Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (2/47)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

they would relapse into their broad, deep-seated ignorance. All the while the Mighty, Forbearing, All-Powerful was giving them respite—He did not hasten His punishment against them but deferred it, issuing threats in advance. Then, once the proof had been established and the warning delivered, He seized them with the seizing of the All-Mighty, All-Able, and made them a lesson, a deterrent, and a precedent for every disbeliever who resembles them, and an example for the believers among His servants who take heed. As He—the truest of all who speak—says in the sūrah that opens with Ḥā Mīm, “By the Clear Book”:

“Indeed, We sent Moses with Our signs to Pharaoh and his elite, and he said, ‘I am the messenger of the Lord of all worlds.’ But when he came to them with Our signs, they laughed at them. Every sign We showed them was greater than the one before, and We seized them with punishment so that they might return. They said, ‘O sorcerer! Call upon your Lord for us through the covenant He has made with you; we will surely be guided.’ Yet when We removed the punishment from them, they broke their word. And Pharaoh proclaimed among his people, saying, ‘My people! Does the kingdom of Egypt not belong to me, with these rivers flowing beneath me? Can you not see? Or am I better than this contemptible man who can hardly express himself? Why, then, have bracelets of gold not been cast upon him, or the angels come with him in close ranks?’ Thus he belittled his people and they obeyed him; they were truly a rebellious people. So when they angered Us, We took retribution from them and drowned them all. We made them a precedent and an example for those who came after.” (al-Zukhruf 46–56)

The Exalted recounts His sending of His noble, conversing servant to the base, ignoble Pharaoh, and how He supported His Messenger with clear, manifest signs worthy of reverence and affirmation, that they might abandon their disbelief and return to the truth and the straight path. Instead, they laughed at the signs, mocked them, and turned people away from the path of Allah and from the truth. Allah therefore sent the signs in succession, one after another, each sign greater than the one that followed it, for reinforcement is more emphatic than what precedes it: “We seized them with punishment so that they might return. And they said, ‘O sorcerer! Invoke your Lord for us by the covenant He has made with you; indeed we shall be guided.’”

In their age the term “sorcerer” was neither an insult nor a blemish, for their scholars at that time were sorcerers; hence they addressed him with it when they were in need of him and implored him.

Allah, Exalted is He, says: “But when We removed the punishment from them, they broke their promise.” He then relates Pharaoh’s vaunting in his dominion, the magnificence and beauty of his land, and the branching canals he would open at the rise of the Nile. He boasted of himself and his finery, and proceeded to belittle the Messenger of Allah, Moses—peace be upon him—disparaging him on the ground that “he can hardly speak,” meaning his speech, owing to the trace of a lisp that was in fact an honor, perfection, and beauty for him. It did not prevent Allah, Exalted is He, from speaking directly to him, revealing to him, and later sending down the Torah upon him. Pharaoh—may Allah curse him—also demeaned him because he wore no bracelets on his wrists and bore no outward adornment; such jewelry is the adornment of women and ill-befits the dignity of men—how much more so the messengers who

(1) Allah says in Sura al-Zukhruf (43:55–56): “So when they deeply grieved Us, We took retribution against them and drowned them all; and We made them precedents and examples for those who come later”—that is, We set them forth as forerunners so that subsequent generations might learn a lesson. (2) In manuscript B: “ayyam” (days). (3) In B: “wa la zeena 'ala Musa” (and no adornment for Moses).

