Tafsir al-Sadi - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (858)

Tafsir al-SadiAbd al-Rahman al-Sadi’

(5) “And remember when Moses said to his people, ‘O my people, ⦗859⦘ why do you harm me when you certainly know that I am Allah’s messenger to you?’ Then, when they deviated, Allah caused their hearts to deviate. And Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people.”

[That is:] “And remember when Moses said to his people,” rebuking them for their conduct and reproaching them for harming him, although they knew that he was Allah’s messenger: “Why do you harm me” through words and deeds, “when you certainly know that I am Allah’s messenger to you?”

A messenger has the right to be honored and revered, to have people submit (1) to his commands, and to have them hasten to carry out his judgment.

As for harming a messenger—whose goodness toward creation surpasses every goodness after that of Allah—it is the height of insolence and audacity, and a deviation from the straight path which they had known and abandoned. Allah therefore says: “Then, when they deviated”—that is, when they deliberately turned away from the truth—“Allah caused their hearts to deviate,” as punishment for the deviation they had chosen for themselves and willingly accepted. Allah did not grant them success in following guidance, for they were unfit for goodness and fit only for evil. “And Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people”—that is, those for whom disobedience has always remained a defining trait and who have no (2) desire for guidance.

This noble verse shows that Allah’s leading His servants astray is neither injustice on His part nor a basis for them to argue against Him. Rather, it results from what they themselves have done: they closed the gate of guidance upon themselves after recognizing it. He then requites them with misguidance (3) and deviation which they have no means of averting, and by turning their hearts [as punishment for them and in justice toward them], as He Most High says: “And We turn their hearts and their eyes away, just as they refused to believe in it the first time, and We leave them wandering blindly in their transgression.”

(1) In B: “and undertaking.” (2) In B: “not.” (3) Thus in B; in A: “through misguidance.”

﴿٥﴾ ﴿وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَى لِقَوْمِهِ يَا قَوْمِ ⦗٨٥٩⦘ لِمَ تُؤْذُونَنِي وَقَدْ تَعْلَمُونَ أَنِّي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ إِلَيْكُمْ فَلَمَّا زَاغُوا أَزَاغَ اللَّهُ قُلُوبَهُمْ وَاللَّهُ لا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْفَاسِقِينَ﴾ [أي:] ﴿وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَى لِقَوْمِهِ﴾ موبخا لهم على صنيعهم، ومقرعا لهم على أذيته، وهم يعلمون أنه رسول الله: ﴿لِمَ تُؤْذُونَنِي﴾ بالأقوال والأفعال ﴿وَقَدْ تَعْلَمُونَ أَنِّي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ إِلَيْكُمْ﴾ . والرسول من حقه الإكرام والإعظام، والانقياد (١) بأوامره، والابتدار لحكمه. وأما أذية الرسول الذي إحسانه إلى الخلق فوق كل إحسان بعد إحسان الله، ففي غاية الوقاحة والجراءة والزيغ عن الصراط المستقيم، الذي قد علموه وتركوه، ولهذا قال: ﴿فَلَمَّا زَاغُوا﴾ أي: انصرفوا عن الحق بقصدهم ﴿أَزَاغَ اللَّهُ قُلُوبَهُمْ﴾ عقوبة لهم على زيغهم الذي اختاروه لأنفسهم ورضوه لها، ولم يوفقهم الله للهدى، لأنهم لا يليق بهم الخير، ولا يصلحون إلا للشر، ﴿وَاللَّهُ لا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْفَاسِقِينَ﴾ أي: الذين لم يزل الفسق وصفا لهم، لا (٢) لهم قصد في الهدى، وهذه الآية الكريمة تفيد أن إضلال الله لعباده، ليس ظلما منه، ولا حجة لهم عليه، وإنما ذلك بسبب منهم، فإنهم الذين أغلقوا على أنفسهم باب الهدى بعد ما عرفوه، فيجازيهم بعد ذلك بالإضلال (٣) والزيغ الذي لا حيلة لهم في دفعه وتقليب القلوب [عقوبة لهم وعدلا منه بهم] كما قال تعالى: ﴿وَنُقَلِّبُ أَفْئِدَتَهُمْ وَأَبْصَارَهُمْ كَمَا لَمْ يُؤْمِنُوا بِهِ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَنَذَرُهُمْ فِي طُغْيَانِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ﴾ .

(١) في ب: والقيام. (٢) في ب: ليس. (٣) كذا في ب، وفي أ: بالضلال.