Verses 10–12
These verses contain two similes through which God conveys the situation of the faithful and the faithless. The faithless perish miserably due to their treachery towards God and His Messenger and their rejection of faith. Their ties to the prophets (such as kin ties) benefitted them not. The faithless gloriously rejoice due to their sincere faith in God and His Messenger, devotion, and obedience; their ties to the enemies of God harmed them not, for the criterion for prestige with God is God-consciousness (taqwā).
The first simile: This conveys the situation of two women who were married to prophets whom God describes as righteous servants. What an honor! Since these two women betrayed these two prophets, they were commanded to enter the fire alongside the rest of the hell-bound lot. Being married to these prophets did nothing for them. They perished among others who perished, without the least bit of distinction or honor.
The second simile: This conveys the situation of two women, one of whom was the wife of Pharaoh, who ardently rejected God and called the people to worship him, pronouncing, “I am your High Lord!” Since she believed in God with pure faith, God saved her and brought her to the garden. Being married to someone like Pharaoh caused her no harm. The second is Mary, the daughter of ʿImrān, the truthful (ṣiddīqah), the devout. God honored her and blew of His spirit into her.
Through these similes, God sends a severe message to those wives of the Prophet who betrayed him, told his secret, allied against him, and vexed him—especially since God uses the words ‘faithlessness’ (kufr) and ‘treachery’ (khiyānah) and speaks of entering the fire.
Commentary
ضَرَبَ اللَّهُ مَثَلا لِّلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا امْرَأَةَ نُوحٍ وَامْرَأَةَ لُوطٍ كَانَتَا تَحْتَ عَبْدَيْنِ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا صَالِحَيْنِ فَخَانَتَاهُمَا فَلَمْ يُغْنِيَا عَنْهُمَا مِنَ اللَّهِ شَيْئًا وَقِيلَ ادْخُلا النَّارَ مَعَ الدَّاخِلِينَ ١٠
(66:10) God sets forth an example to those who disbelieve the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot: they were both under two of Our righteous servants, but they acted treacherously towards them (khānatāhummā) so they availed them naught against God, and it was said: Enter both the fire with those who enter.
Al-Rāghib says:
Khiyānah and nifāq are synonyms, although khiyānah used to be used for breaking pacts and trusts, and nifāq used to be used for hypocrisy in religion. Then, they began to be used interchangeably. Khiyānah is opposing the truth and someone’s right; for instance, through secretly violating a pact. The antonym of khiyānah is amānah (“security,” “trust,” “loyalty”). The verb is used in the following manner: “I betrayed a person” and “I betrayed that person’s trust.”
To those who disbelieve: If this relates to the example (that is, an example to those who disbelieve), it means: God has set forth an example illustrating the situation of those who disbelieved, showing that their connection to righteous servants is of no benefit to them. If it relates to sets forth (in the sense of presenting), it means: God has presented an example of the wives of Noah and Lot and their eventual fate as an example for those who disbelieved, so they may take heed and understand that their connection with the righteous among His servants will not benefit them and that due to their betrayal of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), they are inevitably among the dwellers of the Fire.
The wife of Noah and the wife of Lot are objects of the verb sets forth (ḍaraba). Under (taḥt) two of our righteous servants means that they were married to them.
So they availed them naught against God: The first pronoun they (a dual pronoun) refers to the two servants, and the second refers to the two wives. It means that these two women did not benefit from being married to these two righteous servants (of God).
It was said, Enter both the fire with those who enter: Meaning, along with their kith and kin who enter it, as is implied in the following verses:
About the wife of Noah: Until when Our command came and water came forth from the valley, We said: Carry in it two of all things, a pair, and your own family—except those against whom the word has already gone forth, and those who believe ()
About the wife of Lot: So remove your followers in a part of the night—and let none of you turn back—except your wife, for surely whatsoever befalls them shall befall her ().
Alternatively, with those who enter could mean “along with the faithless.”
