Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (2/8)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

“…and their troops were indeed in error. The wife of Pharaoh said, ‘He will be a comfort to my eye and yours; do not kill him. Perhaps he may benefit us, or we may adopt him as a son,’ yet they were unaware.” (al-Qasas 7–9)

This was a revelation of inspiration and guidance, just as the Most High says: “Your Lord inspired the bee: ‘Take for yourself dwellings in the mountains, in the trees, and in what they build; then eat of every fruit and follow the paths of your Lord made smooth’” (al-Naḥl 68–69). It was not prophetic revelation, as Ibn Ḥazm and a number of theologians imagined; the correct position is the first, as Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī reported from the people of the Sunnah and the Community (1).

Al-Suhaylī (2) states that the name of Moses’ mother was Ayārakhā; others say Ayādhdhakht. The point is that she was guided to do what we have described, and it was cast into her heart and mind that she should neither fear nor grieve: if the child were taken, Allah would return him to her, and He would make him a messenger whose word would be exalted in this world and the next. She therefore acted as she had been commanded. One day she set him afloat but forgot to secure the end of the rope, and he drifted away with the Nile.

He passed by Pharaoh’s palace—“so the family of Pharaoh picked him up,” and Allah, exalted is He, said: “so that he might become an enemy to them and a cause of grief.” Some (3) say that this lām is the lām of consequence, which is clear if attached to the phrase “so they picked him up.” If, however, it is linked to the broader meaning—that the family of Pharaoh were predisposed to pick him up so that he would become an enemy and a grief—then the lām is causative like any other. Allah knows best. What strengthens this second view (4) is His statement: “Indeed Pharaoh, Hāmān, and their troops were sinners,” meaning they deserved this preordainment so their humiliation would be more complete and their regret more intense: that they should rear their own enemy inside their house.

Thus He said: “so that he might become an enemy and a grief to them—indeed, Pharaoh and Hāmān,” (5) the wicked vizier, “and their troops,” who followed them, “were sinners,” that is, they were upon falsehood and therefore merited this punishment and anguish.

The exegetes (6) relate that the maidservants found him floating in a sealed chest. They did not dare open it until they set it before Pharaoh’s wife, Āsiyah bint Muzāḥim ibn ʿUbayd ibn al-Rayyān ibn al-Walīd, the ruler of Egypt in Joseph’s time. Some say she was from the Children of Israel, of Moses’ own tribe; others say she was his paternal aunt, as al-Suhaylī (7) reports. Allah knows best.

(1) In manuscript B: “according to the madhhab of Ahl.” (2) In at-Taʿrīf wa-l-Iʿlām fīmā Ubhima fī al-Qurʾān min al-Asmāʾ wa-l-Aʿlām (manuscript), folio 46. (3) For example, Abū Ḥayyān in al-Baḥr al-Muḥīṭ (vol. 7, p. 105) and al-Zamaksharī in al-Kashshāf (vol. 3, p. 166). (4) Not present in manuscript B. (5) From “Indeed, Pharaoh and Haman and their armies…” to “…an enemy and grief” was omitted in the printed edition. (6) As al-Ṭabarī in his Tafsīr (vol. 20, p. 21). (7) at-Taʿrīf wa-l-Iʿlām, folio 46.

