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Sura Al-Qasas
(The Narratives)

No. 28, (Revealed at Mecca)
88 verses in 9 Sections

Section 1

The Narrative of Moses

The Qur’ān contains verses of the Book Manifest – What Pharaoh had done with the
Children of Israel – Allah’s will to raise Imams (i.e., Guides in faith) from among those
weakened in the earth by the disbelievers – How Moses as a baby was taken special
care of, by Allah’s Plan

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

﴿1﴾ طسم

﴿2﴾ تِلْكَ ءَايَاتُ الْكِتَابِ الْمُبِينِ

﴿3﴾ نَتْلُواْ عَلَيْكَ مِن نَبَإِ مُوسَي وَفِرْعَوْنَ بِالْحَقّ‌ِ لِقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ

1. “ Tā. Sīn. Mīm.”

2. “ There are verses of the Book (that makes the truth) clear.”

3. “ We recite to you some of the story of Moses and Pharaoh in truth, for a people who believe.”

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Commentary:

The Qur’ān, the eternal miracle of Islam, has been formed of these very Arabic letters. If you think that it is the word of a human, you may bring the like of it, too.

This is the fourteenth Sura of the Qur’ān which begins with ‘the abbreviated letter’, and the form Tā. Sīn. Mīm., in particular, is for the third and the last time that has been mentioned in the Qur’ān.

As we have cited repeatedly, the Abbreviated letters of the Qur’ān have different interpretations which we have referred to at the beginning of Suras of Al-Baqarah, ’Āl-i-‘Imrān, and Al-’A‘rāf.

Moreover, there are a lot of traditions which indicate that the letters Tā. Sīn. Mīm., in the Qur’ān are some abbreviation signs of the attributes of Allah or sacred places, but this does not hinder the famous commentary, which we have repeatedly emphasized on, that Allah desires to make clear this fact to all that this great Heavenly Book which is the source of a great revolution in the history of man and contains the complete program of the happy life of humankind, has been formed of a simple means such as alphabetical letters which everybody can pronounce. This is the ultimate greatness of the Qur’ān that it produces such an extraordinary important product from such simple materials which every body possesses.

Perhaps this is for the same reason that immediately, after these abbreviated letters, it refers to the greatness of the Qur’ān and implies that these great verses are the verses of the Book manifest, the Book which is clear itself and makes clear the man’s way of happiness both. It says:

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The Qur’ānic phrase /kitābun mubīn/ has been rendered to ‘Protected Tablet’ in some verses of the Qur’ān, like Sura Yūnus, No. 10, verse 61 where it says: “… not anything lesser than that or greater but are (recorded) in a Clear Book.”, and Sura Hūd, No. 11, verse 6 where it says: “… All is (recorded) in a Clear Book”, but in the verse under discussion, with the frame reference of mentioning /’āyāt/ (verses) and the phrase /natlū ‘alayka/ (We recite to you) mentioned in the next verse, it means ‘Qur’ān’.

Here the word Qur’ān has been qualified by /mubīn/ (clear), and the Arabic word /mubīn/, as understood from lexicon, is used both in the senses of ‘transitive’ and ‘intransitive’ case, viz. it means something which is ‘clear’ and ‘makes clear’. So, the Holy Qur’ān, with its clear content, makes clear the Truth from untruth, and the true way from false way.

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After mentioning this short proposition, referred to in the above, in the next verse the Qur’ān points to the life story of Moses and Pharaoh where it says:

The application of the word /min/, here, points to this fact that whatever is mentioned here is a part of the concerning adventurous story the statement of which has been appropriate and necessary.

And the application of /bil haqq/ in the verse points to this fact that whatever has been mentioned here is free from any superstition, old fables, and false matters; and it is a recitation

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with truth and exact reality. The application of the phrase /liqaumin yu’minūn/ (for a people who believe) is an emphasis on this fact that those believers who were under pressure at that time in Mecca, and the like of them, should reach to this fact, by hearing this story, that how abundant the enemy’s power, number of persons, and their forces is, and how the number of believers is apparently little and they are under pressure, the power of Allah is above all and they must not feel weakness in themselves.

The Lord Who caused Moses to be brought up in the bosom of Pharaoh to destroy him; the Lord Who made the oppressed slaves as the governors on the earth, and made the cruel oppressors abject, mean, and annihilated; the Lord Who protected a little baby in the rushing waves of water, and buried thousands of thousand strong people of Pharaoh inside the sea, is able to save you, too.

Yes, the main target of these verses is believers, and this recitation has been accomplished for them. They are the believers who can be respired by it and find their way to the aim among the mass of difficulties.

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