Tafsir al-Sadi - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (504)

Tafsir al-SadiAbd al-Rahman al-Sadi’

“When We inspired your mother with what was inspired: ‘Place him in the chest, then cast it into the river, and let the river cast him onto the shore. An enemy of Mine and an enemy of his will take him.’ And I cast love upon you from Me, so that you might be brought up under My watchful eye. When your sister went along and said, ‘Shall I direct you to someone who will care for him?’ Thus We returned you to your mother so that her eyes might be comforted and she would not grieve. You killed a man, but We delivered you from distress and tried you with many trials. Then you remained for years among the people of Midian, after which you came at the appointed time, O Moses. And I fashioned you for Myself.”

“And I cast love upon you from Me”: everyone who saw him loved him. “So that you might be brought up under My watchful eye”: so that you would be raised under My observation, preservation, and care. What oversight and care could be more sublime or perfect than that of the Most Kind, the Most Merciful, who is able to secure His servant’s welfare and ward off harm from him? Moses did not pass from one condition to another without Allah Most High arranging it for his benefit.

Part of Allah’s gracious arrangement was that when Moses fell into the hands of his enemy, his mother became intensely anxious and her heart was left empty of all else. She nearly disclosed who he was, had Allah not made her steadfast and strengthened her heart. At that point, Allah prevented Moses from nursing from any wet nurse: he would not accept any woman’s breast, so that he would ultimately be returned to his mother, who would nurse him and keep him with her, reassured, tranquil, and comforted. They therefore kept presenting wet nurses to him, but he would accept none of them.

Then Moses’ sister came and said to them, “Shall I direct you to a household who will care for him on your behalf and sincerely look after him?”

“Thus We returned you to your mother so that her eyes might be comforted and she would not grieve. You killed a man”—namely, the Copt. When Moses entered the city at a time when its people were unaware, he found two men fighting: one belonged to Moses’ faction, while the other was his enemy, a Copt. “The man from his faction called upon him for help against his enemy, so Moses struck him with his fist and killed him.” Moses then called upon Allah and asked Him for forgiveness, and He forgave him. Thereafter, he fled when he heard that the chiefs were seeking him and intended to kill him.

Allah thus delivered him from the anguish of punishment for the sin and from being killed. “And We tried you with many trials,” meaning: We tested and tried you and found you upright throughout your circumstances; or, We moved you through your various conditions and stages until you attained what you attained.

“Then you remained for years among the people of Midian.” After fleeing from Pharaoh and his chiefs when they intended to kill him, Moses made his way to Midian and arrived there. He married there and remained for ten years—or eight years. ⦗506⦘ “After which you came at the appointed time, O Moses.” That is, you came at a time already ordained by divine decree—a coming that Allah knew and willed to occur at this particular time, in this particular age, and at this particular place. Your arrival was not coincidental or without purpose and arrangement on Our part.

This demonstrates Allah’s perfect care for Moses, to whom He spoke directly—peace be upon him. Hence He said, “And I fashioned you for Myself.” That is, I lavished upon you My special care, blessings, gracious beneficence, and nurturing so that you would be a beloved one, specially chosen for Me, and thereby attain a rank reached by only the rarest among creation.

If a loving person from among created beings wishes to nurture his beloved and bring him to the desired perfection, he expends his utmost effort and does everything within his power to bring him to it. What, then, do you think of the care bestowed by the Lord, the All-Powerful, the Most Generous? What do you suppose He will do for one whom He has chosen for Himself and selected from His creation?