The wording here lends the sense that these two women have no honor before God, and He does not care how they perish. This is conveyed through the use of the word qīl (it was said) and through saying that they will unconditionally enter the fire.
وَضَرَبَ اللَّهُ مَثَلا لِّلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا امْرَأَةَ فِرْعَوْنَ إِذْ قَالَتْ رَبِّ ابْنِ لِي عِندَكَ بَيْتًا فِي الْجَنَّةِ وَنَجِّنِي مِن فِرْعَوْنَ وَعَمَلِهِ وَنَجِّنِي مِنَ الْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ ١١
(66:11) And God sets forth an example to those who believe the wife of Pharaoh when she said: My Lord! Build for me a house with Thee in the garden and deliver me from Pharaoh and his doing, and deliver me from the unjust people.
To those who believe is parallel to, to those who disbelieve ().
When she said: My Lord! Build for me a house with Thee in the garden: God summarizes her lifelong desires, which she sought through worship, in her prayer. When faith has been perfected, the inward and the outward, and the heart and the tongue, agree. A person (of faith) says what he does and does what he says. When he says he wants something, his actions match that.
Since God is presenting her as an example, her special station in worship is expressed through her prayer, which symbolizes her lifelong worship. Her prayer contains her request that God build for her a house near Him in the garden, save her from the Pharaoh and his deeds, and save her from the wrongdoing people, for she had chosen nearness to her Lord above being Pharaoh’s companion and sweetheart, even though she was the queen of Egypt. She opted for a house built for her by her Lord over Pharaoh’s house, which had everything a heart could have desired. She disdained the ornaments of the life of this world—even though they subjected themselves to her—and clung to honor from and favor from her Lord. She believed in the unseen and upheld her faith until she died.
This is what happened beforehand, which led to God making her an example for those who believe and summarizing her situation. Throughout her life and her life’s worship, she only sought and worked to uproot all that distracted her from her Lord. Her prayer—mentioned in this verse—means that she only resorted to her Lord, seeking nearness to Him and to settle in the abode of His honor.
The wife of Pharaoh: According to narrations, her name was Āsiyah.
My Lord! Build for me a house with Thee in the garden: These two things (with Thee and garden) are mentioned together, because the garden is the abode of nearness to God, close to the Lord of the Worlds, as God says in: Nay, they are alive, sustained before their Lord ().
However, being present with her Lord, near Him, is an intangible (maʿnawiyyah) honor, whereas abiding in the garden is a tangible (ṣūriyyah) honor. In her petition, she blends both of those honors.
And deliver me from Pharaoh and his doing: She exonerates herself, begging God to save her from Pharaoh and his deeds, which, as his companion, she necessarily shared in and could be considered guilty for. Some exegetes say that doing refers to the conjugal act.
And deliver me from the unjust people: Pharaoh’s people. She exonerates herself again, through begging God to save her from the entire society, just as, in the previous clause, she had begged God to save her from a specific element of society (Pharaoh’s household and court).
وَمَرْيَمَ ابْنَتَ عِمْرَانَ الَّتِي أَحْصَنَتْ فَرْجَهَا فَنَفَخْنَا فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِنَا وَصَدَّقَتْ بِكَلِمَاتِ رَبِّهَا وَكُتُبِهِ وَكَانَتْ مِنَ الْقَانِتِينَ ١٢
(66:12) And Mary, the daughter of ʿImrān, who guarded her chastity, so We breathed into her of Our inspiration and she accepted the truth of the words of her Lord and His books, and she was of the obedient ones.
This is appended to the wife of Pharaoh through the conjunction and. It means that God presents Mary as an example to the faithful.
God presents her as an example and praises her by name, whereas He has not mentioned the name of any other woman in His Book. He mentions her name in the Qur’an in thirty-odd places in twenty-odd chapters.
Who guarded her chastity, so We breathed into her of Our inspiration: Here, as elsewhere in the Qur’an, He praises her for her chastity. Possibly, this is to dispel the Jews’ accusations towards her, as God says in: And for their having uttered against Mary a grievous calumny () and, similarly, in And she who guarded her chastity, so We breathed into her ().
