The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2)

The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 586

CH. 7 AL-A'RĀF PT. 9 قَالَ مُوسَى لِقَوْمِهِ اسْتَعِينُوا بِاللهِ ,Moses said to his people. 129 وَاصْبِرُوا إِنَّ الْأَرْضَ لِلهِ يُوْرِثُهَا steadfast. Verily, the earth is مَنْ يَّشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ وَالْعَاقِبَةُ to whomsoever He pleases of لِلْمُتَّقِينَ قَالُوا أ وذِيْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ تَأْتِيَنَا وَ مِنْ بَعْدِ ‘Seek help from Allah and be Allah's; He gives it as a heritage His servants, and the end is for the God-fearing. '1018 130. They replied, 'We were persecuted before thou camest مَا جِئْتَنَا قَالَ عَلَى رَبُّكُمْ اَنْ تُهْلِكَ to us and even after thou camest "2:46,154. The verb (we will ruthlessly slay) is in the intensified form and expresses the sense of ruthlessness and a slow and gradual process. This expression is thus intended to signify the hardship and privations which Pharaoh inflicted on the Israelites and by means of which he sought to bring about their gradual but sure and ruthless destruction. The Quran, therefore, cannot be accused of anachronism on the ground that Pharaoh did not slay the children of the Israelites after Moses went to him as a Messenger of God, for it is an authentic fact of history that both before and after Moses went to Pharaoh with his message, the latter had put into execution schemes against the Israelites with a view to bringing about their gradual but inevitable ruin. This is the reason why the Israelites said to Moses and Aaron, "Ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us" (Exod. 5:21). Reference to this is to be found in 7:130. Moreover, the verse does not say that Pharaoh actually caused the Israelite children to be slain on this occasion. It only mentions a threat and not an accomplished fact. 1018. Commentary: Pharaoh was proud of his power and dominion and was tyrannical in the extreme; so the Israelites are here comforted by Moses with an assurance that they need not be afraid of him, as his power shall be broken and his kingdom taken away from him. 1026 The expression, He gives it as a heritage to whomsoever He pleases of His servants, does not necessarily mean that the Israelites were to be made to inherit Egypt after the destruction of Pharaoh. It only means that Pharaoh's power was to be broken and others were to take possession of his kingdom. History tells us that after the destruction of Pharaoh and the break-up of his kingdom, another dynasty, who were