The story of Moses and Pharaoh in the Quran, from the blow to the drowning
Moses and Pharaoh scene by scene — the fatal blow and "I have wronged myself", the sacred valley and the sandals, the gentle word, and Pharaoh's faith at the drowning — read in al-Tafsir al-Muyassar, al-Safi and al-Mizan.
Moses is named 136 times in the Quran, in 131 verses across 34 surahs — more than any other prophet. The most verses are in Al-A'raf (19), then Ta-Ha and Al-Qasas (17 each). His story with Pharaoh is not told in one place but spread across many surahs. This article follows the scenes in order and, at each hard verse, gives the Sunni reading of al-Tafsir al-Muyassar first, then the Shia readings of al-Safi (al-Fayd al-Kashani) and al-Mizan (al-Tabataba'i).
Quotations from the three commentaries are my renderings of the Arabic.
The blow
And he entered the city at a time of inattention by its people and found therein two men fighting: one from his faction and one from among his enemy. And the one from his faction called for help to him against the one from his enemy, so Moses struck him and [unintentionally] killed him. [Moses] said, "This is from the work of Satan. Indeed, he is a manifest, misleading enemy."
He said, "My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, so forgive me," and He forgave him. Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.
(Al-Qasas 28:15, Al-Qasas 28:16)
Al-Muyassar: Moses struck him with his fist and he died. When he had killed him, Moses said: this is Satan's prompting — he stirred my anger until I struck this man and he perished. This act of Moses came before his prophethood. And on the next verse: My Lord, I have wronged myself by killing a soul You did not command me to kill, so forgive me that sin.
Al-Safi relays that al-Rida was asked about the verse, given that prophets are protected from sin, and answered that "he finished him" means finished the enemy, by God's decree; and "this is from the work of Satan" means the fighting between the two men, not what Moses did in killing him. In the same report, "I have wronged myself" means I put myself where I should not have been by entering this city, and "forgive me" means hide me from Your enemies so they do not catch me and kill me.
Al-Mizan: he pushed or struck him and he died; it was a killing by mistake — otherwise the verse would have said "killed". And: what he did was not a sin, since it happened by mistake and his defence of the Israelite was against an unbelieving oppressor. "I have wronged myself" is an admission that he had put himself in danger, and the forgiveness asked for is the removal of the consequences of his act, rescue from distress and deliverance from Pharaoh and his chiefs.
Where they agree
All three agree that Moses struck the Egyptian once with his fist and the man died, that he asked forgiveness and God forgave him, and that the man who called for help was an Israelite.
Where they differ
They differ on what the act was. Al-Muyassar calls it "that sin" and places it before prophethood; al-Safi's report refers "the work of Satan" to the fight, not the killing; al-Mizan calls it an accidental killing that was not a sin. And they differ on "I have wronged myself": the killing itself, for al-Muyassar; entering the city, in al-Safi's report; putting himself in danger, for al-Mizan, who reads the forgiveness as rescue from the consequences.
The sacred valley
And when he came to it, he was called, "O Moses,
Indeed, I am your Lord, so remove your sandals. Indeed, you are in the sacred valley of Tuwa.
Al-Muyassar: remove your sandals; you are now in the valley of Tuwa, which I have blessed — in preparation for his Lord's speaking to him. Al-Safi: it is said he was told to remove them because going barefoot is humility and good manners, and it relays from al-Sadiq: it means "lay down your two fears" — his fear for his wife, whom he had left in labour, and his fear of Pharaoh. Al-Mizan: it alerts Moses that this is a place of presence and of being addressed face to face. It then cites a report from al-Sadiq that the sandals were of the hide of a dead donkey, notes that the same meaning is relayed in al-Qummi and in al-Durr al-Manthur, and adds: the context of the verse suggests the removal was out of respect for the place.
So all three tie the removal to the sanctity of the moment: preparation for God's speech, for al-Muyassar; humility, for al-Safi; respect for the place, for al-Mizan. Al-Safi adds a report that reads the sandals as two fears; al-Mizan records the dead-hide report from both schools' collections and then prefers the context.
