Tafseer of The Poets · Ash-Shu'araa · 26:51
Indeed, we aspire that our Lord will forgive us our sins because we were the first of the believers."
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 be His mention, says, relating the words of the sorcerers: إِنَّا نَطْمَعُ (Verily, we hope) — we expect that our Lord will forgive us the sins we committed before our belief in Him, and will not punish us for them.
As Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning the word of Allah إِنَّا نَطْمَعُ أَنْ يَغْفِرَ لَنَا رَبُّنَا خَطَايَانَا (Verily, we hope that our Lord will forgive us our sins): he said: the sorcery and the unbelief in which they were. أَنْ كُنَّا أَوَّلَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ (Because we are the first of the believers) — that is to say: because we are the first to believe in Moses and to confirm him in what he brought of the oneness of Allah and the denial of Pharaoh in his claim to Lordship in our time and our era.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) also spoke.
* Mention of those who said this:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning the word of Allah أَنْ كُنَّا أَوَّلَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ (because we are the first of the believers): he said: "They were that on that day — the first to believe in His signs when they saw them."
