Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:50
And [recall] when We parted the sea for you and saved you and drowned the people of Pharaoh while you were looking on.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
# The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وَإِذْ فَرَقْنَا بِكُمُ الْبَحْرَ
(And when We parted the sea for you)
As for the explanation of His saying: "And when We parted [the sea] for you" — this is grammatically connected to: وَإِذْ نَجَّيْنَاكُمْ (And when We saved you), in the meaning of: remember My favor that I bestowed upon you, and remember when We saved you from the people of Pharaoh, and when We parted the sea for you.
The meaning of His saying "We parted for you" (faraqnā bikum) is: We divided the sea for you. For they were twelve tribes; so He split the sea into twelve paths, and each tribe of them followed one path thereof. That is the splitting which Allah, Mighty and Exalted, accomplished for them at the sea, and the division which He accomplished for them by distributing them among its twelve paths, as in:
904 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ ibn Naṣr related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: When Mūsā came to the sea, he gave it the byname "Abū Khālid" and struck it, whereupon it split. Each part was like a mighty mountain, and the Children of Israel entered into it. In the sea there were twelve paths, in each path a tribe.
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Some of the grammarians of Basra have said: the meaning of His saying "And when We parted the sea for you" (wa-idh faraqnā bikum al-baḥr) is: We separated between you and the water. By this they mean: We made a separation between you and it, and held it back where you passed by it. That, however, contradicts what appears from the literal text (al-tilāwah), for Allah, exalted is His praise, only reported that He parted the sea for the people, and He did not report that He made a separation between the people and the sea, so that the explanation would be what the proponents of this opinion have said. His parting of the sea for the people is rather His splitting of the sea by means of them, in accordance with what we have described concerning the division of its paths for them, in accordance with what the narrations have brought.
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# The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: فَأَنْجَيْنَاكُمْ وَأَغْرَقْنَا آلَ فِرْعَوْنَ وَأَنْتُمْ تَنْظُرُونَ
(And We saved you and drowned the people of Pharaoh, while you were looking on) (2:50)
Abū Jaʿfar said: If someone were to say to us: and how did Allah, exalted is His praise, drown the people of Pharaoh and save the Children of Israel?
Then he is answered, as in:
905 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Shaddād ibn al-Hād, who said: It has been related to me that Pharaoh set out in pursuit of Mūsā with seventy thousand dark-grey horses, besides what was in his army of grey-dappled horses.
And Mūsā set out, until the sea blocked his way and there was no escape from it for him, and Pharaoh with his army loomed up behind them. فَلَمَّا تَرَاءَى الْجَمْعَانِ قَالَ أَصْحَابُ مُوسَى إِنَّا لَمُدْرَكُونَ * قَالَ مُوسَى كَلا إِنَّ مَعِيَ رَبِّي سَيَهْدِينِ [Surah al-Shuʿarāʾ: 61-62] (When the two groups caught sight of each other, the companions of Mūsā said: "We shall surely be overtaken!" He said: "By no means! Indeed, my Lord is with me, He will guide me.") — that is to say: to deliverance, and He has promised me that and He does not break His promise.
906 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq related to me, saying: Allah revealed to the sea — according to what has been related to me —: When Mūsā strikes you with his staff, then split for him. He said: The sea passed the night while its parts struck against one another out of awe of Allah and in expectation of His command. Then Allah, Mighty and Exalted, revealed to Mūsā: Strike the sea with your staff. He struck it with it, and therein was the power of Allah which He had given him, whereupon it split and each part was like a mighty mountain, that is, like a mountain upon a rise of the ground. Allah says to Mūsā: فَاضْرِبْ لَهُمْ طَرِيقًا فِي الْبَحْرِ يَبَسًا لا تَخَافُ دَرَكًا وَلا تَخْشَى [Ṭā Hā: 77] (Then strike for them a dry path in the sea; you need not fear being overtaken, nor need you be afraid.) When the sea came to rest for him upon a straight, dry road, Mūsā entered into it with the Children of Israel, and Pharaoh followed him with his armies.
