Tafseer of The Forgiver · Ghafir · 40:36
And Pharaoh said, "O Haman, construct for me a tower that I might reach the ways -
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: وَقَالَ فِرْعَوْنُ يَا هَامَانُ ابْنِ لِي صَرْحًا لَعَلِّي أَبْلُغُ الأَسْبَابَ (36) (And Pharaoh said: "O Hāmān, build for me a tower, that I may reach the ways.") (40:36)
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: And Pharaoh said — when the believer from his family admonished him with that with which he admonished him, and restrained him from killing Moses, the prophet of Allah, and warned him of the vengeance of Allah on account of his statement "I will kill him" — when he paid no heed to that of which his evil minister, the minister Hāmān, warned him: ( يَا هَامَانُ ابْنِ لِي صَرْحًا لَعَلِّي أَبْلُغُ الأسْبَابَ ) (O Hāmān, build for me a tower, that I may reach the ways). By this He means a building. And we have already previously expounded the meaning of "ṣarḥ" (tower) with its supporting evidences, in a manner that makes it unnecessary to repeat it here.
( لَعَلِّي أَبْلُغُ الأسْبَابَ ) (that I may reach the ways). The scholars of interpretation differed concerning the meaning of "al-asbāb" (the ways) in this place. Some of them said: the ways of the heavens, that is, their paths.
* Mention of who said that:
