Allah, exalted is He, relates that He afflicted the people of Pharaoh—his Coptic nation—with “the years,” that is, years of drought in which no crop could be gathered and no livestock benefited from pasture. He also says, “and with a diminution of fruits,” meaning a scarcity of the fruit borne by the trees, “so that they might be reminded.” Yet they took no heed and derived no benefit; instead, they rebelled and persisted in their disbelief and obstinacy.
Whenever prosperity came to them—fertility and the like—they would say, “This is ours,” meaning, “It befits us and is our due.” But if misfortune touched them, “they took an evil omen from Moses and those with him,” saying: “This has struck us because of their ill fortune.” They never said in the first instance that the blessing was due to them or to the good companionship of Moses; rather, their hearts denied and scorned the truth. When evil befell them, they attributed it to him, and when they experienced good, they claimed it for themselves.
Allah the Exalted says: “Indeed, their omen is with Allah, but most of them do not know” (al-Aʿrāf 7:131).
They went on to say, “Whatever sign you bring us to bewitch us with, we will never believe in you,” meaning: no matter what sign—what miracle that breaks ordinary norms—you present, we will neither believe you nor follow or obey you, even if you bring every sign.
Similarly Allah says: “Indeed, those upon whom your Lord’s word has been confirmed will not believe—though every sign should come to them—until they behold the painful punishment” (Yūnus 10:96–97).
Allah, exalted be He, then says: “So We sent upon them the flood, the locusts, the lice, the frogs, and the blood—distinct signs; yet they acted arrogantly, for they were a criminal people” (al-Aʿrāf 7:133).
As for the flood (ṭūfān), Ibn ʿAbbās said it was torrents of rain that destroyed crops and fruit; the same was reported by Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, Qatādah, al-Suddī, and al-Ḍaḥḥāk. Ibn ʿAbbās and ʿAṭāʾ said it was widespread death. Mujāhid held that the flood was both water and plague in any case. Ibn ʿAbbās also said: it was an affliction that swept over them.
Ibn Jarīr and Ibn Mardawayh narrated, through the chain of Yaḥyā ibn Yamān—al-Manhal ibn Khalīfah—al-Ḥajjāj—al-Ḥakam ibn Mīnā—from ʿĀʾishah, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “The flood is death.” This ḥadīth is gharīb (uncommon).
As for the locusts, they are well-known. Abū Dāwūd reports—from Abū ʿUthmān, from Salmān al-Fārisī—that the Messenger of Allah was asked about locusts and replied, “They are the most numerous of Allah’s hosts; I neither eat them nor declare them unlawful.” The Prophet’s refraining from eating them was merely out of aversion—just as he refrained from eating the monitor lizard—and he avoided onions, garlic, and leeks. For it is established in the two Ṣaḥīḥs, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Awfā, who said: “We campaigned with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in seven expeditions during which we ate locusts.”