The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 590
CH. 7 AL-A'RĀF PT. 9 وَلَمَّا وَقَعَ عَلَيْهِمُ الرِّجْزُ قَالُوا يَمُوسَى And when there fell upon. 135 them the punishment, they said, ادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ بِمَا عَهِدَ عِنْدَكَ ۚ لَبِنْ O Moses, pray for us to thy كَشَفْتَ عَنَّا الرِّجْزَ لَنُؤْمِنَنَّ لَكَ وَلَنُرْسِلَنَّ مَعَكَ بَنِي إِسْرَاعِيلَ & Lord according to that which He has promised to thee. If thou remove from us the punishment, we will surely believe thee and we will surely send with thee the children of Israel. '1024 b فَلَمَّا كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُمُ جَهُمْ But when We removed. 136 الرِّجْزَ إِلَى أَجَلٍ from them the punishment for a a43:50. 43:51. beasts; (6) the plague of boils and blains; (7) the plague of hail; (8) locusts; (9) the plague of darkness; and (10) the death of the firstborn (Exod. Chaps. 7-11). All these signs are included in the signs mentioned in the verse under comment. Thus the word (storm) comprises the plague of hail and the plague of darkness; (locusts) expresses the plague of locusts; (lice) comprises lice, the swarms of flies, the murrain of beasts and the death of the firstborn, because all these may be caused by infection carried through lice, flies, mosquitoes, etc. The sign of (the blood) comprises the turning of the water of the river into blood as well as boils and blains. The sign of blood may also comprise the death of the firstborn. The turning of the water of the river into blood may also mean that the water of the river became vitiated so that it spoiled the blood of those who drank of it. That the river was actually turned into blood is negated by the Bible itself, | for we read there that the water only became blood when it was sprinkled on the land (Exod. 4:9). This only means that the water of the river became unfit for drinking purpose and it vitiated the blood of those who drank it. Similarly, the storms raised dust which in turn gave rise to lice. These signs seem to have been greatly exaggerated in the Bible. 1024. Commentary: The words, according to that which He has promised to thee, may refer either to the promise which God made to Moses that He would listen to his prayers, or to the promise of God to forgive those who repented. The people of Pharaoh reminded Moses of these promises of God and asked him to pray to God in their behalf so that He might pardon them their sins and remove from them the punishments which had befallen them. The sentence may also mean, "pray for us to thy Lord, with the prayers which He has taught thee or in the way He has taught thee to pray. " 1030