“And We brought the others near there (64), and We saved Moses and all those with him (65). Then We drowned the others (66). Surely in that is a sign, yet most of them were not believers (67). And indeed, your Lord is the Almighty, the Most Merciful (68). And recite to them the account of Abraham (69), when he said to his father and his people, ‘What is it that you worship?’ (70) They said, ‘We worship idols, and remain devoted to them.’ (71) He said, ‘Do they hear you when you call upon them (72), or benefit you, or harm you?’ (73)”

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“And We brought near”—that is, We brought “the others” near there, meaning Pharaoh’s people. That is, We brought them forward to the sea and drew them close to destruction. Abu ‘Ubaydah said: “And We brought near” means: We gathered them. From this comes the name of the night of Muzdalifah, meaning the night of gathering.

It is related in the account that Gabriel was between the Children of Israel and Pharaoh’s people: he was driving the Children of Israel onward, and they said, “We have never seen anyone more skillful at driving than this man.” He was also holding Pharaoh’s people back, and they said, “We have never seen anyone more effective at restraining than this one.” (1)

“And We saved Moses and all those with him. Then We drowned the others”—Pharaoh and his people. Sa‘id ibn Jubayr said: The sea had been still before that; but when Moses struck it with the staff, it became turbulent, beginning to rise and recede.

“Surely in that is a sign, yet most of them were not believers,” meaning, most of the people of Egypt. It is said that among the people of Egypt, only Asiyah, Pharaoh’s wife; Hizbil, the believer; and Maryam, daughter of Naqusa—the one who led them to the bones of Joseph, peace be upon him—had believed.

“And indeed, your Lord is the Almighty, the Most Merciful”: Almighty in taking vengeance upon His enemies, and Merciful to the believers when He saved them.

His saying, “And recite to them the account of Abraham.” His saying, “When he said to his father and his people, ‘What is it that you worship?’” means: What thing do you worship?

“They said, ‘We worship idols, and remain devoted to them,’” meaning, we persist in worshipping them. Some scholars said that they said, “and remain,” because they worshipped them during the daytime rather than at night. One says, “He remained doing such-and-such,” when he did it during the day.

“He said, ‘Do they hear you when you call upon them?’” That is, do they hear your supplication? Ibn ‘Abbas said: Do they listen to you? “Or benefit you”—it is said, by providing sustenance—“or harm you” if you abandon their worship?