Surah Ghafir (40) — Ayah 37

(Ayah 37) ➊ { اَسْبَابَ السَّمٰوٰتِ فَاَطَّلِعَ اِلٰۤى اِلٰهِ مُوْسٰى:} Pharaoh at first only said: "So that I may reach the means," with the purpose of creating curiosity as to what means he wanted to reach. So he clarified again, so that I may reach the paths and doors of the heavens, from where there is access to the heavens, then I may look towards the deity of Moses, who according to him is above the heavens.

➋ { وَ اِنِّيْ لَاَظُنُّهٗ كَاذِبًا: ’’إِنَّ‘‘} And because of the emphasis with "Inna" and "lam," here "zann" (assumption) is in the meaning of certainty, that is, what Moses claims that he is the Messenger of Allah, or that his Lord is above the Throne over the heavens, so I am certain that he is a liar. This verse proves that Allah Almighty is above the Throne over the heavens; all the Prophets and Messengers, Companions and Followers, and Imams of the religion are agreed upon this. Alas! At this point, many commentators, who are influenced by the polytheist philosophers of Greece, have denied that Allah Almighty is above the heavens, or towards elevation, or on the Throne; rather, some have even dared to call it Pharaoh's belief, whereas it is the belief of Moses (peace be upon him) which Pharaoh is denying and calling Moses (peace be upon him) a liar in this, besides all the verses of the Qur'an with {’’ ثُمَّ اسْتَوٰى عَلَى الْعَرْشِ ‘‘} are clear evidence of this. Similarly, those verses in which it is mentioned that Allah Almighty is above the heavens. See the commentary of Surah Mulk (16, 17), Haqqah (17), and Ta-Ha (5).

➌ { وَ كَذٰلِكَ زُيِّنَ لِفِرْعَوْنَ سُوْٓءُ عَمَلِهٖ … :} That is, in this way, Pharaoh's evil deed, that is, denying the existence of Allah Almighty, insisting on being the supreme lord, denying Moses (peace be upon him), and oppressing the Children of Israel, was made attractive to him, and he continued to do these deeds thinking them good. Who made them attractive? It was his own desire, Satan, evil companions (see An'am: 122, 137; Anfal: 48), and Allah Almighty Himself, because He is the Creator of everything. (See An'am: 108; Naml: 4) And whoever is determined on opposition, Allah Almighty leaves him to his own will. See Surah Nisa (115).

➍ { وَ مَا كَيْدُ فِرْعَوْنَ اِلَّا فِيْ تَبَابٍ: ’’ تَبَابٍ ‘‘ ’’تَبَّ يَتُبُّ‘‘} (n) is the verbal noun (masdar), meaning destruction, ruin, and loss. It comes in both intransitive and transitive meanings. That is, all the schemes he devised kept becoming the cause of his destruction, and in the end, he was drowned in the sea along with his armies. This is the fate of every liar and deceitful person.

➎ Whether Pharaoh built that palace or not, and for further details of these two verses, see Surah Qasas (38 to 40).

37. 1. That is, let me see whether there really is any Allah in the heavens?
37. 2. In the sense that there is Allah in the heaven who is the Creator and Manager of the heavens and the earth. Or in the sense that he is the Messenger sent by Allah.
37. 3. That is, in this way Satan kept him misguided and his evil deeds kept appearing good to him.
37. 4. That is, he was prevented from the right and correct path and kept wandering in the labyrinths of misguidance.
37. 5. "Tabab" means loss, destruction. That is, the scheme Pharaoh adopted resulted badly for him. And in the end, he was drowned in the water along with his army.

The pathways of the heavens, so that I may look towards the God of Moses, though I surely think he is a liar [50]. Thus, the evil deeds of Pharaoh were made attractive [51] to him, and he was kept away from the right path. And the plot [52] of Pharaoh led only to his own ruin.

[50]
Pharaoh Telling Haman to Build a Tall Structure:

Pharaoh was not at all affected by the words of that believing man, and with great arrogance, he said to his minister Haman: "Haman! Build a tall structure so that I may see where is that God whom Mosesؑ speaks of, and at what height He resides." [مزيد تفصيل كے لئے سورة قصص كي آيت نمبر 38 كا حاشيه نمبر 50 ديكهئے]

[51] That is, whatever oppression Pharaoh was inflicting upon the Children of Israel and whatever tactics he was using in opposition to Sayyiduna Musaؑ, all of it seemed good to him, and he considered them to be the result of his own clever planning. By continuously committing evil deeds, his mind became so corrupted that he began to perform such ridiculous acts, after which there remained no possibility for him to come to the right path.

[52]
Those Deceitful Schemes of Pharaoh in Which He Himself Became Trapped:

Pharaoh had understood in his heart that Musaؑ was indeed a Messenger of Allah, and he had become convinced of this from the very first day. However, in order to preserve his power and his kingdom, he always resorted to deceitful schemes. His first cunning move was that he tried to give people the impression that the miracles of Musaؑ were nothing but feats of magic. And to put this scheme into action, he staged a contest with magicians. Then, when the magicians themselves admitted that what Musaؑ had brought was not magic but indeed miracles granted by Allah Almighty, and they openly declared their faith in front of the crowd, Pharaoh, in order to protect people from these effects, accused the magicians, saying: "You are secretly allied with Musaؑ; he is your leader and you are his disciples, and I will inflict such and such punishments upon you." But even this threat of Pharaoh had no effect, and people continued to secretly believe in Sayyiduna Musaؑ. Then he announced that whoever believed in Musaؑ, he would kill their sons. After this, he began to devise plans to kill Sayyiduna Musaؑ in order to resolve the matter. During these days, Sayyiduna Musaؑ was commanded to migrate. Now, if he had not pursued Sayyiduna Musaؑ, at most the Children of Israel would have escaped from his grasp; he himself would not have drowned, nor would his kingdom have been lost. But his own schemes kept pushing him towards his destruction.