Tafseer of Taa-Haa · Taa-Haa · 20:60
So Pharaoh went away, put together his plan, and then came [to Moses].
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.
Explanation of the word of Allah the Exalted: قَالَ مَوْعِدُكُمْ يَوْمُ الزِّينَةِ وَأَنْ يُحْشَرَ النَّاسُ ضُحًى (Verse 59)
(He said: "Your appointed time is the day of the festival, and that the people be gathered in the forenoon.")
Allah the Exalted says: Mūsā said to Pharaoh, when the latter asked him to set a time for a meeting: "Your meeting time مَوْعِدُكُمْ is يَوْمُ الزِّينَةِ — that is to say: a festival day which they had, or a market at which they would adorn themselves. وَأَنْ يُحْشَرَ النَّاسُ — He says: and that the people be gathered from all quarters and directions ضُحًى in the forenoon — that, then, is the appointed time for our meeting."
In accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.
Among those who said this:
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word قَالَ مَوْعِدُكُمْ يَوْمُ الزِّينَةِ وَأَنْ يُحْشَرَ النَّاسُ ضُحًى : it is a festival day on which the people come together and are gathered.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning قَالَ مَوْعِدُكُمْ يَوْمُ الزِّينَةِ : he said: a day of adornment for them and a festival for them. وَأَنْ يُحْشَرَ النَّاسُ ضُحًى : to their festival.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd, concerning يَوْمُ الزِّينَةِ : he said: the market day.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning يَوْمُ الزِّينَةِ : the appointed time.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — to the like effect.
Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: Mūsā said مَوْعِدُكُمْ يَوْمُ الزِّينَةِ وَأَنْ يُحْشَرَ النَّاسُ ضُحًى — and that was a festival day of theirs.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning قَالَ مَوْعِدُكُمْ يَوْمُ الزِّينَةِ : a festival day which they had. And concerning وَأَنْ يُحْشَرَ النَّاسُ ضُحًى : they come together for that appointed gathering to which they had been summoned.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning قَالَ مَوْعِدُكُمْ يَوْمُ الزِّينَةِ : the festival day — the day on which the people are free from work and are spectators, present and watching.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, concerning قَالَ مَوْعِدُكُمْ يَوْمُ الزِّينَةِ : a festival day on which Pharaoh would customarily go out; وَأَنْ يُحْشَرَ النَّاسُ ضُحًى — so that they may be witnesses of my affair and yours. And the particle "an" in وَأَنْ يُحْشَرَ النَّاسُ ضُحًى stands in the nominative by being joined (as a conjunction) to يَوْمُ الزِّينَةِ .
From Abū Nahīk there was reported concerning this what Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Muʾmin related to us, saying: I heard Abā Nahīk say concerning وَأَنْ يُحْشَرَ النَّاسُ ضُحًى : that is to say: Pharaoh gathers his people.