“My people, how is it that I call you to salvation,” through what I have told you, “while you call me to the Fire” by urging me to abandon the following of Allah’s prophet Moses, peace be upon him?
He then explained this, saying, “You call me to disbelieve in Allah and associate with Him that of which I have no knowledge”—namely, that it deserves to be worshipped besides Allah. Speaking about Allah without knowledge is among the gravest and most heinous sins. “But I call you to the Almighty,” Who possesses all power, while no other has any control whatsoever, “the All-Forgiving,” for although people wrong themselves excessively and dare to incur His displeasure, when they repent and return to Him, He effaces their evil deeds and sins and averts the punishments they entail in this world and the Hereafter.
“Without question”—that is, truly and certainly—“what you call me to has no claim to be invoked in this world or the Hereafter.” That is, it does not deserve to be invoked or that people should be encouraged to seek refuge in it, whether in this world or the Hereafter, because it is powerless and deficient. It controls neither benefit ⦗739⦘ nor harm, death nor life, nor resurrection.
“And surely our return is to Allah,” Most High, Who will repay everyone according to his deeds. “And the transgressors are the inhabitants of the Fire.” They—and no others—are those who transgressed against themselves by brazenly defying (1) their Lord, disobeying Him, and disbelieving in Him.
After he had sincerely counseled, cautioned, and warned them, but they neither obeyed nor agreed with him, he said to them:
“You will surely remember what I am telling you” by way of this counsel, and you will see the consequences of rejecting it when the punishment befalls you and you are deprived of the immense reward.
“And I entrust my affair to Allah.” That is, I seek refuge and protection with Him, entrust all my affairs to Him, and rely upon Him to secure my welfare and ward off any harm that may befall me from you or anyone else. “Allah truly sees His servants.” He knows their circumstances and what they deserve. He knows my condition and weakness, so He protects me from you and suffices me against your evil. He also knows your circumstances, and you can do nothing except by His will and volition. If He grants you power over me, that occurs by His wisdom, Most High, and proceeds from His will and volition.
“So Allah protected him from the evils of their plots.” That is, Allah—the Strong, the Merciful—protected that believing man who had been granted success from the evil consequences of Pharaoh and his people’s plots against him, for they intended to kill and destroy him. He had confronted them with what they hated, openly declared his complete support for Moses, peace be upon him, and called them to the same message to which Moses had called them. This was something they could not tolerate, especially when they held power at that time. He had enraged them, and their fury against him became intense, so they plotted against him. Yet Allah protected him from their schemes and plots, which rebounded against them. “And Pharaoh’s people were overtaken by the worst punishment”: Allah Most High drowned every last one of them in a single morning.
And in the intermediate realm, “the Fire—they are exposed to it morning and evening. And on the Day the Hour is established: ‘Admit Pharaoh’s people into the most severe punishment.’” Such are the dreadful punishments that befall those who deny Allah’s messengers and obstinately oppose His command.