28:34 Al-Qasas (The Stories)

} وَأَخِي هَارُونُ هُوَ أَفْصَحُ مِنِّي لِسَانًا فَأَرْسِلْهُ مَعِي رِدْءًا } أي: معاونا ومساعدا { يُصَدِّقُنِي } فإنه مع تضافر الأخبار يقوى الحق

"وأخي هارون هو أفصح مني لسانا" وذلك أن موسى عليه السلام كان في لسانه لثغة بسبب ما كان تناول تلك الجمرة حين خير بينها وبين التمرة أو الدرة فأخذ الجمرة فوضعها على لسانه فحصل فيه شدة في التعبير ولهذا قال: "واحلل عقدة من لساني يفقهوا قولي واجعل لي وزيرا من أهلي هارون أخي اشدد به أزري وأشركه في أمري" أي يؤنسني فيما أمرتني به من هذا المقام العظيم وهو القيام بأعباء النبوة والرسالة إلى هذا الملك المتكبر الجبار العنيد ولهذا قال: "وأخي هارون هو أفصح مني لسانا فأرسله معي ردءا" أي وزيرا ومعينا ومقويا لأمري يصدقني فيما أقوله وأخبر به عن الله عز وجل لأن خبر الاثنين أنجع في النفوس من خبر الواحد ولهذا قال: "إني أخاف أن يكذبون" وقال محمد بن إسحاق "ردءا يصدقني" أي يبين لهم عني ما أكلمهم به فإنه يفهم عني ما لا يفهمون.

How Musa asked for the Support of His Brother and was granted that by Allah

When Allah commanded him to go to Fir`awn, the one who he had run away from and whose vengeance he feared,

قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّى قَتَلْتُ مِنْهُمْ نَفْساً

( Musa said: My Lord! I have killed a man among them,) meaning, that Coptic,

فَأَخَافُ أَن يَقْتُلُونِ

(and I fear that they will kill me.) i.e., `when they see me.'

وَأَخِى هَـرُونُ هُوَ أَفْصَحُ مِنِّى لِسَاناً

(And my brother Harun -- he is more eloquent in speech than me,) Musa, peace be upon him, had a speech defect, because when he had been given the choice between a date and a pearl, he mistakenly picked up a coal and placed it on his tongue, so he found it difficult to speak clearly. Musa said:

وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِّن لِّسَانِى - يَفْقَهُواْ قَوْلِي - وَاجْعَل لِّى وَزِيراً مِّنْ أَهْلِى - هَـرُونَ أَخِى - اشْدُدْ بِهِ أَزْرِى - وَأَشْرِكْهُ فِى أَمْرِى

("And loose the knot (the defect) from my tongue. That they understand my speech. And appoint for me a helper from my family, Harun, my brother. Increase my strength with him, And let him share my task.") (20:27-32) meaning, `give me someone to keep me company in this immense task of prophethood and conveying the Message to this arrogant, tyrannical and stubborn king. ' Hence Musa said:

وَأَخِى هَـرُونُ هُوَ أَفْصَحُ مِنِّى لِسَاناً فَأَرْسِلْهِ مَعِىَ رِدْءاً

(And my brother Harun -- he is more eloquent in speech than me: so send him with me as a helper) meaning, as a support to give strength to my cause and confirm what I say and convey from Allah, because the word of two carries more weight in people's minds than the word of one. So he said:

إِنِّى أَخَافُ أَن يُكَذِّبُونِ

(Verily, I fear that they will deny me.) Muhammad bin Ishaq said: c

رِدْءاً يُصَدِّقُنِى

(as a helper to confirm me.) means, `to explain to them what I say, for he can understand me where they may not.' When Musa asked for this, Allah said to him:

سَنَشُدُّ عَضُدَكَ بِأَخِيكَ

(We will strengthen your arm through your brother,) meaning, `We will add strength to your cause and give you help through your brother, who you have asked to be made a Prophet alongside you.' This is like the Ayat;

قَدْ أُوتِيتَ سُؤْلَكَ يمُوسَى

(You are granted your request, O Musa!) (20:36)

وَوَهَبْنَا لَهُ مِن رَّحْمَتِنَآ أَخَاهُ هَـرُونَ نَبِيّاً

(And We granted him his brother Harun, (also) a Prophet, out of Our mercy) (19:53). One of the Salaf said, "There is no one who has ever done a greater favor to his brother than Musa did for Harun, may peace be upon them both, for he interceded for him until Allah made him a Prophet and Messenger with him to Fir`awn and his chiefs. Allah said concerning Musa:

وَكَانَ عِندَ اللَّهِ وَجِيهاً

(he was honorable before Allah) (33:69).

وَنَجْعَلُ لَكُمَا سُلْطَـناً

(and (We will) give you both power) means, overwhelming evidence.

فَلاَ يَصِلُونَ إِلَيْكُمَا بِـْايَـتِنَآ

(so they shall not be able to harm you, with Our Ayat;) means, `they will have no way or means of harming you because you are conveying the signs of Allah.' This is like the Ayat:

يَـأَيُّهَا الرَّسُولُ بَلِّغْ مَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِن رَّبِّكَ

(O Messenger! Proclaim (the Message) which has been sent down to you from your Lord.) until His saying:

وَاللَّهُ يَعْصِمُكَ مِنَ النَّاسِ

(Allah will protect you from mankind) (5:67).

الَّذِينَ يُبَلِّغُونَ رِسَالـتِ اللَّهِ

(Those who convey the Message of Allah) until His saying:

وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ حَسِيباً

(And sufficient is Allah as a Reckoner) (33:39). And sufficient is Allah as a Helper and Supporter. And Allah told them the consequences in this world and the next, for them and for those who followed them,

أَنتُمَا وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَكُمَا الْغَـلِبُونَ

(you two as well as those who follow you will be the victors.) This is like the Ayat:

كَتَبَ اللَّهُ لاّغْلِبَنَّ أَنَاْ وَرُسُلِى إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَوِىٌّ عَزِيزٌ

(Allah has decreed: "Verily, it is I and My Messengers who shall be the victorious." Verily, Allah is All-Powerful, All-Mighty.) (58:21)

إِنَّا لَنَنصُرُ رُسُلَنَا وَالَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ فِى الْحَيَوةِ الدُّنْيَا

(Verily, We will indeed make victorious Our Messengers and those who believe in this world's life) (40:51) to the end of the Ayah.

And my brother Aaron is more eloquent more intelligible than me in speech. So send him with me as a helper as an aid a variant reading for rid’an ‘helper’ is ridan to confirm me read either in apocopated form yusadiqnī as a response to the request or as an indicative with damma inflection yusadiqunī as an adjectival qualification of rid’an ‘helper’ for I truly fear that they will deny me’.

A sermon should have high degree of eloquence

هُوَ أَفْصَحُ مِنِّي لِسَانًا (He is more fluent in his tongue - 28:34). This verse points out that a high degree of oratory and eloquence is desirable for sermons and preaching, and there is no harm if one takes training in that.