Verses 21–54
These verses admonish the disbelievers to examine the ruins of past nations and consider their stories to draw a moral lesson for themselves, that they might know that no matter how great or powerful a people might be and no matter how well they plan, no one can thwart God. The verses then present part of the story of Moses and Pharaoh as an example of this, and they include the story of the believer in Pharaoh’s household.
Commentary
أَوَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَيَنْظُرُوا كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الَّذِينَ كَانُوا مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ ۚ كَانُوا هُمْ أَشَدَّ مِنْهُمْ قُوَّةً وَآثَارًا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَأَخَذَهُمُ اللَّهُ بِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَمَا كَانَ لَهُمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ مِنْ وَاقٍ ٢١
(40:21) Have they not travelled over the land so that they may observe how was the fate of those who were before them? They were greater than them in might and with respect to the traces they left behind in the land. But then Allah seized them for their sins, and they had no defender against Allah?
This is a rhetorical question intended as a rebuke to the disbelievers; wāqin (defender) is the active participle of wiqāya, meaning to protect something from harm.
The meaning of the verse is: Have those to whom we sent you not travelled over the land so that they may observe—and, in doing so, reflect and draw a lesson— how was the fate of those who were before them?—those nations who rejected their messengers and were destroyed as a result—They were greater than them in might—in their power and authority—and with respect to the traces they left behind—such as the fortified cities, impregnable fortresses, and lofty palaces—in the land. But then Allah seized them for their sins—and destroyed them for their misdeeds— and they had no defender against Allah who could protect them from His punishment.
ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَانَتْ تَأْتِيهِمْ رُسُلُهُمْ بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ فَكَفَرُوا فَأَخَذَهُمُ اللَّهُ ۚ إِنَّهُ قَوِيٌّ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ ٢٢
(40:22) That was because their messengers used to bring them clear signs, but they defied [them]. So Allah seized them. Indeed He is all-strong, severe in retribution.
That here refers to the divine punishment mentioned in the previous verse, and clear signs (bayyināt) refers to manifest proofs. The remainder is clear.
وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا مُوسَىٰ بِآيَاتِنَا وَسُلْطَانٍ مُبِينٍ ٢٣
(40:23) Certainly We sent Moses with Our signs and a manifest authority,
Perhaps what is meant by āyāt (signs) here are the miracles and wonders with which these he was sent, such as his staff transforming into a serpent or his hand glowing white, and by sulṭān mubīn (manifest authority) the absolute divine power with which they were supported, such as that which prevented Pharaoh from killing Moses and extinguishing the light of his guidance. Some have said that signs means proofs and evidences, while manifest authority refers to the miracles, such as Moses staff or hand and so on. And other meanings have been suggested besides this.
إِلَىٰ فِرْعَوْنَ وَهَامَانَ وَقَارُونَ فَقَالُوا سَاحِرٌ كَذَّابٌ ٢٤
(40:24) to Pharaoh, Haman and Korah, but they said, “A magician, a mendacious liar.”
Pharaoh was the tyrannical ruler of the Egyptians and the enslaver of the Israelites, while Haman was his advisor, and Korah was a wrongdoer from the Israelites who had abundant sources of wealth. God singles out these three individuals for mention from both peoples because they were the leaders from whom all of the corruption and sinfulness of these two peoples emanated.
فَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ بِالْحَقِّ مِنْ عِنْدِنَا قَالُوا اقْتُلُوا أَبْنَاءَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ وَاسْتَحْيُوا نِسَاءَهُمْ ۚ وَمَا كَيْدُ الْكَافِرِينَ إِلَّا فِي ضَلَالٍ ٢٥
(40:25) So when he brought them the truth from Us, they said, Kill the sons of the faithful who are with him, and spare their women. But the stratagems of the faithless only go awry.
This verse draws a contrast between the message Moses brought them and the values he called them to and between how they responded to him with their plotting. He had brought them the truth and they should have accepted it because it was the truth and because he had brought them it from God. They should have accepted it and not rejected it, but, instead, they responded by plotting against him, and they made these plans lest anyone should believe in him. However, God caused their plans to go awry and they were not able to harm the faithful who were with him.
The context suggests that one of those who said these words was Korah, who was an Israelite himself. This is not unlikely, because the order to kill the sons and spare the womenfolk of the Israelites had been given by the Pharaoh’s before Moses prophetic mission had begun, whereas in this verse it concerns specifically the sons and womenfolk of those who believed in Moses. Perhaps Korahs interests aligned with those of Pharaoh and Haman because of his enmity and hostility towards Moses and those of his people who followed him.
Note that they say the faithful who are with him rather than simply the faithful as a whole, which shows that they were supporting him in his mission.
وَقَالَ فِرْعَوْنُ ذَرُونِي أَقْتُلْ مُوسَىٰ وَلْيَدْعُ رَبَّهُ ۖ إِنِّي أَخَافُ أَنْ يُبَدِّلَ دِينَكُمْ أَوْ أَنْ يُظْهِرَ فِي الْأَرْضِ الْفَسَادَ ٢٦
(40:26) And Pharaoh said, Let me slay Moses, and let him invoke his Lord. Indeed I fear that he will change your religion, or bring forth corruption in the land.
Here, Pharaoh addresses his elites. This verse indicates that there were a group of people advising him not to kill Moses and to leave him alone, as also evinced by the verse: They said, “Put him and his brother off for a while” ().
Pharaoh says and let him invoke his Lord out of arrogance and insolence. He means: Let me kill him and let him pray to his Lord to save him from me and preserve his life if he is able!
