Tafseer of The Stories · Al-Qasas · 28:40
So We took him and his soldiers and threw them into the sea. So see how was the end of the wrongdoers.
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.
His statement: فَأَخَذْنَاهُ وَجُنُودَهُ (So We seized him and his hosts). The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: We gathered Pharaoh and his hosts of the Copts فَنَبَذْنَاهُمْ فِي الْيَمِّ (and cast them into the sea). He says: We cast them all together into the sea and drowned them therein, as Abū al-Aswad al-Duʾalī has said:
I looked at its inscription and then cast it away, as you cast away a sandal that has become worn out of your sandals. (2)
And it has been mentioned that this was a sea behind Egypt, as Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: فَنَبَذْنَاهُمْ فِي الْيَمِّ (and cast them into the sea), he said: the "yamm" was a sea called Isāf behind Egypt; Allah drowned them therein.
His statement: فَانْظُرْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الظَّالِمِينَ (So look how the end of the wrongdoers was). The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: look, O Muḥammad, with the eye of your heart: how it fared with these who wronged themselves, so that they did not believe in their Lord and rejected to His Messenger his counsel — did We not destroy them, so that We caused their dwellings and their possessions to be inherited by Our protégés, and apportioned to them what they had possessed of gardens, springs, treasures, and an honorable abode, after they had been oppressed, while their sons were killed and their women were left alive? Indeed, thus shall We also deal with you, and with whoever believes in you and holds you to be truthful: We shall apportion to you and to them the dwellings of those who deny you and reject from you what you have brought them of the truth, as well as their possessions, and We shall destroy them by killing with the sword — the way of Allah concerning those who passed away before them.
------------------------
The footnotes:
(1) The verse is by Abū Dhuʾayb al-Hudhalī, in which he describes the roads of the desert plain (al-Lisān: naʿam). He says: the "naʿāma" is every structure, awning, or landmark by which one orients oneself, belonging to the landmarks of the desert plains. Others say: every structure on the mountain, such as the awning and the landmark. Its plural is: naʿām. Abū Dhuʾayb says, while describing the roads of the desert plain: "Therein are naʿām..." (the verse). He says: al-Jawharī transmitted the second half as: "the naqāʾiḍ cast off therein the leather straps." He says: the "naqāʾiḍ" are the lean camels. Thus. And in (al-Lisān: naqḍ): the "nafīḍa" is like the vanguard, and they are the group sent into the land as scouts to see whether there is enemy and danger there. Its plural is "al-nafāʾiḍ". This is the explanation of al-Aṣmaʿī. Thus Abū ʿAmr transmitted it with the fāʾ, except that in his explanation he said: they are the lean camels. Ibn Barrī said: the "naʿām" are wooden stakes under which one seeks shade. The "rijāl" are the pedestrians. The "sarīḥ" are straps with which the sandals are bound; he means that the sandals of the naqāʾiḍ have fallen apart. The "ṣurūḥ" is the plural of "ṣarḥ", and that is, as in (al-Lisān: ṣarḥ), a single house built standing alone, large and high in the air. Abū Dhuʾayb says:
On roads like the necks of the gazelles, whose white edifices you take to be "ṣuruḥ".
And al-Zajjāj said concerning the statement of the Exalted (It was said to her: enter the ṣarḥ): he said: the "ṣarḥ" in the language is: the palace and the courtyard. One says: this is the "ṣarḥa" of the house and its forecourt, that is: its open space and its yard. Some exegetes said: the "ṣarḥ" is a floor that was made for her of glass. The "ṣarḥ" is also the leveled ground. The "ṣarḥ" is a flat, level expanse of the earth. Thus. And Abū ʿUbayda said in Majāz al-Qurʾān: the "ṣarḥ" is the structure and the palace, and nothing more; and he transmitted the verse as the author of al-Lisān transmits it.
(2) The verse is by Abū al-Aswad al-Duʾalī, as the author has mentioned, and it is taken from Majāz al-Qurʾān of Abū ʿUbayda (folio 180b). He said: (So We seized him and his hosts) means: We gathered him and his hosts. (And cast them into the sea) means: We cast them into the sea, destroyed them, and drowned them. Abū al-Aswad al-Duʾalī said: "I looked at its inscription..." (the verse). Thus. And in (al-Lisān: nabadh): "al-nabdh" is the casting of the thing out of your hand or behind you. I cast the thing: when you flung it away and removed it.
