Tafseer of The Stories · Al-Qasas · 28:10
And the heart of Moses' mother became empty [of all else]. She was about to disclose [the matter concerning] him had We not bound fast her heart that she would be 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.
The explanation of the saying of the Most High: وَأَصْبَحَ فُؤَادُ أُمِّ مُوسَى فَارِغًا إِنْ كَادَتْ لَتُبْدِي بِهِ لَوْلا أَنْ رَبَطْنَا عَلَى قَلْبِهَا لِتَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ("And the heart of the mother of Mūsā became empty; she almost made it known, were it not that We strengthened her heart, so that she would be among the believers") (verse 10).
The exegetes differed concerning the meaning that Allah intends by the heart of the mother of Mūsā becoming empty. Some said: what the Most High — exalted be His praise — means by the emptying of the heart of the mother of Mūsā is that it became empty of everything except the thought of her son Mūsā.
Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn al-ʿAlāʾ related to me, saying: Jābir ibn Nūḥ related to us, saying: al-Aʿmash related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, and Ḥassān Abū al-Ashras on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning وَأَصْبَحَ فُؤَادُ أُمِّ مُوسَى فَارِغًا : he said: it became empty of everything except the thought of Mūsā.
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ḥassān, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَأَصْبَحَ فُؤَادُ أُمِّ مُوسَى فَارِغًا — he said: empty of everything except the thought of Mūsā.
Muḥammad ibn ʿUmāra related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَأَصْبَحَ فُؤَادُ أُمِّ مُوسَى فَارِغًا — he said: empty of everything except the concern for Mūsā.
ʿAlī related to us, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his explanation of وَأَصْبَحَ فُؤَادُ أُمِّ مُوسَى فَارِغًا : he said: she thinks of nothing other than Mūsā.
Muḥammad ibn ʿUmāra related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Yaḥyā, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَأَصْبَحَ فُؤَادُ أُمِّ مُوسَى فَارِغًا — he said: of everything except the thought of Mūsā.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning وَأَصْبَحَ فُؤَادُ أُمِّ مُوسَى فَارِغًا : he said: it became empty of everything except the thought of Mūsā.
ʿAbd al-Jabbār ibn Yaḥyā al-Ramlī related to us, saying: Ḍamra ibn Rabīʿa related to us, on the authority of Ibn Shawdhab, on the authority of Maṭar, concerning وَأَصْبَحَ فُؤَادُ أُمِّ مُوسَى فَارِغًا : he said: empty of everything except the concern for Mūsā.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَأَصْبَحَ فُؤَادُ أُمِّ مُوسَى فَارِغًا : that is, empty of everything except the thought of Mūsā.
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 وَأَصْبَحَ فُؤَادُ أُمِّ مُوسَى فَارِغًا : he said: it became empty of everything, except the thought of Mūsā.
Others said: rather, her heart became empty of the revelatory content which Allah had inspired in her, when He commanded her to place him in the river and had said: وَلا تَخَافِي وَلا تَحْزَنِي إِنَّا رَادُّوهُ إِلَيْكِ وَجَاعِلُوهُ مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ ("and do not fear and do not grieve; We shall surely return him to you and make him one of the messengers"). He said: but she grieved and forgot the promise which Allah had made to her; thus Allah ﷻ said: وَأَصْبَحَ فُؤَادُ أُمِّ مُوسَى فَارِغًا — empty of Our revelation which We had inspired in her.
Mention of who said that:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning وَأَصْبَحَ فُؤَادُ أُمِّ مُوسَى فَارِغًا : empty of the revelation which Allah had inspired in her, when He commanded her to cast him into the sea, without fearing or grieving. He said: Satan came to her and said: "O mother of Mūsā, you did not want Pharaoh to kill Mūsā — for then you would have received its reward and recompense — yet you yourself have taken upon yourself his death by throwing him into the sea and drowning him." Thus Allah said: وَأَصْبَحَ فُؤَادُ أُمِّ مُوسَى فَارِغًا — empty of the revelation which He had inspired in her.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh, who said: al-Ḥasan related to me, saying: her heart became empty of the promise which We had made to her and the assurance which We had given her that We would return her son to her; she forgot all of that until she almost made it known, were it not that We strengthened her heart.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq said: the mother of Mūsā, after she had cast him into the river, listened to hear something about him, until news reached her that Pharaoh had that morning found a child in the Nile in a chest; she recognized the description and saw that he had fallen into the hands of her enemy, from whom she had fled with him. Thus the heart of his mother became empty of the promise of Allah to her concerning that; the tremendous grief made her forget what the promise of Allah was with her.