…Indeed I fear that he will change your religion, or bring forth corruption in the land: In this passage, Pharaoh explains the rationale behind his decision to kill Moses, saying that on the one hand he is afraid for his peoples religion and on the other that he is afraid for the worldly affairs. With regard to his fear for their religion—which was a form of idolatry—he is worried Moses will turn them to the worship of the One God, and as regards their worldly affairs, he sees that Moses is amassing followers and influence and that they may launch a rebellion against Pharaoh, which will lead to violence and a breakdown of peace and security in the land.
وَقَالَ مُوسَىٰ إِنِّي عُذْتُ بِرَبِّي وَرَبِّكُمْ مِنْ كُلِّ مُتَكَبِّرٍ لَا يُؤْمِنُ بِيَوْمِ الْحِسَابِ ٢٧
(40:27) Moses said: “Indeed I seek the protection of my Lord and your Lord from every arrogant one who does not believe in the Day of Reckoning.”
See how Moses responds to Pharaoh’s threats to kill him by seeking God’s protection. His saying Indeed I seek the protection of my Lord and your Lord stands in stark contrast to Pharaoh’s remark to let him invoke his Lord, for Pharaoh identifies God as Moses Lord alone, whereas Moses says that God is the Lord of Pharaoh and his people as surely as He is the Lord of Moses and that God’s authority extends over them as much as it does him, such that he can seek God’s protection against their evil and this protection will be effective.
Based on this, it is clear that the phrase your Lord refers to Pharaoh and his people rather than Moses own people, the Israelites.
…from every arrogant one who does not believe in the Day of Reckoning: This refers to Pharaoh and those who share his arrogance and lack of faith in the Day of Reckoning. It shows that no one is safe from anyone who possesses these two evil traits in their character.
وَقَالَ رَجُلٌ مُؤْمِنٌ مِنْ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ يَكْتُمُ إِيمَانَهُ أَتَقْتُلُونَ رَجُلًا أَنْ يَقُولَ رَبِّيَ اللَّهُ وَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ ۖ وَإِنْ يَكُ كَاذِبًا فَعَلَيْهِ كَذِبُهُ ۖ وَإِنْ يَكُ صَادِقًا يُصِبْكُمْ بَعْضُ الَّذِي يَعِدُكُمْ ۖ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي مَنْ هُوَ مُسْرِفٌ كَذَّابٌ ٢٨
(40:28) Said a man of faith from Pharaoh’s clan, who concealed his faith, Will you kill a man for saying, “My Lord is Allah, while he has already brought you manifest proofs from your Lord? Should he be lying, his falsehood will be to his own detriment; but if he is truthful, there shall visit you some of what he promises you. Indeed Allah does not guide someone who is a profligate, a liar.
From the context, it appears that ‘from Pharaohs clan’ (min āl Firʿawn) is an adjective for a man, and the verbal sentence ‘who concealed his faith’ (yaktum īmānahu) functions as a second adjective for it. Therefore, this man was an Egyptian from the family of Pharaoh, and his family did not know that he believed in Moses because he had kept his faith hidden from them.
It is said that from Pharaohs clan is actually the second object of the verb concealed (meaning that he concealed his faith… from Pharaohs clan) and that this object was placed in front of the verb. As for the verb conceal itself, it can take two direct objects, as in ‘and they will not conceal any matter from Allah’ (wa lā yaktumūn Allāha ḥadīthan—note that in the Arabic, there is no need to insert the preposition from in front of God, even though that is the meaning) or it can take an object using the preposition from (min, which is used in this verse), as has been stated in the Miṣbāḥ.
However, the problem with this reading is that it does not align with the context of the verse and there is no apparent reason why the object of the verb should be placed in front of it, such as signifying exclusivity (as in he only concealed his faith from Pharaoh’s clan) or the like. Furthermore, the man repeatedly addresses Pharaoh and his people with the expression O my people! (yā qawmi), and if he was not a member of Pharaoh’s clan (as indicated by treating from Pharaohs clan as an adjective of man rather than the second object of the verb concealed) then he could not address them thusly.
Will you kill a man for saying, My Lord is Allah, while he has already brought you manifest proofs from your Lord? Here, the believer of Pharaoh’s family rebukes them for deciding to kill Moses. The fact that he says from your Lord shows that the manifest proofs (bayyināt) Moses brought concerned the fact that God was as much their Lord as Moses’ and that, therefore, to kill him would be to kill someone who brought them the truth from their Lord.
Should he be lying, his falsehood will be to his own detriment: Some commentators have pointed out that he only says this to conciliate his own people; it does not mean that he personally doubted the veracity of Moses’ claims to be a prophet.
…but if he is truthful, there shall visit you some of what he promises you: Again, this shows that the man is being conciliatory by only invoking the minimum standards, as if to say: If Moses is telling the truth, then you will suffer at least some of the punishments that he foretold, although if he is truthful it is more likely that you will suffer all of them.
…Indeed Allah does not guide someone who is a profligate, a liar: This explains the rationale behind the second part of his argument, as if to say: if Moses is lying, then his own deceit will be sufficiently detrimental to him, but if he is telling the truth you will suffer at least some of the punishments with which he has threatened you. This is because you will have gone beyond the bounds by killing him, denying the lordship of your Lord, and taking lords besides God, and God does not guide someone who is a profligate or a liar. And, in the event that Moses is lying, then the one he claims as His lord has no lordship in order to guide him or to leave him without guidance.
Based on this, it should be evident why what some scholars have said about this part of the verse serving as a justification for both of his statements together (that Moses has brought proofs from their Lord and that whether he is lying or not he should not be killed) is not correct.
