The Poets (Al-Shu‘ara’)
Verses 10-14 GROUP_942 26.10-14
10
وَإِذْ نَادَى رَبُّكَ مُوسَى أَنِ ائْتِ الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ
When your Lord called out to Moses, saying, ‘Go to the wrongdoing people,
11
قَوْمَ فِرْعَوْنَ أَلَا يَتَّقُونَ
the people of Pharaoh, will they not fear God?
12
قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّي أَخَافُ أَن يُكَذِّبُونِ
Moses replied, ‘My Lord, I fear they will reject me,
13
وَيَضِيقُ صَدْرِي وَلَا يَنطَلِقُ لِسَانِي فَأَرْسِلْ إِلَى هَارُونَ
and ‘my breast is straitened and my tongue is not fluent; so send Aaron as well;
14
وَلَهُمْ عَلَيَّ ذَنبٌ فَأَخَافُ أَن يَقْتُلُونِ
besides, they accuse me of a crime, and I fear that they may put me to death.’
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Commentary
(a) Moses was required to preach monotheism to Pharaoh of Egypt, the king of the greatest and most civilized empire of his times. Moses on the contrary, belonged to the Children of Israel, whose status in Egypt was like that of slaves and labourers. Another factor in his disfavour was that one of the Pharaoh’s community had died accidentally at his hands. Moses had the feeling too that he was lacking in the necessary power of expression. Almighty God nevertheless chose Moses to carry out the mission of conveying His message. The fact is that God looks at the inner self of a man rather than at his visible condition. If someone has inner strength, God chooses him on the basis of that to carry out the tasks of His religion. But man has first to reveal his inner capabilties himself. Thereafter, if there are any outward shortcomings, they are compensated for by God.