﴿إِذْ أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَى أُمِّكَ مَا يُوحَى * أَنِ اقْذِفِيهِ فِي التَّابُوتِ فَاقْذِفِيهِ فِي الْيَمِّ فَلْيُلْقِهِ الْيَمُّ بِالسَّاحِلِ يَأْخُذْهُ عَدُوٌّ لِي وَعَدُوٌّ لَهُ وَأَلْقَيْتُ عَلَيْكَ مَحَبَّةً مِنِّي وَلِتُصْنَعَ عَلَى عَيْنِي * إِذْ تَمْشِي أُخْتُكَ فَتَقُولُ هَلْ أَدُلُّكُمْ عَلَى مَنْ يَكْفُلُهُ فَرَجَعْنَاكَ إِلَى أُمِّكَ كَيْ تَقَرَّ عَيْنُهَا وَلا تَحْزَنَ وَقَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا فَنَجَّيْنَاكَ مِنَ الْغَمِّ وَفَتَنَّاكَ فُتُونًا فَلَبِثْتَ سِنِينَ فِي أَهْلِ مَدْيَنَ ثُمَّ جِئْتَ عَلَى قَدَرٍ يَا مُوسَى * وَاصْطَنَعْتُكَ لِنَفْسِي﴾ . ﴿وَأَلْقَيْتُ عَلَيْكَ مَحَبَّةً مِنِّي﴾ فكل من رآه أحبه ﴿وَلِتُصْنَعَ عَلَى عَيْنِي﴾ ولتتربى على نظري وفي حفظي وكلاءتي، وأي نظر وكفالة أجلّ وأكمل، من ولاية البر الرحيم، القادر على إيصال مصالح عبده، ودفع المضار عنه؟! فلا ينتقل من حالة إلى حالة، إلا والله تعالى هو الذي دبّر ذلك لمصلحة موسى، ومن حسن تدبيره، أن موسى لما وقع في يد عدوه، قلقت أمه قلقا شديدا، وأصبح فؤادها فارغا، وكادت تخبر به، لولا أن الله ثبتها وربط على قلبها، ففي هذه الحالة، حرم الله على موسى المراضع، فلا يقبل ثدي امرأة قط، ليكون مآله إلى أمه فترضعه، ويكون عندها، مطمئنة ساكنة، قريرة العين، فجعلوا يعرضون عليه المراضع، فلا يقبل ثديا. فجاءت أخت موسى، فقالت لهم: ﴿هل أدلكم على أهل بيت يكفلونه لكم وهم له ناصحون﴾ ﴿فَرَجَعْنَاكَ إِلَى أُمِّكَ كَيْ تَقَرَّ عَيْنُهَا وَلا تَحْزَنَ وَقَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا﴾ وهو القبطي لما دخل المدينة وقت غفلة من أهلها، وجد رجلين يقتتلان، واحد من شيعة موسى، والآخر من عدوه قبطي ﴿فاستغاثه الذي من شيعته على الذي من عدوه فوكزه موسى فقضى عليه﴾ فدعا الله وسأله المغفرة، فغفر له، ثم فر هاربا لما سمع أن الملأ طلبوه، يريدون قتله. فنجاه الله من الغم من عقوبة الذنب، ومن القتل، ﴿وَفَتَنَّاكَ فُتُونًا﴾ أي: اختبرناك، وبلوناك، فوجدناك مستقيما في أحوالك أو نقلناك في أحوالك، وأطوارك، حتى وصلت إلى ما وصلت إليه، ﴿فَلَبِثْتَ سِنِينَ فِي أَهْلِ مَدْيَنَ﴾ حين فر هاربا من فرعون وملئه، حين أرادوا قتله، فتوجه إلى مدين، ووصل إليها، وتزوج هناك، ومكث عشر سنين، أو ثمان سنين، ⦗٥٠٦⦘ ﴿ثُمَّ جِئْتَ عَلَى قَدَرٍ يَا مُوسَى﴾ أي: جئت مجيئا قد مضى به القدر، وعلمه الله وأراده في هذا الوقت وهذا الزمان وهذا المكان، ليس مجيئك اتفاقا من غير قصد ولا تدبير منا، وهذا يدل على كمال اعتناء الله بكليمه موسى ﵇، ولهذا قال: ﴿وَاصْطَنَعْتُكَ لِنَفْسِي﴾ أي: أجريت عليك صنائعي ونعمي، وحسن عوائدي، وتربيتي، لتكون لنفسي حبيبا مختصا، وتبلغ في ذلك مبلغا لا يناله أحد من الخلق، إلا النادر منهم، وإذا كان الحبيب إذا أراد اصطناع حبيبه من المخلوقين، وأراد أن يبلغ من الكمال المطلوب له ما يبلغ، يبذل غاية جهده، ويسعى نهاية ما يمكنه في إيصاله لذلك، فما ظنك بصنائع الرب القادر الكريم، وما تحسبه يفعل بمن أراده لنفسه، واصطفاه من خلقه؟ "