The Poets (Al-Shu‘ara’)
Verses 60-68 GROUP_950 26.60-68
60
فَأَتْبَعُوهُم مُّشْرِقِينَ
Pharaoh and his people pursued them at sunrise,
61
فَلَمَّا تَرَاءى الْجَمْعَانِ قَالَ أَصْحَابُ مُوسَى إِنَّا لَمُدْرَكُونَ
and when the two groups saw each other, Moses’ companions said, ‘We are sure to be overtaken.’
62
قَالَ كَلَّا إِنَّ مَعِيَ رَبِّي سَيَهْدِينِ
Moses replied, ‘No, My Lord is with me, and He will guide me.’
63
فَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَى مُوسَى أَنِ اضْرِب بِّعَصَاكَ الْبَحْرَ فَانفَلَقَ فَكَانَ كُلُّ فِرْقٍ كَالطَّوْدِ الْعَظِيمِ
Then We bade Moses strike the sea with his staff. And it parted, and each part was like a huge mountain.
64
وَأَزْلَفْنَا ثَمَّ الْآخَرِينَ
In the meantime We made the others approach that place.
65
وَأَنجَيْنَا مُوسَى وَمَن مَّعَهُ أَجْمَعِينَ
We delivered Moses and all those who were with him,
66
ثُمَّ أَغْرَقْنَا الْآخَرِينَ
then We drowned the others.
67
إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَةً وَمَا كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ
Surely in that there is a sign; yet most of them do not believe:
68
وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ
truly, your Lord is the Mighty One, the Merciful.
Commentary
(a) Pursued by Pharaoh, the Children of Israel reached a place where before them was the sea, and behind them were Pharaoh and his army. Seeing this critical situation, the Children of Israel were terrified. According to the Bible, they said to Moses, ‘Were there no graves in Egypt that you have brought us from there to this deserted place to die?’ But Moses was sure that Almighty God would help them. So, in obedience to the commandment of the Almighty, Moses struck the sea-water with his rod. The water was thereupon split asunder. On both the sides, the water stood like high walls and in between there appeared a dry path. The Children of Israel traversed this path and reached the other side. On seeing this, Pharaoh thought that he too could cross over by this path. He did not know that, only seconds before, the path had miraculously appeared by the order of God. Pharaoh set foot upon it along with his whole army. No sooner had they reached the middle than the standing sea water gushed from both sides and rose to a uniform level. Pharaoh and his entire army were immdediately drowned. At one and the same time, deliverance was planned for one group, and death and destruction for the other.