The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 86
CH. 10 R. 10. YŪNUS PT. 11 وَلَقَدْ بَوَّأْنَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ مُبَوَّا صِدْقٍ And We assigned to the. 94 وَرَزَقْنَهُمْ مِنَ الطَّيِّبَتِ ۚ فَمَا اخْتَلَفُوا abode, and We provided them حَتَّى جَاءَهُمُ الْعِلْمُ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ يَقْضِى they children of Israel an excellent with good things, and differed not until there came to Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that in which they differed. 1366 يْنَهُمُ يَوْمَ الْقِيمَةِ فِيمَا كَانُوا فِيهِ يَخْتَلِفُونَ them the knowledge. Surely, thy beyond any shadow of doubt. a45:17. 45:18. The verse also points to the supreme moral lesson that we should hasten to accept the truth as soon as it comes to us and should not vacillate or procrastinate, as Pharaoh did. It further shows that God does not allow even the slightest act of virtue to go unrewarded. Pharaoh believed at the time of his death, when his faith was but a shell without a kernel, yet even that act was not allowed to go quite unrewarded, for, though his soul was lost, his body was saved. His body may now prove the means of guiding many to truth; possibly it may spiritually benefit him also. This is perhaps why the famous Muslim saint, Muḥy-ud-Dīn ibn 'Arabi, holds that Pharaoh may be spared the punishment of Hell. The idea may not be right but it certainly provides food for thought. Some commentators are of the opinion that the name of the drowned Pharaoh was Rameses. But this does not appear to be right. Moses was certainly born in the time of Rameses II and was brought up by him (Exod. 1:11), but it was in the reign of his son, Merneptah (Meneptah), that he was entrusted with the mission of a Prophet (Exod. 2:23). See also Jew. Enc. , vol. 8, page 500, & Enc. Bib. , under Pharaoh and under Egypt. 1366. Commentary: Among the "good things" mentioned in this verse as having been bestowed on the Israelites, Divine revelation occupied the foremost place, for it mostly pertains to the spirit and comes direct from God. The words "good things" may also be taken in their material sense. In Egypt the Israelites worked as labourers and lived an ignoble life. But after their deliverance from bondage, God provided them with the good things of this world. 1294 By the word (knowledge) in the clause, until there came to them the knowledge, is here meant the Quran and not the Torah, for there passed no interval between the revelation of the