The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 514
Ṭuwā. Further on that Sūrah deals in some detail with the reigns of David and Solomon, the two great Prophets and monarchs of the Mosaic Dispensation when the Israelite power, prosperity and prestige were at their zenith. In the present Surah, however, the different phases of Moses's life have been treated in greater detail than in any other Surah-his infancy and childhood, his youth, his Hijrah and his Call, the implication being that the Holy Prophet, who was the like of Moses would also go through similar experiences, though under different conditions and circumstances. The Surah opens with an account of the pitiable condition of the Israelites under Pharaoh-how by his policy of ruthless exploitation and suppression he sought to kill in them all manly qualities and how when their degradation and humiliation had reached its nadir, God raised Moses and through him brought about their emancipation, drowning Pharaoh and his mighty hosts in the sea before their very eyes. The Surah then proceeds to tell briefly but very graphically how Moses was cast into the sea and was then taken out of it alive and later on was brought up by Pharaoh, his arch-enemy, to serve as an instrument of the latter's destruction in the hands of Destiny. Next, the Surah deals in greater detail with the circumstances that led to Moses' flight from Egypt and to his sojourn in Midian for ten long years in the company of a righteous servant of God, which left an indelible and abiding imprint on his whole spiritual career. After this mention is made of Moses' greatest spiritual experience in life when in a vision he saw a manifestation of Divine glory and majesty. Then we are told that having been fully equipped with all spiritual weapons and assisted and helped by his brother Aaron who himself was a great Prophet of God, Moses went to preach the Divine Message to Pharaoh who ridiculed and mocked him and was consequently seized with Divine punishment. After having finished the account of Moses' life story, the Surah refers to the prophecies that are to be found in the Bible about the Holy Prophet and proceeds to tell the Quraish that if they accepted him, they would enjoy all those spiritual and material blessings and benefits of which Mecca, the centre and citadel of the new faith, was destined to receive. But if they rejected him, they would incur the displeasure of God because God does not punish a people unless He has first raised among them a Messenger. The Surah further says that when disbelievers, on account of their persistent rejection of truth are seized with punishment, they start condemning and denouncing the leaders of disbelief who, they say, lead them astray and are the cause of their ruin. But the latter disown them and even curse them for having blindly followed them. The real cause, however, of the rejection of the Divine Message, the Surah says, is that puffed up with material wealth and lulled into a false sense of security, men of wealth and influence make light of 2428