Tafseer of The Stories · Al-Qasas · 28:7
And We inspired to the mother of Moses, "Suckle him; but when you fear for him, cast him into the river and do not fear and do not grieve. Indeed, We will return him to you and will make him [one] of the messengers."
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 discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَى أُمِّ مُوسَى أَنْ أَرْضِعِيهِ فَإِذَا خِفْتِ عَلَيْهِ فَأَلْقِيهِ فِي الْيَمِّ وَلا تَخَافِي وَلا تَحْزَنِي إِنَّا رَادُّوهُ إِلَيْكِ وَجَاعِلُوهُ مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ (And We revealed to the mother of Mūsā: "Suckle him, and when you fear for him, then cast him into the sea, and fear not and grieve not. Verily, We shall return him to you and make him one of the messengers") (28:7).
The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَى أُمِّ مُوسَى (And We revealed to the mother of Mūsā), when she had given birth to Mūsā, أَنْ أَرْضِعِيهِ (that she should suckle him).
Qatāda used to say concerning its meaning: وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَى أُمِّ مُوسَى (And We revealed to the mother of Mūsā): We cast it into her heart.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَى أُمِّ مُوسَى (And We revealed to the mother of Mūsā): a revelation (waḥy) that came to her from Allah, which He cast into her heart — and it was not a revelation of prophethood — that she should suckle Mūsā, فَإِذَا خِفْتِ عَلَيْهِ فَأَلْقِيهِ فِي الْيَمِّ وَلا تَخَافِي وَلا تَحْزَنِي (and when you fear for him, then cast him into the sea, and fear not and grieve not)... the verse.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū Sufyān related to me, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَى أُمِّ مُوسَى (And We revealed to the mother of Mūsā), he said: He cast it into her soul.
Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: Farʿawn (Pharaoh) commanded that of the sons born among the Banū Isrāʾīl, one year they should be slaughtered and one year they should be spared. And when it was in the year in which they slaughtered, she became pregnant with Mūsā; and when she was about to give birth to him, she was grieved over his fate, and Allah revealed to her أَنْ أَرْضِعِيهِ فَإِذَا خِفْتِ عَلَيْهِ فَأَلْقِيهِ فِي الْيَمِّ (that she should suckle him, and when she feared for him, that she should cast him into the sea).
The exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the state in which the mother of Mūsā was commanded to cast Mūsā into the sea. Some of them said: she was commanded to cast him into the sea four months after his birth, and that is the state in which he longs for the breast more than a child longs after the state in which it falls from the belly of its mother.
* Mention of those who said that:
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning His statement: أَنْ أَرْضِعِيهِ فَإِذَا خِفْتِ عَلَيْهِ (that she should suckle him, and when you fear for him), he said: when he reaches four months and cries out and longs for the breast more than that, فَأَلْقِيهِ (then cast him) at that moment فِي الْيَمِّ (into the sea). That, then, is His statement: فَإِذَا خِفْتِ عَلَيْهِ (and when you fear for him).
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh, who said: He did not say to her: "When you have given birth to him, then cast him into the sea," but He only said to her: أَنْ أَرْضِعِيهِ فَإِذَا خِفْتِ عَلَيْهِ فَأَلْقِيهِ فِي الْيَمِّ (that she should suckle him, and when she feared for him, that she should cast him into the sea) — to that she was commanded. He said: she placed him in a garden, and she came to him every day to suckle him, and she came to him every night to suckle him, and that was sufficient for him.
And others said: no, she was commanded to cast him into the sea after she had given birth to him and after she had suckled him.
* Mention of those who said that:
Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: when she had given birth to him, she suckled him, then she summoned for him a carpenter, who made for him a chest, and the lock of the chest he made from the inside, and she laid him in it and cast him into the sea.
And the most fitting of what has been said concerning this and the correct view is that one says: Allah, the Exalted whose praise is mentioned, commanded the mother of Mūsā to suckle him, and when she should fear for him from the enemy of Allah, Farʿawn, and his armies, to cast him into the sea. And it is possible that she feared for him from them some months after his birth; and in any case, she did what Allah revealed to her concerning that, and there is no report by which a proof is established, nor any prompting in the intellect, to clarify which of the two it was; therefore the most fitting of what may be said concerning this, in its correctness, is that one says as He, whose praise is exalted, has said. And the sea (al-yamm) into which she was commanded to cast him is the Nile.
As Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: فَأَلْقِيهِ فِي اليَمِّ (then cast him into the sea), he said: it is the river, and it is the Nile. And we have already clarified that with its proofs, and mentioned the transmission concerning it in what preceded, in a manner that makes it unnecessary to repeat it.
And His statement: وَلا تَخَافِي وَلا تَحْزَنِي (and fear not and grieve not) — He says: fear not for your child from Farʿawn and his armies that they will kill him, and grieve not over his separation.
And in the sense of what we have said concerning this, the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of those who said that:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: وَلا تَخَافِي وَلا تَحْزَنِي (and fear not and grieve not), he said: fear not for him the sea, and grieve not over his separation; إنَّا رَادُّوهُ إِلَيْكِ (Verily, We shall return him to you).
And His statement: إِنَّا رَادًّوهُ إِلَيْكِ وَجَاعِلُوهُ مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ (Verily, We shall return him to you and make him one of the messengers) — He says: verily, We shall return your child to you for the suckling, so that you yourself may suckle him, and We shall send him as a messenger to the one whom you fear will kill him. And Allah did that with her and with him.
And in the sense of what we have said concerning this, the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of those who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: إِنَّا رَادُّوهُ إِلَيْكَ (Verily, We shall return him to you), and We shall send him as a messenger to this tyrant, and We shall bring about that tyrant's destruction and the deliverance of the Banū Isrāʾīl from the affliction in which they are, by his hand.
