Tafseer of The Dawn · Al-Fajr · 89:10
And [with] Pharaoh, owner of the stakes? -
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.
His saying: wa-Firʿawna dhī l-awtād (and Pharaoh, the lord of the stakes). He, exalted is His praise, says: Have you not seen how your Lord likewise dealt with Pharaoh, the lord of the stakes (al-awtād)?
The scholars of exegesis differed concerning the meaning of His saying: dhī l-awtād (the lord of the stakes), and why this was said about him. Some said: its meaning is: the lord of the armies that strengthen his might for him. They said: by al-awtād (the stakes) the armies are meant here.
Mention of who said this:
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: wa-Firʿawna dhī l-awtād (and Pharaoh, the lord of the stakes), he said: al-awtād, those are the armies that make his might firm for him. And it is said: Pharaoh would drive stakes of iron into their hands and their feet, by which he would hang them up.
Others said: this was said about him because he would pin people down with stakes.
Mention of who said this:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us, both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, his saying: dhī l-awtād (the lord of the stakes), he said: he would pin people down with the stakes.
Others said: they were canopies and playgrounds beneath which people would play before him.
Mention of who said this:
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: wa-Firʿawna dhī l-awtād (and Pharaoh, the lord of the stakes) — we were told that they were canopies and playgrounds beneath which people would play before him, with stakes and ropes.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: dhī l-awtād (the lord of the stakes), he said: the lord of the edifice; they were canopies beneath which people would play before him, and stakes that were driven in for him.
He said: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Thābit al-Bunānī, on the authority of Abū Rāfiʿ, he said: Pharaoh drove four stakes for his wife, then he laid upon her back an enormous millstone until she died.
Others said: it was rather because he would torture people with the stakes.
Mention of who said this:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of Maḥmūd, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: wa-Firʿawna dhī l-awtād (and Pharaoh, the lord of the stakes), he said: he would place a leg here and a leg there, and a hand here and a hand there, with the stakes.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us, both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, his saying: dhī l-awtād (the lord of the stakes), he said: he would pin people down with the stakes.
Others said: it was said thus only because he had an edifice upon which he would torture people.
Mention of who said this:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: wa-Firʿawna dhī l-awtād (and Pharaoh, the lord of the stakes), he said: he had towers upon which he would torture them.
The correct of these statements, in my opinion, is the statement of the one who said: thereby are meant the stakes that are driven in, whether they were of wood or of iron, for that is the well-known meaning of al-awtād. And he was described thereby because either he would torture people with them, as Abū Rāfiʿ and Saʿīd ibn Jubayr said, or because people would play with them before him.
