Surah 7. Al-A'raf

Had the people of those societies been faithful and mindful 'of Allah', We would have overwhelmed them with blessings from heaven and earth. But they disbelieved, so We seized them for what they used to commit.

  - Mustafa Khattab

If the people of the towns had but believed and feared Allah We should indeed have opened out to them (all kinds of) blessings from heaven and earth; but they rejected (the truth) and We brought them to book for their misdeeds.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Did the people of those societies feel secure that Our punishment would not come upon them by night while they were asleep?

  - Mustafa Khattab

Did the people of the towns feel secure against the coming of our wrath by night while they were asleep? ¹⁰⁶⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

This and the two following verses should be read together. They furnish a commentary on the story of the five prophets that has already been related. Allah's wrath may come by night or by day, whether people are arrogantly defying Allah's laws or are sunk in lethargy or vain dreams of unreality. Who can escape Allah's decree, and who can feel themselves outside it except those who are seeking their own ruin?

Or did they feel secure that Our punishment would not come upon them by day while they were at play?

  - Mustafa Khattab

Or else did they feel secure against its coming in broad daylight while they played about (care-free)?

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Did they feel secure against Allah's planning? None would feel secure from Allah's planning except the losers.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Did they then fell secure against the plan of Allah? But no one can feel secure from the plan of Allah except those (doomed) to ruin! ¹⁰⁶⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

This closes that chapter of the narrative which deals with Prophets who were rejected by their own people, but who stood firm on Allah's message and were able to rescue a remnant who believed. In each case there were special circumstances and special besetting sins, which have been explained in the notes. The nations which as a body could not be won over to Allah's Law perished. So far we have been dealing with the corruptions and iniquities within each nation. In the story of Moses we have first a struggle against the bondage of Egypt, one of the foremost powers then in the world, the rescue of the Israelites and their wanderings, and their proving themselves unworthy and being left to wander in a new sense when they rejected the new Prophet (Muhammad) who came to renew Allah's Message.

Is it not clear to those who take over the land after 'the destruction of' its former residents that- if We will- We can punish them 'too' for their sins and seal their hearts so they will not hear 'the truth'?

  - Mustafa Khattab

To those who inherit the earth in succession to its (previous) possessors is it not a guiding (lesson) that if We so willed We could punish them (too) for their sins and seal up their hearts so that they could not hear? ¹⁰⁶⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The stories which have been related should give a warning to present and future generations which have inherited the land, the power, or the experience of the past. They should know that if they fall into the same sins they will meet with the same fate: when through their contumacy their hearts are hardened, they do not listen to the advice that falls on their ears.

We have narrated to you 'O Prophet' some of the stories of those societies. Surely, their messengers came to them with clear proofs, but still they would not believe in what they had already denied. This is how Allah seals the hearts of the disbelievers.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Such were the towns whose story We (thus) relate unto thee: there came indeed to them their apostles with clear (signs): but they would not believe what they had rejected before. Thus doth Allah seal up the heart of those who reject faith. ¹⁰⁷⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Those who have heard the Message and rejected it find it more difficult afterwards to retrace their steps. Evil has blocked the channels of Allah's grace to them. It begins with their breaking their Covenant with Allah; with each step afterwards they fall deeper and deeper into the mire.

We did not find most of them true to their covenant. Rather, We found most of them truly rebellious.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Most of them We found not men (true) to their covenant: but most of them We found rebellious and disobedient.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Then after them We sent Moses with Our signs to Pharaoh and his chiefs, but they wrongfully rejected them. See what was the end of the corruptors!

  - Mustafa Khattab

Then after them We sent Moses with Our signs to Pharaoh and his chiefs but they wrongfully rejected them: so see what was the end of those who made mischief.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And Moses said, 'O Pharaoh! I am truly a messenger from the Lord of all worlds,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Moses said: "O Pharaoh! I am an apostle from the Lord of the worlds. ^{1071 1072}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The story of Moses is told in many places in the Holy Qur-an, with a special lesson in each context. In ii. 49-71, the story is an appeal to the Jews from their own scripture and traditions, to show their true place in the religious history of mankind, and how they forfeited it. Here we have an instructive parallelism in that story to the story of Muhammad's mission,-how both these men of Allah had to fight against (1) a foreign foe, arrogant, unjust, faithless, and superstitious, and (2) against the same class of internal foe among their own people. Both of them won through. In the case of Moses, the foreign foe was Pharaoh and his Egyptians, who boasted of their carlier and superior civilisation; in the case of the Prophet Muhammad the foreign foes were the Jews themselves and the Christians of his day. Moses led his people nearly to the land of promise in spite of rebellions among his own people; Muhammad succecded completely in overcoming the resistance of his own people by his own virtues and firmness of character, and by the guidance of Allah. What was a hope when these Makkan verses were revealed became an accomplishment before the end of his life and mission on earth.