907 — And Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to me, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Shaddād ibn al-Hād al-Laythī, who said: It has been related to me that, when the Children of Israel had entered the sea and none of them remained, Pharaoh approached while he was riding a stallion of his horses, until he stopped at the edge of the sea, and it stood in its [parted] state. The stallion shrank from going forward. Then Gabriel appeared to him upon a mare in heat, and brought her near to him, whereupon the stallion sniffed at her. When he sniffed at her, Gabriel drove her forward, and the stallion, with Pharaoh upon it, went forward along with her. When the army of Pharaoh saw that Pharaoh had entered, they entered with him, while Gabriel was before him and they followed Pharaoh, and Michael was upon a horse behind the people driving them forward, saying: "Join up with your companion." Until, when Gabriel came out of the sea without anyone being before him, and Michael halted on the other side without anyone being behind him, the sea closed over them. And Pharaoh cried out — when he saw of the power of Allah, Mighty and Exalted, and of His might what he saw, and realized his abasement and his soul failed him —: لا إِلَهَ إِلا الَّذِي آمَنَتْ بِهِ بَنُو إِسْرَائِيلَ وَأَنَا مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ [Yūnus: 90] (There is no god except He in Whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am of those who submit.)
908 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq al-Hamdānī, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Maymūn al-Awdī, concerning His saying: وَإِذْ فَرَقْنَا بِكُمُ الْبَحْرَ فَأَنْجَيْنَاكُمْ وَأَغْرَقْنَا آلَ فِرْعَوْنَ وَأَنْتُمْ تَنْظُرُونَ (And when We parted the sea for you and saved you and drowned the people of Pharaoh, while you were looking on), he said: When Mūsā set out with the Children of Israel, that reached Pharaoh and he said: Do not follow them until the cock crows. He said: But by Allah, that night no cock crowed until it became morning. Then he had a sheep brought which was slaughtered, and thereupon he said: I shall not be finished with its liver before six hundred thousand of the Copts will have gathered to me. And he was not finished with its liver before six hundred thousand of the Copts had gathered to him. Then he set forth. When Mūsā came to the sea, a man of his companions, named Yūshaʿ ibn Nūn, said to him: Where has your Lord commanded you, O Mūsā? He said: Toward there — pointing to the sea. Then Yūshaʿ drove his horse into the sea until he reached the depth, and it carried him away, whereupon he turned back. He said: Where has your Lord commanded you, O Mūsā? By Allah, you have not lied and you have not been lied to. And this he did three times. Then Allah, exalted is His praise, revealed to Mūsā: أَنِ اضْرِبْ بِعَصَاكَ الْبَحْرَ فَانْفَلَقَ فَكَانَ كُلُّ فِرْقٍ كَالطَّوْدِ الْعَظِيمِ [al-Shuʿarāʾ: 63] (Strike the sea with your staff; then it split and each part was like a mighty mountain) — he says: like a mountain. He said: Then Mūsā set forth, and those who were with him, and Pharaoh followed them upon their path, until they were fully within it, and Allah closed it over them. Therefore He said: (and We drowned the people of Pharaoh while you were looking on). Maʿmar said: Qatāda said: With Mūsā were six hundred thousand, and Pharaoh followed him with one million and one hundred thousand stallions.
909 — And ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn al-Haytham related to me, saying: Ibrāhīm ibn Bashshār al-Ramādī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, saying: Abū Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Allah, Mighty and Exalted, revealed to Mūsā: Set out by night with My servants, indeed you will be pursued. He said: Then Mūsā set out by night with the Children of Israel, and Pharaoh followed them with one million stallions, besides the mares, while Mūsā was with six hundred thousand. When Pharaoh beheld them, he said: إِنَّ هَؤُلاءِ لَشِرْذِمَةٌ قَلِيلُونَ * وَإِنَّهُمْ لَنَا لَغَائِظُونَ * وَإِنَّا لَجَمِيعٌ حَاذِرُونَ [al-Shuʿarāʾ: 54-56] (Indeed, these are but a small band, and indeed, they have enraged us, and indeed, we are all on our guard.) Mūsā thus set forth by night with the Children of Israel until they suddenly came upon the sea. They looked back and there they saw the dust of Pharaoh's mounts, and they said: O Mūsā, we were tormented before you came to us and after you came to us! This sea is before us, and here is Pharaoh who has all but overtaken us with his retinue! He said: Perhaps your Lord will destroy your enemy and make you successors in the land, and then see how you act. He said: Then Allah, exalted is His praise, revealed to Mūsā: Strike the sea with your staff, and He revealed to the sea: Listen to Mūsā and obey when he strikes you. He said: The sea passed the night with a trembling — that is to say: it had a quaking — since it did not know on which of its sides he would strike it. He said: Then Yūshaʿ said to Mūsā: What have you been commanded? He said: I have been commanded to strike the sea. He said: Then strike it. He said: Then Mūsā struck the sea with his staff, and it split and therein were twelve paths, each path like a mighty mountain, and for each tribe of them there was a path which they took. When they had entered their path, they said to one another: Why do we not see our companions? They said to Mūsā: Where are our companions, we do not see them? He said: Set forth, for they are upon a path like your path. They said: We are not content until we see them.