And she accepted the truth of the words of her Lord: Exegetes say that this means that she believed in what God revealed to His prophets. Some exegetes say that it means that she believed in heaven and hell, and God’s commands and prohibitions. However, this view is incorrect, since it would necessarily include all the divine books (and therefore it would not be necessary to say both words and books).
And His books: This encompasses the divinely revealed laws, like the Torah and Gospel, and also the Qur’an. Possibly, what is meant by her “accepting the truth of the words of her Lord” is her being ṣiddīqah (“truthful”), as God says in: The Messiah, son of Mary is but a messenger; messengers before him have indeed passed away; and his mother was a truthful woman ().
And she was of the obedient ones: That is, she was of those who obey God, humbly, loyally, although that was more common among men than women.
This interpretation is supported by the use of the word “devout” (qunūt) with this meaning in the verse where God tells of how the angels called to her: O Mary! Keep to obedience (uqnutī) to your Lord and humble yourself, and bow down with those who bow (). Some exegetes say that the obedient ones refers to her clan and tribe, who were a righteous line. However, this is unlikely, for the reasons already stated. Furthermore, since this example is being presented to the two wives of the Prophet (who vexed him), it is more appropriate for the obedient ones to refer to all those who are humble and obedient to God (not to a specific clan).
Examining Narrations
- In Tafsīr al-Burhān, it is related from Sharaf al-Dīn al-Najafī, without a further chain of narration, that Imām al-Ṣādiq said regarding the verse: God sets forth an example to those who disbelieve the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot ():
God presents an example for ʿĀʾishah and Ḥafṣah who backed each other against the Messenger and told his secret.
- In Majmaʿ (al-Bayān), it is related from Abū Mūsā that the Prophet said:
- May men have reached perfection, but only four women: Āsiyah, the daughter of Muzāḥim, the wife of Pharaoh; Mary, the daughter of ʿImrān; Khadījah, the daughter of Khuwaylid; and Fāṭimah, the daughter of Muḥammad.
- In Al-Durr al-manthūr, it is related that the Messenger of God said:
The best of the women of paradise are Khadījah, the daughter of Khuwaylid; Fāṭimah, the daughter of Muḥammad; Mary, the daughter of ʿImrān; and Āsiyah, the daughter of Muẓāhim, the wife of Pharaoh. God tells of them (Āsiyah and Mary) in this verse (which demonstrates Āsiyah’s merit): My Lord! Build for me a house with Thee in the garden ().
- In Al-Durr al-manthūr, al-Ṭabarānī relates from Saʿd ibn (Junādah) that the Messenger of God said:
God wedded Mary, the daughter of ʿImrān, to me in Paradise, along with the wife of Pharaoh and the sister of Moses.
Author’s comment: According to narrations, the wife of Pharaoh was killed by her husband when he found out that she believed in God alone. However, narrations disagree about how he killed her. Some say that when he learned of her faith, he tried to force her to return to disbelief. However, she refused anything but faith, so he ordered that she be crushed to death beneath an enormous rock, and this was done.
Others say that when they were about to torture her, she prayed—as God tells us—My Lord! Build for me a house with Thee in the garden… (). God accepted her prayer and showed to her the house she would have in the garden. Then, her soul left her, and so, by the time they put the rock onto her, her soul had already left her body.
Others say that Pharaoh drove four pegs into her, lay her on her chest, placed a millstone on her chest, and faced her towards the sun.
And God knows best.
Translator’s note: That is, being close to God does not involve any physical matter or form; it is a matter of the spirit, soul, or heart. However, having a house in the garden involves a type of matter or form (of the type that is present in the afterlife, not the physical matter or forms of the physical world). Therefore, she is praying for a thing which has no form whatsoever, and a thing which has a form in the afterlife. ↩︎
It is related from Aḥmad, al-Ṭabarānī, and al-Ḥākim (who authenticated it) that Ibn ʿAbbās said that the Prophet said this. ↩︎