Tafseer of The Stories · Al-Qasas · 28:26
One of the women said, "O my father, hire him. Indeed, the best one you can hire is the strong and the trustworthy."
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: قَالَتْ إِحْدَاهُمَا يَا أَبَتِ اسْتَأْجِرْهُ إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَنِ اسْتَأْجَرْتَ الْقَوِيُّ الأَمِينُ (26) (One of the two said: "Father, hire him; the best one you can hire is the strong, trustworthy one.")
Allah the Exalted — praised be His remembrance — says: one of the two women for whom Musa had watered said to her father, when Musa came to him. The name of one of them was Ṣaffūrā, and the name of the other was Layyā, and it is also said: Sharfā.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Wahb ibn Sulaymān al-Ramādī informed me, on the authority of Shuʿayb al-Jabaʾī, who said: the names of the two girls are Layyā and Ṣaffūrā, and the wife of Musa is Ṣaffūrā, daughter of Yathrūn, the priest (kāhin) of Madyan — and the kāhin is a learned man (ḥibr).
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: one of them is Ṣaffūrā, daughter of Yathrūn, and her sister is Sharfā — also called Layyā — and these are the two who were holding back the flock. As for the name of their father, there is disagreement about it. Some said: his name was Yathrūn.
* Mention of those who said this:
Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of ʿUmar ibn Murra, on the authority of Abū ʿUbayda, who said: the one who hired Musa was Yathrūn, the nephew of Shuʿayb.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Murra, on the authority of Abū ʿUbayda, who said: the one who hired Musa was Yathrūn, the nephew of Shuʿayb ﷺ.
Others said: his name was rather Yathrā.
* Mention of those who said this:
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: al-ʿAlāʾ ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār related to us, on the authority of Ḥammād ibn Salama, on the authority of Abū Ḥamza, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: the one who hired Musa was Yathrā, the lord of Madyan.
Abū al-ʿĀliya al-ʿAbdī Ismāʿīl ibn al-Haytham related to me, saying: Abū Qutayba related to us, on the authority of Ḥammād ibn Salama, on the authority of Abū Ḥamza, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: the one who hired Musa was Yathrā, the lord of Madyan.
Abū al-ʿĀliya al-ʿAbdī Ismāʿīl ibn al-Haytham related to me, saying: Abū Qutayba related to us, on the authority of Ḥammād ibn Salama, on the authority of Abū Ḥamza, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: the name of the father of the woman was Yathrā.
Others said: his name was rather Shuʿayb, and they said: it is the Prophet Shuʿayb ﷺ.
* Mention of those who said this:
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Qurra ibn Khālid related to us; he said: I heard al-Ḥasan say: they say that Shuʿayb was the companion of Musa, but he was the foremost man at the watering place at that time.
Abū Jaʿfar said: this is a matter the knowledge of which can be obtained only through transmitted report (khabar), and there is no report for it whose probative force is binding. So there is no interpretation that deserves preference on this point over what Allah — exalted be His praise — has Himself said: وَوَجَدَ مِنْ دُونِهِمُ امْرَأتَيْنِ تَذُودَانِ ... قَالَتْ إِحْدَاهُمَا يَا أَبَتِ اسْتَأْجِرْهُ — by which she meant: hire him to tend the cattle for you.
إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَنِ اسْتَأْجَرْتَ الْقَوِيُّ الأمِينُ — she says: the best one you can hire for the herding is the strong man who is capable of guarding your cattle and caring for their welfare, the trustworthy one from whom you need fear no betrayal in what you entrust to him.
It is said that when she said this to her father, he marveled at it — at her description of him — and asked her: "How do you know that?" She answered: "His strength I saw in what he did at the drawing of water at the watering place; his trustworthiness I saw in his lowering of his gaze when he looked at me."
And to the like effect are the reports of the exegetes.
* Mention of those who said this:
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: al-Aṣbagh ibn Zayd informed us, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Ayyūb, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: concerning قَالَتْ إِحْدَاهُمَا يَا أَبَتِ اسْتَأْجِرْهُ إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَنِ اسْتَأْجَرْتَ الْقَوِيُّ الأمِينُ ; he said: his jealousy (ghayra) flared up and he said: "How do you know what his strength and trustworthiness are?" She said: "His strength — that I saw when he watered for us; I have never seen a man stronger in that watering than he. And his trustworthiness — he lowered his gaze when I came toward him and he became aware of me; as soon as he knew that I was a woman, he bent his head and did not raise it again, and did not look at me until I had conveyed your message. Then he said: 'Walk behind me and show me the way.' He did that only because he is trustworthy." The father's concern dissolved, he believed her, and thought of him what she had said.