Some of those knowledgeable in the Arabic language said: the meaning is that وَأَصْبَحَ فُؤَادُ أُمِّ مُوسَى فَارِغًا — empty of sorrow, because she knew that he had not drowned. He said: this is derived from the expression "dam faraghan" (blood spilled for nothing) — that is, no right of retaliation (qiṣāṣ) and no blood-money (diya). But this is a view without grounds, because of its contradiction with the view of all the exegetes.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The most correct position concerning this, in my judgment, is the position of those who say: the meaning is: وَأَصْبَحَ فُؤَادُ أُمِّ مُوسَى فَارِغًا — empty of everything except the concern for Mūsā.
We say that this is the most correct position, because the words إِنْ كَادَتْ لَتُبْدِي بِهِ لَوْلا أَنْ رَبَطْنَا عَلَى قَلْبِهَا argue in favor of it. For if what was meant by it was that her heart was empty of the revelation, then it should not have been followed by إِنْ كَادَتْ لَتُبْدِي بِهِ ; for if she almost made the revelation known, that was only because she had it so frequently in mind and was so attached to it. And it is inconceivable that she was attached to it unless she kept it in mind.
If that is so, then the view that her heart was empty of what had been revealed to her falls away. And moreover, the Most High mentioned that her heart became empty, without specifying of what her heart became empty — so that it is general, except for that which a proof in itself establishes that her heart did not become empty of it. It has also been related on the authority of Faḍāla ibn ʿUbayd that he read: "wa-aṣbaḥa fuʾādu ummi Mūsā fāziʿan" — on account of fright.
As for إِنْ كَادَتْ لَتُبْدِي بِهِ ("she almost made it known"): the exegetes differed concerning the meaning of the pronoun in the word "bihi". Some said: it refers to Mūsā, and to him it returns.
Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Jābir ibn Nūḥ related to us, saying: al-Aʿmash related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid and Ḥassān Abū al-Ashras, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: إِنْ كَادَتْ لَتُبْدِي بِهِ — she almost cried out: "O my son!"
Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to me, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ḥassān, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: إِنْ كَادَتْ لَتُبْدِي بِهِ — she almost cried out: "O my son!"
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ḥassān, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: إِنْ كَادَتْ لَتُبْدِي بِهِ — she almost cried out: "O my son!"
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: إِنْ كَادَتْ لَتُبْدِي بِهِ — that is, through the intensity of her grief she almost made it known that he was her son.
Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: when his mother drew near to him — that is, for the nursing — he was taken from her; she almost said: "He is my son"; but Allah protected her, and that is the saying of Allah: إِنْ كَادَتْ لَتُبْدِي بِهِ لَوْلا أَنْ رَبَطْنَا عَلَى قَلْبِهَا .
Others said: the pronoun refers to what We had revealed to her — that is, that she would disclose it.
The correct position concerning this is what those whom we have mentioned said — namely that she almost said: "O my dear child!" — and that is because of the consensus of the authoritative exegetes concerning it, and because it follows immediately upon وَأَصْبَحَ فُؤَادُ أُمِّ مُوسَى فَارِغًا ; so, even if there were no consensus of those whom we have mentioned, the reference to the thought of Mūsā — because of its proximity — is more plausible than the reference to the revelation.
Some said: the meaning is that إِنْ كَادَتْ لَتُبْدِي regarding Mūsā — by saying: he is my son. He said: that was because her breast was constrained when he was attributed to Pharaoh and it was said: the son of Pharaoh. By لَتُبْدِي بِهِ was meant: to make him known and to give notice of him.
What we have said concerning this, the exegetes also said.
Mention of who said that:
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 إِنْ كَادَتْ لَتُبْدِي بِهِ : she almost made his affair public.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning إِنْ كَادَتْ لَتُبْدِي بِهِ : she almost made his affair openly known, were it not that We strengthened her heart, so that she would be among the believers.
As for لَوْلا أَنْ رَبَطْنَا عَلَى قَلْبِهَا ("were it not that We strengthened her heart"): that is, were it not that We had protected her from that by confirming her and guiding her to keep silent about him.
What we have said concerning this, the exegetes also said.
Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: Allah said لَوْلا أَنْ رَبَطْنَا عَلَى قَلْبِهَا : that is, with faith (īmān), لِتَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ .
Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: she almost said: "He is my son"; but Allah protected her, and that is the saying of Allah: إِنْ كَادَتْ لَتُبْدِي بِهِ لَوْلا أَنْ رَبَطْنَا عَلَى قَلْبِهَا .
As for لِتَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ("so that she would be among the believers"): the Most High says: We protected her from making it known and from saying it with her tongue, and We confirmed her in the promise which We had made to her, لِتَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ — those who believe in the promise of Allah, those certain of it.
