Tafheem ul Quran
Surah 7 Al-A'raf, Ayat 127-135
وَقَالَ الۡمَلَاُ مِنۡ قَوۡمِ فِرۡعَوۡنَ اَتَذَرُ مُوۡسٰى وَقَوۡمَهٗ لِيُفۡسِدُوۡا فِى الۡاَرۡضِ وَيَذَرَكَ وَاٰلِهَتَكَ ؕ قَالَ سَنُقَتِّلُ اَبۡنَآءَهُمۡ وَنَسۡتَحۡىٖ نِسَآءَهُمۡ ۚ وَاِنَّا فَوۡقَهُمۡ قَاهِرُوۡنَ
﴿7:127﴾
قَالَ مُوۡسٰى لِقَوۡمِهِ اسۡتَعِيۡنُوۡا بِاللّٰهِ وَاصۡبِرُوۡا ۚ اِنَّ الۡاَرۡضَ لِلّٰهِ ۙ يُوۡرِثُهَا مَنۡ يَّشَآءُ مِنۡ عِبَادِهٖ ؕ وَالۡعَاقِبَةُ لِلۡمُتَّقِيۡنَ
﴿7:128﴾
قَالُـوۡۤا اُوۡذِيۡنَا مِنۡ قَبۡلِ اَنۡ تَاۡتِيَنَا وَمِنۡۢ بَعۡدِ مَا جِئۡتَنَا ؕ قَالَ عَسٰى رَبُّكُمۡ اَنۡ يُّهۡلِكَ عَدُوَّكُمۡ وَيَسۡتَخۡلِفَكُمۡ فِى الۡاَرۡضِ فَيَنۡظُرَ كَيۡفَ تَعۡمَلُوۡنَ
﴿7:129﴾
وَلَقَدۡ اَخَذۡنَاۤ اٰلَ فِرۡعَوۡنَ بِالسِّنِيۡنَ وَنَقۡصٍ مِّنَ الثَّمَرٰتِ لَعَلَّهُمۡ يَذَّكَّرُوۡنَ
﴿7:130﴾
فَاِذَا جَآءَتۡهُمُ الۡحَسَنَةُ قَالُوۡا لَـنَا هٰذِهٖ ۚ وَاِنۡ تُصِبۡهُمۡ سَيِّئَةٌ يَّطَّيَّرُوۡا بِمُوۡسٰى وَمَنۡ مَّعَهٗ ؕ اَلَاۤ اِنَّمَا طٰٓـئِرُهُمۡ عِنۡدَ اللّٰهِ وَلٰـكِنَّ اَكۡثَرَهُمۡ لَا يَعۡلَمُوۡنَ
﴿7:131﴾
وَقَالُوۡا مَهۡمَا تَاۡتِنَا بِهٖ مِنۡ اٰيَةٍ لِّـتَسۡحَرَنَا بِهَا ۙ فَمَا نَحۡنُ لَكَ بِمُؤۡمِنِيۡنَ
﴿7:132﴾
فَاَرۡسَلۡنَا عَلَيۡهِمُ الطُّوۡفَانَ وَالۡجَـرَادَ وَالۡقُمَّلَ وَالضَّفَادِعَ وَالدَّمَ اٰيٰتٍ مُّفَصَّلٰتٍ فَاسۡتَكۡبَرُوۡا وَكَانُوۡا قَوۡمًا مُّجۡرِمِيۡنَ
﴿7:133﴾
وَلَـمَّا وَقَعَ عَلَيۡهِمُ الرِّجۡزُ قَالُوۡا يٰمُوۡسَى ادۡعُ لَـنَا رَبَّكَ بِمَا عَهِدَ عِنۡدَكَۚ لَـئِنۡ كَشَفۡتَ عَنَّا الرِّجۡزَ لَـنُؤۡمِنَنَّ لَكَ وَلَـنُرۡسِلَنَّ مَعَكَ بَنِىۡۤ اِسۡرَآءِيۡلَۚ
﴿7:134﴾
فَلَمَّا كَشَفۡنَا عَنۡهُمُ الرِّجۡزَ اِلٰٓى اَجَلٍ هُمۡ بٰلِغُوۡهُ اِذَا هُمۡ يَنۡكُثُوۡنَ
﴿7:135﴾
(7:127) The elders of Pharaoh's people said: 'Will you leave alone Moses
and his people to spread mischief in the land, and forsake you and your gods?'
Pharaoh replied: 'We will kill their male children and spare their female ones.
93 For indeed we hold irresistible sway over them.' (7:128) Moses said to his people: 'Seek help from Allah and be steadfast.
The earth is Allah's, He bestows it on those of His servants He chooses. The
end of things belongs to the God-fearing.' (7:129) The people of Moses replied: 'We were oppressed before your coming
to us and after it.' Moses said: 'Your Lord will soon destroy your enemy and
make you rulers in the land. Then He will see how you act.' (7:130) We afflicted the people of Pharaoh with hard times and with poor
harvest that they may heed. (7:131) But whenever prosperity came their way, they said: 'This is our due.'
And whatever hardship befell them, they attributed it to the misfortune of Moses
and those who followed him. Surely, their misfortune had been decreed by Allah
- but most of them do not know that. (7:132) And they said to Moses: 'Whatever sign you might produce before us
in order to enchant us, we are not going to believe you.'94 (7:133) Then We afflicted them with a great flood 95 and locusts,
and the lice96 , and the frogs, and the blood. All these were distinct
signs and yet they remained haughty. They were a wicked people. (7:134) Each time a scourge struck them they, said: '0 Moses! Pray for us
to your Lord on the strength of the prophethood He has bestowed upon you. Surely,
if you remove this scourge from us, we will truly believe in you, and will let
the Children of Israel go with you.' (7:135) But when We removed the scourge from them until a term - a term which
they were bound to reach - they at once broke their promise.
Notes
93. There were two periods of persecution. The first was during the reign
of Rameses 11 and took place before Moses' birth, whereas the second period
of persecution started after Moses' assumption to the office of prophethood.
Common to both periods is the killing of the male issue of Israelites while
the female was spared. It was a calculated design to rob the Israelites of their
identity and to bring about their forcible assimilation. An inscription discovered
during the archaeological excavations of 1896 probably belongs to this period.
According to this inscription, Pharaoh Minpetah rounds off the narration of
his achievements and victories in these words: 'The Israel have been exterminated,
and no seed of them is left.' For further explanation see
(al-Mu'min 40: 25)
94. Pharaoh's courtiers obstinately persisted in branding Moses' signs as
sorcery although they knew well that sorcery had nothing in common with the
miraculous signs granted to Moses. Even a fool would not he ready to believe
that the country-wide famine and the consistent decrease in agricultural output
could have been caused by magic. It is for this reason that the Qur'an says:
But when Our signs, which should have opened their eyes, came to them they said:
'This is clear sorcery! And they rejected those signs out of iniquity and arrogance
even though they were inwardly convinced of it'
(al-Naml 27: 13-14).
95. This probably refers to the torrential rain accompanied by hailstorm.
While we do not totally exclude the possibility of other kinds of storms, we
are inclined to the view, that it probably signifies hailstorm since the Bible
specifically mentions that. (See Exodus 9: 23-4 - Ed.)
96. The word used in the text - qummal - denotes lice, fleas, small locusts,
mosquitoes, and weevil. This rather general term has been used in the Qur'an
probably to suggest that while men were afflicted with lice and fleas, weevil
destroyed the barns. (Cf. Exodus 7-12. See also Tafhim al-ur'an,
(al-Zukhruf
43, n. 43.)