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مسند أبي يعلى الموصلي
Musnad Abi Ya'la al-Mawsili
أول مسند ابن عباس
Beginning of the Musnad of Ibn Abbas
أَوَّلُ مُسْنَدِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ
Beginning of the Musnad of Ibn Abbas
Musnad Abi Ya'la 2618 — And We tried you with a thorough trial (futun)
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو خَيْثَمَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا يَزِيدُ بْنُ هَارُونَ، حَدَّثَنَا أَصْبَغُ بْنُ زَيْدٍ الْجُهَنِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا الْقَاسِمُ بْنُ أَبِي أَيُّوبَ، حَدَّثَنَا سَعِيدُ بْنُ جُبَيْرٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ، فِي قَوْلِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى: {وَفَتَنَّاكَ فُتُونًا} [طه: 40] سَأَلْتُهُ عَنِ الْفُتُونِ مَا هُوَ؟ قَالَ: اسْتَأْنِفِ النَّهَارَ يَا ابْنَ جُبَيْرٍ فَإِنَّ لَهَا حَدِيثًا طَوِيلًا، فَلَمَّا أَصْبَحْتُ غَدَوْتُ إِلَى ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ لِأَنْتَجِزَ مِنْهُ ما وعدني مِنْ حَدِيثِ الْفُتُونِ، فَقَالَ: تَذَاكَرَ فِرْعَوْنُ وَجُلَسَاؤُهُ مَا كَانَ اللَّهُ وَعَدَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ مِنْ أَنْ يَجْعَلَ فِي ذُرِّيَّتِهِ أَنْبِيَاءَ وَمُلُوكًا، فَقَالَ بَعْضُهُمْ: إِنَّ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ لَيَنْتَظِرُونَ ذَلِكَ مَا يَشُكُّونَ فِيهِ، وَقَدْ كَانُوا يَظُنُّونَ أَنَّهُ يُوسُفُ بْنُ يَعْقُوبَ، فَلَمَّا هَلَكَ قَالُوا: لَيْسَ كَذَلِكَ، إِنَّ اللَّهَ عز وجل وَعَدَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، قَالَ فِرْعَوْنُ: فَكَيْفَ تَرَوْنَهُ؟ فَأْتَمَرُوا وَأَجْمَعُوا أَمْرَهُمْ عَلَى أَنْ يَبْعَثَ رِجَالًا مَعَهُمُ الشِّفَارُ يَطُوفُونَ فِي بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ، فَلَا يَجِدُونَ مَوْلُودًا ذَكَرًا إِلَّا ذَبَحُوهُ، فَفَعَلُوا ذَلِكَ، فَلَمَّا رَأَوْا أَنَّ الْكِبَارَ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ يَمُوتُونَ بِآجَالِهِمْ، وَالصَّغَارَ يُذْبَحُونَ، قَالُوا: يُوشِكُ أَنْ تُفْنُوا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ، فَتَصِيرُونَ إِلَى أَنْ تُبَاشِرُوا مِنَ الْأَعْمَالِ الَّتِي كَانُوا يَكْفُونَكُمْ، فَاقْتُلُوا عَامًا كُلَّ مَوْلُودٍ ذَكَرٍ، فَيَقِلَّ نَبَاتُهُمْ، وَدَعُوا عَامًا فَلَا يُقْتَلُ مِنْهُمْ أَحَدٌ، فَيَنْشَأُ الصِّغَارُ مَكَانَ مَنْ يَمُوتُ مِنَ الْكِبَارِ، فَإِنَّهُمْ لَنْ يَكْثُرُوا بِمَنْ تَسْتَحْيُونَ مِنْهُمْ فَتَخَافُوا مُكَاثَرَتَهُمْ إِيَّاكُمْ، وَلَنْ يُفْنَوْا بِمَنْ تَقْتُلُونَ فَتَحْتَاجُونَ إِلَى ذَلِكَ، فَأَجْمِعُوا أَمْرَهُمْ عَلَى ذَلِكَ فَحَمَلَتْ أُمُّ مُوسَى بِهَارُونَ فِي الْعَامِ الَّذِي لَا يُذْبَحُ فِيهِ الْغِلْمَانُ، فَوَلَدَتْهُ عَلَانِيَةً آمِنَةً، فَلَمَّا كَانَ مِنْ قَابِلٍ حَمَلَتْ بِمُوسَى فَوَقَعَ فِي قَلْبِهَا الْهَمُّ وَالْحُزْنُ - وَذَلِكَ مِنَ الْفُتُونِ يَا ابْنَ جُبَيْرٍ - مَا دَخَلَ مِنْهُ فِي قَلْبِ أُمِّهِ مِمَّا يُرَادُ بِهِ، فَأَوْحَى اللَّهُ تبارك وتعالى إِلَيْهَا {وَلَا تَخَافِي وَلَا تَحْزَنِي إِنَّا رَادُّوهُ إِلَيْكِ وَجَاعِلُوهُ مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ} [القصص: 7] وَأَمَرَهُمْ إِذَا وَلَدَتْ أَنْ تَجْعَلَهُ فِي تَابُوتٍ، ثُمَّ تُلْقِيهِ فِي الْيَمِّ، فَلَمَّا وَلَدَتْ فَعَلَتْ ذَلِكَ بِهِ، فَلَمَّا تَوَارَى عَنْهَا ابْنُهَا أَتَاهَا الشَّيْطَانُ، فَقَالَتْ فِي نَفْسِهَا: مَا صَنَعْتُ بِابْنٍ، لَوْ ذُبِحَ عِنْدِي فَوَارَيْتُهُ وَكَفَّنْتُهُ كَانَ أَحَبَّ إِلَيَّ مِنْ أَنْ أُلْقِيَهُ بِيَدِي إِلَى زَفَرَاتِ الْبَحْرِ وَحِيتَانِهِ، فَانْتَهَى الْمَاءُ بِهِ حَتَّى انْتَهَى بِهِ فُرْضَةَ مُسْتَقَى جَوَارِي امْرَأَةِ فِرْعَوْنَ، فَلَمَّا رَأَيْنَهُ أَخَذْنَهُ، فَهَمَمْنَ أَنْ يَفْتَحْنَ التَّابُوتَ، فَقَالَ بَعْضُهُنَّ: إِنَّ فِي هَذَا مَالًا وَإِنَّا إِنْ فَتَحْنَاهُ لَمْ تَصَدِّقْنَا امْرَأَةُ الْمَلَكِ بِمَا وَجَدْنَا فِيهِ، فَحَمَلْنَهُ بِهَيْئَتِهِ لَمْ يُحَرِّكْنَ مِنْهَا شَيْئًا حَتَّى دَفَعْنَهُ إِلَيْهَا، فَلَمَّا فَتَحَتْهُ رَأَتْ فِيهِ غُلَامًا فَأُلْقِيَ عَلَيْهِ مِنْهَا مَحَبَّةٌ لَمْ تَجِدْ مِثْلَهَا عَلَى أَحَدٍ مِنَ الْبَشَرِ قَطُّ، فَأَصْبَحَ فُؤَادُ أُمِّ مُوسَى فَارِغًا مِنْ ذِكْرِ كل شَيْءٍ إِلَّا مِنْ ذِكْرِ مُوسَى فَلَمَّا سَمِعَ الذَّبَّاحُونَ بِأَمْرِهِ أَقْبَلُوا بِشِفَارِهِمْ إِلَى امْرَأَةِ فِرْعَوْنَ لِيَذْبَحُوهُ - وَذَلِكَ مِنَ الْفُتُونِ يَا ابْنَ جُبَيْرٍ - فَقَالَتْ لَهُمُ: اتْرُكُوهُ، فَإِنَّ هَذَا الْوَاحِدَ لَا يَزِيدُ فِي بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ حَتَّى آتِيَ فِرْعَوْنَ فَأَسْتَوْهِبَهُ مِنْهُ، فَإِنْ وَهَبَهُ لِي كُنْتُمْ قَدْ أَحْسَنْتُمْ وَأَجْمَلْتُمْ، وَإِنْ أَمَرَ بِذَبْحِهِ لَمْ أَلُمْكُمْ، فَأَتَتْ بِهِ فِرْعَوْنَ، فَقَالَتْ: قُرَّةُ عَيْنٍ لِي وَلَكَ، قَالَ فِرْعَوْنُ: يَكُونُ لَكِ، فَأَمَّا لِي فَلَا حَاجَةَ لِي فِي ذَلِكَ، قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم: «وَالَّذِي أَحْلِفُ بِهِ، لَوْ أَقَرَّ فِرْعَوْنُ بِأَنْ يَكُونَ لَهُ قُرَّةَ عَيْنٍ كَمَا أَقَرَّتِ امْرَأَتُهُ لَهَدَاهُ اللَّهُ بِهِ كَمَا هَدَى امْرَأَتَهُ، وَلَكِنْ حَرَمَهُ ذَلِكَ» فَأَرْسَلَتْ إِلَى مَنْ حَوْلَهَا مِنْ كُلِّ امْرَأَةٍ لَهَا لَبَنٌ لِتَخْتَارَ لَهُ ظِئْرًا، فَجَعَلَ كُلَّمَا أَخَذَتْهُ امْرَأَةٌ مِنْهُنَّ لِتُرْضِعَهُ لَمْ يَقْبَلْ ثَدْيَهَا حَتَّى أَشْفَقَتْ عَلَيْهِ امْرَأَةُ فِرْعَوْنَ أَنْ يَمْتَنِعَ مِنَ اللَّبَنِ فَيَمُوتَ، فَأَحْزَنَهَا ذَلِكَ ، فَأُخْرِجَ إِلَى السُّوقِ وَمَجْمَعِ النَّاسِ تَرْجُو أَنْ تَجِدَ لَهُ ظِئْرًا يَأْخُذُ مِنْهَا فَلَمْ يَقْبَلْ، فَأَصْبَحَتْ أُمُّ مُوسَى وَالِهَةً، فَقَالَتْ لِأُخْتِهِ: قُصِّيهِ قُصِّي أَثَرَهُ وَاطْلُبِيهِ، هَلْ تَسْمَعِينَ لَهُ ذِكْرًا؟ أَحَيٌّ ابْنِي أَمْ قَدْ أَكَلَتْهُ الدَّوَابُّ، وَنَسِيَتْ مَا كَانَ اللَّهُ وَعَدَهَا فِيهِ، فَبَصُرَتْ بِهِ أُخْتُهُ، عَنْ جُنُبٍ وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ - وَالْجُنُبُ أَنْ يَسْمُوَ بَصَرُ الْإِنْسَانِ إِلَى الشَّيْءِ الْبَعِيدِ وَهُوَ إِلَى جَنْبِهِ لَا يَشْعُرُ بِهِ - فَقَالَتْ مِنَ الْفَرَحِ حِينَ أَعْيَاهُمُ الظُّؤَارُ: أَنَا أَدُلُّكُمْ عَلَى أَهْلِ بَيْتٍ يَكْفُلُونَهُ لَكُمْ وَهُمْ لَهُ نَاصِحُونَ، فَأَخَذُوهَا فَقَالُوا: مَا يُدْرِيكِ مَا نُصْحُهُمْ لَهُ؟ هَلْ تَعْرِفُونَهُ؟ حَتَّى شَكُّوا فِي ذَلِكَ - وَذَلِكَ مِنَ الْفُتُونِ يَا ابْنَ جُبَيْرٍ - فَقَالَتْ: نَصِيحَتُهُمْ لَهُ وَشَفَقَتُهُمْ عَلَيْهِ رَغْبَةً فِي صِهْرِ الْمَلَكِ وَرَجَاءَ مَنْفَعَتِهِ، فَأَرْسَلُوهَا، فَانْطَلَقَتْ إِلَى أُمِّهَا فَأَخْبَرَتْهَا الْخَبَرَ، فَجَاءَتْ أُمُّهُ، فَلَمَّا وَضَعَتْهُ فِي حِجْرِهَا نَزَا إِلَى ثَدْيِهَا فَمَصَّهُ حَتَّى امْتَلَأَ جَنْبَاهُ رِيًّا وَانْطَلَقَ الْبَشِيرُ إِلَى امْرَأَةِ فِرْعَوْنَ يُبَشِّرُهَا أَنْ قَدْ وَجَدْنَا لِابْنِكِ ظِئْرًا، فَأَرْسَلَتْ إِلَيْهَا، فَأُتِيَتْ بِهَا وَبِهِ، فَلَمَّا رَأَتْ مَا يَصْنَعُ بِهَا، قَالَتْ لَهَا: امْكُثِي عِنْدِي تُرْضِعِينَ ابْنِي هَذَا، فَإِنِّي لَمْ أُحِبَّ حُبَّهُ شَيْئًا قَطُّ، فَقَالَتْ أُمُّ مُوسَى: لَا أَسْتَطِيعُ أَنْ أَدَعَ بَيْتِي وَوَلَدِي فَنَضِيعُ، فَإِنْ طَابَتْ نَفْسُكِ أَنْ تُعْطِينِيهِ فَأَذْهَبَ بِهِ إِلَى بَيْتِي فَيَكُونَ مَعِي لَا آلُوهُ خَيْرًا، وَإِلَّا فَإِنِّي غَيْرُ تَارِكَةٍ بَيْتِي وَوَلَدِي، وَذَكَرَتْ أُمُّ مُوسَى مَا كَانَ اللَّهُ عز وجل وَعَدَهَا، فَتَعَاسَرَتْ عَلَى امْرَأَةِ فِرْعَوْنَ وَأَيْقَنَتْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ مُنْجِزٌ وَعْدَهُ، فَرَجَعَتْ إِلَى بَيْتِهَا بِابْنِهَا، فَأَصْبَحَ أَهْلُ الْقَرْيَةِ مُجْتَمِعِينَ يَمْتَنِعُونَ مِنَ السُّخْرَةِ وَالظُّلْمِ مَا كَانَ فِيهِمْ، قَالَ: فَلَمَّا تَرَعْرَعَ، قَالَتِ امْرَأَةُ فِرْعَوْنَ لِأُمِّ مُوسَى: أُرِيدُ أَنْ تُرِينِي ابْنِي، فَوَعَدَتْهَا يَوْمًا تُرِيهَا إِيَّاهُ، فَقَالَتِ امْرَأَةُ فِرْعَوْنَ لِخُزَّانِهَا وَقَهَارِمَتِهَا وَظُئُورَتِهَا: لَا يَبْقَيَنَّ أَحَدٌ مِنْكُمْ إِلَّا اسْتَقْبِلَ ابْنِي الْيَوْمَ بِهَدِيَّةٍ وَكَرَامَةٍ لَأَرَى ذَلِكَ فِيهِ، وَأَنَا بَاعِثَةٌ أَمِينًا يُحْصِيَ كُلَّ مَا يَصْنَعُ كُلُّ إِنْسَانٍ مِنْكُمْ، فَلَمْ تَزَلِ الْهَدَايَا وَالْكَرَامَةُ وَالنِّحَلُ تَسْتَقْبِلُهُ مِنْ حِينِ خَرَجَ مِنْ بَيْتِ أُمِّهِ إِلَى أَنْ أُدْخِلَ عَلَى امْرَأَةِ فِرْعَوْنِ، فَلَمَّا دَخَلَ عَلَيْهَا بَجَّلَتْهُ وَأَكْرَمَتْهُ وَفَرِحَتْ بِهِ وَأَعْجَبَهَا، وَبَجَّلَتْ أُمَّهُ بِحُسْنِ أَثَرِهَا عَلَيْهِ، ثُمَّ قَالَتْ: لَآتِيَنَّ بِهِ فِرْعَوْنَ فَلَيُبَجِّلَنَّهُ وَلَيُكْرِمَنَّهُ، فَلَمَّا دَخَلَتْ بِهِ عَلَيْهِ جَعَلَتْهُ فِي حِجْرِهِ، فَتَنَاوَلَ مُوسَى لِحْيَةَ فِرْعَوْنَ فَمَدَّهَا إِلَى الْأَرْضِ، فَقَالَ الْغُوَاةُ أَعْدَاءُ اللَّهِ لِفِرْعَوْنَ: أَلَا تَرَى إِلَى مَا وَعَدَ اللَّهُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ نَبِيَّهُ أَنَّهُ يَرُبُّكَ وَيَعْلُوكَ وَيَصْرَعُكَ؟ فَأَرْسَلَ إِلَى الذَّبَّاحِينَ لِيَذْبَحُوهُ - وَذَلِكَ مِنَ الْفُتُونِ يَا ابْنَ جُبَيْرٍ - بَعْدَ كُلِّ بَلَاءٍ ابْتُلِيَ، وَأَرْبِكْ بِهِ فُتُونًا فَجَاءَتِ امْرَأَةُ فِرْعَوْنَ تَسْعَى إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ، فَقَالَتْ: مَا بَدَا لَكَ فِي هَذَا الْغُلَامِ الَّذِي وَهَبْتَهُ لِي؟ قَالَ: تَرَيْنَهُ يَزْعُمُ أَنَّهُ يَصْرَعُنِي وَيَعْلُونِي، قَالَتِ: اجْعَلْ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكَ أَمْرًا تَعْرِفُ الْحَقَّ فِيهِ ائْتِ بِجَمْرَتَيْنِ وَلُؤْلُؤَتَيْنِ فَقَرِّبْهُنَّ إِلَيْهِ، فَإِنْ بَطَشَ بِاللُّؤْلُؤَتَيْنِ وَاجْتَنَبَ الْجَمْرَتَيْنِ عَرَفْتَ أَنَّهُ يَعْقِلُ، وَإِنْ تَنَاوَلَ الْجَمْرَتَيْنِ وَلَمْ يُرِدِ اللُّؤْلُؤَتَيْنِ عَلِمْتَ أَنَّ أَحَدًا لَا يُؤْثِرُ الْجَمْرَتَيْنِ عَلَى اللُّؤْلُؤَتَيْنِ وَهُوَ يَعْقِلُ، فَقَرَّبَ ذَلِكَ، فَتَنَاوَلَ الْجَمْرَتَيْنِ فَانْتَزَعُوهُمَا مِنْ يَدِهِ مَخَافَةَ أَنْ تَحْرِقَاهُ، فَقَالَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ: أَلَا تَرَى؟ فَصَرَفَهُ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ بَعْدَمَا كَانَ قَدْ هَمَّ بِهِ، كَانَ اللَّهُ عز وجل بَالِغًا فِيهِ أَمْرَهُ، فَلَمَّا بَلَغَ أَشَدَّهُ وَكَانَ مِنَ الرِّجَالِ لَمْ يَكُنْ أَحَدٌ مِنْ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ يَخْلُصُ إِلَى أَحَدٍ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ مَعَهُ بِظُلْمٍ وَلَا سُخْرَةٍ حَتَّى امْتَنَعُوا كُلَّ الِامْتِنَاعِ فَبَيْنَمَا مُوسَى فِي نَاحِيَةِ الْمَدِينَةِ إِذَا هُوَ بِرَجُلَيْنِ يَقْتَتِلَانِ أَحَدُهُمَا فِرْعَوْنِيٌّ وَالْآخَرُ إِسْرَائِيلِيٌّ، فَاسْتَغَاثَهُ الْإِسْرَائِيلِيُّ عَلَى الْفِرْعَوْنِيِّ، فَغَضِبَ مُوسَى غَضَبًا شَدِيدًا لِأَنَّهُ تَنَاوَلَهُ وَهُوَ يَعْلَمُ مَنْزِلَةَ مُوسَى مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ وَحِفْظَهُ لَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُ النَّاسُ أَنَّمَا ذَلِكَ مِنَ الرَّضَاعِ إِلَّا أُمُّ مُوسَى، إِلَّا أَنْ يَكُونَ اللَّهُ أَطْلَعَ مُوسَى مِنْ ذَلِكَ عَلَى مَا لَمْ يُطْلِعْ عَلَيْهِ غَيْرَهُ، فَوَكَزَ مُوسَى الْفِرْعَوْنِيَّ فَقَتَلَهُ وَلَيْسَ يَرَاهُمَا أَحَدٌ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَالْإِسْرَائِيلِيُّ، فَقَالَ مُوسَى حِينَ قَتَلَ الرَّجُلَ: {هَذَا مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ إِنَّهُ عَدُوٌّ مُضِلٌّ مُبِينٌ} [القصص: 15] ثُمَّ قَالَ: {رَبِّ إِنِّي ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسِي فَاغْفِرْ لِي فَغَفَرَ لَهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ} [القصص: 16] وَأَصْبَحَ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ خَائِفًا يَتَرَقَّبُ الْأَخْبَارَ، فَأُتِيَ فِرْعَوْنُ فَقِيلَ لَهُ: إِنَّ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ قَتَلُوا رَجُلًا مِنْ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ فَخُذْ لَنَا حَقَّنَا وَلَا تُرَخِّصْ لَهُمْ، فَقَالَ: ابْغُونِي قَاتِلَهُ وَمَنْ يَشْهَدُ عَلَيْهِ، فَإِنَّ الْمَلِكَ وَإِنْ كَانَ صَفْوُهُ مَعَ قَوْمٍ لَا يَسْتَقِيمُ لَهُ أَنْ يُقِيدَ بِغَيْرِ بَيِّنَةٍ وَلَا ثَبْتٍ، فَاطْلُبُوا لِي عِلْمَ ذَلِكَ آخُذْ لَكُمْ بِحَقِّكُمْ ، فَبَيْنَمَا هُمْ يَطُوفُونَ لَا يَجِدُونَ ثَبْتًا إِذَا مُوسَى