Tafseer of The Poets · Ash-Shu'araa · 26:63
Then We inspired to Moses, "Strike with your staff the sea," and it parted, and each portion was like a great towering mountain.
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.
And His word: فَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَى مُوسَى أَنِ اضْرِبْ بِعَصَاكَ الْبَحْرَ فَانْفَلَقَ (We revealed to Mūsā: "Strike the sea with your staff!" and it split asunder) — it is reported that Allah had commanded the sea not to split until Mūsā should strike it with his staff.
Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: Hārūn stepped forward and struck the sea, but it refused to open. It said: "Who is this presumptuous one who strikes me?" — until Mūsā reached it and addressed it by its kunyā: "O Abū Khālid," and struck it, whereupon it split asunder.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to me, who said: Allah revealed — so it is reported — to the sea: "When Mūsā strikes you with his staff, split asunder for him." He said: The sea passed the night in turmoil, one part of it striking against another, out of fear of Allah and in anticipation of His command. Allah revealed to Mūsā that he should strike the sea with his staff, and he struck it therewith — and in that staff was the power of Allah which He had given him — and it split asunder.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us — Sulaymān al-Taymī supposed that it was — on the authority of Abū al-Salayl, who said: When Mūsā struck the sea with his staff, he said: "Come now, O Abū Khālid!" — and a trembling (ifkal) overcame it.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, and Ḥajjāj on the authority of Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh and others, who said: When Mūsā reached the sea and the storm rose up and the sea surged like mountains with its current, while Allah had commanded the sea not to split until Mūsā should strike it with the staff, Yūshaʿ said to him: "O Speaker of Allah, where have you been commanded?" He said: "This way." He stepped forward into the sea until the water barely covered the hoof of his horse. The people tried to do the same but were unable to. And the man who was concealing his faith said to him: "O Speaker of Allah, where have you been commanded?" He said: "This way." He reined his horse with the bit until the foam flew from its jaws, then drove it into the sea, and it sank away into the water. Then Allah revealed to Mūsā: "Strike the sea with your staff!" — he struck the sea with his staff and it split asunder, and behold: the man was standing with his horse in his place, his saddle not wet, nor his saddlecloth.
And His word: فَكَانَ كُلُّ فِرْقٍ كَالطَّوْدِ الْعَظِيمِ (and every parting was like a mighty mountain) — Allah, exalted is His remembrance, says: Every parting of the sea, after Mūsā had struck it, was like a mighty mountain. It is reported that it split into twelve partings, corresponding to the number of the tribes, one parting for each tribe.
In accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of tafsīr also spoke.
* Mention of those who said this:
Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: فَانْفَلَقَ فَكَانَ كُلُّ فِرْقٍ كَالطَّوْدِ الْعَظِيمِ — he said: like a mighty mountain. The Children of Israel entered into it, and there were twelve roads in the sea, in each path one tribe. The path was as when walls split apart. Each tribe said: "Our people have been killed." When Mūsā saw this, he implored Allah, and He made of it arches like vaults, so that those at the rear could see those at the front, until they had all come out of it.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, and Ḥajjāj on the authority of Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh and others, who said: The sea split asunder and every parting was like a mighty mountain — twelve roads, in each path one tribe. The Children of Israel were twelve tribes. The roads had walls, so that each tribe said: "Our people have been killed." When Mūsā saw this, he implored Allah, and He made for them arches like vaults, so that they could see one another, and this on dry land as though the water had never touched it, until they had passed through it.
He said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: When the sea split asunder for them, openings appeared in it so that they could see one another.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to me: فَكَانَ كُلُّ فِرْقٍ كَالطَّوْدِ الْعَظِيمِ — that is to say: like a mountain towering high above the earth.
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the word: فَكَانَ كُلُّ فِرْقٍ كَالطَّوْدِ الْعَظِيمِ — he said: like a mountain.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning the word: كَالطَّوْدِ الْعَظِيمِ — he said: like a mighty mountain.
To this also belongs the verse of al-Aswad ibn Yaʿfur:
"They alighted at Anqira, while there flowed over them the water of the Euphrates, coming from the mountains (aṭwād)"
— by "aṭwād" he means the plural form of ṭawd, that is to say: the mountain.
