Tarikh (al-Tabari) 210
The story of Moses the one who spoke with Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)
لَمَّا رَأَى فِرْعَوْنُ قَوْمَهُ قَدْ دَخَلَهُمُ الرُّعْبُ مِنْ مُوسَى خَافَ أَنْ يُؤْمِنُوا بِهِ وَيَتْرُكُوا عِبَادَتَهُ فَاحْتَالَ لِنَفْسِهِ، وَقَالَ لِوَزِيرِهِ: وَقَالَ فِرْعَوْنُ يَا هَامَانُ ابْنِ لِي صَرْحًا لَعَلِّي أَبْلُغُ الْأَسْبَابَ أَسْبَابَ السَّمَاوَاتِ فَأَطَّلِعَ إِلَى إِلَهِ مُوسَى وَإِنِّي لَأَظُنُّهُ كَاذِبًا وَكَذَلِكَ زُيِّنَ لِفِرْعَوْنَ سُوءُ عَمَلِهِ وَصُدَّ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ وَمَا كَيْدُ فِرْعَوْنَ إِلَّا فِي تَبَابٍ [ غَافِرٍ: 36، 37 ]. كَذَّبَ فِرْعَوْنُ مُوسَى، عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ، فِي دَعْوَاهُ أَنَّ اللَّهَ أَرْسَلَهُ، وَزَعَمَ فِرْعَوْنُ لِقَوْمِهِ مَا كَذَّبَهُ وَافْتَرَاهُ، فِي قَوْلِهِ لَهُمْ: مَا عَلِمْتُ لَكُمْ مِنْ إِلَهٍ غَيْرِي فَأَوْقِدْ لِي يَا هَامَانُ عَلَى الطِّينِ فَاجْعَلْ لِي صَرْحًا لَعَلِّي أَطَّلِعُ إِلَى إِلَهِ مُوسَى وَإِنِّي لَأَظُنُّهُ مِنَ الْكَاذِبِينَ [ الْقَصَصِ: 38 ]. وَقَالَ هَاهُنَا: لَعَلِّي أَبْلُغُ الْأَسْبَابَ أَسْبَابَ السَّمَاوَاتِ أَيْ; طُرُقَهَا وَمَسَالِكَهَا فَأَطَّلِعَ إِلَى إِلَهِ مُوسَى وَإِنِّي لَأَظُنُّهُ كَاذِبًا وَيَحْتَمِلُ هَذَا مَعْنَيَيْنِ; أَحَدُهُمَا، وَإِنِّي لَأَظُنُّهُ كَاذِبًا فِي قَوْلِهِ: إِنَّ لِلْعَالَمِ رَبًّا غَيْرِي. وَالثَّانِي، فِي دَعْوَاهُ أَنَّ اللَّهَ أَرْسَلَهُ. وَالْأَوَّلُ أَشْبَهُ بِظَاهِرِ حَالِ فِرْعَوْنَ، فَإِنَّهُ كَانَ يُنْكِرُ ظَاهِرَ إِثْبَاتِ الصَّانِعِ، وَالثَّانِي أَقْرَبُ إِلَى اللَّفْظِ; حَيْثُ قَالَ: فَأَطَّلِعَ إِلَى إِلَهِ مُوسَى أَيْ; فَأَسْأَلَهُ هَلْ أَرْسَلَهُ أَمْ لَا، وَإِنِّي لَأَظُنُّهُ كَاذِبًا أَيْ; فِي دَعْوَاهُ ذَلِكَ. وَإِنَّمَا كَانَ مَقْصُودُ فِرْعَوْنَ أَنْ يَصُدَّ النَّاسَ عَنْ تَصْدِيقِ مُوسَى، عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ، وَأَنْ يَحُثَّهُمْ عَلَى تَكْذِيبِهِ. قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: وَكَذَلِكَ زُيِّنَ لِفِرْعَوْنَ سُوءُ عَمَلِهِ وَصُدَّ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ وَقُرِئَ: ( وَصَدَّ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ ) قَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ وَمُجَاهِدٌ: يَقُولُ: إِلَّا فِي خَسَارٍ. أَيْ بَاطِلٍ، لَا يَحْصُلُ لَهُ شَيْءٌ مِنْ مَقْصُودِهِ الَّذِي رَامَهُ، فَإِنَّهُ لَا سَبِيلَ لِلْبَشَرِ أَنْ يَتَوَصَّلُوا بِقُوَاهُمْ إِلَى نَيْلِ السَّمَاءِ أَبَدًا - أَعْنِي السَّمَاءَ الدُّنْيَا - فَكَيْفَ بِمَا بَعْدَهَا مِنَ السَّمَاوَاتِ الْعُلَى، وَمَا فَوْقَ ذَلِكَ مِنَ الِارْتِفَاعِ الَّذِي لَا يَعْلَمُهُ إِلَّا اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ. وَذَكَرَ غَيْرُ وَاحِدٍ مِنَ الْمُفَسِّرِينَ أَنَّ هَذَا الصَّرْحَ، وَهُوَ الْقَصْرُ الَّذِي بَنَاهُ وَزِيرُهُ هَامَانُ لَهُ، لَمْ يُرَ بِنَاءٌ أَعْلَى مِنْهُ، وَأَنَّهُ كَانَ مَبْنِيًّا مِنَ الْآجُرِّ الْمَشْوِيِّ بِالنَّارِ، وَلِهَذَا قَالَ: فَأَوْقِدْ لِي يَا هَامَانُ عَلَى الطِّينِ فَاجْعَلْ لِي صَرْحًا وَعِنْدَ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ أَنَّ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ كَانُوا يُسَخَّرُونَ فِي ضَرْبِ اللَّبِنِ، وَكَانَ مِمَّا حَمَلُوا مِنَ التَّكَالِيفِ الْفِرْعَوْنِيَّةِ أَنَّهُمْ لَا يُسَاعَدُونَ عَلَى شَيْءٍ مِمَّا يَحْتَاجُونَ إِلَيْهِ فِيهِ، بَلْ كَانُوا هُمُ الَّذِينَ يَجْمَعُونَ تُرَابَهُ وَتِبْنَهُ وَمَاءَهُ، وَيُطْلَبُ مِنْهُمْ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ قِسْطٌ مُعَيَّنٌ، إِنْ لَمْ يَفْعَلُوهُ وَإِلَّا ضُرِبُوا وَأُهِينُوا غَايَةَ الْإِهَانَةِ، وَأُوذُوا غَايَةَ الْأَذِيَّةِ. وَلِهَذَا قَالُوا لِمُوسَى: أُوذِينَا مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ تَأْتِيَنَا وَمِنْ بَعْدِ مَا جِئْتَنَا قَالَ عَسَى رَبُّكُمْ أَنْ يُهْلِكَ عَدُوَّكُمْ وَيَسْتَخْلِفَكُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَيَنْظُرَ كَيْفَ تَعْمَلُونَ فَوَعَدَهُمْ بِأَنَّ الْعَاقِبَةَ لَهُمْ عَلَى الْقِبْطِ، وَكَذَلِكَ وَقَعَ، وَهَذَا مِنْ دَلَائِلِ النُّبُوَّةِ. وَارْتَفَعَ الْبُنْيَانُ ارْتِفَاعًا لَمْ يَبْلُغْهُ بُنْيَانٌ آخَرُ، فَشَقَّ ذَلِكَ عَلَى مُوسَى وَاسْتَعْظَمَهُ، فَأَوْحَى اللَّهُ إِلَيْهِ: أَنْ دَعْهُ وَمَا يُرِيدُ فَإِنِّي مُسْتَدْرِجُهُ وَمُبْطِلٌ مَا عَمِلَهُ سَاعَةً وَاحِدَةً. فَلَمَّا تَمَّ بِنَاؤُهُ أَمَرَ اللَّهُ جَبْرَائِيلَ فَخَرَّبَهُ وَأَهْلَكَ كُلَّ مَنْ عَمَلِ فِيهِ مِنْ صَانِعٍ وَمُسْتَعْمَلٍ.