قَدْ رَأَى مِنَ الْغَدِ ذَلِكَ الْإِسْرَائِيلِيَّ يُقَاتِلُ رَجُلًا مِنْ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ آخَرَ، فَاسْتَغَاثَهُ الْإِسْرَائِيلِيُّ عَلَى الْفِرْعَوْنِيِّ، فَصَادَفَ مُوسَى قَدْ نَدِمَ عَلَى مَا كَانَ مِنْهُ، فَكَرِهَ الَّذِي رَأَى لِغَضَبِ الْإِسْرَائِيلِيِّ وَهُوَ يُرِيدُ أَنْ يَبْطِشَ بِالْفِرْعَوْنِيِّ، فَقَالَ لِلْإِسْرَائِيلِيِّ - لِمَا فَعَلَ أَمْسِ وَالْيَوْمَ - {إِنَّكَ لَغَوِيٌّ مُبِينٌ} [القصص: 18] فَنَظَرَ الْإِسْرَائِيلِيُّ إِلَى مُوسَى حِينَ قَالَ لَهُ مَا قَالَ فَإِذَا هُوَ غَضْبَانُ كَغَضَبِهِ بِالْأَمْسِ، فَخَافَ أَنْ يَكُونَ إِيَّاهُ أَرَادَ وَمَا أَرَادَ الْفِرْعَوْنِيَّ، وَلَمْ يَكُنْ أَرَادَهُ إِنَّمَا أَرَادَ الْفِرْعَوْنِيَّ فَخَافَ الْإِسْرَائِيلِيُّ فَحَاجَزَ الْفِرْعَوْنِيَّ، وَقَالَ: {يَا مُوسَى أَتُرِيدُ أَنْ تَقْتُلَنِي كَمَا قَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا بِالْأَمْسِ} [القصص: 19] وَإِنَّمَا قَالَ ذَلِكَ مَخَافَةَ أَنْ يَكُونَ إِيَّاهُ أَرَادَ مُوسَى لِيَقْتُلَهُ، وَتَنَازَعَا وَتَطَاوَعَا، وَانْطَلَقَ الْفِرْعَوْنِيُّ إِلَى قَوْمِهِ فَأَخْبَرَهُمْ بِمَا سَمِعَ مِنَ الْإِسْرَائِيلِيِّ مِنَ الْخَبَرِ حِينَ يَقُولُ: {أَتُرِيدُ أَنْ تَقْتُلَنِي كَمَا قَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا بِالْأَمْسِ} [القصص: 19] فَأَرْسَلَ فِرْعَوْنُ الذَّبَّاحِينَ لِيَقْتُلُوا مُوسَى، فَأَخَذَ رُسُلُ فِرْعَوْنَ الطَّرِيقَ الْأَعْظَمَ يَمْشُونَ عَلَى هَيْئَتِهِمْ يَطْلُبُونَ لِمُوسَى وَهُمْ لَا يَخَافُونَ أَنْ يَفُوتَهُمْ إِذْ جَاءَ رَجُلٌ مِنْ شِيعَةِ مُوسَى مِنْ أَقْصَى الْمَدِينَةِ فَاخْتَصَرَ طَرِيقًا قَرِيبًا حَتَّى يَسْبِقَهُمْ إِلَى مُوسَى فَأَخْبَرَهُ الْخَبَرَ، وَذَلِكَ مِنَ الْفُتُونِ يَا ابْنَ جُبَيْرٍ فَخَرَجَ مُوسَى مُتَوَجِّهًا نَحْوَ مَدْيَنَ لَمْ يَلْقَ بَلَاءً قَبْلَ ذَلِكَ وَلَيْسَ لَهُ بِالطَّرِيقِ عِلْمٌ إِلَّا حُسْنُ ظَنِّهِ بِرَبِّهِ عز وجل فَإِنَّهُ قَالَ: {عَسَى رَبِّي أَنْ يَهْدِيَنِي سَوَاءَ السَّبِيلِ وَلَمَّا وَرَدَ مَاءَ مَدْيَنَ وَجَدَ عَلَيْهِ أُمَّةً مِنَ النَّاسِ يَسْقُونَ وَوَجَدَ مِنْ دُونِهِمُ امْرَأَتَيْنِ تَذُودَانِ} [القصص: 23] يَعْنِي بِذَلِكَ حَابِسَتَيْنِ غَنَمَهُمَا، فَقَالَ لَهُمَا: مَا خَطْبُكُمَا مُعْتَزِلَتَيْنِ لَا تَسْقِيَانِ مَعَ النَّاسِ؟ قَالَتَا: لَيْسَ لَنَا قُوَّةٌ نُزَاحِمُ الْقَوْمَ، وَإِنَّمَا نَنْتَظِرُ فُضُولَ حِيَاضِهِمْ، فَسَقَى لَهُمَا، فَجَعَلَ يَغْرِفُ فِي الدَّلْوِ مَاءً كَثِيرًا حَتَّى كَانَ أَوَّلَ الرِّعَاءِ فَرَاغًا، فَانْصَرَفَتَا بِغَنَمِهِمَا إِلَى أَبِيهِمَا، وَانْصَرَفَ مُوسَى فَاسْتَظَلَّ بِشَجَرَةٍ، فَقَالَ: {رَبِّ إِنِّي لِمَا أَنْزَلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ} [القصص: 24] فَاسْتَنْكَرَ أَبُوهُمَا سُرْعَةَ صُدُورِهِمَا بِغَنَمِهِمَا حُفَّلًا بِطَانًا، فَقَالَ: إِنَّ لَكُمَا الْيَوْمَ لَشَأْنًا، فَأَخْبَرَتَاهُ بِمَا صَنَعَ مُوسَى، فَأَمَرَ إِحْدَاهُمَا تَدْعُوهُ لَهُ، فَأَتَتْ مُوسَى فَدَعَتْهُ، فَلَمَّا كَلَّمَهُ قَالَ: {لَا تَخَفْ نَجَوْتَ مِنَ الْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ} [القصص: 25] لَيْسَ لِفِرْعَوْنَ وَلَا لِقَوْمِهِ عَلَيْنَا سُلْطَانٌ، وَلَسْنَا فِي مَمْلَكَتِهِ، قَالَ: {قَالَتْ إِحْدَاهُمَا يَا أَبَتِ اسْتَأْجِرْهُ إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَنِ اسْتَأْجَرْتَ الْقَوِيُّ الْأَمِينُ} [القصص: 26] فَاحْتَمَلَتْهُ الْغَيْرَةُ عَلَى أَنْ قَالَ: وَمَا يُدْرِيكِ مَا قُوَّتُهُ وَمَا أَمَانَتُهُ؟ قَالَتْ: أَمَّا قُوَّتُهُ، فَمَا رَأَيْتُ مِنْهُ فِي الدَّلْوِ حِينَ سَقَى لَنَا، لَمْ أَرَ رَجُلًا أَقْوَى فِي ذَلِكَ السَّقْيِ مِنْهُ، وَأَمَّا أَمَانَتُهُ، فَإِنَّهُ نَظَرَ إِلَيَّ حِينَ أَقْبَلْتُ إِلَيْهِ وَشَخَصْتُ لَهُ، فَلَمَّا عَلِمَ أَنِّي امْرَأَةٌ صَوَّبَ رَأْسَهُ وَلَمْ يَرْفَعْهُ وَلَمْ يَنْظُرْ إِلَيَّ حَتَّى بَلَّغْتُهُ رِسَالَتَكَ، ثُمَّ قَالَ: امْشِي خَلْفِي، وَانْعَتِي لِيَ الطَّرِيقَ فَلَمْ يَفْعَلْ هَذَا الْأَمْرَ إِلَّا وَهُوَ أَمِينٌ، فَسُرِّيَ عَنْ أَبِيهَا فَصَدَّقَهَا وَظَنَّ بِهِ الَّذِي قَالَتْ، فَقَالَ لَهُ: هَلْ لَكَ {أَنْ أُنْكِحَكَ إِحْدَى ابْنَتَيَّ هَاتَيْنِ عَلَى أَنْ تَأْجُرَنِي ثَمَانِيَ حِجَجٍ فَإِنْ أَتْمَمْتَ عَشْرًا فَمِنْ عِنْدِكَ وَمَا أُرِيدُ أَنْ أَشُقَّ عَلَيْكَ سَتَجِدُنِي إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ} [القصص: 27] فَفَعَلَ فَكَانَتْ عَلَى نَبِيِّ اللَّهِ مُوسَى صلى الله عليه وسلم ثَمَانُ سِنِينَ وَاجِبَةً، وَكَانَتْ سَنَتَانِ عِدَتَهُ مِنْهُ، فَقَضَى اللَّهُ عَنْهُ عِدَتَهُ فَأَتَمَّهَا عَشْرًا قَالَ سَعِيدٌ: فَلَقِيَنِي رَجُلٌ مِنْ أَهْلِ النَّصْرَانِيَّةِ مِنْ عُلَمَائِهِمْ، فَقَالَ: هَلْ تَدْرِي أَيُّ الْأَجَلَيْنِ قَضَى مُوسَى؟ قُلْتُ: لَا، وَأَنَا يَوْمَئِذٍ لَا أَدْرِي، فَلَقِيتُ ابْنَ عَبَّاسٍ فَذَكَرْتُ ذَلِكَ لَهُ، فَقَالَ: أَمَا عَلِمْتَ أَنَّ ثَمَانِيًا كَانَ عَلَى مُوسَى وَاجِبَةً وَلَمْ يَكُنْ نَبِيُّ اللَّهِ لِيَنْقُصَ مِنْهَا شَيْئًا وَيَعْلَمُ أَنَّ اللَّهَ قَاضٍ عَنْ مُوسَى عِدَتَهُ الَّتِي وَعَدَ، فَإِنَّهُ قَضَى عَشْرَ سِنِينَ، فَلَقِيتُ النَّصْرَانِيَّ فَأَخْبَرْتُهُ ذَلِكَ، فَقَالَ: الَّذِي سَأَلْتَهُ فَأَخْبَرَكَ أَعْلَمُ مِنْكَ بِذَلِكَ، قَالَ: قُلْتُ أَجَلْ، وَأَوْلَى فَلَمَّا سَارَ مُوسَى بِأَهْلِهِ كَانَ مِنْ أَمْرِ النَّارِ وَالْعَصَا وَيَدِهِ مَا قَصَّ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكَ فِي الْقُرْآنِ فَشَكَا إِلَى رَبِّهِ تبارك وتعالى مَا يَتَخَوَّفُ مِنْ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ فِي الْقَتْلِ وَعَقْدِ لِسَانِهِ، فَإِنَّهُ كَانَ فِي لِسَانِهِ عُقْدَةٌ تَمْنَعُهُ مِنْ كَثِيرٍ مِنَ الْكَلَامِ، وَسَأَلَ رَبَّهُ أَنْ يُعِينَهُ بِأَخِيهِ هَارُونَ يَكُونُ لَهُ رِدْءًا وَيَتَكَلَّمُ عَنْهُ بِكَثِيرٍ مِمَّا لَا يُفْصِحُ بِهِ لِسَانُهُ، فَآتَاهُ اللَّهُ سُؤْلَهُ وَحَلَّ عُقْدَةً مِنْ لِسَانِهِ، فَأَوْحَى اللَّهُ إِلَى هَارُونَ وَأَمَرَهُ أَنْ يَلْقَاهُ فَانْدَفَعَ مُوسَى بِعَصَاهُ حَتَّى لَقِيَ هَارُونَ، فَانْطَلَقَا جَمِيعًا إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ، فَأَقَامَا عَلَى بَابِهِ حِينًا لَا يُؤْذَنُ لَهُمَا، ثُمَّ أُذِنَ لَهُمَا بَعْدَ حِجَابٍ شَدِيدٍ، فَقَالَا: {إِنَّا رَسُولَا رَبِّكَ} [طه: 47] قَالَ: {فَمَنْ رَبُّكُمَا يَا مُوسَى} [طه: 49] فَأَخْبَرَهُ بِالَّذِي قَصَّ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكَ فِي الْقُرْآنِ، قَالَ: فَمَا تُرِيدُ، وَذَكَّرَهُ الْقَتِيلَ فَاعْتَذَرَ بِمَا قَدْ سَمِعْتَ، وَقَالَ: إِنِّي أُرِيدُ أَنْ تُؤْمِنَ بِاللَّهِ وَتُرْسَلَ مَعِي بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ فَأَبَى عَلَيْهِ ذَلِكَ، وَقَالَ: ائْتِ بِآيَةٍ إِنْ كُنْتَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ، فَأَلْقَى عَصَاهُ فَإِذَا هِيَ حَيَّةٌ عَظِيمَةٌ فَاغِرَةٌ فَاهَا مُسْرِعَةٌ إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ، فَلَمَّا رَآهَا فِرْعَوْنُ قَاصِدَةً إِلَيْهِ خَافَهَا فَاقْتَحَمَ، عَنْ سَرِيرِهِ وَاسْتَغَاثَ بِمُوسَى أَنْ يَكُفَّهَا عَنْهُ فَفَعَلَ، ثُمَّ أَخْرَجَ يَدَهُ مِنْ جَيْبِهِ فَرَآهَا بَيْضَاءَ مِنْ غَيْرِ سَوْءٍ - يَعْنِي مِنْ غَيْرِ بَرَصٍ - ثُمَّ رَدَّهَا فَعَادَتْ إِلَى لَوْنِهَا الْأَوَّلِ، فَاسْتَشَارَ الْمَلَأَ حَوْلَهُ فِيمَا رَأَى، فَقَالُوا لَهُ: {إِنْ هَذَانِ لَسَاحِرَانِ يُرِيدَانِ أَنْ يُخْرِجَاكُمْ مِنْ أَرْضِكُمْ بِسِحْرِهِمَا وَيَذْهَبَا بِطَرِيقَتِكُمُ الْمُثْلَى} [طه: 63] يَعْنِي مُلْكَهُمُ الَّذِي هُمْ فِيهِ وَالْعَيْشَ - فَأَبَوْا أَنْ يُعْطُوهُ شَيْئًا مِمَّا طَلَبَ، وَقَالُوا لَهُ: اجْمَعْ لَنَا السَّحَرَةَ فَإِنَّهُمْ بِأَرْضِكَ كَثِيرٌ حَتَّى يَغْلِبَ سِحْرُهُمْ سِحْرَهُمَا، فَأَرْسَلَ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ، فَحَشَرَ لَهُ كُلَّ سَاحِرٍ مُتَعَالِمٍ، فَلَمَّا أَتَوْا فِرْعَوْنَ قَالُوا: بِمَ يَعْمَلُ هَذَا السَّاحِرُ؟ قَالُوا: يَعْمَلُ بِالْحَيَّاتِ، قَالُوا: فَلَا وَاللَّهِ مَا أَحَدٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ يَعْمَلُ السَّحَرَ بِالْحَيَّاتِ وَالْعِصِيِّ الَّذِي نَعْمَلُ، فَمَا أَجْرُنَا إِنْ نَحْنُ غَلَبْنَا؟ فَقَالَ لَهُمْ: إِنَّكُمْ أَقَارِبِي وَخَاصَّتِي، فَأَنَا صَانِعٌ إِلَيْكُمْ كُلَّ مَا أَحْبَبْتُمْ، فَتَوَاعَدُوا يَوْمَ الزِّينَةِ {وَأَنْ يُحْشَرَ النَّاسُ ضُحًى} [طه: 59]
قَالَ سَعِيدٌ: حَدَّثَنِي ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ أَنَّ يَوْمَ الزِّينَةِ الْيَوْمُ الَّذِي أَظْهَرَ اللَّهُ فِيهِ مُوسَى عَلَى فِرْعَوْنَ وَالسَّحَرَةِ، وَهُوَ يَوْمُ عَاشُورَاءَ، فَلَمَّا اجْتَمَعُوا فِي صَعِيدٍ، قَالَ النَّاسُ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ: انْطَلِقُوا فَلْنَحْضُرْ هَذَا الْأَمْرَ {لَعَلَّنَا نَتَّبِعُ السَّحَرَةَ إِنْ كَانُوا هُمُ الْغَالِبِينَ} [الشعراء: 40] يَعْنُونَ مُوسَى وَهَارُونَ - اسْتِهْزَاءً بِهِمَا، فَقَالُوا: يَا مُوسَى - لِقُدْرَتِهِمْ بِسِحْرِهِمْ - {إِمَّا أَنْ تُلْقِيَ وَإِمَّا أَنْ نَكُونَ نَحْنُ الْمُلْقِينَ} [الأعراف: 115] قَالَ: بَلْ أَلْقُوا {فَأَلْقَوْا حِبَالَهُمْ وَعِصِيَّهُمْ وَقَالُوا بِعِزَّةِ فِرْعَوْنَ إِنَّا لَنَحْنُ الْغَالِبُونَ} [الشعراء: 44] فَرَأَى مُوسَى مِنْ سِحْرِهِمْ مَا أَوْجَسَ فِي نَفْسِهِ خِيفَةً، فَأَوْحَى اللَّهُ تبارك وتعالى إِلَيْهِ {أَنْ أَلْقِ عَصَاكَ} [الأعراف: 117] فَلَمَّا أَلْقَاهَا صَارَتْ ثُعْبَانًا عَظِيمًا فَاغِرَةً فَاهَا، فَجَعَلَتِ الْعِصِيُّ بِدَعْوَةِ مُوسَى تَلَبَّسُ بِالْحِبَالِ حَتَّى صَارَتْ جُرَزًا إِلَى الثُّعْبَانِ تَدْخُلُ فِيهِ، حَتَّى مَا أَبْقَتْ عَصًا وَلَا حَبْلًا إِلَّا ابْتَلَعَتْهُ، فَلَمَّا عَرَفَ السَّحَرَةُ ذَلِكَ قَالُوا: لَوْ كَانَ هَذَا سِحْرًا لَمْ يَبْلُغْ مِنْ سِحْرِنَا هَذَا، وَلَكِنَّهُ أَمْرٌ مِنَ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ تبارك وتعالى آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَبِمَا جَاءَ بِهِ مُوسَى وَنَتُوبُ إِلَى اللَّهِ عز وجل مِمَّا كُنَّا عَلَيْهِ، وَكَسَرَ اللَّهُ ظَهْرَ فِرْعَوْنَ فِي ذَلِكَ الْمَوْطِنِ وَأَشْيَاعَهُ، وَأَظْهَرَ الْحَقَّ {وَبَطَلَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ فَغُلِبُوا هُنَالِكَ وَانْقَلَبُوا صَاغِرِينَ} [الأعراف: 118] وَامْرَأَةُ فِرْعَوْنَ بَارِزَةٌ مُتَبَذِّلَةٌ تَدْعُو اللَّهَ بِالنَّصْرِ لِمُوسَى عَلَى فِرْعَوْنَ، فَمَنْ رَآهَا مِنْ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ ظَنَّ أَنَّهَا ابْتَذَلَتْ لِلشَّفَقَةِ عَلَى فِرْعَوْنَ وَأَشْيَاعِهِ، وَإِنَّمَا كَانَ حُزْنُهَا وَهَمُّهَا لِمُوسَى فَلَمَّا طَالَ مُكْثُ مُوسَى لِمَوَاعِيدِ فِرْعَوْنَ الْكَاذِبَةِ، كُلَّمَا جَاءَهُ بِآيَةٍ وَعَدَهُ عِنْدَهَا أَنْ يُرْسِلَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ، فَإِذَا مَضَتْ أَخْلَفَ مَوَاعِيدَهُ، وَقَالَ: هَلْ يَسْتَطِيعُ رَبُّكَ أَنْ يَصْنَعَ غَيْرَ هَذَا، فَأَرْسَلَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى قَوْمِهِ الطُّوفَانَ وَالْجَرَادَ وَالْقُمَّلَ وَالضَّفَادِعَ وَالدَّمَ آيَاتٍ مُفَصَّلَاتٍ، كُلُّ ذَلِكَ يَشْكُو إِلَى مُوسَى وَيَطْلُبُ إِلَيْهِ أَنْ يَكُفَّهَا عَنْهُ، وَيُوَافِقُهُ أَنْ يُرْسِلَ مَعَهُ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ، فَإِذَا كَفَّ ذَلِكَ عَنْهُ أَخْلَفَ مَوْعِدَهُ وَنَكَثَ عَهْدَهُ، حَتَّى أُمِرَ بِالْخُرُوجِ بِقَوْمِهِ، فَخَرَجَ بِهِمْ لَيْلًا، فَلَمَّا أَصْبَحَ فِرْعَوْنُ وَرَأَى أَنَّهُمْ قَدْ مَضَوْا، أَرْسَلَ فِي الْمَدَائِنِ حَاشِرِينَ، يَتْبَعُهُمْ بِجُنُودٍ عَظِيمَةٍ كَثِيرَةٍ، فَأَوْحَى اللَّهُ إِلَى الْبَحْرِ أَنْ إِذَا ضَرَبَكَ عَبْدِي مُوسَى بِعَصَاهُ فَانْفَرِقِ اثْنَيْ عَشَرَ فِرْقًا حَتَّى يَجُوزَ مُوسَى وَمَنْ مَعَهُ، ثُمَّ الْتَقِ عَلَى مَنْ بَقِيَ بَعْدَهُ مِنْ فِرْعَوْنَ وَأَشْيَاعِهِ، فَنَسِيَ مُوسَى أَنْ يَضْرِبَ الْبَحْرَ بِالْعَصَا فَانْتَهَى إِلَى الْبَحْرِ وَلَهُ قَصِيفٌ مَخَافَةَ أَنْ يَضْرِبَهُ مُوسَى بِعَصَاهُ وَهُوَ غَافِلٌ فَيَصِيرَ عَاصِيًا فَلَمَّا تَرَاءَى الْجَمْعَانِ وَتَقَارَبَا، قَالَ قَوْمُ مُوسَى {إِنَّا لَمُدْرَكُونَ} [الشعراء: 61] افْعَلْ مَا أَمَرَكَ رَبُّكَ، فَإِنَّكَ لَنْ تَكْذِبَ وَلَنْ تُكْذَبَ، فَقَالَ: وَعَدَنِي إِذَا أَتَيْتُ الْبَحْرَ أَنْ يُفَرْقَ لِي اثْنَيْ عَشَرَ فِرْقًا حَتَّى أُجَاوِزَهُ، ثُمَّ ذَكَرَ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ الْعَصَا، فَضَرَبَ الْبَحْرَ بِعَصَاهُ فَانْفَرَقَ لَهُ حِينَ دَنَا أَوَائِلُ جُنْدِ فِرْعَوْنَ مِنْ أَوَاخِرِ جُنْدِ مُوسَى، فَانْفَرَقَ الْبَحْرُ كَمَا أَمَرَهُ رَبُّهُ، وَكَمَا وَعَدَ مُوسَى، فَلَمَّا أَنْ جَاوَزَ مُوسَى وَأَصْحَابُهُ كُلُّهُمْ، وَدَخَلَ فِرْعَوْنُ وَأَصْحَابُهُ الْتَقَى عَلَيْهِمْ كَمَا أَمَرَ اللَّهُ، فَلَمَّا أَنْ جَاوَرَ مُوسَى الْبَحْرَ قَالُوا: إِنَّا نَخَافُ أَنْ لَا يَكُونَ فِرْعَوْنُ غَرِقَ فَلَا نُؤْمِنُ بِهَلَاكِهِ، فَدَعَا رَبَّهُ، فَأَخْرَجَهُ لَهُ بِبَدَنِهِ حَتَّى اسْتَيْقَنُوا بِهَلَاكِهِ، ثُمَّ مَرُّوا عَلَى قَوْمٍ يَعْكُفُونَ عَلَى أَصْنَامٍ لَهُمْ {قَالُوا يَا مُوسَى اجْعَلْ لَنَا إِلَهًا كَمَا لَهُمْ آلِهَةٌ قَالَ إِنَّكُمْ قَوْمٌ تَجْهَلُونَ إِنَّ هَؤُلَاءِ مُتَبَّرٌ مَا هُمْ فِيهِ وَبَاطِلٌ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ} [الأعراف: 138] قَدْ رَأَيْتُمْ مِنَ الْعِبَرِ، وَسَمِعْتُمْ مَا يَكْفِيكُمْ، وَمَضَى فَأَنْزَلَهُمْ مُوسَى مَنْزِلًا، ثُمَّ قَالَ لَهُمْ: أَطِيعُوا هَارُونَ، فَإِنِّي قَدِ اسْتَخْلَفْتُهُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَإِنِّي ذَاهِبٌ إِلَى رَبِّي، وَأَجَّلَهُمْ ثَلَاثِينَ يَوْمًا أَنْ يَرْجِعَ إِلَيْهِمْ ، فَلَمَّا أَتَى رَبَّهُ أَرَادَ أَنْ يُكَلِّمَهُ فِي ثَلَاثِينَ وَقَدْ صَامَهُنَّ لَيْلَتَيْنِ وَنَهَارَهُنَّ، كَرِهَ أَنْ يُكَلِّمَ رَبَّهُ وَيَخْرُجَ مِنْ فَمِهِ رِيحُ فَمِ الصَّائِمِ، فَتَنَاوَلَ مُوسَى شَيْئًا مِنْ نَبَاتِ الْأَرْضِ فَمَضَغَهُ، فَقَالَ لَهُ رَبُّهُ حِينَ أَتَاهُ أَفْطَرْتَ؟ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالَّذِي كَانَ، قَالَ: رَبِّ كَرِهْتُ أَنْ أُكَلِّمَكَ إِلَّا وَفَمِي طَيِّبُ الرِّيحِ، قَالَ: أَوَمَا عَلِمْتَ يَا مُوسَى أَنَّ رِيحَ فَمِ الصَّائِمِ أَطْيَبُ عِنْدِي مِنْ رِيحِ الْمِسْكِ، ارْجِعْ حَتَّى تَصُومَ عَشْرًا ثُمَّ ائْتِنِي فَفَعَلَ مُوسَى مَا أُمِرَ بِهِ، فَلَمَّا رَأَى قَوْمُ مُوسَى أَنَّهُ لَمْ يَرْجِعْ إِلَيْهِمْ لِلْأَجَلِ، قَالَ: سَاءَهُمْ ذَلِكَ، وَكَانَ هَارُونُ قَدْ خَطَبَهُمْ، فَقَالَ: إِنَّكُمْ خَرَجْتُمْ مِنْ مِصْرَ وَلِقَوْمِ فِرْعَوْنَ عَوَارٍ وَوَدَائِعُ وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا مِثْلُ ذَلِكَ، وَأَنَا أَرَى أَنْ تَحْتَسِبُوا مَالَكُمْ عِنْدَهُمْ، وَلَا أُحِلُّ لَكُمْ وَدِيعَةً وَلَا عَارِيَةً، وَلَسْنَا بِرَادِّينَ إِلَيْهِمْ شَيْئًا مِنْ ذَلِكَ وَلَا مُمْسِكِيهِ لِأَنْفُسِنَا، فَحَفَرَ حَفِيرًا وَأَمَرَ كُلَّ قَوْمٍ عِنْدَهُمْ شَيْءٌ مِنْ ذَلِكَ مِنْ مَتَاعٍ أَوْ حِلْيَةٍ أَنْ يَقْذِفُوهُ فِي ذَلِكَ الْحَفِيرِ، ثُمَّ أَوَقَدَ عَلَيْهِ النَّارَ فَأَحْرَقَهُ، فَقَالَ: لَا يَكُونُ لَنَا وَلَا لَهُمْ، وَكَانَ السَّامِرِيُّ رَجُلًا مِنْ قَوْمٍ يَعْبُدُونَ الْبَقَرَ جِيرَانٍ لَهُمْ، وَلَمْ يَكُنْ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ، فَاحْتَمَلَ مَعَ مُوسَى وَبَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ حِينَ احْتَمَلُوا، فَقُضِيَ لَهُ أَنْ رَأَى أَثَرًا، فَأَخَذَ مِنْهُ قَبْضَةً، فَمَرَّ بِهَارُونَ، فَقَالَ لَهُ هَارُونُ: يَا سَامِرِيُّ، أَلَا تُلْقِي مَا فِي يَدِكَ وَهُوَ قَابِضٌ عَلَيْهِ لَا يَرَاهُ أَحَدٌ طُوَالَ ذَلِكَ، قَالَ: هَذِهِ قَبْضَةٌ مِنْ أَثَرِ الرَّسُولِ الَّذِي جَاوَزَ بِكُمُ الْبَحْرَ، فَلَا أُلْقِيهَا بِشَيْءٍ إِلَّا أَنْ تَدْعُوَ اللَّهَ إِذَا أُلْقِيهَا أَنْ يَكُونَ مَا أُرِيدُ فَأَلْقَاهُ، فَدَعَا لَهُ هَارُونُ، وَقَالَ أُرِيدُ أَنْ أُكَوِّنَ عِجْلًا، فَاجْتَمَعَ مَا كَانَ فِي الْحُفْرَةِ مِنْ مَتَاعٍ أَوْ حِلْيَةٍ أَوْ نُحَاسٍ أَوْ حَدِيدٍ فَصَارَ عِجْلًا أَجْوَفَ لَيْسَ فِيهِ رُوحٌ لَهُ خُوَارٌ ، قَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ: وَلَا وَاللَّهِ مَا كَانَ لَهُ صَوْتٌ قَطُّ، إِنَّمَا كَانَتِ الرِّيحُ تَدْخُلُ مِنْ دُبُرِهِ وَتَخْرُجُ مِنْ فِيهِ، وَكَانَ ذَلِكَ الصَّوْتُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ، فَتَفَرَّقَ بَنُو إِسْرَائِيلَ فِرَقًا، فَقَالَتْ فِرْقَةٌ: يَا سَامِرِيُّ، مَا هَذَا؟ فَأَنْتَ أَعْلَمُ بِهِ، قَالَ: هَذَا رَبُّكُمْ، وَلَكِنَّ مُوسَى أَضَلَّ الطَّرِيقَ، وَقَالَتْ فِرْقَةٌ: لَا نُكَذِّبُ بِهَذَا حَتَّى يَرْجِعَ إِلَيْنَا مُوسَى، فَإِنْ كَانَ رَبَّنَا لَمْ نَكُنْ ضَيَّعْنَاهُ وَعَجَزْنَا فِيهِ حِينَ رَأَيْنَاهُ، وَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ رَبَّنَا، فَإِنَّا نَتَّبِعُ قَوْلَ مُوسَى، وَقَالَتْ فِرْقَةٌ: هَذَا عَمَلُ الشَّيْطَانِ وَلَيْسَ بِرَبِّنَا وَلَا نُؤْمِنُ بِهِ وَلَا نُصَدِّقُ، وَأُشْرِبَ فِرْقَةٌ فِي قُلُوبِهِمُ التَّصْدِيقَ بِمَا قَالَ السَّامِرِيُّ فِي الْعِجْلِ، وَأَعْلَنُوا التَّكْذِيبَ بِهِ، فَقَالَ لَهُمْ هَارُونُ: {يَا قَوْمِ إِنَّمَا فُتِنْتُمْ بِهِ، وَإِنَّ رَبَّكُمُ الرَّحْمَنُ} [طه: 90] لَيْسَ هَكَذَا، قَالُوا: فَمَا بَالُ مُوسَى وَعَدَنَا ثَلَاثِينَ يَوْمًا ثُمَّ أَخْلَفَنَا، هَذِهِ أَرْبَعُونَ قَدْ مَضَتْ، فَقَالَ سُفَهَاؤُهُمْ: أَخْطَأَ رَبَّهُ فَهُوَ يَطْلُبُهُ وَيَتْبَعُهُ فَلَمَّا كَلَّمَ اللَّهُ مُوسَى وَقَالَ لَهُ مَا قَالَ أَخْبَرَهُ بِمَا لَقِيَ قَوْمُهُ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ، {فَرَجَعَ مُوسَى إِلَى قَوْمِهِ غَضْبَانَ أَسِفًا} [طه: 86] فَقَالَ لَهُمْ مَا سَمِعْتُمْ فِي الْقُرْآنِ {وَأَخَذَ بِرَأْسِ أَخِيهِ يَجُرُّهُ إِلَيْهِ} [الأعراف: 150] وَأَلْقَى الْأَلْوَاحَ، ثُمَّ إِنَّهُ عَذَرَ أَخَاهُ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُ، وَانْصَرَفَ إِلَى السَّامِرِيِّ، فَقَالَ لَهُ: مَا حَمَلَكَ عَلَى مَا صَنَعْتَ؟ قَالَ: قَبَضْتُ قَبْضَةً مِنْ أَثَرِ الرَّسُولِ وَفَطِنْتُ لَهَا وَعَمِيَتْ عَلَيْكُمْ فَقَذَفْتُهَا {وَكَذَلِكَ سَوَّلَتْ لِي نَفْسِي قَالَ فَاذْهَبْ فَإِنَّ لَكَ فِي الْحَيَاةِ أَنْ تَقُولَ لَا مِسَاسَ وَإِنَّ لَكَ مَوْعِدًا لَنْ تُخْلَفَهُ وَانْظُرْ إِلَى إِلَهِكَ الَّذِي ظَلْتَ عَلَيْهِ عَاكِفًا لَنُحَرِّقَنَّهُ ثُمَّ لَنَنْسِفَنَّهُ فِي الْيَمِّ نَسْفًا} [طه: 96] وَلَوْ كَانَ إِلَهًا لَمْ تَخْلُصْ إِلَى ذَلِكَ مِنْهُ فَاسْتَيْقَنَ بَنُو إِسْرَائِيلَ، وَاغْتَبَطَ الَّذِينَ كَانَ رَأْيُهُمْ فِيهِ مِثْلَ رَأْي هَارُونَ، وَقَالُوا جَمَاعَتُهُمْ لِمُوسَى: سَلْ لَنَا رَبَّكَ أَنْ يَفْتَحَ لَنَا بَابَ تَوْبَةٍ نَصْنَعُهَا فَتُكَفِّرَ مَا عَمِلْنَا، فَاخْتَارَ قَوْمَهُ سَبْعِينَ رَجُلًا لِذَلِكَ لِإِتْيَانِ الْجَبَلِ مِمَّنْ لَمْ يُشْرِكْ فِي الْعِجْلِ، فَانْطَلَقَ بِهِمْ لِيَسْأَلَ لَهُمُ التَّوْبَةَ فَرَجَفَتْ بِهِمُ الْأَرْضُ، فَاسْتَحْيَا نَبِيُّ اللَّهِ مِنْ قَوْمِهِ وَوَفْدِهِ حِينَ فُعِلَ بِهِمْ مَا فُعِلَ، فَقَالَ {رَبِّ لَوْ شِئْتَ أَهْلَكْتَهُمْ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَإِيَّايَ أَتُهْلِكُنَا بِمَا فَعَلَ السُّفَهَاءُ مِنَّا} [الأعراف: 155] وَفِيهِمْ مَنْ كَانَ اللَّهُ اطَّلَعَ عَلَى مَا أُشْرِبَ مِنْ حُبِّ الْعِجْلِ إِيمَانًا بِهِ فَلِذَلِكَ رَجَفَتْ بِهِمُ الْأَرْضُ، فَقَالَ {رَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ فَسَأَكْتُبُهَا لِلَّذِينَ يَتَّقُونَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ بِآيَاتِنَا يُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ الرَّسُولَ النَّبِيَّ الْأُمِّيَّ الَّذِي يَجِدُونَهُ مَكْتُوبًا عِنْدَهُمْ فِي التَّوْرَاةِ وَالْإِنْجِيلِ} [الأعراف: 156]
فَقَالَ: رَبِّ سَأَلْتُكَ التَّوْبَةَ لِقَوْمِي فَقُلْتَ: إِنَّ رَحْمَتَكَ كَتَبْتَهَا لِقَوْمٍ غَيْرِ قَوْمِي، فَلَيْتَكَ أَخَّرْتَنِي حَتَّى تُخْرِجَنِي حَيًّا فِي أُمَّةِ ذَلِكَ الرَّجُلِ الْمَرْحُومَةِ، فَقَالَ اللَّهُ عز وجل لَهُ: إِنَّ تَوْبَتَهُمْ أَنْ يَقْتُلَ كُلُّ رَجُلٍ مِنْهُمْ كُلَّ مَنْ لَقِيَ مِنْ وَالِدٍ وَوَلَدٍ فَيَقْتُلُهُ بِالسَّيْفِ لَا يُبَالِي مَنْ قَتَلَ فِي ذَلِكَ الْمَوْطِنِ، وَيَأْتِي أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ خَفِيَ عَلَى مُوسَى وَهَارُونَ مَا اطَّلَعَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ ذُنُوبِهِمْ وَاعْتَرَفُوا بِهَا، وَفَعَلُوا مَا أُمِرُوا بِهِ فَغَفَرَ اللَّهُ لِلْقَاتِلِ وَالْمَقْتُولِ، ثُمَّ سَارَ بِهِمْ مُوسَى مُتَوَجِّهًا نَحْوَ الْأَرْضِ الْمُقَدَّسَةِ وَأَخَذَ الْأَلْوَاحَ بَعْدَمَا سَكَتَ عَنْهُ الْغَضَبُ، فَأَمَرَهُمْ بِالَّذِي أُمِرَ بِهِ أَنْ يُبَلِّغَهُمْ مِنَ الْوَظَائِفِ، فَثَقُلَ ذَلِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَأَبَوْا أَنْ يُقِرُّوا بِهَا فَنَتَقَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْجَبَلَ كَأَنَّهُ ظُلَّةٌ، وَدَنَا مِنْهُمْ حَتَّى خَافُوا أَنْ يَقَعَ عَلَيْهِمْ فَأَخَذُوا الْكِتَابَ بِأَيْمَانِهِمْ وَهُمْ مُصْغُونَ إِلَى الْجَبَلِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَالْكِتَابُ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ وَهُمْ يَنْظُرُونَ إِلَى الْجَبَلِ مَخَافَةَ أَنْ يَقَعَ عَلَيْهِمْ، ثُمَّ مَضَوْا حَتَّى أَتَوْا الْأَرْضَ الْمُقَدَّسَةَ، فَوَجَدُوا فِيهَا مَدِينَةً فِيهَا قَوْمٌ جَبَّارُونَ خَلْقُهُمْ خَلْقٌ مُنْكَرٌ، وَذَكَرُوا مِنْ ثِمَارِهِمْ أَمْرًا عَجِيبًا مِنْ عِظَمِهَا، فَقَالُوا: {يَا مُوسَى إِنَّ فِيهَا قَوْمًا جَبَّارِينَ} [المائدة: 22] لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِمْ، وَلَا نَدْخُلُهَا مَا دَامُوا فِيهَا {فَإِنْ يَخْرُجُوا مِنْهَا فَإِنَّا دَاخِلُونَ} [المائدة: 22] {قَالَ رَجُلَانِ مِنَ الَّذِينَ يَخَافُونَ} [المائدة: 23] الْجَبَّارِينَ آمَنَّا بِمُوسَى، فَخَرَجَا إِلَيْهِ، فَقَالَا: نَحْنُ أَعْلَمُ بِقَوْمِنَا، إِنْ كُنْتُمْ إِنَّمَا تَخَافُونَ مِمَّا تَرَوْنَ مِنْ أَجْسَامِهِمْ وَعُدَّتَهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ لَا قُلُوبَ لَهُمْ وَلَا مَنَعَةَ عِنْدَهُمْ، فَادْخُلُوا عَلَيْهِمُ الْبَابَ {فَإِذَا دَخَلْتُمُوهُ فَإِنَّكُمْ غَالِبُونُ} [المائدة: 23]
وَيَقُولُ نَاسٌ: إِنَّهُمَا مِنْ قَوْمِ مُوسَى، وَزُعِمَ عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ جُبَيْرٍ أَنَّهُمَا مِنَ الْجَبَابِرَةِ آمَنَا بِمُوسَى، يَقُولُ: {مِنَ الَّذِينَ يَخَافُونَ} [المائدة: 23] إِنَّمَا عَنَى بِذَلِكَ الَّذِينَ يَخَافُهُمْ بَنُو إِسْرَائِيلَ {قَالُوا يَا مُوسَى إِنَّا لَنْ نَدْخُلَهَا أَبَدًا مَا دَامُوا فِيهَا فَاذْهَبْ أَنْتَ وَرَبُّكَ فَقَاتِلَا إِنَّا هَاهُنَا قَاعِدُونَ} [المائدة: 24] فَأَغْضَبُوا مُوسَى فَدَعَا عَلَيْهِمْ وَسَمَّاهُمْ فَاسِقِينَ وَلَمْ يَدْعُ عَلَيْهِمْ قَبْلَ ذَلِكَ لِمَا رَأَى مِنْهُمْ مِنَ الْمَعْصِيَةِ وَإِسَاءَتِهِمْ، حَتَّى كَانَ يَوْمُئِذٍ، فَاسْتَجَابَ اللَّهُ لَهُ فَسَمَّاهُمْ كَمَا سَمَّاهُمْ مُوسَى فَاسِقِينَ، وَحَرَّمَهَا عَلَيْهِمْ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً يَتِيهُونَ فِي الْأَرْضِ، يُصْبِحُونَ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ فَيَسِيرُونَ لَيْسَ لَهُمْ قَرَارٌ، ثُمَّ ظَلَّلَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْغَمَامَ فِي التِّيهِ، وَأَنْزَلَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَنَّ وَالسَّلْوَى، وَجَعَلَ لَهُمْ ثِيَابًا لَا تَبْلَى وَلَا تَتَّسِخُ، وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَ ظُهُورِهِمْ حَجَرًا مُرَبَّعًا، وَأَمَرَ مُوسَى فَضَرَبَهُ بِعَصَاهُ {فَانْفَجَرَتْ مِنْهُ اثْنَتَا عَشْرَةَ عَيْنًا} [البقرة: 60] فِي كُلِّ نَاحِيَةٍ ثَلَاثَةُ أَعْيُنٍ، وَأَعْلَمَ كُلَّ سِبْطٍ عَيْنَهُمُ الَّتِي يَشْرَبُونَ مِنْهَا لَا يَرْتَحِلُونَ مِنْ مَنْقَلَةٍ إِلَّا وُجِدَ ذَلِكَ الْحَجَرُ فِيهِمْ بِالْمَكَانِ الَّذِي كَانَ فِيهِ بِالْأَمْسِ . رَفَعَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ هَذَا الْحَدِيثَ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَصَدَّقَ ذَلِكَ عِنْدِي، أَنَّ مُعَاوِيَةَ، سَمِعَ ابْنَ عَبَّاسٍ، حَدَّثَ هَذَا الْحَدِيثَ فَأَنْكَرَهُ عَلَيْهِ أَنْ يَكُونَ الْفِرْعَوْنِيُّ هَذَا الَّذِي أَفْشَى عَلَى مُوسَى أَمْرَ الْقَتِيلِ الَّذِي قُتِلَ، قَالَ: فَكَيْفَ يُفْشِي عَلَيْهِ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ عَلِمَ بِهِ وَلَا ظَهَرَ عَلَيْهِ إِلَّا الْإِسْرَائِيلِيُّ الَّذِي حَضَرَ ذَلِكَ وَشَهِدَهُ، فَغَضِبَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ، وَأَخَذَ بِيَدِ مُعَاوِيَةَ فَذَهَبَ بِهِ إِلَى سَعْدِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ الزُّهْرِيِّ فَقَالَ: يَا أَبَا إِسْحَاقَ، هَلْ تَذْكُرُ يَوْمَ حَدَّثَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَنْ قَتِيلِ مُوسَى الَّذِي قَتَلَهُ مِنْ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ الْإِسْرَائِيلِيُّ أَفْشَى عَلَيْهِ أَمِ الْفِرْعَوْنِيُّ؟ فَقَالَ: إِنَّمَا أَفْشَى عَلَيْهِ الْفِرْعَوْنِيُّ بِمَا سَمِعَ مِنَ الْإِسْرَائِيلِيِّ الَّذِي شَهِدَ ذَلِكَ وَحَضَرَهُ