Sufyān said: ʿAmmār al-Duhnī said: Mūsā said: O Allah, help me against their bad traits of character. He said: Then Allah revealed to him: Say with your staff thus. And Ibrāhīm gestured with his hand, turning over the sea. Mūsā said with his staff upon the walls thus, and therein openings arose, so that they could see one another.
Sufyān said: Abū Saʿīd said, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: Then they set forth until they came out of the sea. When the last of Mūsā's people had crossed over, Pharaoh plunged into the sea, he and his companions, and Pharaoh was riding a black horse with a full tail, a stallion. When he was about to plunge into the sea, the stallion shrank from casting itself into the sea, whereupon Gabriel presented himself to it upon a mare in heat. When the stallion saw her, he cast himself after her. And it was said to Mūsā: Leave the sea calm — he said: as paths in its [parted] state. He said: Pharaoh and his people entered the sea, and when the last of Pharaoh's people had entered and the last of Mūsā's people had crossed over, the sea closed over Pharaoh and his people, and they were drowned.
910 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ ibn Naṣr related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: Allah commanded Mūsā to set out with the Children of Israel, and said: Set out by night with My servants, indeed you will be pursued. Then Mūsā and Hārūn set out with their people, and death was cast upon the Copts, so that every firstborn of a man died. In the morning they buried them, and thus they were held back from their pursuit until the sun rose. That is when Allah, exalted is His praise, says: فَأَتْبَعُوهُمْ مُشْرِقِينَ [al-Shuʿarāʾ: 60] (And they pursued them at sunrise.) Mūsā was at the rear of the Children of Israel, and Hārūn was before them and went ahead of them. Then the believer said to Mūsā: O prophet of Allah, where have you been commanded? He said: The sea. He wanted to cast himself into it, but Mūsā restrained him. Mūsā set out with six hundred and twenty thousand fighters — in this count they did not include the twenty-year-old because of his youth, nor the sixty-year-old because of his old age, but they counted only what lay between that, besides the children. And Pharaoh followed them, with Hāmān at his vanguard, with one million seven hundred thousand stallions, among which there was not a single mare — that is when Allah, exalted is His praise, says: فَأَرْسَلَ فِرْعَوْنُ فِي الْمَدَائِنِ حَاشِرِينَ * إِنَّ هَؤُلاءِ لَشِرْذِمَةٌ قَلِيلُونَ [al-Shuʿarāʾ: 53-54] (And Pharaoh sent gatherers into the cities: indeed, these are but a small band) — meaning thereby the Children of Israel. Then Hārūn stepped forward and struck the sea, but the sea refused to open and said: Who is this tyrant who strikes me? Until Mūsā came to it and gave it the byname "Abū Khālid" and struck it, whereupon it split, and each part was like a mighty mountain — he says: like a mighty mountain —, and the Children of Israel entered into it. In the sea there were twelve paths, in each path a tribe — and the paths were split with walls — and each tribe said: Our companions have been killed! When Mūsā saw that, he called upon Allah, and He made for them therefrom bridges in the form of arches, so that the last of them saw the first of them, until they all came out of it. Then Pharaoh and his companions approached, and when Pharaoh looked at the parted sea, he said: Do you not see that the sea has been thrown into panic before me? It has opened itself for me so that I may overtake my enemies and kill them! That is when Allah, exalted is His praise, says: وَأَزْلَفْنَا ثَمَّ الآخَرِينَ [al-Shuʿarāʾ: 64] (And We brought the others near there) — he says: We brought the others near there, meaning thereby the people of Pharaoh. When Pharaoh stood at the mouths of the paths, his horses refused to cast themselves into them, whereupon Gabriel descended upon a mare, and the stallion smelled the scent of the mare and cast itself in her track, until — when the first of them were about to come out and the last of them had entered — He commanded the sea to seize them, and it struck over them.
