Tafseer of The Stories · Al-Qasas · 28:9
And the wife of Pharaoh said, "[He will be] a comfort of the eye for me and for you. Do not kill him; perhaps he may benefit us, or we may adopt him as a son." And they perceived not.
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: وَقَالَتِ امْرَأَةُ فِرْعَوْنَ قُرَّةُ عَيْنٍ لِي وَلَكَ لا تَقْتُلُوهُ عَسَى أَنْ يَنْفَعَنَا أَوْ نَتَّخِذَهُ وَلَدًا وَهُمْ لا يَشْعُرُونَ (9) ("And Pharaoh's wife said: 'A comfort of the eye for me and for you; do not kill him; perhaps he will benefit us, or we will take him as a child' — while they did not perceive." (28:9))
The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: (وَقَالَتِ امْرَأَةُ فِرْعَوْنَ) "And Pharaoh's wife said" to him this: (قُرَّةُ عَيْنٍ لِي وَلَكَ) "a comfort of the eye for me and for you", O Pharaoh. "Comfort of the eye" (qurratu ʿaynin) is in the nominative because of an implicit subject, which is "this is" (hādhā) or "he is" (huwa). And His statement: (لا تَقْتُلُوهُ) "do not kill him" is a request from Pharaoh's wife that he not kill him. And it is mentioned that the woman, when she spoke this statement to Pharaoh, Pharaoh said: as for you, yes; but as for me, no. And so it was.
*Mention of who said that:
Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Abū Maʿshar, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Qays, he said: Pharaoh's wife said: ( قُرَّةُ عَيْنٍ لِي وَلَكَ لا تَقْتُلُوهُ عَسَى أَنْ يَنْفَعَنَا أَوْ نَتَّخِذَهُ وَلَدًا ) "a comfort of the eye for me and for you; do not kill him; perhaps he will benefit us, or we will take him as a child." Pharaoh said: a comfort of the eye for you; but as for me, no. Muḥammad ibn Qays said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Had Pharaoh said: 'a comfort of the eye for me and for you', he would have been for both of them."
Mūsā related to us, he said: ʿAmr related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, he said: Pharaoh took him as a child, and he was called the son of Pharaoh. When the boy began to move about, his mother Āsiya presented him as a child; and while she made him dance and played with him, she handed him to Pharaoh and said: take him, a comfort of the eye for me and for you. Pharaoh said: he is a comfort of the eye for you, not for me. ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās said: had he said: "and he is a comfort of the eye for me", he would have believed in him; but he refused.
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: Pharaoh's wife said: (قُرَّةُ عَيْنٍ لِي وَلَكَ) "a comfort of the eye for me and for you" — by this she means: Mūsā.
Al-ʿAbbās ibn al-Walīd related to us, he said: Yazīd informed us, he said: al-Aṣbagh ibn Yazīd informed us, he said: al-Qāsim ibn Abī Ayyūb related to us, he said: Saʿīd ibn Jubayr related to me, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: when Pharaoh's wife brought Mūsā to Pharaoh, she said: (قُرَّةُ عَيْنٍ لِي وَلَكَ) "a comfort of the eye for me and for you." Pharaoh said: he will be for you; but as for me, I have no need of him. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "By Him by whom oaths are sworn, had Pharaoh acknowledged that he would be a comfort of the eye for him, as she acknowledged, Allah would have guided him thereby as He guided his wife thereby; but Allah withheld that from him."
And His statement: ( لا تَقْتُلُوهُ عَسَى أَنْ يَنْفَعَنَا أَوْ نَتَّخِذَهُ وَلَدًا ) "do not kill him; perhaps he will benefit us, or we will take him as a child" — it is mentioned that Pharaoh's wife spoke this statement when he intended to kill him. Some of them said: when he was brought on the day she picked him up out of the water. And others said: on the day he pulled a hair from his beard, or struck him with a staff that was in his hand.
*Mention of who said: she said that on the day he plucked his beard:
Mūsā related to us, he said: ʿAmr related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, he said: when Pharaoh brought him to himself as a child and took him to himself, Mūsā seized his beard and plucked it. Pharaoh said: bring me the slaughterers, it is he! Āsiya said: ( لا تَقْتُلُوهُ عَسَى أَنْ يَنْفَعَنَا أَوْ نَتَّخِذَهُ وَلَدًا ) "do not kill him; perhaps he will benefit us, or we will take him as a child" — he is only a child who does not understand, and he has done this only out of childishness.
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: (لا تقتلوه عسى أن ينفعنا أو نتخذه ولدًا) "do not kill him; perhaps he will benefit us, or we will take him as a child" he said: her mercy was laid upon him when she beheld him.
And His statement: (وَهُمْ لا يَشْعُرُونَ) "while they did not perceive" — the people of interpretation differed over its interpretation. Some of them said: its meaning is: while they did not perceive their destruction at his hand.
*Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: (وَهُمْ لا يَشْعُرُونَ) "while they did not perceive" he said: while they did not perceive that their destruction would be at his hand and in his time.
Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Sufyān related to me, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: (أوْ نَتَّخِذَهُ وَلَدًا وَهُمْ لا يَشْعُرُونَ) "or we will take him as a child — while they did not perceive" he said: that their destruction would be at his hand.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, 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, his statement: ( وَهُمْ لا يَشْعُرُونَ ) "while they did not perceive" he said: the family of Pharaoh, that he was an enemy to them.
And others said: no, its meaning is: ( وَهُمْ لا يَشْعُرُونَ ) "while they do not perceive" that which would happen with regard to their affair and his affair.
*Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, he said: Pharaoh's wife, Āsiya, said: ( لا تَقْتُلُوهُ عَسَى أَنْ يَنْفَعَنَا أَوْ نَتَّخِذَهُ وَلَدًا وَهُمْ لا يَشْعُرُونَ ) "do not kill him; perhaps he will benefit us, or we will take him as a child — while they did not perceive." Allah says: while they do not perceive that which would happen through what Allah intended with him.
And others said: no, the meaning of His statement (وَهُمْ لا يَشْعُرُونَ) "while they did not perceive" is: the children of Israel do not perceive that we have picked him up.
*Mention of who said that:
Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Abū Maʿshar, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Qays: ( لا تَقْتُلُوهُ عَسَى أَنْ يَنْفَعَنَا أَوْ نَتَّخِذَهُ وَلَدًا وَهُمْ لا يَشْعُرُونَ ) he said: He says: the children of Israel do not know that we have picked him up.
And the correct statement on this is the statement of him who said: its meaning is: and Pharaoh and his family do not perceive that which would happen of their destruction at his hand.
And we have only said that this is the most fitting of its interpretations, because it directly follows His statement: ( وَقَالَتِ امْرَأَةُ فِرْعَوْنَ قُرَّةُ عَيْنٍ لِي وَلَكَ لا تَقْتُلُوهُ عَسَى أَنْ يَنْفَعَنَا أَوْ نَتَّخِذَهُ وَلَدًا ). And when it follows that, then it is more entitled to be a clarification of the utterance it follows than that it would be a clarification of something else.
