20:52 Taa-Haa (Taa-Haa)

فقال موسى: { عِلْمُهَا عِنْدَ رَبِّي فِي كِتَابٍ لَا يَضِلُّ رَبِّي وَلَا يَنْسَى } أي: قد أحصى أعمالهم من خير وشر، وكتبه في كتاب، وهو اللوح المحفوظ، وأحاط به علما وخبرا، فلا يضل عن شيء منها، ولا ينسى ما علمه منها. ومضمون ذلك، أنهم قدموا إلى ما قدموا، ولاقوا أعمالهم، وسيجازون عليها، فلا معنى لسؤالك واستفهامك يا فرعون عنهم، فتلك أمة قد خلت، لها ما كسبت،ولكم ما كسبتم، فإن كان الدليل الذي أوردناه عليك، والآيات التي أريناكها، قد تحققت صدقها ويقينها، وهو الواقع، فانقد إلى الحق، ودع عنك الكفر والظلم، وكثرة الجدال بالباطل، وإن كنت قد شككت فيها أو رأيتها غير مستقيمة، فالطريق مفتوح وباب البحث غير مغلق، فرد الدليل بالدليل، والبرهان بالبرهان، ولن تجد لذلك سبيلا، ما دام الملوان. كيف وقد أخبر الله عنه، أنه جحدها مع استيقانها، كما قال تعالى: { وَجَحَدُوا بِهَا وَاسْتَيْقَنَتْهَا أَنْفُسُهُمْ ظُلْمًا وَعُلُوًّا } وقال موسى: { لَقَدْ عَلِمْتَ مَا أَنْزَلَ هَؤُلَاءِ إِلَّا رَبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ بَصَائِرَ } فعلم أنه ظالم في جداله، قصده العلو في الأرض.

فقال له موسى في جواب ذلك هم وإن لم يعبدوه فإن عملهم عند الله مضبوط عليهم وسيجزيهم بعملهم في كتاب الله وهو اللوح المحفوظ وكتاب الأعمار لا يضل ربي ولا ينسى أي لا يشذ عنه شيء ولا يفوته صغير ولا كبير ولا ينسى شيئا يصف علمه تعالى بأنه بكل شيء محيط وأنه لا ينسى شيئا تبارك وتعالى وتقدس وتنزه فإن علم المخلوق يعتريه نقصانين أحدهما عدم الإحاطة بالشيء والآخر نسيانه بعد علمه فنزه نفسه عن ذلك.

The Conversation between Musa and Fir`awn

Allah, the Exalted, informs about Fir`awn that he said to Musa, in his rejection of the existence of a Supreme Maker and Creator, Who is the God of everything and his own Lord and Owner:

فَمَن رَّبُّكُمَا يمُوسَى

(Who then, O Musa, is the Lord of you two) meaning "Who is the one who called you forth and sent you For verily, I do not know him and I have not given you any god other than myself."

قَالَ رَبُّنَا الَّذِى أَعْطَى كُلَّ شَىءٍ خَلْقَهُ ثُمَّ هَدَى

((Musa) said: "Our Lord is He Who gave to each thing its form and nature, then guided it aright.") `Ali bin Abi Talhah related that Ibn `Abbas said, "He is saying that He created a mate for everything." Ad-Dahhak said that Ibn `Abbas said, "He made the man a man, and the donkey a donkey and the sheep a sheep." Layth bin Abi Sulaym reported from Mujahid that he said, "He gave everything its form." Ibn Abi Najih said that Mujahid said, "He fashioned the creation of every moving creature." Sa`id bin Jubayr said concerning His statement,

أَعْطَى كُلَّ شَىءٍ خَلْقَهُ ثُمَّ هَدَى

((Who) gave to each thing its form and nature, then guided it aright.) "He gave each of His creatures what is suitable for its creation." Therefore, He did not give man the form of a wild beast, nor did He give wild beasts the form of the dog. Likewise, the dog's form is not like the sheep's. He also gave creature a suitable spouse, and He influenced everything towards that mate. There is no species of creation that is exactly like another species. They are different in their actions, their forms, their sustenance and their mating. Some of the scholars of Tafsir have said that this statement, "He gave to each thing its form and nature, then guided it aright," is similar to Allah's statement,

وَالَّذِى قَدَّرَ فَهَدَى

(And Who has measured; and then guided.) 87:3 This means He measured out an ordained amount (of sustenance, actions, etc.) and then guided His creatures to it. He wrote the deeds, the appointed times of death and the provisions. Then, the creatures traverse upon that and they are not able to avoid it, nor are they able to abandon it. In this Ayah Musa is saying that our Lord is the One Who created the creation, measured out its ordainment and compelled the creatures to that which He wanted.

قَالَ فَمَا بَالُ الْقُرُونِ الاٍّولَى

((Fir`awn) said: "What about the generations of old") The most correct opinion concerning the meaning of this, is that when Musa informed Fir`awn that his Lord Who sent him is the One Who creates, sustains, ordains and guides, Fir`awn began to argue, using the previous generations as a proof. He was referring to those people of old who did not worship Allah. In other words, "If the matter is as you say, then what happened to those people They did not worship your Lord. Instead they worshipped other gods besides Him." Musa said to him, in response to this, that if they did not worship Allah, then Allah knows precisely what happened to them and He will give them just recompense for their deeds, as is written in Allah's Book (of decrees). This Book is called Al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz (The Preserved Tablet) and it is the Book of Deeds.

لاَّ يَضِلُّ رَبِّى وَلاَ يَنسَى

(My Lord neither errs nor forgets.) This means that nothing eludes Him and He does not miss anything, whether it is small or great. He does not forget anything and His Most Exalted knowledge is described as encompassing everything. Blessed be He, the Exalted, the Most Holy and free of any imperfections. The knowledge that creatures have has two deficiencies. The first is that it does not completely encompass anything, and the second is that the creature is prone to forget after knowing. Therefore, Allah has declared Himself above such deficiencies.

Said he Moses ‘The knowledge thereof that is the knowledge of their otherworldly status is preserved with my Lord in a Book namely the Preserved Tablet al-lawh al-mahfūz and He shall requite them in accordance with it on the Day of Resurrection. My Lord does not err He is never absent from anything nor does He my Lord forget anything.

Commentary

Verse 51 tells us that the Pharaoh had asked the question regarding the end of earlier people. If Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) had given a straightforward answer that they were misled and will go to Jahannam, then the Pharaoh would have got a chance to scorn that it was not just him whom Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) was blaming but all their ancestors as well. Naturally such a situation would have created doubts in the minds of people. Therefore Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) gave such an answer which was full of wisdom and did not give any chance to the Pharaoh for misleading the people. He said (as mentioned in verse 52) that only Allah knows their end. He never makes a mistake nor does He forget things. The words "My Lord does neither err" mean that it is inconceivable that Allah wills one thing and something different should happen.