يَا قَوْمِ لَكُمُ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ ظَاهِرِينَ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَمَنْ يَنْصُرُنَا مِنْ بَأْسِ اللَّهِ إِنْ جَاءَنَا ۚ قَالَ فِرْعَوْنُ مَا أُرِيكُمْ إِلَّا مَا أَرَىٰ وَمَا أَهْدِيكُمْ إِلَّا سَبِيلَ الرَّشَادِ ٢٩
(40:29) O my people! Today sovereignty belongs to you, and you are dominant in the land. But who will save us from Allah’s violence should it overtake us? Pharaoh said: I just point out to you what I see [to be advisable for you], and I guide you only to the way of rectitude.
This is another rhetorical question intended as a rebuke. Dominant in the land means that they enjoy power and supremacy in the land of Egypt; Allah’s violence is His punishment.
In this verse, the believer asks: ‘O my people! Today you have sovereignty while you have power and supremacy in the land of Egypt over those who are beneath you, such as the Israelites, but who will help us against the divine punishment with which Moses threatens us?’ Notice that he includes himself amongst their number when he speaks of God’s punishment, as this is a more eloquent and persuasive form of delivering advice as it implies that he wishes to save them just as much as he wants to save himself.
Pharaoh said: “I just point out to you what I see, and I guide you only to the way of rectitude”: In other words, he only points out to them the best course of action in accordance with reality. By this, he means that he is certain about what he guides his people to do in response to Moses, as if it is something that is self-evident to him because it corresponds with objective reality. In fact, this is merely him feigning confidence to his people.
وَقَالَ الَّذِي آمَنَ يَا قَوْمِ إِنِّي أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ مِثْلَ يَوْمِ الْأَحْزَابِ ٣٠ مِثْلَ دَأْبِ قَوْمِ نُوحٍ وَعَادٍ وَثَمُودَ وَالَّذِينَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ ۚ وَمَا اللَّهُ يُرِيدُ ظُلْمًا لِلْعِبَادِ ٣١
(40:30–31) And he who had faith said: “O my people! Indeed I fear for you the like of the day of the factions, like the case of the people of Noah, of ʿĀd and Thamūd, and those who were after them, and Allah does not desire any wrong for the servants.”
He who had faith refers to the believer of Pharaoh’s clan, it is not—as some have suggested—Moses, on account of his eloquence. The factions are the nations mentioned in the subsequent verse: the peoples of Noah, ʿĀd, and Thamūd, and those who came after them. The sentence the case of the people of Noah… is an elaboration of the like of in the previous verse, and case (daʾb) refers to a habit or precedent.
In other words, he tells his audience: ‘O my people! I am afraid that you will suffer the same fate as earlier peoples, like the example that was made of them one after another because of their disbelief in and denial of the messengers, or like the requital they suffered because of their continuous habit of disbelief and denial, but God does not will any wrong to befall His servants.’
وَيَا قَوْمِ إِنِّي أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ يَوْمَ التَّنَادِ ٣٢ يَوْمَ تُوَلُّونَ مُدْبِرِينَ مَا لَكُمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ مِنْ عَاصِمٍ ۗ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلِ اللَّهُ فَمَا لَهُ مِنْ هَادٍ ٣٣
(40:32–33) O my people! Indeed I fear for you a day of mutual calls, a day when you will turn back, not having anyone to protect you from Allah, and whomever Allah leads astray has no guide.
A day of mutual calls is the Day of Resurrection, and perhaps he refers to it as this because on that day the wrongdoers will call out to one another for aid and call out to one another in distress and grief, as they would in this world.
Some have said the meaning of mutual calls is the calls exchanged between the inhabitants of paradise and the inmates of hell, as per the description given by God in Sūrah al-Aʿrāf. Commentators have suggested other meanings of this, but they are not worthy of mention here.
A day when you turn back, not having anyone to protect you from Allah: Again, referring to the Day of Resurrection, and perhaps it means that they run away while they are in hell because of the severity of their punishment in an effort to escape, but they are caught and sent back, as per the verse: Whenever they desire to leave it out of anguish, they will be turned back into it: “Taste the punishment of the burning!” ()
…and whomever Allah leads astray has no guide: This serves as an explanation of the previous phrase not having anyone to protect you from Allah. In other words, you flee from punishment without anyone to protect you. And if there had been someone to protect you, it would have been God, but God will not protect you because He has left you astray, and whomever God leaves to go astray will find no guide.
وَلَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ يُوسُفُ مِنْ قَبْلُ بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ فَمَا زِلْتُمْ فِي شَكٍّ مِمَّا جَاءَكُمْ بِهِ ۖ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا هَلَكَ قُلْتُمْ لَنْ يَبْعَثَ اللَّهُ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ رَسُولًا ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يُضِلُّ اللَّهُ مَنْ هُوَ مُسْرِفٌ مُرْتَابٌ ٣٤
(40:34) Certainly Joseph brought you manifest proofs earlier, but you continued to remain in doubt concerning what he had brought you. When he died, you said, Allah will never send any messenger after him. That is how Allah leads astray those who are profligate, sceptical.
In order to illustrate what he means by saying that whomever God leaves to go astray has no guide, he presents the case of Joseph, who was an earlier prophet to the Egyptians. They doubted his prophethood so long as he was alive, and as soon as he died, they said that there was no prophet after him.
In other words, the believer from Pharaoh’s clan is saying: I swear that Joseph brought you manifest proofs before, about whose prophethood there could be no doubt, but your remained dubious about what he brought you so long as he lived, but when he died you said that God had sent no messenger after him; you contradicted yourselves without compunction.
