Tafseer of The Stories · Al-Qasas · 28:17
He said, "My Lord, for the favor You bestowed upon me, I will never be an assistant to the criminals."
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 قَالَ رَبِّ بِمَا أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ ('He said: My Lord, because You have favoured me'): the Most High says: Mūsā said: Lord, because of Your favour to me — Your forgiveness of my slaying of this man — فَلَنْ أَكُونَ ظَهِيرًا لِلْمُجْرِمِينَ ('I shall never be a helper of the criminals') — that is, the polytheists (mushrikīn); it is as though he thereby swore an oath.
It is also reported that in the reading of ʿAbd Allāh this runs: 'fa-lā tajʿalnī ẓahīran li-l-mujrimīn' — 'so do not make me a helper of the criminals'; it appears that according to this reading he supplicated his Lord and said: O Allah, may I never be a helper — and he imposed no reservation upon himself when he said فَلَنْ أَكُونَ ظَهِيرًا لِلْمُجْرِمِينَ , peace be upon him; and so he was put to the test.
Qatāda used to say concerning this what Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: فَلَنْ أَكُونَ ظَهِيرًا لِلْمُجْرِمِينَ — he said: thereafter I shall never again support a wrongdoer in his wickedness; he said: rarely did a man speak these words but that he was put to the test; he said: and so he was put to the test, as you hear it.
