The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 522
CH. 28 AL-QASAS PT. 20 with his fist; and thereby caused his death. Then he said, 'This is of Satan's doing; he is indeed an enemy, a manifest misleader. '2887 مُّبِينٌ 17. He said, 'My Lord, I haveRÁBUJOSJE wronged my soul, so do thou forgive me. ' So He forgave him; He is Most Forgiving, Merciful. 2888 2887. Important Words: , (struck him with his fist) means, he struck or beat him; he beat or struck him with his fist; he pushed or impelled or repelled him; he goaded him (Lane). Commentary: Being of a very noble nature and having been inspired by high ideals, Moses was always ready to help weak and oppressed people and so when a poor and weak Israelite sought his help against an arrogant and cruel Egyptian, he at once went to his rescue. The expression, "this is of Satan's doing," according to Arabic idiom means that some evil thing has happened, i. e. "Satan had caused an Egyptian and an Israelite to fight and I had to come to the assistance of the oppressed Israelite which resulted in an evil thing i. e. the death of a person. " Or the words might have been addressed to the dead Egyptian meaning, "this is the outcome of your satanic deed," i. e. "your death is the result of your own wickedness and transgression. " The fact that Moses used no lethal weapon and only فَغَفَرَ لَهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ repelled the Egyptian or at best struck him with his fist shows that the latter's death was accidental. Clearly there was no intention on Moses' part to cause it. The Quran has not mentioned the wicked deed of the Egyptian to which Moses refers in this verse but from Jewish Encyclopedia we know that the said Egyptian had forced an Israelite woman to commit adultery with him and that was indeed a devilish deed. It apparently led to the quarrel referred to in the verse and ultimately to Moses' interference and the death of the Egyptian (Jew. Enc. under "Moses"). 2888. Important Words: I have wronged my soul) is) ظلمت derived from which means, he did wrong; he acted unjustly or tyrannically; he put a thing in a wrong place; he made one to suffer loss or detriment. ab also signifies, he imposed upon him a burden that was beyond his power or ability to bear; he exposed himself to danger (Lane, Aqrab & Mufradāt). See also 2436 2:36, 52 & 17:60. Commentary: Moses realized that in trying to help