Tafseer of The Stories · Al-Qasas · 28:24
So he watered [their flocks] for them; then he went back to the shade and said, "My Lord, indeed I am, for whatever good You would send down to me, in need."
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 words of Allah the Exalted: فَسَقَى لَهُمَا ثُمَّ تَوَلَّى إِلَى الظِّلِّ فَقَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّي لِمَا أَنْـزَلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ (24) (He watered for them, then he turned aside to the shade and said: "My Lord, I am truly in need of whatever good You may send down to me.")
Allah the Exalted — exalted be His remembrance — says: Mūsā watered the flocks for the two women, then he turned aside to the shade of a tree — it is mentioned that it was a samura tree (acacia).
* Mention of who said this:
Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: ثُمَّ تَوَلَّى — Mūsā turned aside to the shade of a samura tree and said: رَبِّ إِنِّي لِمَا أَنْـزَلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ .
Al-ʿAbbās related to me, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: al-Aṣbagh informed us, saying: al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Saʿīd ibn Jubayr related to me, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Mūsā returned to a tree and sought shade in its shadow, فَقَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّي لِمَا أَنْـزَلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ .
Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAmr al-ʿAnqazī related to me, saying: my father related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Maymūn, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, who said: I rode for two nights upon a camel of mine at full speed until I reached Madyan in the morning. I asked about the tree at which Mūsā sought refuge, and I found a green, lush tree. My camel turned its head toward it — it was hungry — and began to chew at it and struggled with it for a while, but then spat it out. I prayed to Allah for Mūsā ﷺ and then returned.
As for His word: فَقَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّي لِمَا أَنْـزَلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ — that is to say: in need (muḥtāj). It is mentioned that the Prophet of Allah, Mūsā ﷺ, spoke this word while he was in severe need, and that he did this as an allusion in the direction of the two women — as a hint that they might perhaps feed him, on account of the severe hunger that he was suffering.
And it has been said that the good of which the Prophet of Allah said: إِنِّي لِمَا أَنْـزَلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ — in need — by this he meant only a meal.
And in like manner to what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said this:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: when Mūsā fled from Firaʿwn (Pharaoh), he was struck by a severe hunger, such that his entrails could be seen through the outer side of his abdominal wall. When he had watered for the two women and had sought refuge in the shade, he said: رَبِّ إِنِّي لِمَا أَنْـزَلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ .
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, saying: ʿAnbasa related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: وَلَمَّا وَرَدَ مَاءَ مَدْيَنَ ; he said: he reached the water, and the green color of the leafy greens could be seen in his belly on account of the exhaustion. فَقَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّي لِمَا أَنزلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ ; he said: a meal.
Naṣr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Awdī related to me, saying: Ḥakkām ibn Salm related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Abū Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: وَلَمَّا وَرَدَ مَاءَ مَدْيَنَ ; he said: he reached the water, and the green color of the leafy greens could be seen in his belly on account of the exhaustion.
Naṣr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to me, saying: Ḥakkām ibn Salm related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Abū Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning إِنِّي لِمَا أَنزلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ ; he said: a meal on that day.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, concerning His word: رَبِّ إِنِّي لِمَا أَنزلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ ; he said: he spoke this while he had with him neither a dirham nor a dinar.
He said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning إِنِّي لِمَا أَنزلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ ; he said: he asked only for food.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama ibn al-Faḍl related to us, on the authority of Sufyān al-Thawrī, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: رَبِّ إِنِّي لِمَا أَنزلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ ; he said: he asked his Lord only for food.
Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning رَبِّ إِنِّي لِمَا أَنزلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ ; he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: "Truly, Mūsā spoke this while one who wished could have seen the green color of his entrails on account of the severe hunger, and he asked Allah only for a meal."
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: concerning رَبِّ إِنِّي لِمَا أَنزلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ ; he said: the Prophet of Allah was in need.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, concerning His word: إِنِّي لِمَا أَنزلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ ; he said: it has reached me that Mūsā said this and let the woman hear it.
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 Nujayḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ ; he said: food.
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, concerning مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ ; he said: food.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word: إِنِّي لِمَا أَنزلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ ; he said: he asked for food — he had no food with him; he asked only for food.