Then he emphasizes this with the explanation: That is how Allah leads astray those who are profligate, sceptical.
الَّذِينَ يُجَادِلُونَ فِي آيَاتِ اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ سُلْطَانٍ أَتَاهُمْ ۖ كَبُرَ مَقْتًا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ وَعِنْدَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يَطْبَعُ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ قَلْبِ مُتَكَبِّرٍ جَبَّارٍ ٣٥
(40:35) Those who dispute the signs of Allah without any authority that may have come to them are greatly outrageous to Allah and to those who have faith. That is how Allah seals the heart of every arrogant tyrant.
This is a description of every doubtful sinner. When someone oversteps the bounds by ignoring the truth, following their own whims, and allowing scepticism to settle in their souls, they are themselves incapable of settling on any knowledge or conviction about a proof that could guide them to the truth, so instead they dispute God’s signs without any proof or basis other than the fact that God’s signs run contrary to their whims.
That is how Allah seals the heart of every arrogant tyrant: In other words, their hearts are closed off such that they do not comprehend any proof nor understand any argument.
وَقَالَ فِرْعَوْنُ يَا هَامَانُ ابْنِ لِي صَرْحًا لَعَلِّي أَبْلُغُ الْأَسْبَابَ ٣٦ أَسْبَابَ السَّمَاوَاتِ فَأَطَّلِعَ إِلَىٰ إِلَٰهِ مُوسَىٰ وَإِنِّي لَأَظُنُّهُ كَاذِبًا ۚ وَكَذَٰلِكَ زُيِّنَ لِفِرْعَوْنَ سُوءُ عَمَلِهِ وَصُدَّ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ ۚ وَمَا كَيْدُ فِرْعَوْنَ إِلَّا فِي تَبَابٍ ٣٧
(40:36–37) And Pharaoh said, O Haman! Build me a tower so that I may reach the routes; the routes of the heavens and take a look at the Allah of Moses, and indeed I consider him a liar. To Pharaoh was thus presented as decorous the evil of his conduct, and he was kept from the way, and Pharaoh’s stratagems only led him into ruin.
Pharaoh orders his adviser Haman to erect a structure that would allow him to see the God of Moses. It is possible that he said this to Haman while the believer from his clan was presenting his arguments, after he had given up the idea of killing Moses for the time being. This would explain why this statement occurs in the middle of the believers admonitions and arguments.
According to Majmaʿ al-bayān, the word used for this structure—sarḥ—refers to a tall structure that is visible to all for miles around, while routes (asbāb, sing. sabab) refers to a means by which one can reach something distant or far away.
…so that I may reach the routes: This provides a rationale for his order to build this structure. In other words: I command you to build this structure because I wish to ascend it to reach the routes…. He then explains what he means by routes (asbāb) by saying immediately the routes of the heavens (asbāb al-samāwāt) and explains further: and take a look at the Allah of Moses. It is as if to say: The God that Moses invokes and calls on others to believe in does not exist on the earth, for there is no god here except me. Then, perhaps this God is in the heavens. So, build for me a tower so that I might ascend it to reach the routes of the heavens and peer therein that I might look upon this God of Moses—although, I believe He does not truly exist!
Some commentators have said: Pharaoh meant to build him an observatory so that he can examine the heavens so that he might find therein evidence for the existence of Moses’ God, having exhausted his search for Him upon the earth. This is a good interpretation. However, whatever Pharaoh meant by this, it does not accord with the beliefs of any form of idolatry. In fact, it is likely that he said this in order to put on a pretence for the people or out of ignorance, neither of which is improbable for a tyrant.
To Pharaoh was thus presented as decorous the evil of his conduct, and he was kept from the way: From the context, it seems that this sentence is intended to convey a general rule to explain why, when Moses brought him the truth, he reacted as he did. It is because Satan had made his wicked deeds seem pleasant and diverted him from the path of good sense while making him believe he was following it. Hence, he disputed God’s signs falsely and schemed and behaved ruthlessly in order to extinguish the truth.
The verse ends with the coda, and Pharaohs stratagems only led him into ruin—meaning he was utterly destroyed.
وَقَالَ الَّذِي آمَنَ يَا قَوْمِ اتَّبِعُونِ أَهْدِكُمْ سَبِيلَ الرَّشَادِ ٣٨
(40:38) And he who had faith said: “O my people! Follow me, I will guide you to the way of rectitude.”
He tells him people to follow him so that he can guide them, and in reality to follow him is to follow Moses. The way of rectitude (sabīl al-rashād) is the path one takes to reach the truth and attain everlasting felicity. Hence, guidance means to show someone the way. Note the parallel between what the believer says, I will guide you to the way of rectitude, and what Pharaoh said previously, and I guide you only to the way of rectitude (). The remainder of the meaning is clear.
يَا قَوْمِ إِنَّمَا هَٰذِهِ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا مَتَاعٌ وَإِنَّ الْآخِرَةَ هِيَ دَارُ الْقَرَارِ ٣٩
(40:39) O my people! This life of the world is only a provision, and indeed the Hereafter is the abiding home.
This is the case he makes for following the way of rectitude and embracing the religion of truth. In fact, he argues that this is indispensable by asserting the belief that the human being will enjoy eternal and everlasting life in the hereafter: that this world is merely provision for that journey in the Hereafter and a step towards its ultimate goal. That is why he begins by mentioning this before he discusses evil and virtuous deeds.
