The Heights (Al-A‘raf) الأعراف 103–112
103
ثُمَّ بَعَثْنَا مِن بَعْدِهِم مُّوسَى بِآيَاتِنَا إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ وَمَلَئِهِ فَظَلَمُواْ بِهَا فَانظُرْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الْمُفْسِدِينَ
After them We sent Moses with Our signs to Pharaoh and his chiefs. But they willfully rejected them. Consider the end of the evil-doers.
104
وَقَالَ مُوسَى يَا فِرْعَوْنُ إِنِّي رَسُولٌ مِّن رَّبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
Moses said, ‘Pharaoh, I am a messenger from the Lord of the Universe,
105
حَقِيقٌ عَلَى أَن لاَّ أَقُولَ عَلَى اللّهِ إِلاَّ الْحَقَّ قَدْ جِئْتُكُم بِبَيِّنَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ فَأَرْسِلْ مَعِيَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ
duty-bound to say nothing about God but the truth, and I have brought you a clear sign from your Lord. Let the Children of Israel go with me.’
106
قَالَ إِن كُنتَ جِئْتَ بِآيَةٍ فَأْتِ بِهَا إِن كُنتَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ
[Pharaoh] said, ‘If you come with a sign, then produce it, if you are telling the truth.’
107
فَأَلْقَى عَصَاهُ فَإِذَا هِيَ ثُعْبَانٌ مُّبِينٌ
Then Moses threw down his staff and suddenly, unmistakably, it appeared as a serpent,
108
وَنَزَعَ يَدَهُ فَإِذَا هِيَ بَيْضَاء لِلنَّاظِرِينَ
and he drew forth his hand, and it appeared [shining] white to the beholders.
109
قَالَ الْمَلأُ مِن قَوْمِ فِرْعَوْنَ إِنَّ هَـذَا لَسَاحِرٌ عَلِيمٌ
The chiefs of Pharaoh’s people said, ‘This is most surely a skillful magician,
110
يُرِيدُ أَن يُخْرِجَكُم مِّنْ أَرْضِكُمْ فَمَاذَا تَأْمُرُونَ
who seeks to drive you from your land!’ Pharaoh said, ‘What then do you advise?’
111
قَالُواْ أَرْجِهْ وَأَخَاهُ وَأَرْسِلْ فِي الْمَدَآئِنِ حَاشِرِينَ
They said, ‘Let him and his brother wait awhile, and send into the cities summoners,
112
يَأْتُوكَ بِكُلِّ سَاحِرٍ عَلِيمٍ
who should bring to you every skillful magician.’
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
(a) A prophet’s discourse is initially addressed to the leaders of the day; to those who enjoy leadership of thought in their environment. Such people, thanks to their superior intellect, are in a better position to understand the message of Truth in all its profundity. But, history shows that they have invariably always been antagonistic to the prophet’s call, i.e. they utilize their mental talents to assign a wrong meaning to the message of Truth. For example, they declare a sign which had appeared on the strength of God’s intervention to have appeared by the force of magic, or, in order to disparage the prophetic movement, give it a political colour and say that such preachers are simply seeking power. As the general public are unable to analyse matters, such talk leads them into becoming suspicious of the Truth. But to raise such frivolous points against the messenger of Truth is a great crime. In this way, the leading lights of the day may be able to preserve their leadership, but it will be at the cost of the Hereafter. God is the Truth. So it is not proper for one who comes forward in the name of God to speak of anything other than truth and justice. If he does otherwise, he will lose the right to represent God and will be liable to be punished rather than rewarded by God. Moses was sent (by God) to both the Children of Israel and to the Pharaoh and his Copt community. At that time the Children of Israel suffered from many weaknesses. However, they basically supported Moses. Unlike them, Pharaoh and his community, (with the exception of a few) rejected him. Finally, after 40 years of attempting to propagate God’s command, Moses was commanded to migrate from Egypt along with the Children of Israel. He asked Pharaoh to allow the Children of Israel to leave the country, so that they might be able to pray to the one and only God in the open atmosphere of the desert (Exodus-16). Moses was the representative of Truth, but Pharaoh considered him to be merely practising magic and decided to overcome him through his own magicians.