Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:129
They said, "We have been harmed before you came to us and after you have come to us." He said, "Perhaps your Lord will destroy your enemy and grant you succession in the land and see how you will do."
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 words: قَالُوا أُوذِينَا مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ تَأْتِيَنَا وَمِنْ بَعْدِ مَا جِئْتَنَا قَالَ عَسَى رَبُّكُمْ أَنْ يُهْلِكَ عَدُوَّكُمْ وَيَسْتَخْلِفَكُمْ فِي الأَرْضِ فَيَنْظُرَ كَيْفَ تَعْمَلُونَ (129) ("They said: We were harmed both before you came to us and after you have come to us. He said: Perhaps your Lord will destroy your enemy and make you successors in the land, that He may then see how you will act.") (7:129)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: the people of Mūsā said to Mūsā, when he said to them اسْتَعِينُوا بِاللَّهِ وَاصْبِرُوا ("Seek help in Allah and be patient"): (أوذينا) — "we were harmed" — by the killing of our sons — (من قبل أن تأتينا) — "before you came to us" — He says: before you came to us with Allah's message to us, for Firʿawn killed their male children when the time of Mūsā drew near, as I have already explained earlier in this book of ours. And His words: (ومن بعد ما جئتنا) — "and after you have come to us" — He says: and after you came to us with Allah's message, for when Firʿawn's sorcerers were defeated and he said to the chiefs of his people what he said, he wished to renew the punishment upon them by killing their sons and sparing their women alive.
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And it has been said: the people of Mūsā said that to Mūsā when they feared that Firʿawn would overtake them while they were fleeing from him, and the two hosts came within sight of each other. They said to him: (يا موسى أوذينا من قبل أن تأتينا) — "O Mūsā, we were harmed before you came to us" — our sons were slaughtered and our women spared alive — (ومن بعد ما جئتنا) — "and after you have come to us" — today Firʿawn overtakes us and kills us. And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
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14973 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the words of Allah: (من قبل أن تأتينا) — "before you came to us" — before Allah's sending you and after it.
14974 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
14974 — Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: when the two hosts came within sight of each other and the children of Israel looked at Firʿawn who had pursued them, they said: إِنَّا لَمُدْرَكُونَ ("We shall surely be overtaken"), and they said: (أوذينا من قبل أن تأتينا) — "we were harmed before you came to us" — our sons were slaughtered and our women spared alive — (ومن بعد ما جئتنا) — "and after you have come to us" — today Firʿawn overtakes us and kills us — we shall surely be overtaken.
14975 — ʿAbd al-Karīm related to me, saying: Ibrāhīm related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, saying: Abū Saʿd related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Mūsā set out with the children of Israel until they came upon the sea. Then they turned around, and behold, there was the dust of Firʿawn's mounts. They said: "O Mūsā, we were harmed before you came to us and after you have come to us; this sea is before us and this is Firʿawn with whoever is with him!" He said: (عسى ربكم أن يهلك عدوكم ويستخلفكم في الأرض فينظر كيف تعملون) — "Perhaps your Lord will destroy your enemy and make you successors in the land, that He may then see how you will act."
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And His words: (قال عسى ربكم أن يهلك عدوكم) — "He said: Perhaps your Lord will destroy your enemy" — the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: Mūsā said to his people: perhaps your Lord will destroy your enemy: Firʿawn and his people. And (ويستخلفكم) — "and make you successors" — He says: He will make you succeed them in their land after their destruction, without your fearing them, nor anyone else among the people besides them. And (فينظر كيف تعملون) — "that He may then see how you will act" — He says: so that your Lord may see what you will do after them, whether you hasten in obedience to Him or are slack therein.