وَجُنُودَهُمَا كَانُوا خَاطِئِينَ (٨) وَقَالَتِ امْرَأَتُ فِرْعَوْنَ قُرَّتُ عَيْنٍ لِي وَلَكَ لَا تَقْتُلُوهُ عَسَى أَنْ يَنْفَعَنَا أَوْ نَتَّخِذَهُ وَلَدًا وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ﴾ [القصص: ٧ - ٩] . هذا الوحي: وحيُ إلهامٍ وإرشادٍ كما قال تعالى: ﴿وَأَوْحَى رَبُّكَ إِلَى النَّحْلِ أَنِ اتَّخِذِي مِنَ الْجِبَالِ بُيُوتًا وَمِنَ الشَّجَرِ وَمِمَّا يَعْرِشُونَ (٦٨) ثُمَّ كُلِي مِنْ كُلِّ الثَّمَرَاتِ فَاسْلُكِي سُبُلَ رَبِّكِ ذُلُلًا﴾ الآية [النحل: ٦٨ - ٦٩] ، وليس هو بوحي نبوّةٍ، كما زعمه ابن حَزمٍ. وغير واحدٍ من المتكلّمين، بل الصّحيح الأول؛ كما حكاه أبو الحسن الأشعريّ عن أهل (١) السُّنَة والجماعة. قال السُّهَيلي (٢) : واسم أم موسى أيارخا. وقيل: أياذخت. والمقصود أنها أُرشدت إلى هذا الذي ذكرناه، وأُلقيَ في خَلَدها ورَوْعها أنْ لا تخافي، ولا تحزني؛ فإنه إنْ ذَهَب فإن الله سيردّه إليك، وإن الله سيجعله نبيًا مرسلًا يُعلي كلمته في الدنيا والآخرة، فكانت تصنع ما أُمرت به، فأرسلته ذاتَ يوم وذَهَلَتْ أن تربط طرف الحبل عندَها، فذهب مع النيل، فمرّ على دارِ فرعون ﴿فَالْتَقَطَهُ آلُ فِرْعَوْنَ﴾ قال الله تعالى: ﴿لِيَكُونَ لَهُمْ عَدُوًّا وَحَزَنًا﴾. قال بعضهم (٣) : هذه لام العاقبة، وهو ظاهر إن كان متعلقًا بقوله ﴿فَالْتَقَطَهُ﴾، وأمّا إن جعل متعلقًا بمضمون الكلام، وهو أنَّ آل فرعون قُيِّضوا لالتقاطه ليكونَ لهم عدوًّا وحزَنًا، صارت اللّام معلِّلةً كغيرها، والله أعلم. ويقوّي هذا التقدير (٤) الثاني قوله: ﴿إِنَّ فِرْعَوْنَ وَهَامَانَ وَجُنُودَهُمَا كَانُوا خَاطِئِينَ﴾؛ أي: هم أهلٌ لهذا التقييض ليكون أبلغ في إهانتهم، وأقوى في حسرتهم؛ أن يربّوا عدوَّهم في دارهم. ولهذا قال: ﴿لِيَكُونَ لَهُمْ عَدُوًّا وَحَزَنًا إِنَّ فِرْعَوْنَ وَهَامَانَ﴾ (٥) . وهو الوزير السَّوْء ﴿وَجُنُودَهُمَا﴾ المتابعين لهما ﴿كَانُوا خَاطِئِينَ﴾؛ أي كانوا على خلاف الصّواب، فاستحقوا هذه العقوبة والحسرة. وذكر المفسّرون (٦) : أنّ الجواري التقطْنه من البحر في تابوتٍ مغلق عليه، فلم يتجاسرْنَ على فتحه حتى وضعنه بين يدي امرأة فرعون آسية بنت مزاحم بن عُبَيد بن الرَّيَّان بن الوليد الذي كان فرعون مصر في زمن يوسف، وقيل: إنّها كانت من بني إسرائيل من سِبط موسى، وقيل: بل كانت عمته. حكاه السُّهيلي (٧) ، فالله أعلم.

(١) في ب: عن مذهب أهل. (٢) في التعريف والإعلام فيما أُبهم في القرآن من الأسماء والأعلام (مخطوط) الورقة (٤٦). (٣) كأبي حيان في البحر المحيط (٧/ ١٠٥)، والزمخشرى في الكشاف (٣/ ١٦٦). (٤) ليست في ب. (٥) من قوله: إن فرعون وهامان وجنودهما .. إلى قوله: … عدوًا وحزنًا، سقط من ط. (٦) كالطبري في: تفسيره (٢٠/ ٢١). (٧) التعريف والإعلام الورقة (٤٦).