Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (2/54)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

To the very people he had hood-winked into obedience, the same ones who had followed him in his falsehood, he cried out:

“Look at how the sea has cleared before me so that I may overtake these slaves who have slipped from my grasp and rebelled against my rule and my land!”

Within himself, however, he kept debating whether to go after them, imagining that he might yet escape—an impossible dream. At times he would press forward; at others he would recoil.

It is related that Gabriel, peace be upon him, appeared in the guise of a horseman riding a dapple-gray mare. He passed in front of Pharaoh’s stallion—may Allah curse him—so the stallion neighed toward her and lunged after her. Gabriel sped ahead and plunged into the sea; the stallion bolted after him at full gallop, and Pharaoh followed, unable to restrain himself, powerless to harm or benefit himself in the least. When the troops saw their leader enter the sea they rushed in behind him, every last one of them, in great throngs upon throngs, until the vanguard was on the verge of emerging from the other side.

At that very moment Allah Most High instructed His Interlocutor, through the revelation He sent him, to strike the sea with his staff. Moses struck, and the sea crashed back upon them just as it had been before. Not a single person survived.

Allah the Exalted says:

“So We delivered Moses and all those with him; then We drowned the others. Surely in that is a sign, yet most of them would not believe. And verily your Lord—He alone is the Mighty, the Merciful.” (Ash-Shuʿarā’ 26:65–67)

That is: in saving His allies not one of them drowned, and in drowning His enemies not one of them escaped—an awesome sign and a decisive proof of His tremendous power and of the truthfulness of His Messenger in all that he brought from his Lord of the noble law and the upright paths.

He, Most High, also says:

“We led the Children of Israel across the sea, and Pharaoh and his troops pursued them in insolence and tyranny. Until, when drowning overtook him, he cried, ‘I believe that there is no deity but the One in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am of those who submit.’ [He was told,] ‘Now—when you had disobeyed before and were among the corrupters! Today We shall preserve your body that you may be a sign for those who come after you. Yet many people are heedless of Our signs.’” (Yūnus 10:90–92)

Allah relates how Pharaoh—the leader of the unbelieving Copts—was drowned: the waves would buffet him down at one moment and hurl him up the next, while the Children of Israel looked on at the terrible punishment Allah was inflicting upon him and his army. This gladdened their eyes and soothed their hearts. When Pharaoh saw that destruction had surrounded him and the throes of death had seized him, only then did he repent and profess faith—yet faith avails no soul once it reaches that moment, as He, the Exalted, says:

“Indeed, those against whom the Word of your Lord has become final will never believe, even if every sign were to come to them, until they behold the painful punishment.” (Yūnus 10:96–97)

And He says:

“When they beheld Our might, they said, ‘We believe in Allah alone, and we reject what we used to associate with Him.’ But their belief, once they had seen Our might, did not benefit them. Such is the established way of Allah with His servants, and there the disbelievers were ruined.” (Ghāfir 40:84–85)

(1) In manuscript B: yurawwi (it is narrated). (2) In the printed edition: wayarju (and he hopes). (3) al-ramika: a mare; al-ha’il: one not yet in foal. (4) One of the emphatic forms in Arabic. (5) He says in Sura al-An‘am (6:158): “Do they await nothing except that the angels should come to them, or that your Lord should come, or that some of your Lord’s signs arrive? On the day when some of your Lord’s signs do come, no soul will benefit from its faith if it had not believed beforehand or earned good through its faith. Say, ‘Await; indeed, we [also] are awaiting.’”

