Surah 7. Al-A'raf

Yet if the people of those communities had but attained to faith and been conscious of Us, We would indeed have opened up for them blessings out of heaven and earth: but they gave the lie to the truth - and so We took them to task through what they [themselves] had been doing.⁷⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

Thus the discourse returns to its starting-point at the beginning of this surah (verses {4-5}): namely, that the destruction which is bound to overtake any community (the proper significance of the term qaryah in this context) which lives in opposition to the eternal moral verities amounts, in the last resort, to self-annihilation: for this is the real meaning of God's "taking them to task through what (bi-ma) they themselves were doing".

Had the residents of the towns believed and feared Allah We would have showered upon them riches from and the earth, but they disbelieved; so We seized them for their misdeeds.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

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

And if the people of the township had believed and kept from evil, surely We should have opened for them, blessings from the sky and from the earth. But (unto every messenger) they gave the lie, and so We seized them on account of what they used to earn.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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

Can, then, the people of any community ever feel secure that Our punishment will not come upon them by night, while they are asleep?

  - Mohammad Asad

Do the people of these towns now feel secure from Our punishment coming to them by night while they might be fast asleep?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

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

  - Mustafa Khattab

Are the people of the townships then secure from the coming of Our wrath upon them as a night raid while they sleep?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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?

Why, can the people of any community ever feel secure that Our punishment will not come upon them in broad daylight, while they are engaged in [worldly] play?⁷⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., while they enjoy ease and a sense of security, and are unaware of any danger that may threaten them (cf. verse {4} of this surah).

Or do the people of these towns feel secure from Our punishment coming to them in broad daylight while they are playing around?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

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

  - Mustafa Khattab

Or are the people of the townships then secure from the coming of Our wrath upon them in the daytime while they play?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Can they, then, ever feel secure from God's deep devising? But none feels secure from God's deep devising save people who are [already] lost.⁷⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., morally lost and, therefore, destined to perish. The term makr Allah ("God's deep devising") denotes here His unfathomable planning, which is alluded to elsewhere in the Qur'an by the expression sunnat Allah ("God's [unchangeable] way" - cf., in particular, 33:62 , 35:43 and 48:23 ).

Do these people feel secure against the plan of Allah? In fact, only those people feel secure from the plan of Allah who are doomed to destruction.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

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

  - Mustafa Khattab

Are they then secure from Allah's scheme? None deemeth himself secure from Allah's scheme save folk that perish.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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.

Has it, then, not become obvious unto those who have inherited the earth in the wake of former generations⁸⁰ that, if We so willed, We could smite them [too] by means of their sins, sealing their hearts so that they cannot hear [the truth]?⁸¹

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "after its [former] people". The people "who have inherited the earth" are those now living.

See surah {2}, note [7]. Here, again, we have an affirmation that what the Qur'an describes as "God's punishment" (as well as "God's reward") is, in reality, a consequence of man's own doings, and not an arbitrary act of God: it is "by means of their sins" (bi-dhunubihim) that God "sets a seal" upon the hearts of men. This statement is further elucidated at the end of verse {101}.

Is it not a guiding lesson to those who inherit the earth after its former occupants, that if We please, We can punish them for their sins and seal their hearts so they would not hear?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

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

Is it not an indication to those who inherit the land after its people (who thus reaped the consequence of evil doing) that, if We will, We can smite them for their sins and print upon their hearts so that they hear not?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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.

Unto those [earlier] communities - some of whose stories We [now] relate unto thee - there had indeed come apostles of their own with all evidence of the truth; but they would not believe in anything to which they had once given the lie:⁸² thus it is that God seals the hearts of those who deny the truth;

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "to which they had given the lie aforetime": an allusion to the instinctive unwillingness of most people to give up the notions - positive or negative - to which they are accustomed.

Those towns whose stories We related to you, can serve as examples. Certainly their Rasools came to them with clear signs, but they persisted in their unbelief and would not believe what they had denied before. That's why Allah sealed the hearts of those unbelievers.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

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 townships. We relate some tidings of them unto thee (Muhammad). Their messengers verily came unto them with clear proofs (of Allah's Sovereignty), but they could not believe because they had before denied. Thus doth Allah print upon the hearts of disbelievers (that they hear not).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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.

and in most of them We found no [inner] bond with anything that is right⁸³ - and most of them We found to be iniquitous indeed.