قَالَ سَعِيدٌ: حَدَّثَنِي ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ أَنَّ يَوْمَ الزِّينَةِ الْيَوْمُ الَّذِي أَظْهَرَ اللَّهُ فِيهِ مُوسَى عَلَى فِرْعَوْنَ وَالسَّحَرَةِ، وَهُوَ يَوْمُ عَاشُورَاءَ، فَلَمَّا اجْتَمَعُوا فِي صَعِيدٍ، قَالَ النَّاسُ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ: انْطَلِقُوا فَلْنَحْضُرْ هَذَا الْأَمْرَ {لَعَلَّنَا نَتَّبِعُ السَّحَرَةَ إِنْ كَانُوا هُمُ الْغَالِبِينَ} [الشعراء: 40] يَعْنُونَ مُوسَى وَهَارُونَ - اسْتِهْزَاءً بِهِمَا، فَقَالُوا: يَا مُوسَى - لِقُدْرَتِهِمْ بِسِحْرِهِمْ - {إِمَّا أَنْ تُلْقِيَ وَإِمَّا أَنْ نَكُونَ نَحْنُ الْمُلْقِينَ} [الأعراف: 115] قَالَ: بَلْ أَلْقُوا {فَأَلْقَوْا حِبَالَهُمْ وَعِصِيَّهُمْ وَقَالُوا بِعِزَّةِ فِرْعَوْنَ إِنَّا لَنَحْنُ الْغَالِبُونَ} [الشعراء: 44] فَرَأَى مُوسَى مِنْ سِحْرِهِمْ مَا أَوْجَسَ فِي نَفْسِهِ خِيفَةً، فَأَوْحَى اللَّهُ تبارك وتعالى إِلَيْهِ {أَنْ أَلْقِ عَصَاكَ} [الأعراف: 117] فَلَمَّا أَلْقَاهَا صَارَتْ ثُعْبَانًا عَظِيمًا فَاغِرَةً فَاهَا، فَجَعَلَتِ الْعِصِيُّ بِدَعْوَةِ مُوسَى تَلَبَّسُ بِالْحِبَالِ حَتَّى صَارَتْ جُرَزًا إِلَى الثُّعْبَانِ تَدْخُلُ فِيهِ، حَتَّى مَا أَبْقَتْ عَصًا وَلَا حَبْلًا إِلَّا ابْتَلَعَتْهُ، فَلَمَّا عَرَفَ السَّحَرَةُ ذَلِكَ قَالُوا: لَوْ كَانَ هَذَا سِحْرًا لَمْ يَبْلُغْ مِنْ سِحْرِنَا هَذَا، وَلَكِنَّهُ أَمْرٌ مِنَ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ تبارك وتعالى آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَبِمَا جَاءَ بِهِ مُوسَى وَنَتُوبُ إِلَى اللَّهِ عز وجل مِمَّا كُنَّا عَلَيْهِ، وَكَسَرَ اللَّهُ ظَهْرَ فِرْعَوْنَ فِي ذَلِكَ الْمَوْطِنِ وَأَشْيَاعَهُ، وَأَظْهَرَ الْحَقَّ {وَبَطَلَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ فَغُلِبُوا هُنَالِكَ وَانْقَلَبُوا صَاغِرِينَ} [الأعراف: 118] وَامْرَأَةُ فِرْعَوْنَ بَارِزَةٌ مُتَبَذِّلَةٌ تَدْعُو اللَّهَ بِالنَّصْرِ لِمُوسَى عَلَى فِرْعَوْنَ، فَمَنْ رَآهَا مِنْ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ ظَنَّ أَنَّهَا ابْتَذَلَتْ لِلشَّفَقَةِ عَلَى فِرْعَوْنَ وَأَشْيَاعِهِ، وَإِنَّمَا كَانَ حُزْنُهَا وَهَمُّهَا لِمُوسَى فَلَمَّا طَالَ مُكْثُ مُوسَى لِمَوَاعِيدِ فِرْعَوْنَ الْكَاذِبَةِ، كُلَّمَا جَاءَهُ بِآيَةٍ وَعَدَهُ عِنْدَهَا أَنْ يُرْسِلَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ، فَإِذَا مَضَتْ أَخْلَفَ مَوَاعِيدَهُ، وَقَالَ: هَلْ يَسْتَطِيعُ رَبُّكَ أَنْ يَصْنَعَ غَيْرَ هَذَا، فَأَرْسَلَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى قَوْمِهِ الطُّوفَانَ وَالْجَرَادَ وَالْقُمَّلَ وَالضَّفَادِعَ وَالدَّمَ آيَاتٍ مُفَصَّلَاتٍ، كُلُّ ذَلِكَ يَشْكُو إِلَى مُوسَى وَيَطْلُبُ إِلَيْهِ أَنْ يَكُفَّهَا عَنْهُ، وَيُوَافِقُهُ أَنْ يُرْسِلَ مَعَهُ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ، فَإِذَا كَفَّ ذَلِكَ عَنْهُ أَخْلَفَ مَوْعِدَهُ وَنَكَثَ عَهْدَهُ، حَتَّى أُمِرَ بِالْخُرُوجِ بِقَوْمِهِ، فَخَرَجَ بِهِمْ لَيْلًا، فَلَمَّا أَصْبَحَ فِرْعَوْنُ وَرَأَى أَنَّهُمْ قَدْ مَضَوْا، أَرْسَلَ فِي الْمَدَائِنِ حَاشِرِينَ، يَتْبَعُهُمْ بِجُنُودٍ عَظِيمَةٍ كَثِيرَةٍ، فَأَوْحَى اللَّهُ إِلَى الْبَحْرِ أَنْ إِذَا ضَرَبَكَ عَبْدِي مُوسَى بِعَصَاهُ فَانْفَرِقِ اثْنَيْ عَشَرَ فِرْقًا حَتَّى يَجُوزَ مُوسَى وَمَنْ مَعَهُ، ثُمَّ الْتَقِ عَلَى مَنْ بَقِيَ بَعْدَهُ مِنْ فِرْعَوْنَ وَأَشْيَاعِهِ، فَنَسِيَ مُوسَى أَنْ يَضْرِبَ الْبَحْرَ بِالْعَصَا فَانْتَهَى إِلَى الْبَحْرِ وَلَهُ قَصِيفٌ مَخَافَةَ أَنْ يَضْرِبَهُ مُوسَى بِعَصَاهُ وَهُوَ غَافِلٌ فَيَصِيرَ عَاصِيًا فَلَمَّا تَرَاءَى الْجَمْعَانِ وَتَقَارَبَا، قَالَ قَوْمُ مُوسَى {إِنَّا لَمُدْرَكُونَ} [الشعراء: 61] افْعَلْ مَا أَمَرَكَ رَبُّكَ، فَإِنَّكَ لَنْ تَكْذِبَ وَلَنْ تُكْذَبَ، فَقَالَ: وَعَدَنِي إِذَا أَتَيْتُ الْبَحْرَ أَنْ يُفَرْقَ لِي اثْنَيْ عَشَرَ فِرْقًا حَتَّى أُجَاوِزَهُ، ثُمَّ ذَكَرَ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ الْعَصَا، فَضَرَبَ الْبَحْرَ بِعَصَاهُ فَانْفَرَقَ لَهُ حِينَ دَنَا أَوَائِلُ جُنْدِ فِرْعَوْنَ مِنْ أَوَاخِرِ جُنْدِ مُوسَى، فَانْفَرَقَ الْبَحْرُ كَمَا أَمَرَهُ رَبُّهُ، وَكَمَا وَعَدَ مُوسَى، فَلَمَّا أَنْ جَاوَزَ مُوسَى وَأَصْحَابُهُ كُلُّهُمْ، وَدَخَلَ فِرْعَوْنُ وَأَصْحَابُهُ الْتَقَى عَلَيْهِمْ كَمَا أَمَرَ اللَّهُ، فَلَمَّا أَنْ جَاوَرَ مُوسَى الْبَحْرَ قَالُوا: إِنَّا نَخَافُ أَنْ لَا يَكُونَ فِرْعَوْنُ غَرِقَ فَلَا نُؤْمِنُ بِهَلَاكِهِ، فَدَعَا رَبَّهُ، فَأَخْرَجَهُ لَهُ بِبَدَنِهِ حَتَّى اسْتَيْقَنُوا بِهَلَاكِهِ، ثُمَّ مَرُّوا عَلَى قَوْمٍ يَعْكُفُونَ عَلَى أَصْنَامٍ لَهُمْ {قَالُوا يَا مُوسَى اجْعَلْ لَنَا إِلَهًا كَمَا لَهُمْ آلِهَةٌ قَالَ إِنَّكُمْ قَوْمٌ تَجْهَلُونَ إِنَّ هَؤُلَاءِ مُتَبَّرٌ مَا هُمْ فِيهِ وَبَاطِلٌ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ} [الأعراف: 138] قَدْ رَأَيْتُمْ مِنَ الْعِبَرِ، وَسَمِعْتُمْ مَا يَكْفِيكُمْ، وَمَضَى فَأَنْزَلَهُمْ مُوسَى مَنْزِلًا، ثُمَّ قَالَ لَهُمْ: أَطِيعُوا هَارُونَ، فَإِنِّي قَدِ اسْتَخْلَفْتُهُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَإِنِّي ذَاهِبٌ إِلَى رَبِّي، وَأَجَّلَهُمْ ثَلَاثِينَ يَوْمًا أَنْ يَرْجِعَ إِلَيْهِمْ ، فَلَمَّا أَتَى رَبَّهُ أَرَادَ أَنْ يُكَلِّمَهُ فِي ثَلَاثِينَ وَقَدْ صَامَهُنَّ لَيْلَتَيْنِ وَنَهَارَهُنَّ، كَرِهَ أَنْ يُكَلِّمَ رَبَّهُ وَيَخْرُجَ مِنْ فَمِهِ رِيحُ فَمِ الصَّائِمِ، فَتَنَاوَلَ مُوسَى شَيْئًا مِنْ نَبَاتِ الْأَرْضِ فَمَضَغَهُ، فَقَالَ لَهُ رَبُّهُ حِينَ أَتَاهُ أَفْطَرْتَ؟ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالَّذِي كَانَ، قَالَ: رَبِّ كَرِهْتُ أَنْ أُكَلِّمَكَ إِلَّا وَفَمِي طَيِّبُ الرِّيحِ، قَالَ: أَوَمَا عَلِمْتَ يَا مُوسَى أَنَّ رِيحَ فَمِ الصَّائِمِ أَطْيَبُ عِنْدِي مِنْ رِيحِ الْمِسْكِ، ارْجِعْ حَتَّى تَصُومَ عَشْرًا ثُمَّ ائْتِنِي فَفَعَلَ مُوسَى مَا أُمِرَ بِهِ، فَلَمَّا رَأَى قَوْمُ مُوسَى أَنَّهُ لَمْ يَرْجِعْ إِلَيْهِمْ لِلْأَجَلِ، قَالَ: سَاءَهُمْ ذَلِكَ، وَكَانَ هَارُونُ قَدْ خَطَبَهُمْ، فَقَالَ: إِنَّكُمْ خَرَجْتُمْ مِنْ مِصْرَ وَلِقَوْمِ فِرْعَوْنَ عَوَارٍ وَوَدَائِعُ وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا مِثْلُ ذَلِكَ، وَأَنَا أَرَى أَنْ تَحْتَسِبُوا مَالَكُمْ عِنْدَهُمْ، وَلَا أُحِلُّ لَكُمْ وَدِيعَةً وَلَا عَارِيَةً، وَلَسْنَا بِرَادِّينَ إِلَيْهِمْ شَيْئًا مِنْ ذَلِكَ وَلَا مُمْسِكِيهِ لِأَنْفُسِنَا، فَحَفَرَ حَفِيرًا وَأَمَرَ كُلَّ قَوْمٍ عِنْدَهُمْ شَيْءٌ مِنْ ذَلِكَ مِنْ مَتَاعٍ أَوْ حِلْيَةٍ أَنْ يَقْذِفُوهُ فِي ذَلِكَ الْحَفِيرِ، ثُمَّ أَوَقَدَ عَلَيْهِ النَّارَ فَأَحْرَقَهُ، فَقَالَ: لَا يَكُونُ لَنَا وَلَا لَهُمْ، وَكَانَ السَّامِرِيُّ رَجُلًا مِنْ قَوْمٍ يَعْبُدُونَ الْبَقَرَ جِيرَانٍ لَهُمْ، وَلَمْ يَكُنْ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ، فَاحْتَمَلَ مَعَ مُوسَى وَبَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ حِينَ احْتَمَلُوا، فَقُضِيَ لَهُ أَنْ رَأَى أَثَرًا، فَأَخَذَ مِنْهُ قَبْضَةً، فَمَرَّ بِهَارُونَ، فَقَالَ لَهُ هَارُونُ: يَا سَامِرِيُّ، أَلَا تُلْقِي مَا فِي يَدِكَ وَهُوَ قَابِضٌ عَلَيْهِ لَا يَرَاهُ أَحَدٌ طُوَالَ ذَلِكَ، قَالَ: هَذِهِ قَبْضَةٌ مِنْ أَثَرِ الرَّسُولِ الَّذِي جَاوَزَ بِكُمُ الْبَحْرَ، فَلَا أُلْقِيهَا بِشَيْءٍ إِلَّا أَنْ تَدْعُوَ اللَّهَ إِذَا أُلْقِيهَا أَنْ يَكُونَ مَا أُرِيدُ فَأَلْقَاهُ، فَدَعَا لَهُ هَارُونُ، وَقَالَ أُرِيدُ أَنْ أُكَوِّنَ عِجْلًا، فَاجْتَمَعَ مَا كَانَ فِي الْحُفْرَةِ مِنْ مَتَاعٍ أَوْ حِلْيَةٍ أَوْ نُحَاسٍ أَوْ حَدِيدٍ فَصَارَ عِجْلًا أَجْوَفَ لَيْسَ فِيهِ رُوحٌ لَهُ خُوَارٌ ، قَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ: وَلَا وَاللَّهِ مَا كَانَ لَهُ صَوْتٌ قَطُّ، إِنَّمَا كَانَتِ الرِّيحُ تَدْخُلُ مِنْ دُبُرِهِ وَتَخْرُجُ مِنْ فِيهِ، وَكَانَ ذَلِكَ الصَّوْتُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ، فَتَفَرَّقَ بَنُو إِسْرَائِيلَ فِرَقًا، فَقَالَتْ فِرْقَةٌ: يَا سَامِرِيُّ، مَا هَذَا؟ فَأَنْتَ أَعْلَمُ بِهِ، قَالَ: هَذَا رَبُّكُمْ، وَلَكِنَّ مُوسَى أَضَلَّ الطَّرِيقَ، وَقَالَتْ فِرْقَةٌ: لَا نُكَذِّبُ بِهَذَا حَتَّى يَرْجِعَ إِلَيْنَا مُوسَى، فَإِنْ كَانَ رَبَّنَا لَمْ نَكُنْ ضَيَّعْنَاهُ وَعَجَزْنَا فِيهِ حِينَ رَأَيْنَاهُ، وَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ رَبَّنَا، فَإِنَّا نَتَّبِعُ قَوْلَ مُوسَى، وَقَالَتْ فِرْقَةٌ: هَذَا عَمَلُ الشَّيْطَانِ وَلَيْسَ بِرَبِّنَا وَلَا نُؤْمِنُ بِهِ وَلَا نُصَدِّقُ، وَأُشْرِبَ فِرْقَةٌ فِي قُلُوبِهِمُ التَّصْدِيقَ بِمَا قَالَ السَّامِرِيُّ فِي الْعِجْلِ، وَأَعْلَنُوا التَّكْذِيبَ بِهِ، فَقَالَ لَهُمْ هَارُونُ: {يَا قَوْمِ إِنَّمَا فُتِنْتُمْ بِهِ، وَإِنَّ رَبَّكُمُ الرَّحْمَنُ} [طه: 90] لَيْسَ هَكَذَا، قَالُوا: فَمَا بَالُ مُوسَى وَعَدَنَا ثَلَاثِينَ يَوْمًا ثُمَّ أَخْلَفَنَا، هَذِهِ أَرْبَعُونَ قَدْ مَضَتْ، فَقَالَ سُفَهَاؤُهُمْ: أَخْطَأَ رَبَّهُ فَهُوَ يَطْلُبُهُ وَيَتْبَعُهُ فَلَمَّا كَلَّمَ اللَّهُ مُوسَى وَقَالَ لَهُ مَا قَالَ أَخْبَرَهُ بِمَا لَقِيَ قَوْمُهُ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ، {فَرَجَعَ مُوسَى إِلَى قَوْمِهِ غَضْبَانَ أَسِفًا} [طه: 86] فَقَالَ لَهُمْ مَا سَمِعْتُمْ فِي الْقُرْآنِ {وَأَخَذَ بِرَأْسِ أَخِيهِ يَجُرُّهُ إِلَيْهِ} [الأعراف: 150] وَأَلْقَى الْأَلْوَاحَ، ثُمَّ إِنَّهُ عَذَرَ أَخَاهُ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُ، وَانْصَرَفَ إِلَى السَّامِرِيِّ، فَقَالَ لَهُ: مَا حَمَلَكَ عَلَى مَا صَنَعْتَ؟ قَالَ: قَبَضْتُ قَبْضَةً مِنْ أَثَرِ الرَّسُولِ وَفَطِنْتُ لَهَا وَعَمِيَتْ عَلَيْكُمْ فَقَذَفْتُهَا {وَكَذَلِكَ سَوَّلَتْ لِي نَفْسِي قَالَ فَاذْهَبْ فَإِنَّ لَكَ فِي الْحَيَاةِ أَنْ تَقُولَ لَا مِسَاسَ وَإِنَّ لَكَ مَوْعِدًا لَنْ تُخْلَفَهُ وَانْظُرْ إِلَى إِلَهِكَ الَّذِي ظَلْتَ عَلَيْهِ عَاكِفًا لَنُحَرِّقَنَّهُ ثُمَّ لَنَنْسِفَنَّهُ فِي الْيَمِّ نَسْفًا} [طه: 96] وَلَوْ كَانَ إِلَهًا لَمْ تَخْلُصْ إِلَى ذَلِكَ مِنْهُ فَاسْتَيْقَنَ بَنُو إِسْرَائِيلَ، وَاغْتَبَطَ الَّذِينَ كَانَ رَأْيُهُمْ فِيهِ مِثْلَ رَأْي هَارُونَ، وَقَالُوا جَمَاعَتُهُمْ لِمُوسَى: سَلْ لَنَا رَبَّكَ أَنْ يَفْتَحَ لَنَا بَابَ تَوْبَةٍ نَصْنَعُهَا فَتُكَفِّرَ مَا عَمِلْنَا، فَاخْتَارَ قَوْمَهُ سَبْعِينَ رَجُلًا لِذَلِكَ لِإِتْيَانِ الْجَبَلِ مِمَّنْ لَمْ يُشْرِكْ فِي الْعِجْلِ، فَانْطَلَقَ بِهِمْ لِيَسْأَلَ لَهُمُ التَّوْبَةَ فَرَجَفَتْ بِهِمُ الْأَرْضُ، فَاسْتَحْيَا نَبِيُّ اللَّهِ مِنْ قَوْمِهِ وَوَفْدِهِ حِينَ فُعِلَ بِهِمْ مَا فُعِلَ، فَقَالَ {رَبِّ لَوْ شِئْتَ أَهْلَكْتَهُمْ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَإِيَّايَ أَتُهْلِكُنَا بِمَا فَعَلَ السُّفَهَاءُ مِنَّا} [الأعراف: 155] وَفِيهِمْ مَنْ كَانَ اللَّهُ اطَّلَعَ عَلَى مَا أُشْرِبَ مِنْ حُبِّ الْعِجْلِ إِيمَانًا بِهِ فَلِذَلِكَ رَجَفَتْ بِهِمُ الْأَرْضُ، فَقَالَ {رَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ فَسَأَكْتُبُهَا لِلَّذِينَ يَتَّقُونَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ بِآيَاتِنَا يُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ الرَّسُولَ النَّبِيَّ الْأُمِّيَّ الَّذِي يَجِدُونَهُ مَكْتُوبًا عِنْدَهُمْ فِي التَّوْرَاةِ وَالْإِنْجِيلِ} [الأعراف: 156]
