Tafseer of The Stories · Al-Qasas · 28:35
[Allah] said, "We will strengthen your arm through your brother and grant you both supremacy so they will not reach you. [It will be] through Our signs; you and those who follow you will be the predominant."
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 word of Allah, the Exalted: قَالَ سَنَشُدُّ عَضُدَكَ بِأَخِيكَ وَنَجْعَلُ لَكُمَا سُلْطَانًا فَلا يَصِلُونَ إِلَيْكُمَا بِآيَاتِنَا أَنْتُمَا وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَكُمَا الْغَالِبُونَ (35)
Allah, the Exalted, says: Allah spoke to Mūsā: سَنَشُدُّ عَضُدَكَ — that is to say: We shall strengthen you and support you through your brother. The Arabs say, when a man grants another man strength, supports him, and protects him against whoever wishes to wrong him: "so-and-so has reinforced the upper arm of so-and-so (shadda ʿaḍuda fulān)." This is derived from the word "ʿāḍadahu ʿalā amrihi" — that is to say: he supported him. Hence too the verse of Ibn Maqbil:
ʿĀḍadtuhā bi-ʿatūdin ghayri muʿtalithin ka-anna-hu waqfu ʿājin bāta maknūnā
By this he means a bow that he supported with an arrow. The word "al-ʿaḍud" has four dialectal variants; the most elegant is "al-ʿaḍud," then "al-ʿaḍd," then "al-ʿuḍud," and "al-ʿuḍd." The plural of all these variants is "aʿḍād."
His word وَنَجْعَلُ لَكُمَا سُلْطَانًا — that is to say: We shall give you both a proof.
As 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 — all on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his word: لَكُمَا سُلْطَانًا — "a proof."
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 — likewise.
Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: وَنَجْعَلُ لَكُمَا سُلْطَانًا — and al-sulṭān means: the proof.
His word فَلا يَصِلُونَ إِلَيْكُمَا — Allah, the Exalted, says: Pharaoh and his people will not be able to do you both any harm. His word بِآيَاتِنَا — Allah, the Exalted, says: فَلا يَصِلُونَ إِلَيْكُمَا — Pharaoh and his people will بِآيَاتِنَا أَنْتُمَا وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَكُمَا الْغَالِبُونَ — achieve nothing. The bāʾ in his word "bi-āyātinā" is connected to "ghālibūn." The meaning of the sentence is: you both and whoever follows you will be the victors over Pharaoh and his courtiers by means of Our signs, that is to say: by Our proof and Our power which We grant to you both.
