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qāla ʿilmuhā ʿinda rabbī fī kitābin lā yaḍillu rabbī wa-lā yansā
He said, ‘Their knowledge is with my Lord, in a Book. My Lord neither makes any error nor forgets.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
20Ṭā-HāطهVerse 52 of 135
Ta-Ha20. Ṭā-Hāطه
Ṭāhā
Ta Ha
MeccanVerse 52 of 135
Surah Ta Ha – Verses 49 - 52
49. “He (Pharaoh) said: ‘Who then is the Lord of you two, O Moses?’”
50. “He said: ‘Our Lord is He Who gave everything its creation. Then guided (it) aright’.”
51. “(Pharaoh) said: ‘What then is the state of the former generations?’”
52. “He said: ‘The knowledge of them is with my Lord in a Book. My Lord neither errs, nor does He forget’.”
Here, the Holy Qur’an directly refers to the sayings of Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh. When Moses was faced with Pharaoh, he repeated the proper and effective sentences that Allah (s.w.t.) had taught him at the time of the command of Messengership. These verses have been explained formerly. When Pharaoh heard these words, his first reaction was that:
It is wonderful that Pharaoh, who was proud and conceited, did not agree even to say ‘Who is my Lord that you claim?’, but he said:
Moses (as) at once offered a very inclusive but short introduction about the Lord, as follows:
In this short saying, Moses (as) pointed to two fundamental principals of creation and existence, each of which is some independent and clear evidence unto the recognition of Allah. Moses (as) intends to make Pharaoh understand that this world of existence is limited neither to him, nor to the land of Egypt; neither is it restricted to the present nor to the past. This vast world has an old and future age when neither he nor Pharaoh had been or will be living.
Then, two main problems are outstanding in this world: providing the necessities, and applying the powers and possibilities alongside the path of progression of the beings. These can make Pharaoh acquainted with the Lord very well. When Pharaoh heard this interesting inclusive answer, he asked another question, and said if the situation was like that what about the former people of them? The verse says:
In answer to this question of Pharaoh concerning the whole specifications of the former generations, Moses’ reply was as follows:
Thus, their account is preserved and, finally, they will receive the fruit of their deeds, whether they are good rewards or dreadful retributions.