Surah Al A'raf Notes (130-137)

( Source: Ibn Kathir )

Fir`awn and His People suffer Years of Drought

 (130) And indeed We punished the people of Fir'aun (Pharaoh) with years of drought and shortness of fruits (crops, etc.), that they might remember (take heed).

 (131) But whenever good came to them, they said: "Ours is this." And if evil afflicted them, they ascribed it to evil omens connected with Musa (Moses) and those with him. Be informed! Verily, their evil omens are with Allah but most of them know not.

 But whenever good came to them) such as a fertile season and provisions, (they said, "This is for us.''), because we deserve it,
(and if evil afflicted them) drought and famine,
(they considered it an omen Musa and those with him. ) saying that this hardship is because of them and what they have done.
(Verily, their omens are with Allah) "Allah says that their afflictions are with and from Him, (but most of them know not.)''


Allah punishes the People of Fir`awn because of Their Rebellion

 (132) They said [to Musa (Moses)]: "Whatever Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) you may bring to us, to work therewith your sorcery on us, we shall never believe in you."

("Whatever Ayat you may bring to us, to work therewith your sorcery on us, we shall never believe in you.'') They said, `whatever miracle, proof and evidence you bring us, we will neither accept it from you nor believe in you or what you came with.' 

(133) So We sent on them: the flood, the locusts, the lice, the frogs, and the blood: (as a succession of) manifest signs, yet they remained arrogant, and they were of those people who were Mujrimun (criminals, polytheists, sinners, etc.).

(So We sent on them the Tufan) Ibn `Abbas commented; "It was a heavy rain that ruined the produce and fruits.'' He is also reported to have said that Tuwfan refers to mass death. Mujahid said it is water that carries the plague every where. As for the locust, it is the well-known insect, which is permissible to eat.

Sa`id bin Jubayr said, "When Musa came to Fir`awn, he demanded, `Release the Children of Israel to me.' But, Fir`awn did not comply; and Allah sent the Tuwfan, and that is a rain which continued until they feared that it was a form of torment. They said to Musa, `Invoke your Lord to release us from this rain, and we will believe in you and send the Children of Israel with you.' Musa invoked his Lord and He removed the affliction from them. However, they did not believe, nor did they send the Children of Israel with him. In that year, Allah allowed (the earth) to grow various types of produce, fruits and grass for them as never before. They said, `This is what we hoped for.' So Allah sent the locusts, and the locusts started to feed on the grass. When they saw the effect the locusts had on the grass, they knew that no vegetation would be saved from devastation. They said, `O Musa! Invoke your Lord so that He will remove the locusts from us, and we will believe in you and release the Children of Israel to you.' Musa invoked his Lord, and He removed the locusts. Still, they did not believe and did not send the Children of Israel with him.

They collected grains and kept them in their homes. They said, `We saved our crops.' However, Allah sent the Qummal, grain bugs, and one of them would take ten bags of grains to the mill, but only reap three small bags of grain. They said, `O Musa! Ask your Lord to remove the Qummal (weevil) from us and we will believe in you and send the Children of Israel with you.' Musa invoked his Lord, and Allah removed the Qummal from them. However, they did not send the Children of Israel with him. Once, when he was with Fir`awn, Musa heard the sound of a frog and said to Fir`awn, `What will you and your people suffer from this (the frogs)' Fir`awn said, `What can frogs do' Yet, by the time that night arrived a person would be sitting in a crowd of frogs that reached up to his chin and could not open his mouth to speak without a frog jumping in it. They said to Musa, `Invoke your Lord to remove these frogs from us, and we will believe in you and send the Children of Israel with you.' Musa invoked his Lord, but they did not believe.

Allah then sent blood that filled the rivers, wells and the water containers they had. They complained to Fir`awn, saying, `We are inflicted with blood and do not have anything to drink.' He said, `Musa has bewitched you.' They said, `How could he do that when whenever we look for water in our containers we found that it has turned into blood' They came to Musa and said, `Invoke your Lord to save us from this blood, and we will believe in you and send the Children of Israel with you.' Musa invoked his Lord and the blood stopped, but they did not believe nor send the Children of Israel with him.'' A similar account was attributed to Ibn `Abbas, As-Suddi, Qatadah and several others among the Salaf. Muhammad bin Ishaq bin Yasar said, "The enemy of Allah, Fir`awn, went back defeated and humiliated, after the sorcerers believed (in Musa). He insisted on remaining in disbelief and persisted in wickedness. Allah sent down the signs to him, and he (and his people) were first inflicted by famine. Allah then sent the flood, the locusts, the Qummal, the frogs then blood, as consecutive signs. When Allah sent the flood, it filled the surface of the earth with water. But the water level receded, and they could not make use of it to till the land or do anything else. They became hungry. 

