritual degeneration, and not an original tendency or predisposition” (Asad).

43. One question: how could they address Musa as a magician and then ask him to plead for the removal of the chastisement? The answer is that a magician was not a derogatory term among them. It was rather a word of reverence meaning “scholar” as there were no scholars then but only magicians (Ibn Jarir, Qurtubi and others).

Ibn Kathir seconds the above opinion.

44. The testament between Musa and his Lord was to the effect that if Fir`awn’s folks entered into faith, they would be spared the punishment.

45. That is, points out Ibn Kathir, they meant to say that if they were relieved, they would accept Musa’s faith, as Allah said elsewhere (7: 133-135):

فَأَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمُ الطُّوفَانَ وَالْجَرَادَ وَالْقُمَّلَ وَالضَّفَادِعَ وَالدَّمَ آيَاتٍ مُفَصَّلَاتٍ فَاسْتَكْبَرُوا وَكَانُوا قَوْمًا مُجْرِمِينَ (133) وَلَمَّا وَقَعَ عَلَيْهِمُ الرِّجْزُ قَالُوا يَا مُوسَى ادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ بِمَا عَهِدَ عِنْدَكَ لَئِنْ كَشَفْتَ عَنَّا الرِّجْزَ لَنُؤْمِنَنَّ لَكَ وَلَنُرْسِلَنَّ مَعَكَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ (134) فَلَمَّا كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُمُ الرِّجْزَ إِلَى أَجَلٍ هُمْ بَالِغُوهُ إِذَا هُمْ يَنْكُثُونَ [الأعراف : 133 - 135]

“Therefore, We let loose upon them flood, the locusts, the lice, the frogs, and (water turning into) blood: signs distinct. But they waxed proud; indeed, they were a criminal people. Whenever a wrath fell upon them they cried out: ‘O Musa. Supplicate to your Lord by what He has promised you. If you release us (O Musa) from this wrath, we shall believe in you and shall let go with you the Children of Israel.’ But when We relieved them of the wrath until a term they were to attain, behold, they went back (on their word).”

46. Majid quotes the Bible: “Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, Entreat the Lord, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the Lord” (Ex. 8: 8). And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron and said unto them, Entreat the Lord (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail” (Ex., 9: 28).

47. Asad’s following expression was preceded by Shabbir’s in Urdu: “I.e., ‘at my command’: a reference to the imposing irrigation system originating in the Nile and controlled by royal power.”

48. That is, 'am I not?'

49. It was a practice among them that when one of them was promoted to higher status, he was awarded bracelets of gold to wear on the wrists (Razi, Qurtubi); while Fir`awn reserved pearls for himself (Shabbir).

Asad adds: “In Ancient Egypt, golden armlets and necklaces were regarded as princely insignia (cf. Genesis xli, 42) or at least as evidence of high social dignity.”

Yusuf Ali might be quoted here: “Gold bracelets and gold chains were possibly among the insignia of royalty. In any case they betokened wealth, and the materialists judge a man’s worth by his wealth and his following and equipage. So Pharaoh wanted to see Moses, if he had any position in the spiritual kingdom, invested with gold bracelets, and followed by a great train of angels as his Knight-companions! The same kind of proofs were demanded by the materialist Quraish of our holy Prophet. These were puerilities, but such puerilities go down with the crowd. Barring a few Egyptians who believed in Allah and in the Message of Moses, the rest of Pharaoh’s entourage followed Pharaoh in his pursuit of revenge, and were drowned in the Red Sea.”

50. This is how Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Sa`id ibn Jubayr, and many others understood the text (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir).

51. “Fir`awn boasted of water (when he spoke of the canals flowing beneath him: Au.), and he perished in water, - a fitting recompense” (Yusuf Ali, elsewhere).

Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn abi Hatim have a report which says, as narrated by Tariq b. Shihab: “I was with `Abdullah ibn Mas`ud when someone mentioned sudden death. He remarked, ‘It is an ease granted to a believer, while a source of grief for the unbeliever.’ Then he recited this verse, ‘At length when they provoked Us to anger, We took vengeance on them and drowned them all’” (Shawkani).

52. That is, Fir`awn and his folks were a precedent for the unbelieving nations that followed him, in terms of behavior, and in terms of the retribution that followed, as also an example for the later generations to learn from.