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wa-ʾakhī hārūnu huwa ʾafṣaḥu minnī lisānan fa-ʾarsilhu maʿiya ridʾan yuṣaddiqunī ʾinnī ʾakhāfu ʾan yukadhdhibūni
Aaron, my brother—he is more eloquent than me in speech. So send him with me as a helper to confirm me, for I fear that they will impugn me.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Qasas - Verses 34-35
34. “And my brother Aaron, he is more eloquent in speech than I, so send him with me as an assistant, to testify me, surely I fear that they would reject me.”
35. “(Allah) said: ‘We will strengthen your arm with your brother, and We will give you both an authority, so that they shall not reach you; (go) with Our signs; you two and those who follow you two shall be the triumphant’.”
In giving heavy responsibilities to someone, all dimensions of the concerning person must be regarded. Although Hadrat Harun (Aaron) was older and more eloquent than Hadrat Moses (as), but for other good qualities and competencies that Moses had, he became responsible of this mission, while Aaron was a Divine prophet, too. In the way of propagation, guidance, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, sometimes two or more persons must take an action.
That is why in the verse Moses (as) implicitly utters that he is alone and his tongue is not eloquent. The verse says:
The Arabic term /’afsah/ is derived from /fasih/ which originally refers to ‘the purity of something’; and it is used for a pure, expressive speech which is free from any redundancy and unnecessary words. The Qur’anic word /rid’/ means: ‘Assistant’. However, in view of the fact that this mission was very great and heavy, and Moses wanted not to fail in it, he asked Allah for it. By the way, confessing the accomplishments of others is a virtue and a value. Therefore, though Moses (as) was an arch prophet he confessed the virtue of his brother, because an eloquent speech is one of the factors of attracting people and that of a successful propagation.
By the next verse, Allah accepted Moses’ invocation, too, and gave him enough confidence, as it says:
What a great glad tidings! It was a glad tidings that not only encouraged the heart of Moses, but also caused his decision to become firm, and made his will very strong, the clear sequels of which will be explained later through some other topics of this story.