 (134) And when the punishment fell on them they said: "O Musa (Moses)! Invoke your Lord for us because of His Promise to you. If you will remove the punishment from us, we indeed shall believe in you, and we shall let the Children of Israel go with you."

(They said: "O Musa! Invoke your Lord for us because of His promise to you. If you remove the punishment from us, we indeed shall believe in you, and we shall let the Children of Israel go with you.'') Musa invoked his Lord and He removed the affliction from them, but they did not keep their promises. So Allah sent locusts that ate the trees and consumed the nails on their doors, until the doors fell from their homes and residences. They again said what they said to Musa before, and he called on his Lord and He removed the affliction. Still, they did not keep their promises, and Allah sent the Qummal. Musa, peace be upon him, was commanded to go to a mound and strike it with his staff. So Musa went to a huge mound, struck it with his staff and the Qummal fell out of it in tremendous numbers, until they overwhelmed the houses and food reserves, ultimately depriving them of sleep and rest. When they suffered under this affliction, they said similar to what they said before, and Musa invoked his Lord and He removed the affliction. They did not keep their promise and Allah sent the frogs to them, and they filled the houses, foods and pots. One of them would not pick up a piece of clothing, or uncover some food, without finding frogs in it. When this affliction became hard on them, they made similar promises as before, Musa supplicated to his Lord and Allah removed the affliction. They did not keep any of the promises they made, and Allah sent the blood, and the waters of the people of Fir`awn turned to blood. Any water they collected from a well, a river, or a container, turned to blood.''

 (135) But when We removed the punishment from them to a fixed term, which they had to reach, behold! They broke their word!

The People of Fir`awn drown in the Sea; the Children of Israel inherit the Holy Land

 (136) So We took retribution from them. We drowned them in the sea, because they belied Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) and were heedless about them.

Allah states that when the people of Fir`awn rebelled and transgressed, even though He inflicted them with consecutive signs, one after another, He took retribution from them by drowning them in the sea that Musa parted by Allah's power, and he and the Children of Israel passed through. In their pursuit, Fir`awn and his soldiers went in the sea chasing Musa and his people. When they all had gone inside the water, the sea closed in on them and they all drowned, because they belied the Ayat of Allah and were heedless of them. Allah said that He has granted the people who were considered weak, the Children of Israel, to inherit the eastern and western parts of the land. 

(137) And We made the people who were considered weak to inherit the eastern parts of the land and the western parts thereof which We have blessed. And the fair Word of your Lord was fulfilled for the Children of Israel, because of their endurance. And We destroyed completely all the great works and buildings which Fir'aun (Pharaoh) and his people erected.

(...the eastern parts of the land and the western parts thereof which We have blessed.) refers to the Sham area (Greater Syria). 

(And the fair Word of your Lord was fulfilled for the Children of Israel, because of their endurance.) is explained by Allah's other statement, (And We wished to do a favor to those who were weak (and oppressed) in the land, and to make them rulers and to make them the inheritors. And to establish them in the land, and We let Fir`awn and Haman and their hosts receive from them that which they feared) ﴿28:5-6

(And We destroyed what Fir`awn and his people produced,) meaning, We destroyed what Fir`awn and his people produced, such as agriculture and buildings.

(they erected) means, they built.

Surah Al A'raf Notes (120-129)

( Source: Ibn Kathir )

(120) And the sorcerers fell down prostrate.

(121) They said: "We believe in the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists).

(122) "The Lord of Musa (Moses) and Harun (Aaron)."


Fir`awn threatens the Magicians after They believed in Musa and Their Response to Him

(123) Fir'aun (Pharaoh) said: "You have believed in him [Musa (Moses)] before I give you permission. Surely, this is a plot which you have plotted in the city to drive out its people, but you shall come to know.

