Tafseer of The Stories · Al-Qasas · 28:19
And when he wanted to strike the one who was an enemy to both of them, he said, "O Moses, do you intend to kill me as you killed someone yesterday? You only want to be a tyrant in the land and do not want to be of the amenders."
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 word of the Most High: فَلَمَّا أَنْ أَرَادَ أَنْ يَبْطِشَ بِالَّذِي هُوَ عَدُوٌّ لَهُمَا قَالَ يَا مُوسَى أَتُرِيدُ أَنْ تَقْتُلَنِي كَمَا قَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا بِالأَمْسِ إِنْ تُرِيدُ إِلا أَنْ تَكُونَ جَبَّارًا فِي الأَرْضِ وَمَا تُرِيدُ أَنْ تَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُصْلِحِينَ ('But when he wished to strike the one who was the enemy of them both, he said: O Mūsā, do you wish to kill me as you killed a man yesterday? You wish only to be a tyrant on earth, and you do not wish to be among the righteous') (verse 19)
The Most High says: when Mūsā wished to strike the Copt, who was the enemy of him and of the Israelite, the Israelite said to Mūsā — while he thought that Mūsā meant him: أَتُرِيدُ أَنْ تَقْتُلَنِي كَمَا قَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا بِالأَمْسِ .
What we have said about this is also what the exegetes 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: فَلَمَّا أَنْ أَرَادَ أَنْ يَبْطِشَ بِالَّذِي هُوَ عَدُوٌّ لَهُمَا قَالَ : the one of his own party feared Mūsā when he said to him: إِنَّكَ لَغَوِيٌّ مُبِينٌ .
Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: Mūsā said to the Israelite: إِنَّكَ لَغَوِيٌّ مُبِينٌ — but then he stepped forward to come to his aid; when the Israelite saw that Mūsā was approaching to strike down the man who was fighting the Israelite, the Israelite قَالَ , afraid of Mūsā that he would strike him down because of the harsh words he had spoken to him: يَا مُوسَى أَتُرِيدُ أَنْ تَقْتُلَنِي كَمَا قَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا بِالأَمْسِ إِنْ تُرِيدُ إِلا أَنْ تَكُونَ جَبَّارًا فِي الأَرْضِ وَمَا تُرِيدُ أَنْ تَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُصْلِحِينَ — and Mūsā left him alone.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Abī Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh, on the authority of his companions, who said: after he had killed the slain man, he repented and said: هَذَا مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ إِنَّهُ عَدُوٌّ مُضِلٌّ مُبِينٌ . Then the Israelite asked him again for help — against another Copt — and Mūsā said to him: إِنَّكَ لَغَوِيٌّ مُبِينٌ . But when he wished to strike down the Copt, the Israelite thought that he meant him, and said: 'O Mūsā, أَتُرِيدُ أَنْ تَقْتُلَنِي كَمَا قَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا بِالأَمْسِ ?'
He said: and Ibn Jurayj, or Ibn Abī Najīḥ — al-Ṭabarī is uncertain — but in the manuscript it reads Ibn Abī Najīḥ — said: when Mūsā that morning was repentant and devoted and longed that he had struck down neither of the two, and he had already said to the Israelite: إِنَّكَ لَغَوِيٌّ مُبِينٌ , the Israelite knew that Mūsā would not help him; but when the Israelite wished to strike down the Copt, Mūsā forbade him that; the Israelite feared Mūsā and said: أَتُرِيدُ أَنْ تَقْتُلَنِي كَمَا قَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا بِالأَمْسِ — and the Copt betrayed them.
As for إِنْ تُرِيدُ إِلا أَنْ تَكُونَ جَبَّارًا فِي الأَرْضِ ('you wish only to be a tyrant on earth'): the Most High says, relating the words of the Israelite to Mūsā: with everything you wish, you wish only to be a tyrant on earth; and it was the practice of the tyrants: to kill people through wrong, without right. It is said: he spoke these words to Mūsā precisely because, in their eyes, he was one who had killed two men; that is of the tyrants.
Mention of who said that:
Mujāhid ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Hushaym ibn Bushayr related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Sālim, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, who said: whoever kills two men is a tyrant; he then recited: أَتُرِيدُ أَنْ تَقْتُلَنِي كَمَا قَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا بِالأَمْسِ إِنْ تُرِيدُ إِلا أَنْ تَكُونَ جَبَّارًا فِي الأَرْضِ وَمَا تُرِيدُ أَنْ تَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُصْلِحِينَ .
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: إِنْ تُرِيدُ إِلا أَنْ تَكُونَ جَبَّارًا فِي الأَرْضِ — such are the tyrants: they kill people without retaliation (qiṣāṣ).
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: إِنْ تُرِيدُ إِلا أَنْ تَكُونَ جَبَّارًا فِي الأَرْضِ — he said: that is the practice of the tyrants: to kill people without retaliation.
As for وَمَا تُرِيدُ أَنْ تَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُصْلِحِينَ ('and you do not wish to be among the righteous'): he says: you do not wish to be among those who act on earth in a manner that benefits its inhabitants — through obedience to Allah. And there is related from Ibn Isḥāq what Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: وَمَا تُرِيدُ أَنْ تَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُصْلِحِينَ — that is, such is not righteous conduct.