فَقَالَ: رَبِّ سَأَلْتُكَ التَّوْبَةَ لِقَوْمِي فَقُلْتَ: إِنَّ رَحْمَتَكَ كَتَبْتَهَا لِقَوْمٍ غَيْرِ قَوْمِي، فَلَيْتَكَ أَخَّرْتَنِي حَتَّى تُخْرِجَنِي حَيًّا فِي أُمَّةِ ذَلِكَ الرَّجُلِ الْمَرْحُومَةِ، فَقَالَ اللَّهُ عز وجل لَهُ: إِنَّ تَوْبَتَهُمْ أَنْ يَقْتُلَ كُلُّ رَجُلٍ مِنْهُمْ كُلَّ مَنْ لَقِيَ مِنْ وَالِدٍ وَوَلَدٍ فَيَقْتُلُهُ بِالسَّيْفِ لَا يُبَالِي مَنْ قَتَلَ فِي ذَلِكَ الْمَوْطِنِ، وَيَأْتِي أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ خَفِيَ عَلَى مُوسَى وَهَارُونَ مَا اطَّلَعَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ ذُنُوبِهِمْ وَاعْتَرَفُوا بِهَا، وَفَعَلُوا مَا أُمِرُوا بِهِ فَغَفَرَ اللَّهُ لِلْقَاتِلِ وَالْمَقْتُولِ، ثُمَّ سَارَ بِهِمْ مُوسَى مُتَوَجِّهًا نَحْوَ الْأَرْضِ الْمُقَدَّسَةِ وَأَخَذَ الْأَلْوَاحَ بَعْدَمَا سَكَتَ عَنْهُ الْغَضَبُ، فَأَمَرَهُمْ بِالَّذِي أُمِرَ بِهِ أَنْ يُبَلِّغَهُمْ مِنَ الْوَظَائِفِ، فَثَقُلَ ذَلِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَأَبَوْا أَنْ يُقِرُّوا بِهَا فَنَتَقَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْجَبَلَ كَأَنَّهُ ظُلَّةٌ، وَدَنَا مِنْهُمْ حَتَّى خَافُوا أَنْ يَقَعَ عَلَيْهِمْ فَأَخَذُوا الْكِتَابَ بِأَيْمَانِهِمْ وَهُمْ مُصْغُونَ إِلَى الْجَبَلِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَالْكِتَابُ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ وَهُمْ يَنْظُرُونَ إِلَى الْجَبَلِ مَخَافَةَ أَنْ يَقَعَ عَلَيْهِمْ، ثُمَّ مَضَوْا حَتَّى أَتَوْا الْأَرْضَ الْمُقَدَّسَةَ، فَوَجَدُوا فِيهَا مَدِينَةً فِيهَا قَوْمٌ جَبَّارُونَ خَلْقُهُمْ خَلْقٌ مُنْكَرٌ، وَذَكَرُوا مِنْ ثِمَارِهِمْ أَمْرًا عَجِيبًا مِنْ عِظَمِهَا، فَقَالُوا: {يَا مُوسَى إِنَّ فِيهَا قَوْمًا جَبَّارِينَ} [المائدة: 22] لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِمْ، وَلَا نَدْخُلُهَا مَا دَامُوا فِيهَا {فَإِنْ يَخْرُجُوا مِنْهَا فَإِنَّا دَاخِلُونَ} [المائدة: 22] {قَالَ رَجُلَانِ مِنَ الَّذِينَ يَخَافُونَ} [المائدة: 23] الْجَبَّارِينَ آمَنَّا بِمُوسَى، فَخَرَجَا إِلَيْهِ، فَقَالَا: نَحْنُ أَعْلَمُ بِقَوْمِنَا، إِنْ كُنْتُمْ إِنَّمَا تَخَافُونَ مِمَّا تَرَوْنَ مِنْ أَجْسَامِهِمْ وَعُدَّتَهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ لَا قُلُوبَ لَهُمْ وَلَا مَنَعَةَ عِنْدَهُمْ، فَادْخُلُوا عَلَيْهِمُ الْبَابَ {فَإِذَا دَخَلْتُمُوهُ فَإِنَّكُمْ غَالِبُونُ} [المائدة: 23]
وَيَقُولُ نَاسٌ: إِنَّهُمَا مِنْ قَوْمِ مُوسَى، وَزُعِمَ عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ جُبَيْرٍ أَنَّهُمَا مِنَ الْجَبَابِرَةِ آمَنَا بِمُوسَى، يَقُولُ: {مِنَ الَّذِينَ يَخَافُونَ} [المائدة: 23] إِنَّمَا عَنَى بِذَلِكَ الَّذِينَ يَخَافُهُمْ بَنُو إِسْرَائِيلَ {قَالُوا يَا مُوسَى إِنَّا لَنْ نَدْخُلَهَا أَبَدًا مَا دَامُوا فِيهَا فَاذْهَبْ أَنْتَ وَرَبُّكَ فَقَاتِلَا إِنَّا هَاهُنَا قَاعِدُونَ} [المائدة: 24] فَأَغْضَبُوا مُوسَى فَدَعَا عَلَيْهِمْ وَسَمَّاهُمْ فَاسِقِينَ وَلَمْ يَدْعُ عَلَيْهِمْ قَبْلَ ذَلِكَ لِمَا رَأَى مِنْهُمْ مِنَ الْمَعْصِيَةِ وَإِسَاءَتِهِمْ، حَتَّى كَانَ يَوْمُئِذٍ، فَاسْتَجَابَ اللَّهُ لَهُ فَسَمَّاهُمْ كَمَا سَمَّاهُمْ مُوسَى فَاسِقِينَ، وَحَرَّمَهَا عَلَيْهِمْ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً يَتِيهُونَ فِي الْأَرْضِ، يُصْبِحُونَ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ فَيَسِيرُونَ لَيْسَ لَهُمْ قَرَارٌ، ثُمَّ ظَلَّلَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْغَمَامَ فِي التِّيهِ، وَأَنْزَلَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَنَّ وَالسَّلْوَى، وَجَعَلَ لَهُمْ ثِيَابًا لَا تَبْلَى وَلَا تَتَّسِخُ، وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَ ظُهُورِهِمْ حَجَرًا مُرَبَّعًا، وَأَمَرَ مُوسَى فَضَرَبَهُ بِعَصَاهُ {فَانْفَجَرَتْ مِنْهُ اثْنَتَا عَشْرَةَ عَيْنًا} [البقرة: 60] فِي كُلِّ نَاحِيَةٍ ثَلَاثَةُ أَعْيُنٍ، وَأَعْلَمَ كُلَّ سِبْطٍ عَيْنَهُمُ الَّتِي يَشْرَبُونَ مِنْهَا لَا يَرْتَحِلُونَ مِنْ مَنْقَلَةٍ إِلَّا وُجِدَ ذَلِكَ الْحَجَرُ فِيهِمْ بِالْمَكَانِ الَّذِي كَانَ فِيهِ بِالْأَمْسِ . رَفَعَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ هَذَا الْحَدِيثَ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَصَدَّقَ ذَلِكَ عِنْدِي، أَنَّ مُعَاوِيَةَ، سَمِعَ ابْنَ عَبَّاسٍ، حَدَّثَ هَذَا الْحَدِيثَ فَأَنْكَرَهُ عَلَيْهِ أَنْ يَكُونَ الْفِرْعَوْنِيُّ هَذَا الَّذِي أَفْشَى عَلَى مُوسَى أَمْرَ الْقَتِيلِ الَّذِي قُتِلَ، قَالَ: فَكَيْفَ يُفْشِي عَلَيْهِ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ عَلِمَ بِهِ وَلَا ظَهَرَ عَلَيْهِ إِلَّا الْإِسْرَائِيلِيُّ الَّذِي حَضَرَ ذَلِكَ وَشَهِدَهُ، فَغَضِبَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ، وَأَخَذَ بِيَدِ مُعَاوِيَةَ فَذَهَبَ بِهِ إِلَى سَعْدِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ الزُّهْرِيِّ فَقَالَ: يَا أَبَا إِسْحَاقَ، هَلْ تَذْكُرُ يَوْمَ حَدَّثَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَنْ قَتِيلِ مُوسَى الَّذِي قَتَلَهُ مِنْ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ الْإِسْرَائِيلِيُّ أَفْشَى عَلَيْهِ أَمِ الْفِرْعَوْنِيُّ؟ فَقَالَ: إِنَّمَا أَفْشَى عَلَيْهِ الْفِرْعَوْنِيُّ بِمَا سَمِعَ مِنَ الْإِسْرَائِيلِيِّ الَّذِي شَهِدَ ذَلِكَ وَحَضَرَهُ
It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) concerning the saying of Allah Almighty: "And We tried you with a thorough trial (futun)" [Taha: 40]. Sa'id bin Jubayr (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I asked him what the trials (futun) were. He said: "Come back at the start of the day, O Ibn Jubayr, for there is a long story to them." When morning came, I went early to Ibn Abbas to claim from him what he had promised me of the story of the trials, and he said: Pharaoh and those who sat with him discussed what Allah had promised Ibrahim (peace be upon him): that He would place prophets and kings among his descendants. Some of them said: "The Children of Israel are waiting for that and have no doubt about it. They used to think that it was Yusuf bin Ya'qub (peace be upon them both), but when he died they said: 'It is not like that; Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, promised Ibrahim.'" Pharaoh said: "So what do you think?" They took counsel together and agreed that he should send out men carrying blades, who would go round among the Children of Israel and slaughter every male newborn they found. They did that. When they saw that the elders of the Children of Israel were dying at their appointed times while the young were being slaughtered, they said: "You are about to wipe out the Children of Israel, and then you will end up having to do yourselves the work they used to spare you. So kill every male newborn one year, so that their numbers grow fewer, and leave them one year in which none of them is killed, so that the young grow up in place of the elders who die. They will not become numerous through those you spare, so that you would fear them outnumbering you, nor will they be wiped out through those you kill, so that you would come to need them." So they agreed on that.
The mother of Musa (peace be upon him) became pregnant with Harun (peace be upon him) in the year in which boys were not slaughtered, and she gave birth to him openly and in safety. The following year she became pregnant with Musa, and worry and grief fell into her heart - and that is one of the trials, O Ibn Jubayr - because of what entered his mother's heart concerning what was intended for him. So Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, revealed to her: "Do not fear and do not grieve; indeed, We will return him to you and make him one of the messengers" [Al-Qasas: 7], and He commanded her that when she gave birth she should put him in a chest and then cast him into the river. When she gave birth, she did that with him. When her son had passed out of her sight, Satan came to her, and she said to herself: "What have I done to my son? Had he been slaughtered in my presence and I had shrouded him and buried him, that would have been dearer to me than casting him with my own hand to the surging waves of the sea and its fishes." The water carried him along until it brought him to the landing-place where the slave girls of Pharaoh's wife drew water. When they saw him they took him, and they were about to open the chest, but one of them said: "There is wealth in this, and if we open it, the king's wife will not believe us about what we found in it." So they carried it just as it was, without moving anything in it, until they handed it to her. When she opened it she saw a boy in it, and a love for him was cast into her heart such as she had never felt for any human being. And the heart of Musa's mother became empty of the remembrance of everything except the remembrance of Musa.
When the slaughterers heard about him, they came with their blades to Pharaoh's wife to slaughter him - and that is one of the trials, O Ibn Jubayr. She said to them: "Leave him, for this single one will not add to the Children of Israel, until I go to Pharaoh and ask him to give him to me. If he gives him to me, you will have done well and acted kindly; and if he orders him to be slaughtered, I will not blame you." She brought him to Pharaoh and said: "A comfort of the eye for me and for you." Pharaoh said: "He may be that for you; as for me, I have no need of it." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By the One by whom I swear, had Pharaoh acknowledged that he would be a comfort of the eye for him, as his wife acknowledged, Allah would have guided him through him as He guided his wife; but He deprived him of that." She then sent for every woman around her who had milk, to choose a wet-nurse for him. But every time one of those women took him to suckle him, he would not accept her breast, until Pharaoh's wife feared that he would refuse milk and die, and that grieved her. So he was taken out to the market and the gathering-place of the people, she hoping to find a wet-nurse whose milk he would take, but he would not accept. The mother of Musa became distraught, and she said to his sister: "Follow him; trace his tracks and search for him. Do you hear any mention of him? Is my son alive, or have the beasts eaten him?" - and she had forgotten what Allah had promised her concerning him. His sister watched him from a distance while they did not perceive it - "from a distance" (an junub) means that a person's gaze rises to something far off while he is beside it and is not noticed. When the wet-nurses had worn them out, she said out of joy: "Shall I direct you to a household who will take care of him for you and be sincere to him?" They seized her and said: "How do you know what their sincerity to him would be? Do you (people) know him?" so that they became suspicious about it - and that is one of the trials, O Ibn Jubayr. She said: "Their sincerity to him and their tenderness for him would be out of desire for a tie with the king and hope of his favour." So they let her go. She went to her mother and told her the news, and his mother came. When she placed him in her lap he leapt to her breast and sucked it until both his sides were filled. A bearer of good news went to Pharaoh's wife to give her the good news: "We have found a wet-nurse for your son." She sent for her, and she was brought along with him. When she saw what he did with her, she said to her: "Stay with me and nurse this son of mine, for I have never loved anything as I love him." The mother of Musa said: "I cannot leave my house and my children, for they would be lost. If you are content to give him to me, so that I take him to my house and he stays with me, I will spare no effort in doing him good; otherwise I will not leave my house and my children." The mother of Musa remembered what Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, had promised her, so she held out firmly against Pharaoh's wife, certain that Allah would fulfil His promise. She returned to her house with her son. And the people of the town became united, protected from forced labour and injustice as long as he was among them.