(Surely, this is a plot which you have plotted in the city to drive out its people,) meaning Fir`awn proclaimed, `Musa's defeating you today was because you plotted with him and agreed to that.' Fir`awn also said,
(He (Musa) is your chief who has taught you magic.) ﴿20:71﴾ However, Fir`awn and all those who had any sense of reason knew for sure that what Fir`awn said was utterly false. As soon as Musa came from Madyan, he called Fir`awn to Allah and demonstrated tremendous miracles and clear proofs for the Truth that he brought. Fir`awn then sent emissaries to various cities of his kingdom and collected magicians who were scattered throughout Egypt. Fir`awn and his people chose from them, summoned them, and Fir`awn promised them great rewards. These magicians were very eager to prevail over Musa in front of Fir`awn, so that they might become closer to him. Musa neither knew any of them nor saw or met them before. Fir`awn knew that, but he claimed otherwise to deceive the ignorant masses of his kingdom.

("to drive out its people''), means, so that you all cooperate to gain influence and power, replacing the chiefs and masters of this land. In this case, power in the state will be yours.

(124) "Surely, I will cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, then I will crucify you all."

("Surely, I will cut off your hands and your feet from opposite sides.'') by cutting the right hand and the left leg or the opposite.

(125) They said: "Verily, we are returning to our Lord.

("Verily, we are returning to our Lord.'') They said, `We are now sure that we will go back to Allah. Certainly, Allah's punishment is more severe than your punishment and His torment for what you are calling us to, this day, and the magic you forced us to practice, is greater than your torment. Therefore, we will observe patience in the face of your punishment today, so that we are saved from Allah's torment.

 (126)"And you take vengeance on us only because we believed in the Ayat (proofs, evidences, lessons, signs, etc.) of our Lord when they reached us! Our Lord! pour out on us patience, and cause us to die as Muslims."

("Our Lord! pour out on us patience''), with your religion and being firm in it,

("and cause us to die as Muslims.''), as followers of Your Prophet Musa, peace be upon him.

Fir`awn vows to kill the Children of Israel, Who complain to Musa; Allah promises Them Victory Allah mentions the conspiracy of Fir`awn and his people, their ill intentions and their hatred for Musa and his people.

 The chiefs of Fir'aun's (Pharaoh) people said: "Will you leave Musa (Moses) and his people to spread mischief in the land, and to abandon you and your gods?" He said: "We will kill their sons, and let live their women, and we have indeed irresistible power over them."

("to spread mischief in the land''), spreading unrest among your subjects and calling them to worship their Lord instead of you Amazingly, these people were worried that Musa and his people would cause mischief! Rather, Fir`awn and his people are the mischief-makers, but they did not realize it.

("and to abandon you and your gods'') `Your gods', according to Ibn `Abbas, as As-Suddi narrated from him, "Were cows. Whenever they saw a beautiful cow, Fir`awn would command them to worship it. This is why As-Samiri, made the statue of a calf that seemed to moo for the Children of Israel.''

("We will kill their sons, and let their women live'') thus reiterating his previous order concerning the Children of Israel. He had tormented them ﴿killing every newly born male﴾ before Musa was born, so that Musa would not live. However, the opposite of what Fir`awn sought and intended occurred. The same end struck Fir`awn that he intended to subjugate and humiliate the Children of Israel with. Allah gave victory to the Children of Israel, humiliated and disgraced Fir`awn, and caused him to drown along with his soldiers. 

 (128) Musa (Moses) said to his people: "Seek help in Allah and be patient. Verily, the earth is Allah's. He gives it as a heritage to whom He will of His slaves, and the (blessed) end is for the Muttaqun.

When Fir`awn insisted on his evil plot against the Children of Israel, (Musa said to his people: "Seek help in Allah and be patient'') and promised them that the good end will be theirs and that they will prevail, saying,

 ("Verily, the earth is Allah's. He gives it as a heritage to whom He wills of His servants; and the (blessed) end is for the pious and righteous persons.'' 

(129) They said: "We (Children of Israel) had suffered troubles before you came to us, and since you have come to us." He said: "It may be that your Lord will destroy your enemy and make you successors on the earth, so that He may see how you act?"

They said: "We suffered troubles before you came to us, and since you have come to us.'') The Children of Israel replied to Musa, `they (Fir`awn and his people) inflicted humiliation and disgrace on us, some you witnessed, both before and after you came to us, O Musa'! Musa replied, reminding them of their present situation and how it will change in the future.

("It may be that your Lord will destroy your enemy. ..'') encouraging them to appreciate Allah when the afflictions are removed and replaced by a bounty.