al-Dhāriyāt

وَفِي مُوسَی إِذْ أرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَی فِرْعَوْنَ بِسُلْطَانٍ مُّبِينٍ

فَتَوَلَّی بِرُكْنِهِ وَقَالَ سَاحِرٌ أوْ مَجْنُونٌ

فَأخَذْنَاهُ وَجُنُودَهُ فَنَبَذْنَاهُمْ فِي الْيَمِّ وَهُوَ مُلِيمٌ

38. And in [the story of] Moses [AS there is a sign and a lesson to take], when We sent him to Pharaoh with a manifest authority.

39. But [Pharaoh] turned away relying on his might and hosts, saying: “[He is] a sorcerer, or a madman.”

40. Therefore, We took him and his hosts [by force] and dumped them into the sea for he was blameworthy.

The phrase:

“manifest authority”

is a clear evidence for the possibility of entering into discussions with others and producing one’s logical arguments. The verbal form nabadhnahum [“we dumped them”) deriving from the root n-b-dh is employed in the sense of dump unworthy and insignificant objects. The Arabic word mulim deriving from l-’-m (“censure, blame, and rebuke”) denotes ‘blameworthy.’ The word rukn ad hoc connotes Pharaoh’s might, holsts, property, authority, and propaganda, intending to say that Pharaoh relying on his might, confronted Moses (as)and refused to acknowledge his Prophetic Call.

Alluding to the previous blessed Verses, those in question proceeds with further warning following the stories of Abraham (as) and the torment sent down on the people of Lot (as). Opening with the story of the story of Moses (as) and Pharaoh, they say that God Almighty sent Moses (as) with miracles including his walking stick and the shining hand as manifest Divine Signs, relying on his might, sovereignty, and the large number of adherents, Pharaoh turned away from the miracles of Moses (as) and showed indifference, since he claimed godhead and forced people to worship him.

However, might have inwardly acknowledged Moses’ (as) Prophetic Call through Divine Signs, but he was deceived by his love for sovereignty and the large number of his courtiers and servants thereby he refrained from believing in monotheism. As a consequence, he attributed sorcery and lunacy to the Prophet (as) attempting at deceiving people by claiming that Moses was either a sorcerer for transforming a walking stick into a dragon or a lunatic for his Call to worshipping the invisible God.

Since Pharaoh went to the extreme in obstinacy and confrontation with Moses (as), believed in his godhead, impeded his kith and kin from believing in God Almighty, and persecuted Prophet Moses (as) and believers in monotheism, God Almighty gave him the ultimatum, afflicted him and his hosts with torments and drowned them in the Nile. Pharaoh blamed himself at that time as it is reflected elsewhere in the Holy Qur’an¹:

“And We took the Children of Israel across the sea and Pharaoh with his hosts followed them in oppression and enmity till when drowning overtook him, he said: ‘I believe that none has the right to be worshipped but He [Allah] in Whom the Children of Israel believe and I am one of the Muslims.’”

It was said unto him:

“Now that you are close to perdition, your belief is of no avail and may not rescue you from drowning, since you refused to believe in God but waxed corruption in the earth.”

When disbelievers and transgressors of Divine Bounds taste the torment and when they notice the evil consequences of their vicious deeds in mortal throes, their repentance will be of no avail, since his potential for turning away from denial of God Almighty and turning toward Him has come to an end and his repentance will be in vain; as the old saying goes:

“An ounce of precaution is better than a pound of cure.”

Footnotes

1. 1. 10:90