He said: When he grew up, Pharaoh's wife said to the mother of Musa: "I want you to show me my son." She promised her a day on which she would show him to her. Pharaoh's wife said to her treasurers, stewards and nurses: "Let not one of you remain without receiving my son today with a gift and honour, so that I may see that for him; and I am sending a trustworthy person who will record everything each one of you does." Gifts, honours and presents kept greeting him from the time he left his mother's house until he was brought in to Pharaoh's wife. When he came in to her, she honoured him, treated him generously, rejoiced in him and admired him, and she honoured his mother for the good effect she had had on him. Then she said: "I will take him to Pharaoh, and he will surely honour him and treat him generously." When she took him in to him, she placed him in his lap, and Musa took hold of Pharaoh's beard and pulled it down to the ground. The misguided ones, the enemies of Allah, said to Pharaoh: "Do you not see what Allah promised His prophet Ibrahim: that this one would overpower you, rise above you and throw you down?" So he sent for the slaughterers to slaughter him - and that is one of the trials, O Ibn Jubayr, after every trial with which he was tried; trials were intended for him. Pharaoh's wife came hurrying to Pharaoh and said: "What has come over you regarding this boy whom you gave to me?" He said: "Do you not see that he claims he will throw me down and rise above me?" She said: "Set something between me and you by which you will know the truth: bring two live coals and two pearls and put them near him. If he grabs the two pearls and avoids the two coals, you will know that he has understanding; but if he takes the two coals and does not want the two pearls, you will know that no one who has understanding prefers two coals to two pearls." He put that near him, and he took the two coals, and they snatched them from his hand for fear that they would burn him. The woman said: "Do you not see?" So Allah turned him away from him after he had resolved to do it; Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, was to accomplish His purpose in him.
When he reached his full strength and became one of the men, no one of Pharaoh's people could reach any of the Children of Israel with injustice or forced labour while he was with them, so that they became fully protected. While Musa was in a part of the city, he came upon two men fighting, one a Pharaonite and the other an Israelite. The Israelite called on him for help against the Pharaonite, and Musa became extremely angry, because the Pharaonite had laid hands on him while knowing Musa's standing among the Children of Israel and his protection of them; people did not know that this was only because of the nursing, except Musa's mother, unless Allah had informed Musa of it in a way He had not informed anyone else. Musa struck the Pharaonite and killed him, and no one saw them except Allah and the Israelite. When he had killed the man, Musa said: "This is of the work of Satan; indeed, he is a clear, misleading enemy" [Al-Qasas: 15]. Then he said: "My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, so forgive me. So He forgave him; indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful" [Al-Qasas: 16]. He became fearful in the city, watching for news. Pharaoh was approached and told: "The Children of Israel have killed a man from Pharaoh's people, so take our right for us and do not let them off." He said: "Find me his killer and someone to testify against him, for the king, even if his favour lies with a people, cannot rightly exact retaliation without proof or evidence. So find out the facts of it for me, and I will take your right for you." While they were going round finding no evidence, Musa saw, the next day, that same Israelite fighting another man from Pharaoh's people. The Israelite called on him for help against the Pharaonite. But it so happened that Musa had come to regret what he had done, and he disliked what he saw. Out of anger at the Israelite, while he meant to seize the Pharaonite, he said to the Israelite - because of what he had done yesterday and today - "Indeed, you are clearly misguided" [Al-Qasas: 18]. The Israelite looked at Musa when he said this to him, and saw that he was angry, as angry as he had been the day before, so he feared that it was him he meant and not the Pharaonite. He did not mean him; he meant only the Pharaonite. But the Israelite was afraid, so he got away from the Pharaonite and said: "O Musa, do you want to kill me as you killed a soul yesterday?" [Al-Qasas: 19]. He said that only out of fear that it was him Musa meant to kill. They quarrelled and then parted, and the Pharaonite went to his people and told them the news he had heard from the Israelite when he said: "Do you want to kill me as you killed a soul yesterday?" [Al-Qasas: 19]. So Pharaoh sent the slaughterers to kill Musa. Pharaoh's messengers took the main road, walking at their ease in search of Musa, not fearing that he would escape them, when a man of Musa's party came from the farthest end of the city, took a short cut by a near path so as to reach Musa before them, and told him the news - and that is one of the trials, O Ibn Jubayr.
Musa set out heading for Madyan. He had never faced a trial before that, and he had no knowledge of the road except his good opinion of his Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, for he said: "Perhaps my Lord will guide me to the right way. And when he arrived at the water of Madyan, he found there a crowd of people watering (their flocks), and he found apart from them two women holding back" [Al-Qasas: 23] - meaning holding back their sheep. He said to them: "What is the matter with you, standing apart and not watering with the people?" They said: "We have no strength to push against the people; we are only waiting for what is left over in their troughs." So he watered for them, drawing a great deal of water in the bucket, until they were the first of the shepherds to finish. They went back with their sheep to their father, and Musa went off and took shade under a tree, and said: "My Lord, indeed I am in need of whatever good You send down to me" [Al-Qasas: 24]. Their father found it strange that they had come back so quickly with their sheep, their udders full and their bellies filled, and said: "Something has happened with you today." They told him what Musa had done, and he ordered one of them to call him to him. She came to Musa and called him. When he had spoken with him, he said: "Do not fear; you have escaped from the wrongdoing people" [Al-Qasas: 25]; Pharaoh and his people have no authority over us, and we are not in his kingdom. He said: "One of the two women said: O my father, hire him; indeed, the best one you can hire is the strong, the trustworthy" [Al-Qasas: 26]. Jealous concern moved him to say: "And how do you know what his strength and his trustworthiness are?" She said: "As for his strength, it is what I saw of him with the bucket when he watered for us: I have never seen a man stronger than him at that watering. As for his trustworthiness, he looked at me when I came towards him and appeared before him, and when he realised that I was a woman he lowered his head and did not raise it or look at me until I had conveyed your message to him. Then he said: 'Walk behind me and describe the way to me.' He would not do this unless he were trustworthy." Her father was relieved; he believed her and thought of him as she had said. He said to him: Would you agree "that I marry you to one of these two daughters of mine on the condition that you work for me for eight years; and if you complete ten, that will be from you. I do not wish to put you in hardship; you will find me, if Allah wills, among the righteous" [Al-Qasas: 27]? He agreed. So eight years were obligatory upon the Prophet of Allah Musa (peace be upon him), and the two years were a promise from him; Allah fulfilled his promise on his behalf, and he completed ten. Sa'id said: A man from among the Christians, one of their scholars, met me and said: "Do you know which of the two terms Musa fulfilled?" I said: "No" - and at that time I did not know. Then I met Ibn Abbas and mentioned that to him, and he said: "Did you not know that the eight were obligatory upon Musa, and the Prophet of Allah would not have left out any of them, and he knew that Allah would fulfil on Musa's behalf the promise he had made? So he completed ten years." I met the Christian and told him that, and he said: "The one you asked, who told you this, knows more about it than you." I said: "Yes indeed, and he is more worthy of that." When Musa travelled with his family, there happened the matter of the fire, the staff and his hand that Allah has related to you in the Qur'an. He complained to his Lord, the Blessed and Exalted, of what he feared from Pharaoh's people concerning the killing, and of the knot in his tongue, for there was a knot in his tongue that kept him from much speech; and he asked his Lord to help him with his brother Harun, to be a support for him and to speak on his behalf much of what his tongue could not express clearly. Allah granted him his request and loosened a knot from his tongue. Allah revealed to Harun and commanded him to meet him, so Musa set off with his staff until he met Harun, and they went together to Pharaoh. They stayed at his door for a time without being given permission; then permission was given to them after strict screening. They said: "We are the messengers of your Lord" [Taha: 47]. He said: "So who is the Lord of you two, O Musa?" [Taha: 49]. He told him what Allah has related to you in the Qur'an. He said: "What do you want?" and he reminded him of the man who had been killed, and Musa excused himself with what you have heard, and said: "I want you to believe in Allah and to send the Children of Israel with me." He refused him that and said: "Bring a sign, if you are one of the truthful." So he threw down his staff, and behold, it was a huge serpent, its mouth gaping, rushing towards Pharaoh. When Pharaoh saw it heading for him, he feared it, leapt from his throne and appealed to Musa to hold it back from him, and he did so. Then he drew his hand out of the opening of his garment, and he (Pharaoh) saw it white without any harm - meaning without leprosy - then he put it back and it returned to its original colour. He consulted the chiefs around him about what he had seen, and they said to him: "These two are magicians who want to drive you out of your land by their magic and do away with your exemplary way" [Taha: 63] - meaning the kingdom they were in, and their way of life. They refused to give him anything of what he asked, and said to him: "Gather the magicians for us, for they are many in your land, so that their magic may overcome the magic of these two." So he sent into the city, and every magician skilled in the craft was gathered for him. When they came to Pharaoh they said: "With what does this magician work?" They said: "He works with serpents." They said: "No, by Allah, there is no one on earth who works magic with serpents and staffs as we do. So what will our reward be if we win?" He said to them: "You are my relatives and my close associates, and I will do for you everything you like." So they fixed the appointment for the day of adornment, "and that the people be assembled in the forenoon" [Taha: 59].
