Tafseer of The Ant · An-Naml · 27:10
And [he was told], "Throw down your staff." But when he saw it writhing as if it were a snake, he turned in flight and did not return. [Allah said], "O Moses, fear not. Indeed, in My presence the messengers do not fear.
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: وَأَلْقِ عَصَاكَ فَلَمَّا رَآهَا تَهْتَزُّ — something has been omitted from the text, because what was mentioned suffices to indicate the omitted portion; that omitted portion is: "he cast it down, and it became a serpent that moved." فَلَمَّا رَآهَا تَهْتَزُّ كَأَنَّهَا جَانٌّ — He says: like a great serpent; the jānn is a well-known species of serpents.
Ibn Jurayj said concerning this — as al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: وَأَلْقِ عَصَاكَ فَلَمَّا رَآهَا تَهْتَزُّ كَأَنَّهَا جَانٌّ — he said: at the moment when it had transformed into a crawling serpent. And this species of serpents is what the rājiz (rajaz-poet) meant by his words:
"By night, when the darkness sets in, they raise up the necks of jinn-serpents and quivering heads, and after a calm trot they pursue a headlong pace."
And His word: وَلَّى مُدْبِرًا — Allah, exalted be His mention, says: Mūsā turned away and fled in fear of it. وَلَمْ يُعَقِّبْ — He says: and he did not return. Derived from the expression "ʿaqqaba fulān" when someone turns back on his heels to his point of departure.
And in the same sense as we have said concerning this in the interpretation, the people of interpretation spoke.
* Mention of those who said that:
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 Allah's word وَلَمْ يُعَقِّبْ : he said: he did not return.
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 — likewise.
He said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: he did not look back.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word وَلَمْ يُعَقِّبْ : he said: he did not return. يَا مُوسَى — he said: when Mūsā cast the staff and it became a serpent, fear seized him and he was greatly startled, whereupon Allah said: إِنِّي لا يَخَافُ لَدَيَّ الْمُرْسَلُونَ — he said: but he did not settle down at that. He said: then Allah said to him: "Come nearer and fear not, for truly, you are among those who are safe." He said: but that too did not make him stand still, until He said: "We shall restore it to its former state." He said: he looked back, and behold — it was a staff as it had been; he returned and picked it up, and after that he grew stronger, until he would set it loose upon Pharaoh and then take it back.
And His word: يَا مُوسَى لا تَخَفْ إِنِّي لا يَخَافُ لَدَيَّ الْمُرْسَلُونَ إِلا مَنْ ظَلَمَ — Allah, exalted be His mention, says: his Lord called out to him: O Mūsā, fear not this serpent — for truly, with Me the messengers (al-mursalūn) do not fear. That is to say: with Me, My messengers and My prophets whom I have favored with prophethood do not fear, except for whoever among them has done wrong and acted upon something for which I gave him no permission.
And in the same sense as we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation spoke.
* Mention of those who said that:
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said concerning His word: يَا مُوسَى لا تَخَفْ إِنِّي لا يَخَافُ لَدَيَّ الْمُرْسَلُونَ : he said: Allah does not make the prophets fear except on account of a sin that one of them has committed; so if he has committed a sin, He makes him fear until He delivers him from it.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: ʿAbdullāh al-Fazārī related to us, on the authority of ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Mubārak, on the authority of Abū Bakr, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, who said concerning His word: يَا مُوسَى لا تَخَفْ إِنِّي لا يَخَافُ لَدَيَّ الْمُرْسَلُونَ إِلا مَنْ ظَلَمَ : he said: I made you fear only on account of the killing of the person. And al-Ḥasan said: the prophets sinned and were punished.
The people of Arabic linguistics differed concerning the manner in which "except" (illā) is inserted in this context, while it is an exception coupled with Allah's promise of forgiveness for the one excepted in His word فَإِنِّي غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ , following the exception in His word إِنِّي لا يَخَافُ لَدَيَّ الْمُرْسَلُونَ . The rule for an exception is that what comes after it is the contrary of the meaning of what precedes it — namely, that what follows it, if what precedes is negated, is affirmed, as in: "no one stood up except Zayd" — Zayd is declared to be standing, because he is excepted from the preceding statement that negated the standing; and what follows it, if what precedes is affirmed, is negated, as in: "the people stood up except Zayd" — standing is negated of Zayd, and the meaning is that Zayd did not stand up while standing is affirmed of the people.