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his word to Musa: إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَنِ اسْتَأْجَرْتَ الْقَوِيُّ الأمِينُ ; he says: trustworthy in what he managed, trustworthy over what was entrusted to him.
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 His word: قَالَتْ إِحْدَاهُمَا يَا أَبَتِ اسْتَأْجِرْهُ إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَنِ اسْتَأْجَرْتَ الْقَوِيُّ الأمِينُ ; he said: when Musa had watered for them and she had seen his strength — and he had moved a stone of the well that thirty men could not budge — and he had gone with the girl when she invited him, and he had said to her: "Walk behind me and I will go ahead of you" — out of reluctance that he should see anything of her back of what Allah has forbidden to look upon — and it was a windy day.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Nuʿm, concerning His word: يَا أَبَتِ اسْتَأْجِرْهُ إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَنِ اسْتَأْجَرْتَ الْقَوِيُّ الأمِينُ ; her father asked her: "What did you see of his trustworthiness?" She said: "When I walked ahead of him, the wind lifted my clothes and they clung to my body, and he said: 'Come, walk behind me; when you reach the road, then go.' And I saw him fill the trough with only one bucket."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, 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 His word: الْقَوِيُّ الأمِينُ ; he said: he lowered his eyes before them. Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr said in his narration: when he watered for them and they had departed. Al-Ḥārith said in his narration: until he watered for them — without doubt.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: he cleared a stone from the mouth of the well and watered for them with it. The trustworthiness was that he lowered his gaze before them when he watered for them and they had departed.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Khālid al-Aḥmar and Hāniʾ ibn Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥajjāj, on the authority of al-Qāsim, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَنِ اسْتَأْجَرْتَ الْقَوِيُّ الأمِينُ ; he said: he lifted a stone that a crowd of people could not lift.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq; ʿAmr ibn Maymūn said, concerning His word: الْقَوِيُّ الأمِينُ ; he said: it was a windy day, and he said: "Do not walk ahead of me, lest the wind describe you to me; walk behind me and show me the way." He asked her: "How did you know his strength?" She said: "The stone was such that ten men could not lift it, and he lifted it alone."
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥajjāj ibn Arṭāt, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Shurayḥ, concerning His word: الْقَوِيُّ الأمِينُ ; he said: his strength — he reached a stone that only ten men could lift, and he lifted it alone. His trustworthiness — she walked ahead of him and the wind described her, and he said: "Walk behind me and describe the road to me."
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of Zāʾida, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, who said: I asked Tamīm ibn Ibrāhīm: "By what did she recognize his trustworthiness?" He said: "By his gaze — in that he lowered his eyes before her."
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَنِ اسْتَأْجَرْتَ الْقَوِيُّ الأمِينُ ; he said: strong in the work, trustworthy in what he managed.
He said: it has been mentioned to us that what she saw of his strength was that it was not long before the cattle were satisfied; and that the trustworthiness she saw of him was that when she came to him to call him, he said to her: "Walk behind me" — and he did not wish to turn his back to her. That was what she saw of his strength and trustworthiness.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: يَا أَبَتِ اسْتَأْجِرْهُ إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَنِ اسْتَأْجَرْتَ الْقَوِيُّ الأمِينُ ; he said: it has reached us that his strength was how quickly he had satisfied their sheep. And it has reached us that he filled the trough with one bucket. His trustworthiness was that he instructed her to walk behind him.
Musa related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning قَالَتْ إِحْدَاهُمَا يَا أَبَتِ اسْتَأْجِرْهُ إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَنِ اسْتَأْجَرْتَ الْقَوِيُّ الأمِينُ — this was the girl who had called him. The old man said: "That strength, I have seen it when he removed the stone — but his trustworthiness, how do you know what it is?" She said: "He walked ahead of me and did not wish to betray me in my person, and he instructed me to walk behind him."
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word: قَالَتْ إِحْدَاهُمَا يَا أَبَتِ اسْتَأْجِرْهُ إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَنِ اسْتَأْجَرْتَ الْقَوِيُّ الأمِينُ ; he asked her: "What do you know of his strength and his trustworthiness?" She said: "His strength — he removed the stone from the well of the family of so-and-so, which usually required seven men to remove it. His trustworthiness — when I came to call him, he said: 'Walk behind my back and point out to me your dwelling.' I understood that this was trustworthiness on his part."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: قَالَتْ إِحْدَاهُمَا يَا أَبَتِ اسْتَأْجِرْهُ إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَنِ اسْتَأْجَرْتَ الْقَوِيُّ الأمِينُ — because of what she had seen of his strength, and because of what he had said to her: "Walk behind me" so that he would not see anything of her that he disapproved of. This strengthened his appeal to her father.
