Tafseer of The Poets · Ash-Shu'araa · 26:22
And is this a favor of which you remind me - that you have enslaved the Children of Israel?"
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.
Allah, exalted is His praise, says, quoting His prophet Mūsā ﷺ in his words to Faraʿawn: وَتِلْكَ نِعْمَةٌ تَمُنُّهَا عَلَيَّ — by his words he means: the upbringing that Faraʿawn gave him. He says: your raising of me, and your decision not to enslave me as you enslaved the Banū Isrāʾīl — that is a favor of yours that you rightly hold over me. In the sentence there is an ellipsis, for which the indication in what precedes suffices: "and that is a favor that you hold over me by enslaving the Banū Isrāʾīl and leaving me, not enslaving me." The mention of "and leaving me" is omitted because his words أَنْ عَبَّدْتَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ point to it. The Arabs do this to abbreviate speech. The equivalent of this in ordinary language is that two men deserve a punishment from a ruler; he punishes the one and pardons the other; the pardoned one says: "This is a favor over me from the emir, in that he punished so-and-so and left me." Then "and left me" is omitted because the speech already points to it.
And in his words أَنْ عَبَّدْتَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ two grammatical cases are possible: the first is the accusative (naṣb), because of the connection with "tamunnuhā"; in this case the meaning of the speech is: "And that is a favor that you hold over me because of your enslavement of the Banū Isrāʾīl." The second is the nominative (rafʿ), as a noun referring back explanatorily to "al-niʿma"; in this case the meaning of the speech is: "And that is a favor that you hold over me — your enslavement of the Banū Isrāʾīl."
By his words أَنْ عَبَّدْتَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ he means: that you made them slaves (ʿabīd) for yourself. One says of this: ʿabbadtu al-ʿabīd wa-aʿbadtuhum. The poet said:
"Why do my tribesmen enslave me, while among them there are camels in plenty and slaves (ʿubdān)?"
With what we have said about this, the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke in corresponding terms.
* Mention of who said this:
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: تَمُنُّهَا عَلَيَّ أَنْ عَبَّدْتَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ — he said: you compelled them and put them to work.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: you hold a favor over me by enslaving the Banū Isrāʾīl. He said: you compelled them, overpowered them, and put the Banū Isrāʾīl to work.
Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: وَتِلْكَ نِعْمَةٌ تَمُنُّهَا عَلَيَّ أَنْ عَبَّدْتَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ and you raised me before that as a small child.
Others said: This is an interrogative form from Mūsā to Faraʿawn, as if he said: "Do you hold a favor over me by enslaving the Banū Isrāʾīl?"
* Mention of who said this:
Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning the words وَتِلْكَ نِعْمَةٌ تَمُنُّهَا عَلَيَّ: he said: Mūsā says to Faraʿawn: "Do you hold a favor over me by enslaving the Banū Isrāʾīl?"
The grammarians (ahl al-ʿarabiyya) differed about this. Some grammarians of Basra said: وَتِلْكَ نِعْمَةٌ تَمُنُّهَا عَلَيَّ — one could say: this is an interrogative form, as if he said: "Do you hold it over me?" Then he explained it and said: أَنْ عَبَّدْتَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ — and he made that a substitution (badal) for al-niʿma. But some grammarians rejected this position and said: It is a mistake on the part of the person concerned; it is not permissible for the hamza of the interrogative to be omitted while it is being asked as a question, such that the question becomes just like a statement. He said: People have even regarded it as ugly and disapproved of it when there is an "am" present — for that latter is itself an indicator of the interrogative form. And they disapproved of:
"Do you depart in the evening, or do you set out early? And what harm is it to you if you wait?"
He said: Some said: The original reading is "a-tarrūḥu mina l-ḥayy" (interrogative form), but the interrogative hamza is omitted because "am" already points to it. Most of them said: The first is a statement and the second is a question; and "am," when it comes after speech, stands in place of the hamza. But as for the case in which there is no "am" present — that no one has defended.
Some grammarians of Kūfa said about this what we said: the meaning of the speech is "you did what you did while you were among those ungrateful for my favor" — that is to say: ungrateful for the favor of my raising you. You answered him and said: "Yes, it is a favor over me that you enslaved the people but did not enslave me."