Translation
✧ When Pharaoh saw that his people had been seized with fear of Moses, he feared that they might believe in him and abandon worship of him, so he devised a scheme for himself, and said to his vizier: “And Pharaoh said, 'O Hāmān, build me a lofty tower that I may reach the means—the means of the heavens—and look upon the God of Moses; and indeed, I think him a liar.' And thus the evil of his deed was made fair-seeming to Pharaoh, and he was turned away from the path; and the plot of Pharaoh was not but in ruin” [Ghāfir: 36-37]. Pharaoh denied Moses ﷺ in his claim that God had sent him, and Pharaoh asserted to his people what he had denied and fabricated in his saying to them: “I know not of any god for you other than me. So kindle for me, O Hāmān, a fire upon the clay and make for me a lofty tower that I may look upon the God of Moses; and indeed, I think him one of the liars” [al-Qaṣaṣ: 38]. And he said here: “that I may reach the means—the means of the heavens,” that is, their paths and ways, “and look upon the God of Moses; and indeed, I think him a liar.” This may bear two meanings: one of them is, “and indeed, I think him a liar” in his saying that the worlds have a Lord other than me; and the second is, in his claim that God sent him. The first is more fitting with the apparent state of Pharaoh, for he outwardly denied the existence of the Maker, while the second is closer to the wording, since he said, “and look upon the God of Moses,” that is, and ask Him whether He sent him or not, “and indeed, I think him a liar,” that is, in that claim of his. Pharaoh's aim was only to turn people away from believing Moses ﷺ and to urge them to deny him. God Almighty said: “And thus the evil of his deed was made fair-seeming to Pharaoh, and he was turned away from the path,” and it has been read: “and he turned away from the path.” Ibn ʿAbbās and Mujāhid said: that is, except in loss, i.e., in futility, such that nothing of his intended goal he sought would come to him; for there is no way for human beings to reach the sky by their own power ever—I mean the lowest heaven—so how could they reach the heavens above it, and the elevation beyond that which none knows but God, Mighty and Majestic. More than one of the commentators mentioned that this lofty tower, which is the palace his vizier Hāmān built for him, was such that no building taller than it had ever been seen, and that it was built of bricks fired by fire, and for this reason he said: “So kindle for me, O Hāmān, a fire upon the clay and make for me a lofty tower.” According to the People of the Book, the Children of Israel were forced to make bricks, and among the Pharaonic burdens they bore was that they were not helped in anything they needed for it; rather, they themselves gathered its earth, straw, and water, and a fixed quota was demanded of them every day; if they did not produce it, they were beaten and humiliated in the utmost manner and harmed to the extreme. For this reason they said to Moses: “We were harmed before you came to us and after you came to us.” He said: “Perhaps your Lord will destroy your enemy and make you successors in the land, so He may see how you act.” Thus he promised them that the outcome would be theirs over the Copts, and so it came to pass, and this is one of the proofs of prophethood. The construction rose to a height no other building had reached, and that distressed Moses and he deemed it grave, so God revealed to him: Leave him and what he wants, for I am letting him proceed by degrees and will nullify what he has done in a single hour. When the building was completed, God commanded Gabriel, and he demolished it and destroyed every worker and user in it.
Grades by grader
No grade is recorded for this wording.