The gentle word
Go, both of you, to Pharaoh. Indeed, he has transgressed.
And speak to him with gentle speech that perhaps he may be reminded or fear [Allah]."
Al-Muyassar: go together to Pharaoh; he has gone past every limit in unbelief and oppression; speak to him gently, that he may remember or fear his Lord. Al-Safi gives an example of the gentle word — "Would you purify yourself, and let me guide you to your Lord, so you would fear Him?" (An-Nazi'at 18–19) — and says it is a call framed as an offer and a consultation, lest folly drive him to strike at you. It relays from al-Kazim that "perhaps he may be reminded" was said to make Moses keener to go; God knew Pharaoh would neither remember nor fear until he saw the punishment. Al-Mizan: speaking gently means not addressing him with harshness or violence, which is among the most binding manners of calling to God, and the hope in "perhaps" belongs to the setting of the conversation, not to God, who knows what will be.
All three agree that gentleness is the manner of the call and that the aim is that Pharaoh remember or fear. Al-Safi and al-Mizan add that the "perhaps" does not mean God did not know the outcome; al-Muyassar does not take up the point.
The sea
Then We inspired to Moses, "Strike with your staff the sea," and it parted, and each portion was like a great towering mountain.
Pharaoh's faith at the drowning
And We took the Children of Israel across the sea, and Pharaoh and his soldiers pursued them in tyranny and enmity until, when drowning overtook him, he said, "I believe that there is no deity except that in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am of the Muslims."
Now? And you had disobeyed [Him] before and were of the corrupters?
So today We will save you in body that you may be to those who succeed you a sign. And indeed, many among the people, of Our signs, are heedless
(Yunus 10:90, Yunus 10:91, Yunus 10:92)
Al-Muyassar: now, Pharaoh, when death has come down on you, you confess God's lordship — when you disobeyed Him before His punishment came? Repentance does not help at the hour of death, with death and punishment in sight. And: today We set you, in your body, on raised ground, so that those who denied your destruction can see you, and you are a lesson to those after you.
Al-Safi: he said the one thing three times in three ways, eager for it to be accepted, but it was not accepted, because he missed its time and said it when he had no choice; once would have been enough while he still had choice. It relays from al-Rida: because he believed when he saw the punishment, and faith at the sight of the punishment is not accepted. On "We will save you in body": We bring you out, without your soul, from the sea where your people perished, or cast you onto raised ground so the Children of Israel can see you — a sign that shows them you were a servant and abased, and that your claim to lordship was impossible; they had thought Pharaoh too great to drown.
Al-Mizan: do you believe now, when the punishment has reached you? There is no faith or repentance once the punishment covers you and death comes from every side; you disobeyed before and spent your days in it, and did not bring your repentance in its time — what use is faith after its time has passed? And: saving him "in body" shows there is something beyond the body, which he lost when the punishment came — the self, also called the spirit.
Where they agree
All three agree that Pharaoh's faith was not accepted because it came when the punishment had already arrived, and that his body was brought out as a sign for those after him.
Where they differ
They read "We will save you in body" differently: al-Muyassar and al-Safi take it as his body being cast onto raised ground for people to see; al-Mizan draws from it that there is a self beyond the body, and that is what was taken.
What the verses do not say
- They do not name Pharaoh's wife, or the man Moses killed.
- They do not give Pharaoh's own name; the kunya in al-Safi comes from a report.
- They do not say where the sea parted.
Counted on the mushaf
- Moses: 136 times in 131 verses across 34 surahs; 19 verses in Al-A'raf, 17 each in Ta-Ha and Al-Qasas.
- Pharaoh: 74 times in 67 verses across 27 surahs.
- Tuwa: twice — here and in An-Nazi'at 16.
- qawlan layyinan, "gentle speech": once in the whole Quran.
- fa-wakazahu, "he struck him": once.
Sources
- al-Tafsir al-Muyassar — King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran.
- Tafsir al-Safi — al-Fayd al-Kashani.
- al-Mizan fi Tafsir al-Quran — al-Sayyid Muhammad Husayn al-Tabataba'i.
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