Tafseer of The Stories · Al-Qasas · 28:34
And my brother Aaron is more fluent than me in tongue, so send him with me as support, verifying me. Indeed, I fear that they will deny me."
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.
وَأَخِي هَارُونُ هُوَ أَفْصَحُ مِنِّي لِسَانًا — "And my brother Hārūn, he is more eloquent of tongue than I" — that is to say: better able to articulate what he wishes to expound. فَأَرْسِلْهُ مَعِيَ رِدْءًا — that is to say: as a helper. يُصَدِّقُنِي — that is to say: he clarifies to them on my behalf what I address to them. As Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, who said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: وَأَخِي هَارُونُ هُوَ أَفْصَحُ مِنِّي لِسَانًا فَأَرْسِلْهُ مَعِيَ رِدْءًا يُصَدِّقُنِي — that is to say: he clarifies to them on my behalf what I say to them, for he understands what they do not understand. And it has been said: Mūsā asked his Lord to support him with his brother, because when two persons join together in good, the soul is more inclined to believe them than to believe the declaration of a single person.
Mention of who said that:
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said, concerning the saying: فَأَرْسِلْهُ مَعِيَ رِدْءًا يُصَدِّقُنِي — because two persons have a greater claim to being believed than a single person.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes spoke.
Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us — all on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the saying: فَأَرْسِلْهُ مَعِيَ رِدْءًا يُصَدِّقُنِي — he said: "as a helper."
Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — likewise.
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his saying: رِدْءًا يُصَدِّقُنِي — that is to say: as a helper.
Others said: the meaning of this is: so that he may confer credibility upon me.
Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, he said: ʿAbdullāh related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: رِدْءًا يُصَدِّقُنِي — that is to say: so that he may confer credibility upon me.
Mūsā related to us, he said: ʿAmr related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: فَأَرْسِلْهُ مَعِيَ رِدْءًا يُصَدِّقُنِي — that is to say: so that he may confer credibility upon me.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: رِدْءًا يُصَدِّقُنِي — that is to say: so that he may confer credibility upon me. The word "al-ridʾ" in Arabic usage means: the helper. One says: "I assisted so-and-so in his affair (ardaʾtu fulānan ʿalā amrihi)," that is to say: I eased his burden for him and helped him.
The reciters differed concerning the recitation of the word يُصَدِّقُنِي . Most of the reciters of Ḥijāz and Baṣra recited: "ridʾan yuṣaddiqnī" — with jazm (apocopation) of "yuṣaddiqnī." ʿĀṣim and Ḥamza recited: "yaṣduqunī" — with rafʿ vocalization. The one who read it with rafʿ made it a qualification of "al-ridʾ," with the meaning: send him with me as a helper whose characteristic it is that he confers credibility upon me. The one who read it with jazm made it a response to the word "fa-arsil-hu," so that the sentence reads: if you send him, he will confer credibility upon me — as a statement. The rafʿ reading is, of the two readings, the most beloved to me, because it is a request by Mūsā to his Lord that He send his brother with him as a helper with precisely this characteristic.
As for His saying إِنِّي أَخَافُ أَنْ يُكَذِّبُونِي — that is to say: I fear that they will not believe me when I say to them: I have been sent to you.