Sa'id said: Ibn Abbas told me that the day of adornment is the day on which Allah gave Musa victory over Pharaoh and the magicians, and it is the day of Ashura. When they had gathered on an open plain, the people said to one another: "Come, let us attend this matter, 'that we may follow the magicians, if they are the victors'" [Al-Shu'ara: 40] - meaning Musa and Harun, mocking the two of them. The magicians said - because of the power they had through their magic - "O Musa, either you throw, or we will be the ones to throw" [Al-A'raf: 115]. He said: "Rather, you throw." "So they threw down their ropes and their staffs and said: By the might of Pharaoh, it is we who will be the victors" [Al-Shu'ara: 44]. Musa saw such magic of theirs that he sensed fear within himself, so Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, revealed to him: "Throw your staff" [Al-A'raf: 117]. When he threw it, it became a huge serpent with gaping mouth, and the staffs, by Musa's supplication, became entangled with the ropes until they became pieces going towards the serpent and entering it, until it left no staff and no rope without swallowing it. When the magicians realised that, they said: "If this were magic, it would not have gone this far against our magic; rather, it is a matter from the command of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted. We believe in Allah and in what Musa has brought, and we repent to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, from what we were upon." And Allah broke the back of Pharaoh and his followers at that place, and made the truth prevail, "and what they were doing was made void. So they were defeated there and turned back humiliated" [Al-A'raf: 118]. Pharaoh's wife had come out into the open in humble clothes, praying to Allah for victory for Musa over Pharaoh; whoever of Pharaoh's people saw her thought that she had humbled herself out of concern for Pharaoh and his followers, whereas her grief and worry were only for Musa. When Musa's stay grew long because of Pharaoh's false promises - every time he brought him a sign, he would promise him at that point to send the Children of Israel, and when it passed he would break his promises and say: "Can your Lord do anything other than this?" - Allah sent upon him and his people the flood, the locusts, the lice, the frogs and the blood, as distinct signs. Each time he would complain to Musa and ask him to remove it from him, and would agree with him that he would send the Children of Israel with him; and when it was removed from him, he would break his promise and violate his covenant. At last Musa was commanded to go out with his people, and he went out with them by night. When Pharaoh woke in the morning and saw that they had gone, he sent gatherers into the cities, and he followed them with huge, numerous armies. Allah revealed to the sea: "When My servant Musa strikes you with his staff, split into twelve parts so that Musa and those with him may cross; then close over whoever of Pharaoh and his followers remain after him." Musa forgot to strike the sea with the staff, and he reached the sea while it was roaring, fearing that Musa would strike it while it was heedless and that it would thus become disobedient. When the two hosts saw each other and drew close, Musa's people said: "We are surely overtaken" [Al-Shu'ara: 61]; "Do what your Lord has commanded you, for you have not lied and you have not been lied to." He said: "He promised me that when I came to the sea it would split for me into twelve parts so that I could cross it." Then after that he remembered the staff, and he struck the sea with his staff, and it split for him when the first of Pharaoh's army had come close to the last of Musa's army. The sea split as his Lord had commanded it and as He had promised Musa. When Musa and all his companions had crossed, and Pharaoh and his companions had entered, it closed over them as Allah had commanded. When Musa had crossed the sea, his companions said: "We fear that Pharaoh may not have drowned, and we cannot be sure of his destruction." So he prayed to his Lord, and He brought him out for him with his body, until they became certain of his destruction. Then they passed by a people devoted to idols of theirs. "They said: O Musa, make for us a god just as they have gods. He said: Indeed, you are an ignorant people. What these people are engaged in is destroyed, and void is what they used to do" [Al-A'raf: 138]; "You have seen lessons and heard what should suffice you." He went on, and Musa settled them in a place and said to them: "Obey Harun, for I have appointed him as my deputy over you, and I am going to my Lord." He set them a term of thirty days in which he would return to them. When he came to his Lord and wanted to speak to Him at the end of the thirty days, having fasted them, nights and days, he disliked speaking to his Lord while the smell of a fasting person's mouth came from his mouth, so Musa took something of the plants of the earth and chewed it. When he came to Him, his Lord said to him: "Have you broken your fast?" - and He knew best what had happened. He said: "My Lord, I disliked speaking to You except with a sweet-smelling mouth." He said: "Did you not know, O Musa, that the smell of the fasting person's mouth is sweeter to Me than the scent of musk? Go back and fast ten days, then come to Me." Musa did as he was commanded. When Musa's people saw that he had not returned to them at the appointed time, that troubled them. Harun had addressed them, saying: "You came out of Egypt while Pharaoh's people had loans and deposits with you, and you have the like of that with them. My view is that you count your property with them as given up (for Allah's reward); I do not make lawful for you any deposit or loan, and we will neither return any of it to them nor keep it for ourselves." So he dug a pit and ordered every group that had any of that, whether goods or jewellery, to throw it into that pit; then he lit a fire over it and burned it, and said: "It will be neither for us nor for them." Al-Samiri was a man from a people who worshipped cows, neighbours of theirs, and he was not from the Children of Israel. He had set out with Musa and the Children of Israel when they set out. It was decreed for him that he saw a trace, and he took a handful from it. He passed by Harun, and Harun said to him: "O Samiri, will you not throw down what is in your hand?" - he was clutching it, and no one had seen it all that time. He said: "This is a handful from the trace of the messenger who brought you across the sea. I will not throw it down for anything unless you pray to Allah that when I throw it, it becomes what I want." He threw it, and Harun prayed for him, and he said: "I want it to become a calf." So whatever goods, jewellery, copper or iron were in the pit gathered together and became a hollow calf with no soul in it, which had a lowing sound. Ibn Abbas said: "No, by Allah, it never had any voice at all; the wind would enter from its rear and come out of its mouth, and that sound came from that." The Children of Israel split into groups. One group said: "O Samiri, what is this? You know best about it." He said: "This is your lord, but Musa has lost the way." Another group said: "We will not deny this until Musa returns to us. If it is our lord, we will not have neglected it or fallen short regarding it when we saw it; and if it is not our lord, we will follow what Musa says." Another group said: "This is the work of Satan; it is not our lord, and we will neither believe in it nor accept it." And one group had their hearts filled with belief in what al-Samiri said about the calf, and they openly declared their denial (of the truth). Harun said to them: "O my people, you are only being tried by it, and indeed your Lord is the Most Merciful" [Taha: 90]; it is not like this. They said: "Then what is the matter with Musa? He promised us thirty days and then broke his promise to us; here forty have passed." Their foolish ones said: "He has missed his Lord, so he is searching for Him and following Him." When Allah spoke to Musa and said to him what He said, He informed him of what his people had encountered after him. "So Musa returned to his people, angry and grieved" [Taha: 86], and he said to them what you have heard in the Qur'an, "and he seized his brother by the head, dragging him towards himself" [Al-A'raf: 150], and he threw down the tablets. Then he accepted his brother's excuse and sought forgiveness for him, and turned to al-Samiri and said to him: "What drove you to do what you did?" He said: "I took a handful from the trace of the messenger; I perceived it while it was hidden from you, and I threw it in. 'And thus did my soul entice me. He said: Then go; indeed, it is for you in this life to say: No contact. And indeed, you have an appointment which you will not fail to keep. And look at your god to which you remained devoted: we will surely burn it and then scatter it in the sea, a scattering' [Taha: 96]." Had it been a god, that could not have been done to it. So the Children of Israel became certain, and those whose view about it had been like Harun's view were glad, and all of them said to Musa: "Ask your Lord for us to open for us a door of repentance which we may carry out, so that it expiates what we have done." So Musa chose from his people seventy men for that, for going to the mountain, from among those who had not taken part in (worshipping) the calf. He went with them to ask for repentance for them, and the earth shook with them. The Prophet of Allah felt ashamed before his people and his delegation at what had been done to them, and he said: "My Lord, had You willed, You could have destroyed them before, and me. Will You destroy us for what the foolish among us have done?" [Al-A'raf: 155]. Among them were some in whom Allah had seen the love of the calf that had filled their hearts, believing in it, and that is why the earth shook with them. He (Allah) said: "My mercy encompasses all things. So I will decree it for those who are mindful (of Me) and give zakah, and those who believe in Our signs - those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find written with them in the Torah and the Gospel" [Al-A'raf: 156].
He (Musa) said: "My Lord, I asked You for repentance for my people, and You said that You have decreed Your mercy for a people other than my people. Would that You had delayed me until You brought me forth alive in the nation of that man, the nation shown mercy." Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, said to him: "Their repentance is that every man of them kills whoever he meets, father or son, killing him with the sword, not caring whom he kills in that place." And those whose sins had been hidden from Musa and Harun, while Allah knew of them, came forward and confessed them, and they did what they were commanded; so Allah forgave both the killer and the killed. Then Musa travelled with them heading for the Holy Land, and he took up the tablets after his anger had subsided. He commanded them with the duties he had been commanded to convey to them, but that was heavy for them and they refused to accept them. So Allah raised the mountain over them as if it were a canopy, and it came close to them until they feared it would fall on them. So they took the Book with their right hands while leaning towards the mountain and the ground, the Book in their hands, looking at the mountain for fear that it would fall on them. Then they went on until they came to the Holy Land, and found in it a city with a tyrannical people (jabbarun) of monstrous build, and they mentioned something amazing about the size of their fruits. They said: "O Musa, in it is a people of tyrants" [Al-Ma'idah: 22]; we have no power against them, and we will not enter it as long as they are in it; "so if they leave it, then we will enter" [Al-Ma'idah: 22]. "Two men from among those who feared" [Al-Ma'idah: 23] - from the tyrants, who had believed in Musa - came out to him and said: "We know our people best. If you are afraid only because of what you see of their bodies and their numbers, they have no hearts and no power to resist, so enter upon them through the gate, 'and when you have entered it, you will be victorious'" [Al-Ma'idah: 23].
Some people say that the two of them were from Musa's people, and it is reported from Sa'id bin Jubayr that they were from the tyrants and had believed in Musa. He says that "from among those who feared" [Al-Ma'idah: 23] means only those whom the Children of Israel feared. "They said: O Musa, we will never enter it as long as they are in it; so go, you and your Lord, and fight; we are sitting right here" [Al-Ma'idah: 24]. They angered Musa, so he prayed against them and called them defiantly disobedient (fasiqin). He had not prayed against them before that, despite the disobedience and wrongdoing he had seen from them, until that day. Allah answered him and called them fasiqin, as Musa had called them, and He forbade it to them for forty years, wandering in the land: every morning they would set out and travel, having no settled place. Then He shaded them with clouds in the wilderness (al-tih), sent down to them manna and quails, and gave them clothes that neither wore out nor became dirty. He placed among them a square stone and commanded Musa, who struck it with his staff, "and there gushed forth from it twelve springs" [Al-Baqarah: 60], three springs on each side; and He made known to each tribe its spring from which they would drink. They would not move from any stopping-place without that stone being found among them in the same place it had been the day before.
Ibn Abbas attributed this hadith to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). And what confirmed that for me is that Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) heard Ibn Abbas narrate this hadith and objected to his saying that it was the Pharaonite who disclosed against Musa the matter of the man who was killed. He said: "How could he disclose it against him, when no one knew of it or witnessed it except the Israelite who was present and saw it?" Ibn Abbas became angry, took Mu'awiyah by the hand and went with him to Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Malik al-Zuhri (may Allah be pleased with him), and said: "O Abu Ishaq, do you remember the day when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) told us about the man from Pharaoh's people whom Musa killed: was it the Israelite who disclosed it against him or the Pharaonite?" He said: "It was the Pharaonite who disclosed it against him, from what he had heard from the Israelite who witnessed it and was present."
The mother of Musa (peace be upon him) became pregnant with Harun (peace be upon him) in the year in which boys were not slaughtered, and she gave birth to him openly and in safety. The following year she became pregnant with Musa, and worry and grief fell into her heart - and that is one of the trials, O Ibn Jubayr - because of what entered his mother's heart concerning what was intended for him. So Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, revealed to her: "Do not fear and do not grieve; indeed, We will return him to you and make him one of the messengers" [Al-Qasas: 7], and He commanded her that when she gave birth she should put him in a chest and then cast him into the river. When she gave birth, she did that with him. When her son had passed out of her sight, Satan came to her, and she said to herself: "What have I done to my son? Had he been slaughtered in my presence and I had shrouded him and buried him, that would have been dearer to me than casting him with my own hand to the surging waves of the sea and its fishes." The water carried him along until it brought him to the landing-place where the slave girls of Pharaoh's wife drew water. When they saw him they took him, and they were about to open the chest, but one of them said: "There is wealth in this, and if we open it, the king's wife will not believe us about what we found in it." So they carried it just as it was, without moving anything in it, until they handed it to her. When she opened it she saw a boy in it, and a love for him was cast into her heart such as she had never felt for any human being. And the heart of Musa's mother became empty of the remembrance of everything except the remembrance of Musa.
When the slaughterers heard about him, they came with their blades to Pharaoh's wife to slaughter him - and that is one of the trials, O Ibn Jubayr. She said to them: "Leave him, for this single one will not add to the Children of Israel, until I go to Pharaoh and ask him to give him to me. If he gives him to me, you will have done well and acted kindly; and if he orders him to be slaughtered, I will not blame you." She brought him to Pharaoh and said: "A comfort of the eye for me and for you." Pharaoh said: "He may be that for you; as for me, I have no need of it." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By the One by whom I swear, had Pharaoh acknowledged that he would be a comfort of the eye for him, as his wife acknowledged, Allah would have guided him through him as He guided his wife; but He deprived him of that." She then sent for every woman around her who had milk, to choose a wet-nurse for him. But every time one of those women took him to suckle him, he would not accept her breast, until Pharaoh's wife feared that he would refuse milk and die, and that grieved her. So he was taken out to the market and the gathering-place of the people, she hoping to find a wet-nurse whose milk he would take, but he would not accept. The mother of Musa became distraught, and she said to his sister: "Follow him; trace his tracks and search for him. Do you hear any mention of him? Is my son alive, or have the beasts eaten him?" - and she had forgotten what Allah had promised her concerning him. His sister watched him from a distance while they did not perceive it - "from a distance" (an junub) means that a person's gaze rises to something far off while he is beside it and is not noticed. When the wet-nurses had worn them out, she said out of joy: "Shall I direct you to a household who will take care of him for you and be sincere to him?" They seized her and said: "How do you know what their sincerity to him would be? Do you (people) know him?" so that they became suspicious about it - and that is one of the trials, O Ibn Jubayr. She said: "Their sincerity to him and their tenderness for him would be out of desire for a tie with the king and hope of his favour." So they let her go. She went to her mother and told her the news, and his mother came. When she placed him in her lap he leapt to her breast and sucked it until both his sides were filled. A bearer of good news went to Pharaoh's wife to give her the good news: "We have found a wet-nurse for your son." She sent for her, and she was brought along with him. When she saw what he did with her, she said to her: "Stay with me and nurse this son of mine, for I have never loved anything as I love him." The mother of Musa said: "I cannot leave my house and my children, for they would be lost. If you are content to give him to me, so that I take him to my house and he stays with me, I will spare no effort in doing him good; otherwise I will not leave my house and my children." The mother of Musa remembered what Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, had promised her, so she held out firmly against Pharaoh's wife, certain that Allah would fulfil His promise. She returned to her house with her son. And the people of the town became united, protected from forced labour and injustice as long as he was among them.
He said: When he grew up, Pharaoh's wife said to the mother of Musa: "I want you to show me my son." She promised her a day on which she would show him to her. Pharaoh's wife said to her treasurers, stewards and nurses: "Let not one of you remain without receiving my son today with a gift and honour, so that I may see that for him; and I am sending a trustworthy person who will record everything each one of you does." Gifts, honours and presents kept greeting him from the time he left his mother's house until he was brought in to Pharaoh's wife. When he came in to her, she honoured him, treated him generously, rejoiced in him and admired him, and she honoured his mother for the good effect she had had on him. Then she said: "I will take him to Pharaoh, and he will surely honour him and treat him generously." When she took him in to him, she placed him in his lap, and Musa took hold of Pharaoh's beard and pulled it down to the ground. The misguided ones, the enemies of Allah, said to Pharaoh: "Do you not see what Allah promised His prophet Ibrahim: that this one would overpower you, rise above you and throw you down?" So he sent for the slaughterers to slaughter him - and that is one of the trials, O Ibn Jubayr, after every trial with which he was tried; trials were intended for him. Pharaoh's wife came hurrying to Pharaoh and said: "What has come over you regarding this boy whom you gave to me?" He said: "Do you not see that he claims he will throw me down and rise above me?" She said: "Set something between me and you by which you will know the truth: bring two live coals and two pearls and put them near him. If he grabs the two pearls and avoids the two coals, you will know that he has understanding; but if he takes the two coals and does not want the two pearls, you will know that no one who has understanding prefers two coals to two pearls." He put that near him, and he took the two coals, and they snatched them from his hand for fear that they would burn him. The woman said: "Do you not see?" So Allah turned him away from him after he had resolved to do it; Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, was to accomplish His purpose in him.