لمن استخفَّهم فأطاعوه، وعلى باطله تابعوه: انظروا كيف انحسر البحرُ لي لأدرك عبيدي الآبقين من يدي، الخارجين عن طاعتي وبلدي، وجعل يوري (١) في نفسه أن يذهب خلفهم ويُجوّز (٢) أن ينجو، وهيهات، ويقدم تارة ولكنه يحجم تارات. فذكروا أن جبريل (عليه السلام) تبدَّى في صورة فارسٍ راكبٍ على رَمَكَةٍ حائل (٣) ، فمرَّ بين يدي فحلِ فرعون لعنه الله فَحمحم إليها وأقبل عليها، وأسرع جبريل بين يديه، فاقتحم البحر واستبق الجواد وقد أجاد، فبادر مسرعًا هذا وفرعون لا يملك من نفسه شيئًا ولا لنفسه ضرًّا ولا نفعًا، فلما رأته الجنود قد سلك البحر اقتحموا وراءه مسرعين، فحصلوا في البحر أجمعين أكتعين أبصعين (٤) ، حتى هَمَّ أولُهم بالخروج منه، فعند ذلك أمر الله تعالى كليمَه فيما أوحاه إليه أن يضرب البحر بعصاه، فضربه فارتَطَم عليهم البحرُ كما كان، فلم ينج منهم إنسان. قال الله تعالى: ﴿وَأَنْجَيْنَا مُوسَى وَمَنْ مَعَهُ أَجْمَعِينَ (٦٥) ثُمَّ أَغْرَقْنَا الْآخَرِينَ (٦٦) إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَةً وَمَا كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ (٦٧) وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ﴾ أي: في إنجائه أولياءه فلم يَغْرَق منهم أحد، وإغراقه أعداءه فلم يخلص منهم أحدٌ، آية عظيمةٌ، وبرهان قاطع على قدرته تعالى العظيمة، وصدق رسوله فيما جاء به عن ربّه من الشريعة الكريمة والمناهج المستقيمة. وقال تعالى: ﴿وَجَاوَزْنَا بِبَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ الْبَحْرَ فَأَتْبَعَهُمْ فِرْعَوْنُ وَجُنُودُهُ بَغْيًا وَعَدْوًا حَتَّى إِذَا أَدْرَكَهُ الْغَرَقُ قَالَ آمَنْتُ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا الَّذِي آمَنَتْ بِهِ بَنُو إِسْرَائِيلَ وَأَنَا مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ (٩٠) آلْآنَ وَقَدْ عَصَيْتَ قَبْلُ وَكُنْتَ مِنَ الْمُفْسِدِينَ (٩١) فَالْيَوْمَ نُنَجِّيكَ بِبَدَنِكَ لِتَكُونَ لِمَنْ خَلْفَكَ آيَةً وَإِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِنَ النَّاسِ عَنْ آيَاتِنَا لَغَافِلُونَ﴾ [يونس: ٩٠ - ٩٢] . يخبر تعالى عن كيفية غرق فرعون زعيم كَفَرة القبط، وأنّه لما جعلت الأمواج تخفضه تارةً وترفعه أخرى، وبنو إسرائيل ينظرون إليه وإلى جنوده ماذا أحلَّ الله به وبهم من البأس العظيم، والخطب الجسيم، ليكون أقرَّ لأَعْيُن بني إسرائيل، وأشفى لنفوسهم، فلما عاين فرعون الهلَكة، وأُحيط به، وباشر سكرات الموت، أناب حينئذٍ وتاب، وآمن حين لا ينفع نفسًا إيمانُها (٥) ، كما قال تعالى: ﴿إِنَّ الَّذِينَ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِمْ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّكَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ (٩٦) وَلَوْ جَاءَتْهُمْ كُلُّ آيَةٍ حَتَّى يَرَوُا الْعَذَابَ الْأَلِيمَ﴾ [يونس: ٩٦ - ٩٧] . وقال تعالى: ﴿فَلَمَّا رَأَوْا بَأْسَنَا قَالُوا آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَحْدَهُ وَكَفَرْنَا بِمَا كُنَّا بِهِ مُشْرِكِينَ (٨٤) فَلَمْ يَكُ يَنْفَعُهُمْ إِيمَانُهُمْ لَمَّا رَأَوْا بَأْسَنَا سُنَّتَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي قَدْ خَلَتْ فِي عِبَادِهِ وَخَسِرَ هُنَالِكَ الْكَافِرُونَ﴾ [غافر: ٨٤ - ٨٥] .

(١) في ب: يروّي. (٢) في ط: ويرجو. (٣) الرمكة: الفرس، والحائل: التي لم تحمل. (٤) من صيغ التوكيد في العربية. (٥) قال ﷿ في سورة الأنعام: ١٥٨ ﴿هَلْ يَنْظُرُونَ إِلَّا أَنْ تَأْتِيَهُمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ أَوْ يَأْتِيَ رَبُّكَ أَوْ يَأْتِيَ بَعْضُ آيَاتِ رَبِّكَ يَوْمَ يَأْتِي بَعْضُ آيَاتِ رَبِّكَ لَا يَنْفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ آمَنَتْ مِنْ قَبْلُ أَوْ كَسَبَتْ فِي إِيمَانِهَا خَيْرًا قُلِ انْتَظِرُوا إِنَّا مُنْتَظِرُونَ﴾.