Tafseer of The Forgiver · Ghafir · 40:37
The ways into the heavens - so that I may look at the deity of Moses; but indeed, I think he is a liar." And thus was made attractive to Pharaoh the evil of his deed, and he was averted from the [right] way. And the plan of Pharaoh was not except in ruin.
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.
Aḥmad ibn Hishām related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Mūsā related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ ( أَسْبَابَ السَّمَاوَاتِ ) (the ways of the heavens), he said: the paths of the heavens.
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī ( أَبْلُغُ الأسْبَابَ أَسْبَابَ السَّمَاوَاتِ ) (I reach the ways, the ways of the heavens), he said: the paths of the heavens.
And others said: by "the ways of the heavens" the gates of the heavens were meant.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda ( وَقَالَ فِرْعَوْنُ يَا هَامَانُ ابْنِ لِي صَرْحًا ) (And Pharaoh said: O Hāmān, build for me a tower) — and he was the first to build with this fired brick and to fire it — ( لَعَلِّي أَبْلُغُ الأسْبَابَ أَسْبَابَ السَّمَاوَاتِ ) (that I may reach the ways, the ways of the heavens): that is, the gates of the heavens.
And others said: no, by it the dwelling-place of the heaven was meant.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his statement: ( لَعَلِّي أَبْلُغُ الأسْبَابَ أَسْبَابَ السَّمَاوَاتِ ) (that I may reach the ways, the ways of the heavens), he said: the dwelling-place of the heaven.
And we have already explained previously that "al-sabab" (the way, the means) is everything by which one finds a means to attain what one seeks, such as a rope, a ladder, a path, and the like.
The most correct of the statements concerning this is to say: its meaning is: that I may reach, from among the ways of the heavens, ways by which I seek a means to see the God of Moses — whether those ways be paths, or gates, or dwelling-places, or something else.
And His statement: ( فَأَطَّلِعَ إِلَى إِلَهِ مُوسَى ) (so that I may behold the God of Moses). The reciters differed over the recitation of His statement ( فَأَطَّلِعَ ). Most of the reciters of the cities recited it as "fa-aṭṭaliʿu" with a ḍamma on the ʿayn, in continuation of His statement ( أَبْلُغُ الأسْبَابَ ) (I reach the ways) and building upon it. And it has been transmitted from Ḥumayd al-Aʿraj that he read ( فَأَطَّلِعَ ) with a naṣb (accusative ending) as a response to "laʿallī" (that I may). And al-Farrāʾ mentioned that one of the Arabs recited to him the following:
"Perhaps the vicissitudes of time or its turnings will return to us a blow, a blow from among her blows, so that the soul may find rest from its sighing."
He read "fa-tastarīḥa" (so that it may find rest) in the naṣb, on the grounds that it is a response to "laʿalla" (perhaps).
And the recitation that I permit no other than it is the rafʿ (nominative ending) in it, because of the consensus of the authoritative proof of the reciters concerning it.
And His statement: ( وَإِنِّي لأظُنُّهُ كَاذِبًا ) (and indeed, I deem him a liar) says: and indeed, I deem Moses a liar in what he says and claims, namely that he has in the heaven a Lord who has sent him to us.
And His statement: ( وَكَذَلِكَ زُيِّنَ لِفِرْعَوْنَ سُوءُ عَمَلِهِ ) (and thus the evil of his deed was made fair-seeming to Pharaoh). Allah, the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: and thus Allah made fair-seeming to Pharaoh — when he rebelled against Him and became insolent — the hideousness of his deed, until his soul enticed him to attempt to reach the ways of the heavens in order to behold the God of Moses.
And His statement: ( وَصُدَّ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ ) (and he was turned away from the way). The reciters differed over its recitation. Most of the reciters of Medina and Kufa recited it as ( وَصُدَّ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ ) with a ḍamma on the ṣād, in the form of the passive whose agent is not named.
As Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda ( وَصُدَّ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ ) (and he was turned away from the way), he said: this was done to him: the evil of his deed was made fair-seeming to him, and he was turned away from the way.
And Ḥumayd, Abū ʿAmr, and most of the reciters of Basra read "wa-ṣadda" with a fatḥa on the ṣād, with the meaning: and Pharaoh, out of arrogance, turned away from the way of Allah with which Moses had been sent.
And the correct view concerning this is to say: they are two well-known recitations in the recitation of the cities, so with whichever of the two the reciter recites, he is correct.
And His statement: ( وَمَا كَيْدُ فِرْعَوْنَ إِلا فِي تَبَابٍ ) (and the scheme of Pharaoh led only to ruin). The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: and the scheme of Pharaoh, by which he cunningly sought to behold the God of Moses, led only to ruin, the squandering of money, and deception, for his expenditure which he spent on the tower went to waste in vain, and he obtained by what he spent nothing of what he intended. That, then, is the loss and the perishing (al-tabāb).
And in the spirit of what we have said concerning this, the scholars of exegesis have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his statement: ( وَمَا كَيْدُ فِرْعَوْنَ إِلا فِي تَبَابٍ ) (and the scheme of Pharaoh led only to ruin), he says: to loss.
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, both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, his statement: ( فِي تَبَابٍ ) (to ruin), he said: loss.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda ( وَمَا كَيْدُ فِرْعَوْنَ إِلا فِي تَبَابٍ ) (and the scheme of Pharaoh led only to ruin): that is, to error and loss.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: ( وَمَا كَيْدُ فِرْعَوْنَ إِلا فِي تَبَابٍ ) (and the scheme of Pharaoh led only to ruin), he said: the perishing (al-tabāb) and the error are one and the same.