مَنْ عَمِلَ سَيِّئَةً فَلَا يُجْزَىٰ إِلَّا مِثْلَهَا ۖ وَمَنْ عَمِلَ صَالِحًا مِنْ ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنْثَىٰ وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَأُولَٰئِكَ يَدْخُلُونَ الْجَنَّةَ يُرْزَقُونَ فِيهَا بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ ٤٠
(40:40) Whoever commits a misdeed shall not be requited except with its like, but whoever acts righteously, whether male or female, should he be faithful such shall enter paradise, provided therein without any reckoning.
In other words, what he will be afflicted with and live with in the afterlife will be akin to what he did in this world, which is the provision of the Hereafter, as this world is the abode of deeds and the next world is the abode of recompense.
So, whoever does evil in this world—a deed that has the quality of being evil—will not be requited in the hereafter with anything other than the harm that deed caused. Equally, whoever acts virtuously in this world, whether male or female, with no distinction between them, while being a believer, will enter paradise, wherein they will be provided for without any reckoning.
This verse highlights the equality of men and women when it comes to the acceptance of their deeds by God. This verse qualifies this with the condition that they be faithful, because good deeds done without faith are void. God says: Should anyone renounce his faith, his work shall fail (), and there are other verses to the same effect.
In this way, the verse prevents the most succinct explanation of the religion of truth, namely that the human being has an eternal abode in which he will be requited for his deeds in this world, whether evil or virtuous, so let the human being act virtuously and not act evilly. It also adds the detail that those who act virtuously will be provided for without any reckoning.
وَيَا قَوْمِ مَا لِي أَدْعُوكُمْ إِلَى النَّجَاةِ وَتَدْعُونَنِي إِلَى النَّارِ ٤١ تَدْعُونَنِي لِأَكْفُرَ بِاللَّهِ وَأُشْرِكَ بِهِ مَا لَيْسَ لِي بِهِ عِلْمٌ وَأَنَا أَدْعُوكُمْ إِلَى الْعَزِيزِ الْغَفَّارِ ٤٢
(40:41–42) O my people! [Think,] what makes me invite you to deliverance while you invite me toward the Fire? You invite me to defy Allah and to ascribe to Him partners of which I have no knowledge, while I call you to the All-mighty, the All-forgiver.
This seems to suggest that when the believer from Pharaoh’s clan invited his people to embrace monotheism, they invited him to come and worship their gods instead. It is also possible that this is his assessment of their situation because of their arguing with him on the basis of falsehoods and their obstinate refusal to forsake idolatry. Therefore, he says they are inviting him on the basis of their actions. In any case, he expresses amazement that they respond to his invitation to follow the truth with an invitation to follow falsehood.
So, he tells them: O my people! Why do I call you to salvation—meaning salvation from Hellfire—while you call me toward the Fire?—He called them towards the means of their salvation, while they called him to that which would consign him to hell. In other words, the Qur’an uses the outcomes of deeds (salvation and punishment) to refer to the causes of those outcomes—the deeds themselves.
Then, the believer from Pharaoh’s clan explains what it is they are calling him towards and what he is calling them towards: You invite me to defy Allah and to ascribe to Him partners of which I have no knowledge—in other words, to associate something with God without any evidence for it being worthy of such an association, in which case I would be fabricating something about God in ignorance— while I call you to the All-mighty, the All-forgiver—the One who cannot be overcome, and who forgives those who turn to Him in penitence and believe in Him. In other words, he says: I invite you to believe in Him and submit to Him.
لَا جَرَمَ أَنَّمَا تَدْعُونَنِي إِلَيْهِ لَيْسَ لَهُ دَعْوَةٌ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَلَا فِي الْآخِرَةِ وَأَنَّ مَرَدَّنَا إِلَى اللَّهِ وَأَنَّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ هُمْ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ ٤٣
(40:43) Undoubtedly, that to which you invite me has no invitation in the world nor in the Hereafter, and indeed our return will be to Allah, and indeed it is the profligates who will be inmates of the Fire.
In this verse, the believer from Pharaoh’s clan argues that what they are inviting him to is not truly a god because there is no invitation from this deity itself. This builds on what he said in the previous verse, namely: …of which I have no knowledge.
The meaning is as follows: It has been proven that what you invite me to, which you refer to as a partner of God, has no invitation in this world because it has sent to messengers to humankind to summon them to its worship. Neither does it have any invitation in the hereafter, because no one will return to it. On the other hand, what I am calling you to—God Almighty—has an invitation in this world, which is delivered by the prophets and messengers He has sent from Himself and supported with proofs and manifest signs. Meanwhile, in the hereafter, all of creation will return to Him so that He might judge between them, as God says: “The day He calls you, you will respond to Him, praising Him…” ().
And it is clear, as we highlighted in our commentary on the above verse, It is He who shows you His signs (), that lordship (rubūbiyya) necessarily entails a call (daʿwa) in this world, which is accompanied by a call (daʿwa) in the Hereafter. Therefore, if what he calls them to has a call in this world and a call in the hereafter and what they call him to does not, then what he calls them to is the real God, not what they call him to.
…and indeed our return will be to Allah, and indeed it is the profligates who will be inmates of the Fire: This joined to Undoubtedly, that to which you invite me…, meaning: And, undoubtedly, our return will be to God. Therefore, we must submit to Him, follow His way, and observe the bounds of His servanthood. And, undoubtedly, the profligates who overstep the bounds of servanthood—namely, you—will be the inmates of the Fire, so what I call you towards offers salvation, but what you call me towards does not.
فَسَتَذْكُرُونَ مَا أَقُولُ لَكُمْ ۚ وَأُفَوِّضُ أَمْرِي إِلَى اللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بَصِيرٌ بِالْعِبَادِ ٤٤
(40:44) Soon you will remember what I tell you, and I entrust my affair to Allah. Indeed Allah sees best the servants.
