Allah, the Exalted, informs about Fir`awn that he said to Musa, in his
rejection of the existence of a Supreme Maker and Creator, Who is the God of
everything and his own Lord and Owner:
[فَمَن رَّبُّكُمَا
يمُوسَى]
(Who then, O Musa, is the Lord of you two) meaning "Who is the one who called
you forth and sent you For verily, I do not know him and I have not given you
any god other than myself.''
[قَالَ رَبُّنَا
الَّذِى أَعْطَى كُلَّ شَىءٍ خَلْقَهُ ثُمَّ هَدَى ]
((Musa) said: "Our Lord is He Who gave to each thing its form and nature,
then guided it aright.'') `Ali bin Abi Talhah related that Ibn `Abbas said, "He
is saying that He created a mate for everything.'' Ad-Dahhak said that Ibn
`Abbas said, "He made the man a man, and the donkey a donkey and the sheep a
sheep.'' Layth bin Abi Sulaym reported from Mujahid that he said, "He gave
everything its form.'' Ibn Abi Najih said that Mujahid said, "He fashioned the
creation of every moving creature.'' Sa`id bin Jubayr said concerning His
statement,
[أَعْطَى كُلَّ شَىءٍ
خَلْقَهُ ثُمَّ هَدَى]
((Who) gave to each thing its form and nature, then guided it aright.) "He
gave each of His creatures what is suitable for its creation.'' Therefore, He
did not give man the form of a wild beast, nor did He give wild beasts the form
of the dog. Likewise, the dog's form is not like the sheep's. He also gave
creature a suitable spouse, and He influenced everything towards that mate.
There is no species of creation that is exactly like another species. They are
different in their actions, their forms, their sustenance and their mating. Some
of the scholars of Tafsir have said that this statement, "He gave to each thing
its form and nature, then guided it aright,'' is similar to Allah's statement,
[وَالَّذِى قَدَّرَ
فَهَدَى ]
(And Who has measured; and then guided.) [87:3] This means He measured out an
ordained amount (of sustenance, actions, etc.) and then guided His creatures to
it. He wrote the deeds, the appointed times of death and the provisions. Then,
the creatures traverse upon that and they are not able to avoid it, nor are they
able to abandon it. In this Ayah Musa is saying that our Lord is the One Who
created the creation, measured out its ordainment and compelled the creatures to
that which He wanted.
[قَالَ فَمَا بَالُ
الْقُرُونِ الاٍّولَى ]
((Fir`awn) said: "What about the generations of old'') The most correct
opinion concerning the meaning of this, is that when Musa informed Fir`awn that
his Lord Who sent him is the One Who creates, sustains, ordains and guides,
Fir`awn began to argue, using the previous generations as a proof. He was
referring to those people of old who did not worship Allah. In other words, "If
the matter is as you say, then what happened to those people They did not
worship your Lord. Instead they worshipped other gods besides Him.'' Musa said
to him, in response to this, that if they did not worship Allah, then Allah
knows precisely what happened to them and He will give them just recompense for
their deeds, as is written in Allah's Book (of decrees). This Book is called
Al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz (The Preserved Tablet) and it is the Book of Deeds.
[لاَّ يَضِلُّ رَبِّى
وَلاَ يَنسَى]
(My Lord neither errs nor forgets.) This means that nothing eludes Him and He
does not miss anything, whether it is small or great. He does not forget
anything and His Most Exalted knowledge is described as encompassing everything.
Blessed be He, the Exalted, the Most Holy and free of any imperfections. The
knowledge that creatures have has two deficiencies. The first is that it does
not completely encompass anything, and the second is that the creature is prone
to forget after knowing. Therefore, Allah has declared Himself above such
deficiencies.
[الَّذِى جَعَلَ
لَكُمُ الاٌّرْضَ مَهْداً وَسَلَكَ لَكُمْ فِيهَا سُبُلاً وَأَنزَلَ مِنَ
السَّمَآءِ مَآءً فَأَخْرَجْنَا بِهِ أَزْوَاجاً مِّن نَّبَـتٍ شَتَّى - كُلُواْ
وَارْعَوْا أَنْعَـمَكُمْ إِنَّ فِى ذلِكَ لأيَـتٍ لاٌّوْلِى النُّهَى - مِنْهَا
خَلَقْنَـكُمْ وَفِيهَا نُعِيدُكُمْ وَمِنْهَا نُخْرِجُكُمْ تَارَةً أُخْرَى -
وَلَقَدْ أَرَيْنَـهُ ءَايَـتِنَا كُلَّهَا فَكَذَّبَ وَأَبَى ]
(53. Who has made earth for you like a bed; and has opened ways for you
therein, and has sent down water (rain) from the sky. And We have brought forth
with it various kinds of vegetation.) (54. Eat and pasture your cattle; verily,
in this are Ayat for men of understanding.) (55. Thereof We created you, and
into it We shall return you, and from it We shall bring you out once again.)
(56. And indeed We showed him (Fir`awn) all Our Ayat, but he denied and
refused.)