911 — And Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: When Pharaoh had hemmed them in with the land up to the sea, Pharaoh said to them: Tell them to enter the sea, if they are truthful! When the companions of Mūsā saw them, they said: Indeed, we are overtaken! He said: By no means, indeed, my Lord is with me, He will guide me. Then Mūsā said to the sea: Do you not know that I am the messenger of Allah? It said: Yes. He said: And do you know that these are servants of the servants of Allah, whom He has commanded me to bring? It said: Yes. He said: Do you know that this one is the enemy of Allah? It said: Yes. He said: Then split for me a path, and for those who are with me. It said: O Mūsā, I am only an owned servant (ʿabd mamlūk), I have no authority except that Allah, the Exalted, commands me. Then Allah, Mighty and Exalted, revealed to the sea: When Mūsā strikes you with his staff, then split. And He revealed to Mūsā to strike the sea. And he recited the saying of Allah, the Exalted: فَاضْرِبْ لَهُمْ طَرِيقًا فِي الْبَحْرِ يَبَسًا لا تَخَافُ دَرَكًا وَلا تَخْشَى [Surah Ṭā Hā: 77] (Then strike for them a dry path in the sea; you need not fear being overtaken, nor need you be afraid.) And he recited His saying: وَاتْرُكِ الْبَحْرَ رَهْوًا [al-Dukhān: 24] (And leave the sea calm) — flat, without pits in it. Then it split into twelve parts, and each tribe followed a path. He said: Then they said to Pharaoh: They have entered the sea. He said: Go after them. He said: And Gabriel was behind the Children of Israel and said to them: Let the last of you catch up with the first of you. And he was before the people of Pharaoh and said to them: Gently, let the last of you catch up with the first of you. Then each tribe in the sea began to say to the tribe that had entered before them: They have perished! When that entered their hearts, Allah, Mighty and Exalted, revealed to the sea, and He made for them bridges, so that these looked at those, until — when the last of these came out and the last of those had entered — Allah commanded the sea, and it closed over those.
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And by His saying (while you were looking on) He means: you were looking on at Allah's parting of the sea for you, and at His destruction of the people of Pharaoh in the place where He had saved you, and at the magnitude of His power — in what He showed you of the obedience of the sea to Him, in its transformation into heaped-up, parted [masses] in the form of towering mountains, which did not depart from their place, in submission to the command of Allah and in obedience to Him, while before that it had been flowing and streaming.
He, exalted is His remembrance, thereby brings them to a halt at the place of His proofs against them, and reminds them of His favors toward their forefathers, and warns them — in their denial of our prophet Muḥammad, ﷺ — that there may befall them what befell Pharaoh and his people, in their denial of Mūsā, peace be upon him.
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Some of the linguists have claimed that the meaning of His saying (while you were looking on) is equal to the meaning of the saying of one who says: "I was struck while my family looked on, but they did not come to you and did not help you" — in the meaning of: and they were near, in sight and hearing. And like the saying of Allah, the Exalted: أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى رَبِّكَ كَيْفَ مَدَّ الظِّلَّ [al-Furqān: 45] (Have you not seen your Lord, how He extended the shadow) — while there is no visual perception there, but it is only a matter of knowledge.
Abū Jaʿfar said: What led him to this explanation is that he understood His saying (while you were looking on) as: while you were looking at the drowning of Pharaoh, and he said: they were too preoccupied — by the sea which surrounded them — to look at Pharaoh and his drowning. But the explanation he gave is not the explanation of the words. The explanation is rather: while you were looking on at Allah's parting of the sea for you — in accordance with what we have just described — and at the clashing together of the waves of the sea over the people of Pharaoh, in the place where He had made for you in the sea a dry path. And that was, without doubt, a visual perception with the eyes and not a perception of knowledge, as the speaker of the saying which we have reported supposed.
