The Ants (Al-Naml)
Verses 9-14 GROUP_972 27.9-14
9
يَا مُوسَى إِنَّهُ أَنَا اللَّهُ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ
O Moses, I am God, the Powerful, the Wise.
10
وَأَلْقِ عَصَاكَ فَلَمَّا رَآهَا تَهْتَزُّ كَأَنَّهَا جَانٌّ وَلَّى مُدْبِرًا وَلَمْ يُعَقِّبْ يَا مُوسَى لَا تَخَفْ إِنِّي لَا يَخَافُ لَدَيَّ الْمُرْسَلُونَ
Throw down your staff.’ But when he saw it moving like a snake, he turned and fled. ‘Moses, do not be afraid! The messengers need have no fear in My presence;
11
إِلَّا مَن ظَلَمَ ثُمَّ بَدَّلَ حُسْنًا بَعْدَ سُوءٍ فَإِنِّي غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
as for those who do wrong and then do good after evil, I am most forgiving, most merciful.
12
وَأَدْخِلْ يَدَكَ فِي جَيْبِكَ تَخْرُجْ بَيْضَاء مِنْ غَيْرِ سُوءٍ فِي تِسْعِ آيَاتٍ إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ وَقَوْمِهِ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا قَوْمًا فَاسِقِينَ
Now put your hand inside your cloak next to your bosom and it will come out [shining] white, without any blemish. This will be one of the nine signs for Pharaoh and his people: for truly they are a rebellious people.’
13
فَلَمَّا جَاءتْهُمْ آيَاتُنَا مُبْصِرَةً قَالُوا هَذَا سِحْرٌ مُّبِينٌ
But when Our signs came to them in all their clarity they said, ‘This is clearly sorcery!’
14
وَجَحَدُوا بِهَا وَاسْتَيْقَنَتْهَا أَنفُسُهُمْ ظُلْمًا وَعُلُوًّا فَانظُرْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الْمُفْسِدِينَ
And they persisted in rejecting them wrongfully and arrogantly, while in their hearts they were convinced of their truth. Observe, then, how evil was the fate of the evil-doers.
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Commentary
(a) Moses had gone to the mountain to obtain a burning brand. But after reaching it, he came to know that he had been called there to have prophethood bestowed upon him. When Almighty God blesses any subject of His with a special gift, He gives it suddenly and unexpectedly, so that the recipient may attribute it directly to God and develop in himself the most profound feelings of gratitude towards Him. On the one hand, the community of Moses (the Children of Israel), though a believing community, had degenerated. On the other, Moses had to proclaim the message of God to a tyrant king like Pharaoh. Therefore, Almighty God blessed him with the miracle of the stick at the very beginning of his mission. This stick was an enduring divine power for Moses, by means of which nine miracles were performed to awe the Pharaoh, apart from the miracles which were meant for the Children of Israel. The miracles of Moses finally established his truthfulness. In spite of this, Pharaoh and his companions did not accept him. The reasons for this were their proneness to transgression, their false pride, and their unwillingness to curtail their freedom. Moreover, they knew that accepting Moses’s preaching would amount to negating their own greatness. And who accepts Truth at the expense of his own greatness?