Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:130
And We certainly seized the people of Pharaoh with years of famine and a deficiency in fruits that perhaps they would be reminded.
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 explanation of the words of Allah: وَلَقَدْ أَخَذْنَا آلَ فِرْعَوْنَ بِالسِّنِينَ وَنَقْصٍ مِنَ الثَّمَرَاتِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَذَّكَّرُونَ (7:130) (And indeed, We seized the people of Firʿawn with years of drought and with a shortage of fruits, that perhaps they might take heed.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His mention, says: And indeed, We tried the people of Firʿawn and his followers for the misguidance they committed = "with years of drought (bi-l-sinīn)," He says: with barrenness year after year, and the famines.
* * *
Of this it is said: "the people suffered drought (asnata al-qawm)," when they are struck by scarcity.
* * *
("and with a shortage of fruits"), He says: and We tried them, besides the scarcity, with the disappearance of their fruits and their crops, except for a little = ("that perhaps they might take heed"), He says: as an admonition for them and a reminder for them, that perhaps they might restrain themselves from their misguidance and turn to their Lord in repentance. And in agreement with what we have said about that, the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
14976 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ādam related to us, on the authority of Sharīk, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū ʿUbayda, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh: ("and indeed, We seized the people of Firʿawn with years of drought"), he said: the years of hunger.
14977 - 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: ("with years of drought"), the calamity = ("and with a shortage of fruits"), less than that.
14978 - 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.
14979 - Al-Qāsim ibn Dīnār related to me, saying: ʿUbaydallāh ibn Mūsā related to us, on the authority of Shaybān, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Rajāʾ ibn Ḥaywa, concerning his words: ("and with a shortage of fruits"), he said: when the palm tree bears only a single date.
14980 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to me, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Rajāʾ ibn Ḥaywa, on the authority of Kaʿb, he said: There will come upon the people a time in which the palm tree bears only a single fruit.
14981 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥimmānī related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Rajāʾ ibn Ḥaywa: ("and with a shortage of fruits"), he said: there will come upon the people a time in which the palm tree bears only a single fruit.
14982 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, his words: ("and indeed, We seized the people of Firʿawn with years of drought"), Allah seized them with the years of drought, with hunger, year after year = ("and with a shortage of fruits"), now as for "the years of drought (al-sinīn)," that was among their desert-dwellers and the people of their livestock = and as for "the shortage of fruits," that was in their cities and their villages.
