Tafseer of The Table · Al-Maaida · 5:22
They said, "O Moses, indeed within it is a people of tyrannical strength, and indeed, we will never enter it until they leave it; but if they leave it, then we will enter."
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 statement concerning the explanation of His word, mighty is His mention: Qālū yā Mūsā inna fīhā qawman jabbārīna
(They said: O Mūsā, verily, therein is a people of tyrants (geweldenaars).)
Abū Jaʿfar said: This is a report from Allah, exalted is His praise, concerning the answer of the people of Mūsā — peace be upon him — when he commanded them to enter the holy land: that they refused to heed that which he commanded them regarding it, excusing themselves before him by saying: verily, in the holy land which you command us to enter there is a people of tyrants (jabbārīn) against whose warfare we are not able to stand, and against whom we have no strength. They called them "tyrants" because, on account of their great striking-power and their colossal stature — as has been related to us — they had subjugated all the remaining peoples apart from themselves.
The original meaning of "al-jabbār" is: the one who sets in order his own affair and the affair of another. Then the word came to be used for everyone who draws benefit to himself, whether by right or by wrong, while seeking improvement thereof, until it was even applied to the one who transgresses toward what does not belong to him — out of insolence (baghy) against the people, out of oppression of them, and out of arrogance toward his Lord — such a one was called "jabbār." For it is a form "faʿʿāl" derived from their saying "jabara fulān hādhā l-kasr," when he mends and heals that fracture; of this is the saying of the rajaz-poet:
"Verily, the deity has set the religion aright, and it was set aright (qad jabara l-dīna l-ilāhu fa-jabar) And the All-Merciful has disfigured him who pursues wickedness (wa-ʿawwara l-raḥmānu man wallā l-ʿawar)"
He means: the deity has set the religion right, and it became good. Among the names of Allah, exalted is His mention, is "al-Jabbār," because He is the one who sets in order the affair of His servants, who subjugates them by His power.
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And among what I have mentioned concerning their colossal stature is the following:
11656 - Mūsā ibn Hārūn related this to me, he said: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, in a narrative that he mentioned about the affair of Mūsā and the children of Israel; he said: then he commanded them to advance toward Jericho — which is the land of Jerusalem — and they advanced, until, when they had drawn near to them, [they had come close]; Mūsā sent out twelve chieftains from all the tribes of the children of Israel, and they set out with the intention of bringing him news about the tyrants. Then a man of the tyrants, named "ʿĀj," met them; he took the twelve and stuck them into the fold of his belt, with a load of firewood upon his head, and he went with them to his wife and said: look at these people who claim that they wish to fight us! He threw them down before her and said: shall I not crush them with my foot? But his wife said: no, rather leave them be, so that they may inform their people of what they have seen! And he did so.
11657 - ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn al-Haytham related to me, he said: Ibrāhīm ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, he said: Abū Saʿīd said, ʿIkrima said, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās; he said: Mūsā was commanded to enter the city of the tyrants. He said: Mūsā advanced with those who were with him, until he pitched his camp near the city — which is Jericho. Then he sent to them twelve scouts, from each tribe of them one scout, that they might bring him news about the people. He said: they entered the city and saw something awesome in their stature, their bodies, and their bulk. They entered the walled garden of one of them, and the owner of the garden came to pluck the fruits of his garden; he began to pluck the fruits and noticed their tracks and followed them. Whenever he came upon one of them, he took him and stuck him into his sleeve, along with the fruit, and he went to their king and scattered them out before him. The king said: you have seen our condition and our might; go and inform your companion. He said: they returned to Mūsā and informed him of what they had observed of their condition with their own eyes.
11658 - Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "verily, therein is a people of tyrants" — it has been related to us that they had bodies and a stature which others did not possess.
11659 - Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ; he said: Mūsā — peace be upon him — said to his people: "I shall send out men who will bring me news about them," and he took from each tribe one man, so that they were twelve chieftains, and he said: "advance toward them and tell me their condition and how things stand with them, and do not be afraid; verily, Allah is with you so long as you perform the ritual prayer (ṣalāh), give the obligatory alms (zakāh), believe in His messengers, support them, and grant Allah a goodly loan." And the people advanced until they suddenly fell upon them, and they saw peoples with marvelous bodies of enormous bulk and strength. And — as has been related — one of the tyrants saw them, while they did not cease to conceal themselves when they saw that marvelous spectacle. That tyrant took some men of them and came to their leader, and threw them down before him, and they marveled and laughed at them. One of them said: "these people claim that they wished to make war upon you!" And were it not that Allah had turned it away from them, they would have been killed; and they returned to Mūsā — peace be upon him — and told him the marvel.
11660 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word ithnay ʿashara naqīban (twelve chieftains): from each tribe of the children of Israel one man, whom Mūsā sent to the tyrants. They came upon them such that into the sleeve of one of them two of their own would fit; they truly cast them inside. And a single cluster of grapes of theirs could be carried only by five persons, together upon a pole; and into half a pomegranate, when the seeds had been taken out of it, five or four persons would fit.
11661 - Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, something similar.
11662 - Muḥammad ibn al-Wazīr ibn Qays related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: "verily, therein is a people of tyrants" — he said: they are rabble without any share (in the good).
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The statement concerning the explanation of His word, mighty is His mention: Wa-innā lan nadkhulahā ḥattā yakhrujū minhā fa-in yakhrujū minhā fa-innā dākhilūna (22)
(And verily, we will not enter it until they have departed from it; but if they depart from it, then we will enter it (22).)
Abū Jaʿfar said: This is a report from Allah, mighty is His mention, concerning the statement of the people of Mūsā to Mūsā, in answer to his word to them: udkhulū l-arḍa l-muqaddasata llatī kataba llāhu lakum (enter the holy land which Allah has prescribed for you). They said: "verily, we will not enter it until they have departed from it," by which they meant: [until] the tyrants who are in it depart from the holy land — out of cowardice on their part and out of fear of fighting them. And they said to him: if these tyrants depart from it, then we will enter it; but otherwise we are not able to enter it so long as they are in it, for we cannot stand against them and have no power over them.
11663 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: that Kālib ibn Yāfanā silenced the people in favor of Mūsā ﷺ, and said to them: verily, we shall overpower the land and take possession of it, and verily, we have strength against them! But those who were with him said: we are not able to reach that people, because they are bolder than we are! Then those spies brought the news to the children of Israel and said: verily, we have passed through a land and reconnoitered it, and behold, it devours its inhabitants, and we saw men of colossal bodies, and we saw the tyrants, sons of tyrants, and we were in their eyes as locusts! Then the multitude of the children of Israel was thrown into panic and raised their voices in weeping. The people wept that night and murmured evil against Mūsā and Hārūn, and said to them both: O, would that we had died in the land of Egypt! And O, would that we might die in this wilderness, and would that Allah had not made us enter this land to fall in the war, so that our women, our children, and our baggage would become spoils (ghanīma)! Would that we had remained in the land of Egypt, that would have been better for us. And one began to say to his companions: come, let us appoint a leader over us and return to Egypt.