The beginning of this verse is an admonition and a threat to them, and it follows on from his saying, indeed our return will be to Allah…—in other words: If it is certain that we will return to God and the profligates will be punished—and you are they—and you do not pay attention to what I tell you today, you will soon remember what I tell you when you sight the punishment with your own eyes. Then, you will realise that I was trying to help you!
…and I entrust my affair to Allah: According to al-Rāghib, to entrust ones affair (tafwīḍ) means to return something to someone. So entrusting ones affair to God means devolving it to Him. Therefore, this approaches the meaning of tawakkul (relying on God) and taslīm (surrendering to God’s will), but the sense of tafwīḍ differs slightly in that when the servant entrusts his affair to God, this means that he returns whatever part of this affair is seen as his to God. In which case, the condition of the servant is that of someone who has withdrawn and has no say in the matter. By contrast, tawakkul means making God ones trustee (wakīl) and relying on Him to take care of your affairs, while taslīm means completely and utterly submitting to whatever God wants, regardless of whether you have any say in the matter. Therefore, tafwīḍ, tawakkul, and taslīm are three of the stations of servanthood (ʿubūdiyya): First comes tawakkul, followed by tafwīḍ, which is more refined than tawakkul, followed by taslīm, which is more refined than tafwīḍ.
Indeed Allah sees best the servants: He offers this as an explanation of why he entrusts his affair to God, and he explicitly mentions the name God (Allāh) rather than simply saying He, which would have made sense given that he had just mentioned God by name in the previous sentence, to emphasise the reason why He sees best the servants; it is as if he said: Indeed He sees best the servants, because He is God.
فَوَقَاهُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِ مَا مَكَرُوا ۖ وَحَاقَ بِآلِ فِرْعَوْنَ سُوءُ الْعَذَابِ ٤٥ النَّارُ يُعْرَضُونَ عَلَيْهَا غُدُوًّا وَعَشِيًّا ۖ وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ أَدْخِلُوا آلَ فِرْعَوْنَ أَشَدَّ الْعَذَابِ ٤٦
(40:45–46) So Allah saved him from their evil schemes, while a terrible punishment besieged Pharaoh’s clan; the Fire, to which they are exposed morning and evening. And on the day when the Hour sets in Pharaoh’s clan will enter the severest punishment.
This follows from his entrusting his affair to God; he entrusted his affair to God, so God sufficed him against their evil and protected him from their schemes. This verse intimates that Pharaoh’s supporters sought to do him harm but God repelled them from him.
…while a terrible punishment besieged Pharaoh’s clan: The Arabic here reads sūʾ al-ʿadhāb (lit. terrible of punishment), which places an adjective in a possessive construct (iḍāfa) with the noun it qualifies. At the same time, the verse uses the verbal noun sūʾ (rather than the adjective sayʾ) to intensify the meaning. Here Pharaohs clan refers to his supporters and followers, and you can refer to someone’s clan (āl) while including them in its number.
…the Fire, to which they are exposed morning and evening. And on the day when the Hour sets in Pharaoh’s clan will enter the severest punishment: The context of this verse suggests that this it is explaining what is meant by terrible punishment, rather than mentioning something distinct.
This verse makes explicit a number of significant points:
First, there will be an exposure (ʿaraḍ) to the Fire, after which they will be entered into it (idkhāl), and entering it is more severe than being exposed to it.
Second, that this exposure to the Fire will take place before the Hour sets in—which is when they will enter the Fire—and, therefore, that this exposure takes place in Barzakh (the Isthmus)—a world that exists between death and resurrection.
Third, that the punishment they are subjected to in Barzakh and the punishment they are subjected to on the Day of Judgment are one and the same thing—the Fire of the Hereafter. However, the inmates of Barzakh are punished with it from afar, while the inmates of the Hereafter are punished by being put into it.
The phrase morning and evening indicates that this punishment is constant and unceasing. Perhaps the fact that the inhabitants of Barzakh continue to have some connection to morning and evening shows that they have not yet become fully detached from this world and the way time flows in it.
وَإِذْ يَتَحَاجُّونَ فِي النَّارِ فَيَقُولُ الضُّعَفَاءُ لِلَّذِينَ اسْتَكْبَرُوا إِنَّا كُنَّا لَكُمْ تَبَعًا فَهَلْ أَنْتُمْ مُغْنُونَ عَنَّا نَصِيبًا مِنَ النَّارِ ٤٧ قَالَ الَّذِينَ اسْتَكْبَرُوا إِنَّا كُلٌّ فِيهَا إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ حَكَمَ بَيْنَ الْعِبَادِ ٤٨
(40:47–48) When they argue in the Fire, the weak will say to those who were arrogant, Indeed we used to follow you; so will you avail us against any portion of the Fire? Those who were arrogant will say: “Indeed we are all in it. Indeed Allah has judged between the servants.”
The context of the verse (47) indicates that they in when they argue in the Fire refers to Pharaoh’s clan, as shown by the opening of the subsequent verse Those in the Fire will say… In other words: Pharaoh’s clan will be besieged by a terrible punishment when they argue in the Fire (or: Mention their terrible punishment when they argue in the Fire), when the weaker of them will say to those who were arrogant: Indeed we used to follow you when were in the world, and that means you must provide for us our needs and help us in times of hardship. There is no hardship greater than what we are suffering now, so can you avail us against a portion of the Fire—even if you cannot save us from all of it, save us from a little, at least!
