Tafseer of The Poets · Ash-Shu'araa · 26:60
So they pursued them at sunrise.
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.
Concerning the words فَأَتْبَعُوهُمْ مُشْرِقِينَ (And they followed them at sunrise): Pharaoh and his companions followed the Children of Israel at the moment of the rising of the sun (mushriqīn) — that is to say: at the break of morning.
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 فَأَتْبَعُوهُمْ مُشْرِقِينَ: he said: "Moses set out by night, the moon became darkened, and the earth grew dark. His companions said: Yūsuf had informed us that we would be saved from Pharaoh, and he had laid upon us a covenant that we would take his bones with us when we departed. Moses spent that night searching for his grave; he found an old woman whose house stood above his grave, and she brought out the grave for him in exchange for her reward. Her reward — or a phrase to that effect — was: Carry me and let me depart with you. He placed the bones of Yūsuf in his garment, carried the old woman upon his garment, and laid that upon his neck. The horses of Pharaoh charged forward at full speed in the eyes of the onlookers, but advanced no further — they were held back from Moses and his companions until these had vanished from sight."
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, concerning the words فَأَتْبَعُوهُمْ مُشْرِقِينَ: he said: "Pharaoh and his companions; and the horses of Pharaoh charged forward at full speed in the eyes of the onlookers, but advanced no further — they were held back from Moses and his companions until these had vanished from sight."