When he reached his full strength and became one of the men, no one of Pharaoh's people could reach any of the Children of Israel with injustice or forced labour while he was with them, so that they became fully protected. While Musa was in a part of the city, he came upon two men fighting, one a Pharaonite and the other an Israelite. The Israelite called on him for help against the Pharaonite, and Musa became extremely angry, because the Pharaonite had laid hands on him while knowing Musa's standing among the Children of Israel and his protection of them; people did not know that this was only because of the nursing, except Musa's mother, unless Allah had informed Musa of it in a way He had not informed anyone else. Musa struck the Pharaonite and killed him, and no one saw them except Allah and the Israelite. When he had killed the man, Musa said: "This is of the work of Satan; indeed, he is a clear, misleading enemy" [Al-Qasas: 15]. Then he said: "My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, so forgive me. So He forgave him; indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful" [Al-Qasas: 16]. He became fearful in the city, watching for news. Pharaoh was approached and told: "The Children of Israel have killed a man from Pharaoh's people, so take our right for us and do not let them off." He said: "Find me his killer and someone to testify against him, for the king, even if his favour lies with a people, cannot rightly exact retaliation without proof or evidence. So find out the facts of it for me, and I will take your right for you." While they were going round finding no evidence, Musa saw, the next day, that same Israelite fighting another man from Pharaoh's people. The Israelite called on him for help against the Pharaonite. But it so happened that Musa had come to regret what he had done, and he disliked what he saw. Out of anger at the Israelite, while he meant to seize the Pharaonite, he said to the Israelite - because of what he had done yesterday and today - "Indeed, you are clearly misguided" [Al-Qasas: 18]. The Israelite looked at Musa when he said this to him, and saw that he was angry, as angry as he had been the day before, so he feared that it was him he meant and not the Pharaonite. He did not mean him; he meant only the Pharaonite. But the Israelite was afraid, so he got away from the Pharaonite and said: "O Musa, do you want to kill me as you killed a soul yesterday?" [Al-Qasas: 19]. He said that only out of fear that it was him Musa meant to kill. They quarrelled and then parted, and the Pharaonite went to his people and told them the news he had heard from the Israelite when he said: "Do you want to kill me as you killed a soul yesterday?" [Al-Qasas: 19]. So Pharaoh sent the slaughterers to kill Musa. Pharaoh's messengers took the main road, walking at their ease in search of Musa, not fearing that he would escape them, when a man of Musa's party came from the farthest end of the city, took a short cut by a near path so as to reach Musa before them, and told him the news - and that is one of the trials, O Ibn Jubayr.
Musa set out heading for Madyan. He had never faced a trial before that, and he had no knowledge of the road except his good opinion of his Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, for he said: "Perhaps my Lord will guide me to the right way. And when he arrived at the water of Madyan, he found there a crowd of people watering (their flocks), and he found apart from them two women holding back" [Al-Qasas: 23] - meaning holding back their sheep. He said to them: "What is the matter with you, standing apart and not watering with the people?" They said: "We have no strength to push against the people; we are only waiting for what is left over in their troughs." So he watered for them, drawing a great deal of water in the bucket, until they were the first of the shepherds to finish. They went back with their sheep to their father, and Musa went off and took shade under a tree, and said: "My Lord, indeed I am in need of whatever good You send down to me" [Al-Qasas: 24]. Their father found it strange that they had come back so quickly with their sheep, their udders full and their bellies filled, and said: "Something has happened with you today." They told him what Musa had done, and he ordered one of them to call him to him. She came to Musa and called him. When he had spoken with him, he said: "Do not fear; you have escaped from the wrongdoing people" [Al-Qasas: 25]; Pharaoh and his people have no authority over us, and we are not in his kingdom. He said: "One of the two women said: O my father, hire him; indeed, the best one you can hire is the strong, the trustworthy" [Al-Qasas: 26]. Jealous concern moved him to say: "And how do you know what his strength and his trustworthiness are?" She said: "As for his strength, it is what I saw of him with the bucket when he watered for us: I have never seen a man stronger than him at that watering. As for his trustworthiness, he looked at me when I came towards him and appeared before him, and when he realised that I was a woman he lowered his head and did not raise it or look at me until I had conveyed your message to him. Then he said: 'Walk behind me and describe the way to me.' He would not do this unless he were trustworthy." Her father was relieved; he believed her and thought of him as she had said. He said to him: Would you agree "that I marry you to one of these two daughters of mine on the condition that you work for me for eight years; and if you complete ten, that will be from you. I do not wish to put you in hardship; you will find me, if Allah wills, among the righteous" [Al-Qasas: 27]? He agreed. So eight years were obligatory upon the Prophet of Allah Musa (peace be upon him), and the two years were a promise from him; Allah fulfilled his promise on his behalf, and he completed ten. Sa'id said: A man from among the Christians, one of their scholars, met me and said: "Do you know which of the two terms Musa fulfilled?" I said: "No" - and at that time I did not know. Then I met Ibn Abbas and mentioned that to him, and he said: "Did you not know that the eight were obligatory upon Musa, and the Prophet of Allah would not have left out any of them, and he knew that Allah would fulfil on Musa's behalf the promise he had made? So he completed ten years." I met the Christian and told him that, and he said: "The one you asked, who told you this, knows more about it than you." I said: "Yes indeed, and he is more worthy of that." When Musa travelled with his family, there happened the matter of the fire, the staff and his hand that Allah has related to you in the Qur'an. He complained to his Lord, the Blessed and Exalted, of what he feared from Pharaoh's people concerning the killing, and of the knot in his tongue, for there was a knot in his tongue that kept him from much speech; and he asked his Lord to help him with his brother Harun, to be a support for him and to speak on his behalf much of what his tongue could not express clearly. Allah granted him his request and loosened a knot from his tongue. Allah revealed to Harun and commanded him to meet him, so Musa set off with his staff until he met Harun, and they went together to Pharaoh. They stayed at his door for a time without being given permission; then permission was given to them after strict screening. They said: "We are the messengers of your Lord" [Taha: 47]. He said: "So who is the Lord of you two, O Musa?" [Taha: 49]. He told him what Allah has related to you in the Qur'an. He said: "What do you want?" and he reminded him of the man who had been killed, and Musa excused himself with what you have heard, and said: "I want you to believe in Allah and to send the Children of Israel with me." He refused him that and said: "Bring a sign, if you are one of the truthful." So he threw down his staff, and behold, it was a huge serpent, its mouth gaping, rushing towards Pharaoh. When Pharaoh saw it heading for him, he feared it, leapt from his throne and appealed to Musa to hold it back from him, and he did so. Then he drew his hand out of the opening of his garment, and he (Pharaoh) saw it white without any harm - meaning without leprosy - then he put it back and it returned to its original colour. He consulted the chiefs around him about what he had seen, and they said to him: "These two are magicians who want to drive you out of your land by their magic and do away with your exemplary way" [Taha: 63] - meaning the kingdom they were in, and their way of life. They refused to give him anything of what he asked, and said to him: "Gather the magicians for us, for they are many in your land, so that their magic may overcome the magic of these two." So he sent into the city, and every magician skilled in the craft was gathered for him. When they came to Pharaoh they said: "With what does this magician work?" They said: "He works with serpents." They said: "No, by Allah, there is no one on earth who works magic with serpents and staffs as we do. So what will our reward be if we win?" He said to them: "You are my relatives and my close associates, and I will do for you everything you like." So they fixed the appointment for the day of adornment, "and that the people be assembled in the forenoon" [Taha: 59].
Sa'id said: Ibn Abbas told me that the day of adornment is the day on which Allah gave Musa victory over Pharaoh and the magicians, and it is the day of Ashura. When they had gathered on an open plain, the people said to one another: "Come, let us attend this matter, 'that we may follow the magicians, if they are the victors'" [Al-Shu'ara: 40] - meaning Musa and Harun, mocking the two of them. The magicians said - because of the power they had through their magic - "O Musa, either you throw, or we will be the ones to throw" [Al-A'raf: 115]. He said: "Rather, you throw." "So they threw down their ropes and their staffs and said: By the might of Pharaoh, it is we who will be the victors" [Al-Shu'ara: 44]. Musa saw such magic of theirs that he sensed fear within himself, so Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, revealed to him: "Throw your staff" [Al-A'raf: 117]. When he threw it, it became a huge serpent with gaping mouth, and the staffs, by Musa's supplication, became entangled with the ropes until they became pieces going towards the serpent and entering it, until it left no staff and no rope without swallowing it. When the magicians realised that, they said: "If this were magic, it would not have gone this far against our magic; rather, it is a matter from the command of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted. We believe in Allah and in what Musa has brought, and we repent to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, from what we were upon." And Allah broke the back of Pharaoh and his followers at that place, and made the truth prevail, "and what they were doing was made void. So they were defeated there and turned back humiliated" [Al-A'raf: 118]. Pharaoh's wife had come out into the open in humble clothes, praying to Allah for victory for Musa over Pharaoh; whoever of Pharaoh's people saw her thought that she had humbled herself out of concern for Pharaoh and his followers, whereas her grief and worry were only for Musa. When Musa's stay grew long because of Pharaoh's false promises - every time he brought him a sign, he would promise him at that point to send the Children of Israel, and when it passed he would break his promises and say: "Can your Lord do anything other than this?" - Allah sent upon him and his people the flood, the locusts, the lice, the frogs and the blood, as distinct signs. Each time he would complain to Musa and ask him to remove it from him, and would agree with him that he would send the Children of Israel with him; and when it was removed from him, he would break his promise and violate his covenant. At last Musa was commanded to go out with his people, and he went out with them by night. When Pharaoh woke in the morning and saw that they had gone, he sent gatherers into the cities, and he followed them with huge, numerous armies. Allah revealed to the sea: "When My servant Musa strikes you with his staff, split into twelve parts so that Musa and those with him may cross; then close over whoever of Pharaoh and his followers remain after him." Musa forgot to strike the sea with the staff, and he reached the sea while it was roaring, fearing that Musa would strike it while it was heedless and that it would thus become disobedient. When the two hosts saw each other and drew close, Musa's people said: "We are surely overtaken" [Al-Shu'ara: 61]; "Do what your Lord has commanded you, for you have not lied and you have not been lied to." He said: "He promised me that when I came to the sea it would split for me into twelve parts so that I could cross it." Then after that he remembered the staff, and he struck the sea with his staff, and it split for him when the first of Pharaoh's army had come close to the last of Musa's army. The sea split as his Lord had commanded it and as He had promised Musa. When Musa and all his companions had crossed, and Pharaoh and his companions had entered, it closed over them as Allah had commanded. When Musa had crossed the sea, his companions said: "We fear that Pharaoh may not have drowned, and we cannot be sure of his destruction." So he prayed to his Lord, and He brought him out for him with his body, until they became certain of his destruction. Then they passed by a people devoted to idols of theirs. "They said: O Musa, make for us a god just as they have gods. He said: Indeed, you are an ignorant people. What these people are engaged in is destroyed, and void is what they used to do" [Al-A'raf: 138]; "You have seen lessons and heard what should suffice you." He went on, and Musa settled them in a place and said to them: "Obey Harun, for I have appointed him as my deputy over you, and I am going to my Lord." He set them a term of thirty days in which he would return to them. When he came to his Lord and wanted to speak to Him at the end of the thirty days, having fasted them, nights and days, he disliked speaking to his Lord while the smell of a fasting person's mouth came from his mouth, so Musa took something of the plants of the earth and chewed it. When he came to Him, his Lord said to him: "Have you broken your fast?" - and He knew best what had happened. He said: "My Lord, I disliked speaking to You except with a sweet-smelling mouth." He said: "Did you not know, O Musa, that the smell of the fasting person's mouth is sweeter to Me than the scent of musk? Go back and fast ten days, then come to Me." Musa did as he was commanded. When Musa's people saw that he had not returned to them at the appointed time, that troubled them. Harun had addressed them, saying: "You came out of Egypt while Pharaoh's people had loans and deposits with you, and you have the like of that with them. My view is that you count your property with them as given up (for Allah's reward); I do not make lawful for you any deposit or loan, and we will neither return any of it to them nor keep it for ourselves." So he dug a pit and ordered every group that had any of that, whether goods or jewellery, to throw it into that pit; then he lit a fire over it and burned it, and said: "It will be neither for us nor for them." Al-Samiri was a man from a people who worshipped cows, neighbours of theirs, and he was not from the Children of Israel. He had set out with Musa and the Children of Israel when they set out. It was decreed for him that he saw a trace, and he took a handful from it. He passed by Harun, and Harun said to him: "O Samiri, will you not throw down what is in your hand?" - he was clutching it, and no one had seen it all that time. He said: "This is a handful from the trace of the messenger who brought you across the sea. I will not throw it down for anything unless you pray to Allah that when I throw it, it becomes what I want." He threw it, and Harun prayed for him, and he said: "I want it to become a calf." So whatever goods, jewellery, copper or iron were in the pit gathered together and became a hollow calf with no soul in it, which had a lowing sound. Ibn Abbas said: "No, by Allah, it never had any voice at all; the wind would enter from its rear and come out of its mouth, and that sound came from that." The Children of Israel split into groups. One group said: "O Samiri, what is this? You know best about it." He said: "This is your lord, but Musa has lost the way." Another group said: "We will not deny this until Musa returns to us. If it is our lord, we will not have neglected it or fallen short regarding it when we saw it; and if it is not our lord, we will follow what Musa says." Another group said: "This is the work of Satan; it is not our lord, and we will neither believe in it nor accept it." And one group had their hearts filled with belief in what al-Samiri said about the calf, and they openly declared their denial (of the truth). Harun said to them: "O my people, you are only being tried by it, and indeed your Lord is the Most Merciful" [Taha: 90]; it is not like this. They said: "Then what is the matter with Musa? He promised us thirty days and then broke his promise to us; here forty have passed." Their foolish ones said: "He has missed his Lord, so he is searching for Him and following Him." When Allah spoke to Musa and said to him what He said, He informed him of what his people had encountered after him. "So Musa returned to his people, angry and grieved" [Taha: 86], and he said to them what you have heard in the Qur'an, "and he seized his brother by the head, dragging him towards himself" [Al-A'raf: 150], and he threw down the tablets. Then he accepted his brother's excuse and sought forgiveness for him, and turned to al-Samiri and said to him: "What drove you to do what you did?" He said: "I took a handful from the trace of the messenger; I perceived it while it was hidden from you, and I threw it in. 'And thus did my soul entice me. He said: Then go; indeed, it is for you in this life to say: No contact. And indeed, you have an appointment which you will not fail to keep. And look at your god to which you remained devoted: we will surely burn it and then scatter it in the sea, a scattering' [Taha: 96]." Had it been a god, that could not have been done to it. So the Children of Israel became certain, and those whose view about it had been like Harun's view were glad, and all of them said to Musa: "Ask your Lord for us to open for us a door of repentance which we may carry out, so that it expiates what we have done." So Musa chose from his people seventy men for that, for going to the mountain, from among those who had not taken part in (worshipping) the calf. He went with them to ask for repentance for them, and the earth shook with them. The Prophet of Allah felt ashamed before his people and his delegation at what had been done to them, and he said: "My Lord, had You willed, You could have destroyed them before, and me. Will You destroy us for what the foolish among us have done?" [Al-A'raf: 155]. Among them were some in whom Allah had seen the love of the calf that had filled their hearts, believing in it, and that is why the earth shook with them. He (Allah) said: "My mercy encompasses all things. So I will decree it for those who are mindful (of Me) and give zakah, and those who believe in Our signs - those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find written with them in the Torah and the Gospel" [Al-A'raf: 156].
He (Musa) said: "My Lord, I asked You for repentance for my people, and You said that You have decreed Your mercy for a people other than my people. Would that You had delayed me until You brought me forth alive in the nation of that man, the nation shown mercy." Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, said to him: "Their repentance is that every man of them kills whoever he meets, father or son, killing him with the sword, not caring whom he kills in that place." And those whose sins had been hidden from Musa and Harun, while Allah knew of them, came forward and confessed them, and they did what they were commanded; so Allah forgave both the killer and the killed. Then Musa travelled with them heading for the Holy Land, and he took up the tablets after his anger had subsided. He commanded them with the duties he had been commanded to convey to them, but that was heavy for them and they refused to accept them. So Allah raised the mountain over them as if it were a canopy, and it came close to them until they feared it would fall on them. So they took the Book with their right hands while leaning towards the mountain and the ground, the Book in their hands, looking at the mountain for fear that it would fall on them. Then they went on until they came to the Holy Land, and found in it a city with a tyrannical people (jabbarun) of monstrous build, and they mentioned something amazing about the size of their fruits. They said: "O Musa, in it is a people of tyrants" [Al-Ma'idah: 22]; we have no power against them, and we will not enter it as long as they are in it; "so if they leave it, then we will enter" [Al-Ma'idah: 22]. "Two men from among those who feared" [Al-Ma'idah: 23] - from the tyrants, who had believed in Musa - came out to him and said: "We know our people best. If you are afraid only because of what you see of their bodies and their numbers, they have no hearts and no power to resist, so enter upon them through the gate, 'and when you have entered it, you will be victorious'" [Al-Ma'idah: 23].
Some people say that the two of them were from Musa's people, and it is reported from Sa'id bin Jubayr that they were from the tyrants and had believed in Musa. He says that "from among those who feared" [Al-Ma'idah: 23] means only those whom the Children of Israel feared. "They said: O Musa, we will never enter it as long as they are in it; so go, you and your Lord, and fight; we are sitting right here" [Al-Ma'idah: 24]. They angered Musa, so he prayed against them and called them defiantly disobedient (fasiqin). He had not prayed against them before that, despite the disobedience and wrongdoing he had seen from them, until that day. Allah answered him and called them fasiqin, as Musa had called them, and He forbade it to them for forty years, wandering in the land: every morning they would set out and travel, having no settled place. Then He shaded them with clouds in the wilderness (al-tih), sent down to them manna and quails, and gave them clothes that neither wore out nor became dirty. He placed among them a square stone and commanded Musa, who struck it with his staff, "and there gushed forth from it twelve springs" [Al-Baqarah: 60], three springs on each side; and He made known to each tribe its spring from which they would drink. They would not move from any stopping-place without that stone being found among them in the same place it had been the day before.
Ibn Abbas attributed this hadith to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). And what confirmed that for me is that Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) heard Ibn Abbas narrate this hadith and objected to his saying that it was the Pharaonite who disclosed against Musa the matter of the man who was killed. He said: "How could he disclose it against him, when no one knew of it or witnessed it except the Israelite who was present and saw it?" Ibn Abbas became angry, took Mu'awiyah by the hand and went with him to Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Malik al-Zuhri (may Allah be pleased with him), and said: "O Abu Ishaq, do you remember the day when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) told us about the man from Pharaoh's people whom Musa killed: was it the Israelite who disclosed it against him or the Pharaonite?" He said: "It was the Pharaonite who disclosed it against him, from what he had heard from the Israelite who witnessed it and was present."
