The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 117
PT. 16 ṬĀHĀ incident which indeed constituted a great divine sign, it is necessary to read the verse under comment along with other relevant verses such as vv. 2:51, 26:62-64 & 44:25. The Quran says: And remember the time when We divided the sea for you and saved you and drowned Pharaoh's people while you looked on (2:51). And when the two hosts came in sight of each other the companions of Moses said, 'We are surely overtaken. '. . . Then We revealed to Moses, saying, 'Strike the sea with thy rod. ' Whereupon it parted and every part was like a huge sandhill (26:62-64). When the Israelites were passing they had the sea on one side and the small lake son the other, which conformably to the natural laws of perspective appeared raised above the level of the land. And leave the sea at a time when it is motionless. Surely, they are a host which is doomed to be drowned (44:25). i. e. pass through the sea quickly at a time when the tide has receded. The Bible also refers to this incident in the following verses: And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued and went in after them to the midst of the sea. . . And the Lord 2031 CH. 20 said unto Moses, 'Stretch out thine hand over the sea'. . . And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea and the sea returned to its strength. . . And the waters returned and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them (Exod. 14:21-28). The following facts emerge from the above account of this incident as given in the Quran and the Bible; (a) that Moses was commanded by God to take away the Israelites out of Egypt by night; (b) that Pharaoh pursued Israelites with his mighty hosts; the (c) that when the Israelites reached the arm of the Red Sea which lay across their route, they were greatly dismayed because Pharaoh was close behind with his hosts; (d) that when on seeing Pharaoh's hosts the Israelites exclaimed in fright that they were overtaken, God commanded Moses to strike the water of the sea with his rod; (e) that when Moses struck the sea with his rod as the Quran says or stretched out his hand over the sea as the Bible says, it was the time of the ebb-tide and the sea was receding, leaving a dry bed; (f) that Moses was commanded by God to cross quickly the dry bed to the opposite bank, which he did; (g) that when the hosts of Pharaoh reached the sea, it was the time of high tide and that in their zeal to overtake the Israelites they took no notice of it and at once jumped into the sea behind them; and