Tafsir of Surah Ash-Shu'ara' - Verse 59

The Exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt

After Musa stayed in Egypt for a long time, and the proof of Allah was established against Fir`awn and his chiefs, yet they were still arrogant and stubborn, then there was nothing left for them but punishment and vengeance. So Allah commanded Musa, peace be upon him, to take the Children of Israel out of Egypt by night, and take them wherever he would be commanded. So Musa, peace be upon him, did as he was commanded by his Lord, may He be glorified, and he led them forth after they had borrowed an abundance of jewelry from the people of Fir`awn. As more than one of the scholars of Tafsir have said, they left when the moon was rising, and Mujahid, may Allah have mercy on him, said that the moon was eclipsed that night. And Allah knows best. Musa asked about the grave of Yusuf (Prophet Joseph), peace be upon him, and an old woman from among the Children of Israel showed him where it was, so he took the remains with them, and it was said that they were among the things that were carried by Musa himself, may peace be upon them both. It was also said that Yusuf, peace be upon him, had left instructions in his will that if the Children of Israel ever left Egypt, they should take his remains with them. The following morning, when there was nobody to be found in the Israelite quarters, Fir`awn became angry and his anger intensified since Allah had decreed that he was to be destroyed. So he quickly sent his callers to all his cities, i.e., to mobilize his troops and bring them together, and he called out to them:

إِنَّ هَـؤُلآءِ

(Verily, these) meaning, the Children of Israel,

لَشِرْذِمَةٌ قَلِيلُونَ

(indeed are but a small band. ) meaning, a small group.

وَإِنَّهُمْ لَنَا لَغَآئِظُونَ

(And verily, they have done what has enraged us.) means, `every time we have heard anything about them, it has upset us and made us angry.'

وَإِنَّا لَجَمِيعٌ حَـذِرُونَ

(But we are a host all assembled, amply forewarned.) means, `we are constantly taking precautions lest they betray us.' Some of the Salaf read this with the meaning, "we are constantly forewarned and forearmed. And I want to destroy them to the last man, and destroy all their lands and property." So he and his troops were punished with the very things he sought to inflict upon the Children of Israel. Allah says:

فَأَخْرَجْنَـهُمْ مِّن جَنَّـتٍ وَعُيُونٍ - وَكُنُوزٍ وَمَقَامٍ كَرِيمٍ

(So, We expelled them from gardens and springs, treasures, and every kind of honorable place.) meaning, they were thrown out of those blessings and into Hell, and they left behind the honorable places, gardens and rivers, wealth, provision, position and power in this world:

كَذَلِكَ وَأَوْرَثْنَـهَا بَنِى إِسْرَءِيلَ

(Thus and We caused the Children of Israel to inherit them.) This is like the Ayat:

وَأَوْرَثْنَا الْقَوْمَ الَّذِينَ كَانُواْ يُسْتَضْعَفُونَ مَشَـرِقَ الاٌّرْضِ وَمَغَـرِبَهَا الَّتِى بَارَكْنَا فِيهَا

(And We made the people who were considered weak to inherit the eastern parts of the land and the western parts thereof which We have blessed) (7: 137).

وَنُرِيدُ أَن نَّمُنَّ عَلَى الَّذِينَ اسْتُضْعِفُواْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ وَنَجْعَلَهُمْ أَئِمَّةً وَنَجْعَلَهُمُ الْوَارِثِينَ

(And We wished to do a favor to those who were weak in the land, and to make them rulers and to make them the inheritors) The two Ayat thereafter: 28:5-6.

Commentary

وَأَوْرَ‌ثْنَاهَا بَنِي إِسْرَ‌ائِيلَ

And We made the children of Isra it inherit all these. [ 59]

Apparently it is elucidated in this verse that Bani Isra'il were made the owners of all the material wealth and property left by the people of the Pharaoh after their drowning. But there is a historical issue involved in this statement. The issue is that many Qur'anic verses indicate the Bani Isra'il did not return to Egypt after the drowning of the Pharaoh's people. As a matter of fact they went back towards their original home, the holy land of Syria. There they were commanded to fight (wage jihad) with an infidel nation in order to enter their city. Bani Isra'il refused to comply with this command, as a punishment of which the open plain where they were camping was made a natural prison for them. They could not come out of that plain and spent forty years over there. It was in that place, which is also known as a valley of Tit (Sinai), where their two prophets, Sayyidna Musa and Harun (علیہما السلام) ، died. Even after these incidents it is not reported in the books of history that Bani Isra'il as a nation or in collective form had entered Egypt, which might prove that they had taken possession of the wealth and property of the Pharaoh's people. Tafsir Ruh ul-Ma` ani has reproduced two explanations on the authority of eminent commentators, Sayyidna Hasan and Qatadah ؓ . Sayyidna Hasan ؓ has explained that the verse in question does have a mention that Bani Isra'il were made the heirs of the property of the Pharaoh's people, but it does not say that this had happened immediately after the death of the Pharaoh. If the Bani Isra'il entered Egypt some forty or fifty years after the incident of the valley of Tih, there is no inconsistency in the verse. As for the argument that their collective entry into Egypt is not proved historically, it is not worth taking any notice, because the history of that period was written by Jews and Christians and is full of distortions. There is absolutely no need for interpreting the Qur'anic verse differently for bringing it in line with the history, whose authenticity itself is questionable.

Sayyidna Qatadah ؓ has explained the situation in another way. He says that although all the Qur'anic verses which have quoted this incident, for instance, verses 128 and 137 of Surah Al-A` raf, 5 of Surah Al-Qassas, 25 to 28 of Surah Ad-Dukhan, and the verse under reference of Surah Ash-Shu'ara', invite the attention to the point that Bani Isra'il were given the custody of that very wealth and property which the people of the Pharaoh had left in Egypt, for which it was necessary for the Bani Isra'il to return to Egypt to take possession. But all these verses can be interpreted to mean that Bani Isra'il were given the wealth and property equal and similar to that which was possessed by the Pharaoh's people. For this it was not necessary that the same lands and wealth of Egypt are given to Bani Isra'il. These bounties might have been granted in Syria. This interpretation is more likely in the verse of Surah Al-A` raf where the land possessed by Bani Isra'il is referred to by the words, الَّتِي بَارَ‌كْنَا فِيهَا (i.e. the land blessed by Us) because the word Barakna is used for the land of Syria in many verses of the Qur'an. Therefore, Sayyidna Qatadah ؓ has opined that it is not correct to attribute Qur'anic verses toward something which is in conflict with the history. The gist of the whole explanation is that if it is established through proved facts that Bani Isra'il did not occupy the land of Egypt at any time after the death of the Pharaoh, then according to explanation of Sayyidna Qatadah ؓ the land of Syria is purported for the wealth and property which was granted to Bani Isra'il. (Only God knows best)

In spite of the years spent by Moses in spreading the word of God, Pharaoh did not embrace the Faith. At last when Moses had striven his utmost to convey the divine message to Pharaoh, Almighty God instructed Moses to leave Egypt along with the Children of Israel. When Pharaoh came to know that all of the Children of Israel had left Egypt, he pursued them along with his army and courtiers. Obviously, this step taken by Pharaoh was meant to rout the Children of Israel, but as it turned out, it rebounded upon him. Unaware of their impending fate, Pharaoh and his companions left their palatial dwellings and reached the place where they were all destined to be drowned together in the sea. Almighty God deprived Pharaoh and his companions of the royal amenities they had enjoyed in Egypt, because of their oppressive actions. But He blessed the pious people of the Children of Israel by eventually taking them to Palestine and, there, granting them all kinds of favours.