يعودون إلى جهلهم العريض الطويل، هذا والعظيم الحليم القدير يُنظرهم ولا يُعَجّل عليهم، ويؤخِّرهم ويتقدَّم بالوعيد إليهم، ثم أخذهم بعد إقامة الحجة عليهم والإنذار إليهم أخْذَ عزيز مقتدر، فجعلهم عِبرةً ونَكالًا وسلفًا (١) لمن أشبههم من الكافرين، ومَثَلًا لمن اتّعظ بهم من عباده المؤمنين، كما قال (تعالى) -وهو أصدق القائلين- في سورة ﴿حم (١) وَالْكِتَابِ الْمُبِينِ﴾: ﴿وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا مُوسَى بِآيَاتِنَا إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ وَمَلَئِهِ فَقَالَ إِنِّي رَسُولُ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (٤٦) فَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ بِآيَاتِنَا إِذَا هُمْ مِنْهَا يَضْحَكُونَ (٤٧) وَمَا نُرِيهِمْ مِنْ آيَةٍ إِلَّا هِيَ أَكْبَرُ مِنْ أُخْتِهَا وَأَخَذْنَاهُمْ بِالْعَذَابِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ (٤٨) وَقَالُوا يَاأَيُّهَ السَّاحِرُ ادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ بِمَا عَهِدَ عِنْدَكَ إِنَّنَا لَمُهْتَدُونَ (٤٩) فَلَمَّا كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُمُ الْعَذَابَ إِذَا هُمْ يَنْكُثُونَ (٥٠) وَنَادَى فِرْعَوْنُ فِي قَوْمِهِ قَالَ يَاقَوْمِ أَلَيْسَ لِي مُلْكُ مِصْرَ وَهَذِهِ الْأَنْهَارُ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِي أَفَلَا تُبْصِرُونَ (٥١) أَمْ أَنَا خَيْرٌ مِنْ هَذَا الَّذِي هُوَ مَهِينٌ وَلَا يَكَادُ يُبِينُ (٥٢) فَلَوْلَا أُلْقِيَ عَلَيْهِ أَسْوِرَةٌ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ أَوْ جَاءَ مَعَهُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ مُقْتَرِنِينَ (٥٣) فَاسْتَخَفَّ قَوْمَهُ فَأَطَاعُوهُ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا قَوْمًا فَاسِقِينَ (٥٤) فَلَمَّا آسَفُونَا انْتَقَمْنَا مِنْهُمْ فَأَغْرَقْنَاهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ (٥٥) فَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ سَلَفًا وَمَثَلًا لِلْآخِرِينَ﴾ [الزخرف: ٤٦ - ٥٦] . يذكر تعالى إرسالَه عبده الكليم الكريم إلى فرعون الخسيس اللئيم، وأنّه تعالى أيّد رسولَه بآيات بيّنات واضحات تستحق أن تقابَل بالتعظيم والتصديق، وأن يرتدعوا عمّا هم فيه من الكفر ويرجعوا إلى الحقّ والصراط المستقيم، فإذا هم منها يضحكون وبها يستهزؤون، وعن سبيل الله يصدُّون، وعن الحق يصدّون، فأرسل الله عليهم الآيات تَتْرى يتبع بعضُها بعضًا، وكلّ آية أكبر من التي تتلوها، لأن التوكيد أبلغ مما قبله ﴿وَأَخَذْنَاهُمْ بِالْعَذَابِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ (٤٨) وَقَالُوا يَاأَيُّهَ السَّاحِرُ ادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ بِمَا عَهِدَ عِنْدَكَ إِنَّنَا لَمُهْتَدُونَ﴾. لم يكن لفظ السّاحر في زمنهم نقصًا ولا عيبًا؛ لأن علماءهم في ذلك الوقت هم السَّحَرة، ولهذا خاطبوه به في حال احتياجهم إليه وضراعتهم لديه. قال الله تعالى: ﴿فَلَمَّا كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُمُ الْعَذَابَ إِذَا هُمْ يَنْكُثُونَ﴾. ثم أخبر تعالى عن تبجُّح فرعون بملكه وعظمة بلده وحسنها، وتخرُّق الأنهار فيها، وهي الخلجانات التي يكسرونها أمام (٢) زيادة النيل، ثمّ تبجّح بنفسه وحِلْيته، وأخذ يتنقّص رسولَ الله موسى (عليه السلام) ويزدريه بكونه ﴿وَلَا يَكَادُ يُبِينُ﴾ يعني: كلامه؛ بسبب ما كان في لسانه من بقيّة تلك اللثّغة التي هي شرف له وكمال وجمال، ولم تكن مانعَةً له، أن كلمه الله تعالى، وأوحى إليه، وأنزل بعد ذلك التوراة عليه، وتنقَّصه فرعون -لعنه الله- بكونه لا أساور في يديه ولا زينة عليه (٣) ، إنما ذلك من حلية النّساء لا يليق بشهامة الرجال فكيف بالرسل الذين

(١) قال الله تعالى في سورة الزخرف: ٥٥ - ٥٦: ﴿فَلَمَّا آسَفُونَا انْتَقَمْنَا مِنْهُمْ فَأَغْرَقْنَاهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ (٥٥) فَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ سَلَفًا وَمَثَلًا لِلْآخِرِينَ﴾ أي: جعلناهم متقدمين ليتعظ بهم الآخِرون. (٢) في ب: أيام. (٣) في ب: ولا زينة على موسى.