⦗1-51⦘ “In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. * Tā-Sīn-Mīm. * These are the verses of the clear Book. * We relate to you in truth part of the account of Moses and Pharaoh, for a people who believe”—to the end of the account.
“These”—the verses that deserve to be revered and magnified—“are the verses of the clear Book,” which makes clear every matter Allah’s servants need: knowledge of their Lord and His rights, His allies and His enemies, His decisive acts and momentous days, the rewards of deeds, and the recompense of those who perform them. The Quran has explained these matters with the utmost clarity, making them manifest and plain to Allah’s servants.
Among the matters it makes clear is the account of Moses and Pharaoh. The Quran relates it and returns to it in several places, but recounts it at length here. He therefore says: “We relate to you in truth part of the account of Moses and Pharaoh,” for their story is extraordinary and their account astonishing.
“For a people who believe.” The discourse is directed and addressed to them, for their faith leads them to reflect upon it, receive it with acceptance, and be guided by the lessons it contains. It increases them in faith and certainty, adding yet more good to the good they already possess. As for everyone else, the only benefit they derive from it is that the proof is established against them. Allah has withheld it from them and placed a veil between them and it that prevents them from understanding it.
The beginning of this account is: “Indeed, Pharaoh exalted himself in the land”—through his kingship, authority, armies, and tyranny. He thus became one of those who exalt themselves on earth, not one of those who are truly exalted.
⦗612⦘
“He divided its people into factions”—that is, separate groups whom he treated as his whims dictated, enforcing upon them whatever tyranny and violence he pleased.
“He oppressed one group among them.” That group was the Children of Israel, whom Allah had favored above all peoples. Pharaoh ought to have honored and esteemed them, but instead he oppressed them because he saw that they possessed no strength with which to protect themselves from what he intended to do to them. He therefore paid them no regard and showed no concern for them. He went so far as to “slaughter their sons and keep their women alive,” fearing that they would become so numerous as to overwhelm him in his own land and that sovereignty would pass to them.
“Indeed, he was one of the corrupters”—those who have no aim of setting right either religion or worldly life. This was part of the corruption he spread throughout the land.
“But We intended to bestow Our favor upon those who had been oppressed in the land” by removing the causes of their oppression, destroying whoever resisted them, and forsaking whoever opposed them. “And to make them leaders” in religion. This cannot be achieved while they remain oppressed; rather, they must be securely established in the land and possess full power. “And to make them the inheritors” of the land—those for whom the ultimate triumph would be in this world before the Hereafter.