This conversation shows how deeply ingrained a habit it became in their souls to take recourse to their leaders and follow them instead of God, to the extent that they display the same behavior on the Day of Judgment even though they already know that no soul can avail another soul of anything on that day and that everything is in God’s hand on it. There are other similar conversations quoted throughout the Qur’an in which they lie, dispute, rebuke their deeds, call one another liars, and more.
Those who were arrogant will say: Indeed we are all in it. Indeed Allah has judged between the servants: The arrogant respond to the complaints of the weak by saying: Today is the day of recompense, not the day of action. So, there are no recourses left for us to take. We have none of the power or authority we imagined for ourselves when we were in the world. So we are in the same situation as you—we are all in the Fire!
Their saying, Indeed we are all in it. Indeed Allah has judged between the servants… means: the advent of God’s Judgment has invalidated all other Judgments, recourses, and influences, so that you and we are now on an equal footing; we have no more power than you do such that we could avail you of any of God’s punishment.
Some commentators have said that they in When they argue in the Fire refers to all of the disbelievers who are consigned to Hell, but, as you can see, this is an unlikely interpretation. As for the view that they in this passage refers to the Quraysh, it is even more unlikely.
وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ فِي النَّارِ لِخَزَنَةِ جَهَنَّمَ ادْعُوا رَبَّكُمْ يُخَفِّفْ عَنَّا يَوْمًا مِنَ الْعَذَابِ ٤٩
(40:49) Those in the Fire will say to the keepers of hell: “Supplicate your Lord to lighten for us a days punishment.”
Now begins a conversation between the inmates of the Fire—including the members of Pharaoh’s clan—and the angels who guard Hell. God presents this following the story of Pharaoh’s clan, and the inmates only ask the angels to supplicate on their behalf because they have lost hope of God responding to them directly.
The meaning of a days punishment means a day relative to the world they now inhabit, rather than a day of this world, and hence should be understood as them asking to be relieved a portion of their punishment.
قَالُوا أَوَلَمْ تَكُ تَأْتِيكُمْ رُسُلُكُمْ بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ ۖ قَالُوا بَلَىٰ ۚ قَالُوا فَادْعُوا ۗ وَمَا دُعَاءُ الْكَافِرِينَ إِلَّا فِي ضَلَالٍ ٥٠
(40:50) They will say: “Did not your messengers use to bring you manifest proofs?” They will say: “Yes.” They will say: “Then supplicate yourselves. But the supplications of the faithless only go awry.”
The guardians of Hell respond by asking the inmates whether messengers came to them with clear signs, and they confess that they did—which is tantamount to a confession that they denied these messengers and disbelieved in them even know they knew them to be upon the truth, which is a denial of prophethood (nubuwwa)—so the guardians do not respond to their request to supplicate on their behalf either in the affirmative or the negative. Instead, they return the request by telling the inmates to supplicate for themselves, implying that their pleas will not be answered.
The phrase, But the supplications of the faithless only go awry, shows that their supplications have become affected by their own going astray (ḍalāl) and so will not be guided to their goal of obtaining a response. The context suggests that this is part of the speech of the angels who guard Hell, although it could also be God’s own speech.
In any case, this sentence provides the reason why their prayers will not be answered. In short: Supplicate, but you will not be answered, because you have disbelieved, and the supplications of the disbelievers are never answered.
The fact that the absence of any answer to their prayers is predicated upon their disbelief indicates that it is this disbelief that has caused this, even though God has given His servants an explicit promise to respond to the supplication of any who invoke Him: I answer the supplicant’s call when he calls Me (). If a supplication is offered genuinely, then it will never be left unanswered, but what the wording of this promise indicates is that in order for this to be a genuine supplication or plea to God and for it to genuinely reach God, there are conditions that must be met: Namely, the supplicant must call on God and make an earnest request and, in this request, the supplicant must depend upon God alone and not take recourse to any other means except Him.
However, someone who disbelieves in the punishment of the Hereafter—meaning that they deny it and conceal its reality—cannot truly ask God to alleviate this punishment from them. In this world, it is obvious why this is the case. However, what about in the hereafter, where they have attained certainty about this punishment because they have directly experienced it, where they turn exclusively to God because of its severity, and where they take no recourse to anyone but Him? The reason why their supplication remains ineffective in the hereafter is because the attribute of denial remains with them in the form of a moral burden for which they have been punished. Therefore, they cannot earnestly and sincerely ask to be granted relief from something that they used to deny while they were alive in this world.
In addition to the above, if one of the conditions for God responding to their supplication is that they depend only upon Him, the same can be said of this too. How can they depend only on God in the hereafter when they never practiced this in this world? Pay close attention to this point!
We should also pay attention to the weakness of the argument that is sometimes made on the basis of this verse, namely that no supplication made by a disbeliever is ever answered. However, we can clearly see that this verse is saying that their prayers will not be answered with regards to the things in which they disbelieved and denied, not that no prayer of theirs will ever be heard. On the contrary, there are many verses of the Qur’an that affirm that God answers all peoples prayers in their hour of need.
إِنَّا لَنَنْصُرُ رُسُلَنَا وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيَوْمَ يَقُومُ الْأَشْهَادُ ٥١
(40:51) Indeed We shall help Our messengers and those who have faith in the life of the world and on the day when the witnesses rise up.
This verse promises that God will help His messengers as a class of people, not that He will help each and every messenger in each and every situation they encounter. We have already discussed the meaning of divine assistance (al-naṣr al-ilāhī) in our commentary on the verse, that they will indeed receive help ().