  - Mohammad Asad

Thus Raghib explains the term 'ahd occurring in this sentence. Its usual rendering as "covenant" or "loyalty to their covenant" is entirely meaningless in this context. Rashid Rida' widens Raghib's interpretation and includes in the above term man's instinctive ability to discern between right and wrong and, thus, to follow the dictates of his own conscience (Manar IX, 33 ff.). Regarding the deeper implications of this expression, see surah {2}, note [19].

We did not find most of them true to their commitments rather We found that most of them were transgressors.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

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

  - Mustafa Khattab

We found no (loyalty to any) covenant in most of them. Nay, most of them We found wrong-doers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

AND AFTER those [early people] We sent Moses with Our messages unto Pharaoh and his great ones, and they wilfully rejected them:⁸⁴ and behold what happened in the end to those spreaders of corruption!

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "they did wrong to them".

Then after them, We sent Musa (Moses) with Our revelations to Fir'on (Pharaoh) and his chiefs but they too treated Our revelations unjustly, so see what was the end of those mischief-makers.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

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 tokens unto Pharaoh and his chiefs, but they repelled them. Now, see the nature of the consequence for the corrupters!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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! Verily, I am an apostle from the Sustainer of all the worlds,

  - Mohammad Asad

Musa said: "O Fir'on! I am a Rasool from the Rabb of the worlds.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

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

  - Mustafa Khattab

Moses said: O Pharaoh! Lo! I am a messenger from the Lord of the Worlds,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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.

so constituted that I cannot say anything about God but the truth. I have now come unto you with a clear evidence from your Sustainer: let, then, the children of Israel go with me!"

  - Mohammad Asad

It is not befitting for me to say anything about Allah except the Truth. I have come to you from your Rabb with clear signs of appointment, therefore, send the children of Israel with me."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

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

Approved upon condition that I speak concerning Allah nothing but the truth. I come unto you (lords of Egypt) with a clear proof from your Lord. So let the Children of Israel go with me.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"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.

Said [Pharaoh]: "If thou hast come with a sign, produce it - if thou art a man of truth!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Fir'on asked: "If you have come with a sign then produce it, if what you say is true."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

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

  - Mustafa Khattab

(Pharaoh) said : If thou comest with a token, then produce it, if thou art of those who speak the truth.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

(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.

Thereupon [Moses] threw down his staff, and lo! it was a serpent, plainly visible;

  - Mohammad Asad

So Musa threw down his staff and all of a sudden it became a real serpent.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

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

  - Mustafa Khattab

Then he flung down his staff and lo! it was a serpent manifest;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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!

and he drew forth his hand, and lo! it appeared [shining] white to the beholders.⁸⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

As is evident from 20:22 , 27:12 and 28:32 , the hand of Moses was "[shining] white without blemish", i.e., endowed with transcendent luminosity in token of his prophethood - and not, as stated in the Bible (Exodus iv, 6), "leprous as snow". Regarding the possible mystic significance of the miracle of the staff, see note [14] on 20:21 .

Then he drew out his hand from his pocket and it became shining white to all the beholders.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

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

  - Mustafa Khattab

And he drew forth his hand (from his bosom): and lo! it was white for the beholders.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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 great ones among Pharaoh's people said: "Verily, this is indeed a sorcerer of great knowledge,

  - Mohammad Asad

The chiefs of Fir'on's nation said: "He indeed is a skilled sorcerer

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

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

  - Mustafa Khattab

The chiefs of Pharaoh's people said: Lo! this is some knowing wizard,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

who wants to drive you out of your land!"⁸⁶ [Said Pharaoh:] "What, then, do you advise?"

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., "deprive you of your rule". The plural "you" relates to Pharaoh and the ruling class.

who intends to drive you out from your land." Fir'on asked: "So what do you propose?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

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

  - Mustafa Khattab

Who would expel you from your land. Now what do ye advise?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"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.