Surah Taa-Haa: Verse 39 - أن اقذفيه في التابوت فاقذفيه... - English

"'Throw (the child) into the chest, and throw (the chest) into the river: the river will cast him up on the bank, and he will be taken up by one who is an enemy to Me and an enemy to him': But I cast (the garment of) love over thee from Me: and (this) in order that thou mayest be reared under Mine eye. (39)

فَلْيُلْقِهِ الْيَمُّ بِالسَّاحِلِ (Then let the river throw it by the shore - 20:39.). The word يَمّ (Yamm) means river and here it refers most probably to the river Nile. In this verse the mother of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) has been commanded by Allah Ta` ala to place the baby in a box and set him afloat in the river Nile. Simultaneously the river has been commanded to cast the box on its bank. But the question arises as to how a river can be commanded to do something while it has no sense or understanding.

Some scholars have answered this query with the argument that although here the word has been used in the imperative mood which implies a command, it is not really a command but is meant to convey the information that the river would cast the box on its bank. However some scholars have disputed this explanation and have claimed that the word is really a command and is addressed to the river Nile because everything that Allah Ta` ala has created possesses emotions and a sense of feeling and it is these properties, which according to the Qur'an, enable even trees and rocks to glorify the name of Allah Ta` ala. It is, nevertheless, a fact that except the human beings, the Jinns, and the angels no other created thing possesses feelings and emotions to a degree where the precepts of Halal (permissible) and Haram (forbidden) can be made binding on them. Maulana Rumi (رح) has expressed the same idea in the following verse:

خاک و باد و آب و آتش بندہ اند بامن وتومردہ باحق زندہ اند

(Earth, wind, water and fire are all servants of Allah. To me and you they appear lifeless, but Allah knows that they too have life.)

يَأْخُذْهُ عَدُوٌّ لِّي وَعَدُوٌّ لَّهُ (And it will be picked up by one who is enemy to Me and enemy to him - 20:39.). It means that a person who is an enemy of Allah Ta` ala and also the enemy of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) will rescue the child. Here the reference is to the Pharaoh who was the enemy of Allah Ta` ala because of his infidelity, but his enmity towards Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) needs some explanation since at that time he cherished no hostility towards the latter, rather he was incurring considerable expenditure on his upbringing. Perhaps it was due to his future enmity towards Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) which was even at that time in the knowledge of Allah Ta` ala. Or again it is possible that even at that time he was the enemy and had reluctantly agreed to bring up Sayyidna Musa علیہ السلام for the sake of his wife 'Asiya. Yet when he felt the slightest suspicion about Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) he ordered his immediate execution and was prevented from carrying out his intention through the wise role of Sayyidah 'Asiya ؓ . (Ruh and Mazhari)

وَأَلْقَيْتُ عَلَيْكَ مَحَبَّةً مِّنِّي (And I have cast love on you from Myself - 20:39). The word "love" in this verse is in the sense of 'being loved', meaning thereby that Allah Ta` ala has bestowed upon Sayyidna Musa علیہ السلام an attribute that will make people show love towards him. This is the interpretation given to this verse by Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas and ` Ikrimah ؓ . (Mazhari)

وَلِتُصْنَعَ عَلَىٰ عَيْنِي (And that you are fashioned under My eye - 20:39). The word صَنَعتُ here means "good upbringing". The Arabs have a common phrase صَنَعتُ فَرَسی (I trained my horse well). عَلَىٰ عَيْنِي is used in the same sense as علٰی حِفظَی i.e. it was Allah Ta’ ala's will that Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) should be brought up under His own eye, and for this purpose He chose the Pharaoh, the supreme authority in Egypt, to bring up Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) in his own palace, unaware all the time that the child that he was raising was his enemy. (Mazhari)

(39)