يَوْمَ لَا يَنْفَعُ الظَّالِمِينَ مَعْذِرَتُهُمْ ۖ وَلَهُمُ اللَّعْنَةُ وَلَهُمْ سُوءُ الدَّارِ ٥٢
(40:52) The day when the excuses of the wrongdoers will not benefit them, and the curse will lie on them, and for them will be the ills of the abode.
This verse explains the meaning of the day when the witnesses rise up, and it appears that the excuses of the wrongdoers (in Arabic: their excuses or maʿdhiratuhum) is a case of a verbal noun being put in a possessive construct with the doer of the action. God did not make this conditional by saying, If they offer excuses. This is to show that they will definitely offer excuses on that day. As for the verses, This is a day wherein they will not speak, nor will they be permitted to offer excuses (77:35–6), this should be understood as referring to one of the stages they will go through on the Day of Resurrection and one of the fates they will suffer, because there are other verses that clearly indicate that they will speak on that day.
…the curse will lie on them… means that they will be far from God’s mercy, while …and for them will be the ills of the abode… means they shall have an evil abode, namely Hell.
وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا مُوسَى الْهُدَىٰ وَأَوْرَثْنَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ الْكِتَابَ ٥٣ هُدًى وَذِكْرَىٰ لِأُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ ٥٤
(40:53–4) Certainly We gave Moses the guidance and We made the Children of Israel heirs to the Book, as a guidance and an admonition for those who possess intellect.
This is the conclusion for what has been said above about God sending Moses with His signs and manifest authority, Pharaoh’s disputations regarding these signs in which he took recourse to falsehood, and the arguments of the believer from Pharaoh’s clan. God begins this passage with Certainly to emphasise the truthfulness of what He sent Moses with and the wickedness of their response to him.
The meaning of hudā (guidance) here is the religion that was sent with Moses, while making the Children of Israel heirs to the Book means that the Torah was kept amongst them for them to act upon it and be guided by it.
…as a guidance and an admonition for those who possess intellect: means that it was a guidance by which all of them could be guided, but it was also an admonition specifically for those who were endowed with intellects.
Examining Narrations
- In ʿIlal al-Sharāʾiʿ, Shaykh al-Ṣadūq narrates via a chain of narrators from Ismāʿīl b. Manṣūr Abī Ziyād, from a narrator, from Abū ʿAbdallāh [Imām al-Ṣādiq], about Pharaoh’s saying, Let me slay Moses (), what prevented him from doing so? He said: His good sense prevented him, for no one kills a prophet or the descendant of a prophet except someone of illegitimate birth.
- In Majmaʿ al-Bayān, it is narrated that Abū ʿAbdallāh [Imām al-Ṣādiq] said: Dissimulation (taqiyya) is my religion and the religion of my forefathers, and anyone without dissimulation has no religion, for dissimulation is God’s shield on the earth. For, if the believer from Pharaoh’s clan had made manifest his faith, he would have been put to death.
Author’s comments: There are many narrations from Shīʿī sources to this effect, and they are supported by verses of the Qur’an, such as God’s saying: except when you are wary of them out of caution (), and His saying: barring someone who is compelled while his heart is at rest in faith ().
- In al-Maḥāsin, al-Barqī narrates via a chain of narrators from Ayyūb b. al-Ḥurr, from Abū ʿAbdallāh [Imām al-Ṣādiq], about the verse, So Allah saved him from their evil schemes…: They did assault him and kill him, so do you know what God protected him from? He protected him from being compelled to renounce his faith.
Author’s comments: There are some other traditions to this effect, and there are traditions from Sunnī sources that indicate that God saved him from being killed.
- In al-Khiṣāl, Shaykh al-Ṣadūq narrates from Imām al-Ṣādiq: I am amazed by one who is terrified by four things and does not flee to four other things… I am amazed by one who falls victim to others schemes, how does he not take recourse to God’s saying: “and I entrust my affair to Allah. Indeed Allah sees best the servants” (), for I have heard God say about the outcome of his affair: “So Allah saved him from their evil schemes” ()!
Author’s comments: This is narrated in other works as well.
- In Tafsīr al-Qummī, we are told that a man asked Abū ʿAbdallāh [Imām al-Ṣādiq]: What do you say about the verse, “the Fire, to which they are exposed morning and evening” ()? Abū ʿAbdallāh asked him: What do people say? He answered: They say this is in the eternal Fire, but they are not punished between these times. He said: So that means they are felicitous! Someone asked: May I be your sacrifice! How can this be? He: This is only in this world. But, in the abode of eternity, the reality is reflected in the verse: “And on the day when the Hour sets in Pharaohs clan will enter the severest punishment.”
Author’s comments: By this world, he means Barzakh, which is frequently discussed in the traditions of the Prophets Household.
- In Majmaʿ al-Bayān, Shaykh al-Ṭabrisī narrates from Nāfiʿ, who narrates from Ibn ʿUmar that God’s Messenger said: Surely when one of you dies, he will be shown his resting place in the morning and the evening. If he is an inhabitant of paradise, he will see paradise. But if he is an inmate of the Fire, he will see the Fire. He will be told: “This is your resting place for which God will resurrect you on the Day of Judgment.” This is also transmitted by al-Bukhārī and Muslim in their Ṣaḥīḥ collections of traditions.
Author’s comments: al-Suyūṭī also narrates this in al-Durr al-manthūr, from al-Bukhārī and Muslim, as well as from Ibn Abī Shayba and Ibn Mardawayh.
This idea frequently appears in the traditions of the Imāms of the Prophets Household, and many of these have already been discussed in our commentary on Barzakh in the first part of this work and in other places besides this.
See English vol. 1. (Ed.) ↩︎