"Pharaoh" (Arabic, Fir'aun) is a dynastic title, not the name of any particular king in Egypt. It has been traced to the ancient Hieroglyphic words, Per-aa, which mean "Great House." The nun is an "infirm" letter added in the process of Arabisation. Who was the Pharaoh in the story of Moses? If the Inscriptions had helped us, we could have answered with some confidence, but unfortunately the Inscriptions fail us. It is probable that it was an early Pharaoh of the XVIIIth Dynasty, say Thothmes 1, about 1540 B.C. See appendix IV on Egyptian Chronology and Israel, printed at the end of this Sura.

obliged to say nothing about Allah except the truth. Indeed, I have come to you with clear proof from your Lord, so let the children of Israel go with me.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

"One for whom it is right to say nothing but truth about Allah. Now have I come unto you (people) from your Lord with a clear (sign): so let the children of Israel depart along with me." ¹⁰⁷³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Notice that Moses, in addressing Pharaoh and the Egyptians, claims his mission to be not from his God, or his people's God but from "your Lord," from "the Lord of the Worlds." And his mission is not to his people only: "I come unto you (Egyptian people) from your Lord." "The spirit of our version is entirely different from the spirit of the same story as told in the Old Testament (Exod. chapters i. to xv.). In Exod. iii. 18, the mission of Moses is expressed to be as from "the Lord God of the Hebrews." The essence of the whole Islamic story is this: Joseph's sufferings and good fortune were not merely a story in a romance. Joseph was a prophet; his sufferings and his subsequent rise to power and position in Egypt were to be a lesson (a) to his wicked brothers who sold him into slavery, (b) to his people who were stricken with famine and found a welcome in Egypt, and (c) to the Egyptians, who were arrogant over their high material civilisation, but had yet to be taught the pure faith of Abraham. Israel prospered in Egypt, and stayed there perhaps two to four centuries. (Renan allows only one century). Times changed, and the racial bigotry of the Egyptians showed its head again, and Israel was oppressed. Moses was raised up with a threefold mission again (a) to learn all the learning of the Egyptians and preach Allah's Truth to them as one who had been brought up among themselves, (b) to unite and reclaim his own people, and (c) to rescue them and lead them to a new world, which was to open out their spiritual horizon and lead them to the Psalms of David and the glories of Solomon.

Pharaoh said, 'If you have come with a sign, then bring it if what you say is true.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

(Pharaoh) said: "If indeed thou hast come with a sign show it forth if thou tellest the truth." ¹⁰⁷⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The ensuing dialogue shows the psychology on the two sides. Pharaoh is sitting in his court, with his ministers and chiefs around him. In their arrogance they are only amused at the effrontery and apparent revolt of the Israelite leaders, and they rely upon their own superior worldly power, aided by the magic which was a part of the Egyptian religion. Confronting them stand two men, Moses with his mission from Allah, and his brother Aaron who was his lieutenant. They are confident, not in their own powers, but in the mission they had received. The first thing they have to do is to act on the subjective mind of the Egyptians, and by methods which by Allah's miracle show that Egyptian magic was nothing before the true power of Allah.

So Moses threw down his staff and- behold!- it became a real snake.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Then (Moses) threw his rod and behold! it was a serpent plain (for all to see)! ¹⁰⁷⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The serpent played a large part in Egyptian mythology. The great sun-god Ra won a great victory over the serpent Apophis, typifying the victory of light over darkness. Many of their gods and goddesses took the forms of snakes to impress their foes with terror. Moses's rod as a type of a serpent at once appealed to the Egyptian mentality. The contempt which the Egyptians had entertained in their minds before was converted into terror. Here was some one who could control the reptile which their great god Ra himself had such difficulty in overcoming!

Then he drew his hand 'out of his collar' and it was 'shining' white for all to see.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And he drew out his hand and behold! it was white to all beholders! ¹⁰⁷⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

But the second Sign displayed by Moses was even more puzzling to the Egyptians. Moses drew out his hand from the folds of the garments on his breast, and it was white and shining as with divine light! This was to counter any suggestions of evil, which the serpent might have created. This was no work of evil, of black magic, or a trick or illusion. His hand was transfigured with a light which no Egyptian sorcerers could produce. In Islamic literature the "white hand" of Moses has passed into a proverb, for a symbol of divine glory dazzling to the beholders.

The chiefs of Pharaoh's people said, 'He is indeed a skilled magician,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Said the Chiefs of the people of Pharaoh: "This is indeed a sorcerer well-versed.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

who seeks to drive you from your land.' 'So Pharaoh asked,' 'What do you propose?'

  - Mustafa Khattab

"His plan is to get you out of your land then what is it ye counsel?" ¹⁰⁷⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The two Signs had the desired effect on the Egyptians. They were impressed, but they judged them by their own standards. They thought to themselves, "These are ordinary sorcerers: let us search out our best sorcerers and show them that they have superior power." But like all worldly people, they began to fear for their own power and possessions. It was far from Moses's intention to drive out the Egyptians from their own land. He merely wanted to end the Egyptian oppression. But the Egyptians had a guilty conscience, and they judged other people's motives by their own. They discussed the matter in Council on quite wrong premises.