7:131 Al-A'raaf (The Heights)

فَإِذَا جَاءَتْهُمُ الْحَسَنَةُ أي: الخصب وإدرار الرزق قَالُوا لَنَا هَذِهِ أي: نحن مستحقون لها، فلم يشكروا اللّه عليها وَإِنْ تُصِبْهُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ أي: قحط وجدب يَطَّيَّرُوا بِمُوسَى وَمَنْ مَعَهُ أي: يقولوا: إنما جاءنا بسبب مجيء موسى، واتباع بني إسرائيل له. قال اللّه تعالى: أَلا إِنَّمَا طَائِرُهُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أي: بقضائه وقدرته، ليس كما قالوا، بل إن ذنوبهم وكفرهم هو السبب في ذلك، بل أَكْثَرَهُمْ لا يَعْلَمُونَ أي: فلذلك قالوا ما قالوا.

"فإذا جاءتهم الحسنة" أي من الخصب والرزق "قالوا لنا هذه" أي هذا لنا بما نستحقه "وإن تصبهم سيئة" أي جدب وقحط "يطيروا بموسى ومن معه" أي هذا بسببهم وما جاءوا به "ألا إنما طائرهم عند الله" قال علي بن أبي طلحة عن ابن عباس "ألا إنما طائرهم عند الله" يقول مصائبهم عند الله "ولكن أكثرهم لا يعلمون" وقال ابن جريج عن ابن عباس قال "ألا إنما طائرهم عند الله" أي من قبل الله.

Fir`awn and His People suffer Years of Drought

Allah said,

وَلَقَدْ أَخَذْنَآ ءالَ فِرْعَوْنَ

(And indeed We punished the people of Fir`awn) We tested and tried them,

بِالسِّنِينَ

(with years of drought) of famine due to little produce,

وَنَقْصٍ مِّن الثَّمَرَاتِ

(and lack of fruits), which is less severe, according to Mujahid. Abu Ishaq narrated that Raja' bin Haywah said, "The date tree used to produce only one date!"

لَعَلَّهُمْ يَذَّكَّرُونَفَإِذَا جَآءَتْهُمُ الْحَسَنَةُ

(That they might remember (take heed). But whenever good came to them) such as a fertile season and provisions,

قَالُواْ لَنَا هَـذِهِ

(they said, "This is for us."), because we deserve it,

وَإِن تُصِبْهُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ

(and if evil afflicted them) drought and famine,

يَطَّيَّرُواْ بِمُوسَى وَمَن مَّعَهُ

(they considered it an omen Musa and those with him. ) saying that this hardship is because of them and what they have done.

أَلاَ إِنَّمَا طَائِرُهُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ

(Verily, their omens are with Allah) `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas commented on the Ayah,

أَلاَ إِنَّمَا طَائِرُهُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ

(Verily, their omens are with Allah) "Allah says that their afflictions are with and from Him,

وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ

(but most of them know not.)"

But whenever a good thing such as fertility and abundance befell them they said ‘This belongs to us’ that is we deserve it and they did not give thanks for it; and whenever an evil thing such as drought or hardship smote them they would augur ill of Moses and those believers with him. Surely their ill augury is with God Who brings it upon them but most of them do not know that whatever befalls them is from Him.

When a people are stamped with the wrath of Allah they lose their faculty of distin-guishing right from wrong. Pharaoh and his people too, had lost their understanding. They did not take lesson from this warning. On the contrary, they ascribed the calamity to be a bad presage from the prophet Musa (علیہ السلام) and his people. The verse said, 'So when something good came to them they said, 'This is our right.' And if they suffered from something evil, they ascribed it as an ill omen to Musa (علیہ السلام) and those with him. Listen, their omen lies with Allah only, but most of them do not know."

The Arabic word: طَائِرٍ‌ 'T-a'ir' used for omen signifies a bird. The Arabs had a superstition that a bird coming down to their right or left meant a good or bad fate. The verse implies that good or bad fate comes from Allah. Everything in this world happens under the will of Allah. No one is there to bring good or bad fate to anyone. It is sheer ignorance to believe in such things and base their activities on such baseless assumptions. The last verse describes their rejection of the truth in these words: