1. TAHA. Allah knows best what is meant by that.

2. We did not send down the Qur’an to you, Muhammad, to make you miserable – to cause him to tire himself out by what he does after it has been revealed, by the length of time he spends standing in prayer during the night. The implication is that he should be easier on himself –

3. … but We only sent it down as a reminder for those who are fearful of Allah…

4. …a Revelation from Him who created the earth and the high heavens,

5. …the All-Merciful, established firmly upon the Throne. In the Arabic language the word ‘arsh (throne) signifies the seat of authority. The way that the “establishing” took place is in a way that is appropriate for Allah.

6. Everything in the heavens and everything on the earth and everything in between them and everything under the ground belongs to Him. The word for “ground”, thar, means the moist soil on the earth’s surface, and the “everything” referred to here is the seven earths, because they are what is under it.

7. Though you speak out loud in dhikr or supplication to Allah, He knows your secrets – and has no need for audible vocalisation of your desires – and what is even more concealed. He knows what the self says and the thoughts which occur to it but are not spoken; so there is no need to make an effort to do it aloud.

8. Allah, there is no god but Him. The Most Beautiful Names are His. He has the ninety-nine Names reported in the hadıth mentioned above in the commentary on 17:110.

9. Has the story of Musa not reached you?

10. When he saw a fire and said to his family (his wife) – while he was travelling from Madyan towards Egypt – ‘ Wait here. I can make out a fire. Maybe I will bring you a brand from it – go and light the end of a branch or stick – or will find guidance there’ to direct him on the path he wished to follow. He had become lost because he was travelling at night. He says “maybe” because he was not certain that he would be able to fulfil that promise.

11. Then when he reached it – the boxthorn bush from which the fire was coming – a voice called out, ‘Musa!

12. I am (read as inniana and innaana) – the use of the preposition an (“I”) here when it is also included in the previous word is to give greater stress to it – your Lord. Take off your sandals. You are in the holy (pure or blessed) valley of Tuwa.

13. I have chosen you – from your people – so listen well to what isrevealed by Me.

14. I am Allah. There is no god but Me, so worship Me and establish the prayer to remember Me.

15. The Hour is coming but I have concealed it from people, even though its proximity will be indicated by certain signs, so that every self may be repaid for its efforts – both good and evil.

16. Do not let those who not believe in it and follow their whims and desires debar you from it – divert you from believing in it – or you will be destroyed. If you were to be turned from belief, then you would certainly be destroyed.

17. What is that in your right hand, Musa?’ This question is one by which confirmation of it is intended, since the staff was miraculous.

18. He said, ‘It is my staff. I lean on it when getting up and walkingand I use it to beat down leaves from the trees for my sheep to eat with it; and I have other uses for it.’ Other uses might be things like carrying provisions and water or driving away vermin.

19. He said, ‘Throw it down, Musa.’

20. He threw it down and suddenly it was a slithering snake. It became a huge snake which moved as swiftly on its belly as small snakes usually do.

21. He said, ‘Take hold of it and have no fear. We will return it to its original form. Musa put his hand in its mouth and it reverted to being a staff. It is clear that the place where he placed his hand was the grip between the truncated forked branches at the end of the staff. Musa was shown that so that he would not be alarmed when it turned into a snake in the presence of Pharaoh.

22. Put the palm of your right hand under your left arm – under the armpit – and press it to your side. Then bring it out. It will emerge pure white – not its normal dark colour – yet quite unharmed – the change to white was not due to leprosy and it shone like the rays of the sun, dazzling the eyes: another Sign.

23. In this way We show you – when you do that – some of Our greatest Signs which reinforce Your Message. When he wanted it to r evert to its original state, he put it under his arm again and then brought it out.

24. Go – as a Messenger – to Pharaoh and those with him. He has overstepped the bounds in his unbelief by claiming to be a god.’

25. He said, ‘O Lord, expand my breast for me – and make it ample enough to bear the Message

26. …and make my task in conveying your Message easy for me.

27. Loosen the knot in my tongue – which he had acquired by burning it with a hot coal he had put in his mouth when he was a child.

28. …so that they will understand my words when I convey the Message.

29. Assign me a helper from my family to help me in my mission,

30. …my brother Harun.

31. Strengthen my back by him

32. …and let him share in my task – delivering the Message –

33. …so that we may glorify You much

34. …and remember You much,

35. … for You are watching us.’ You know and see us and have blessed us with the Message.

36. He said, ‘Your request has been granted, Müs.

37. We were gracious to you another time

38. …when We revealed to your mother – in a dream or by inspiration, when she bore him and feared that Pharaoh would kill him with the children he was killing:

39. “Place him in the box and throw it into the sea (the Nile) and the sea will wash it up on the shore, where an enemy of Mine and his (Pharaoh) will pick it up.” I showered you with love from Me – so that people will love you and Pharaoh and everyone who sees you will love you – so that you would be brought up under My supervi sion – in My care and with My protection.

40. When your sister, Maryam, went to learn what had happened to you and wet-nurses had been summoned, but you would not accept the breast of any of them, she said, “Shall I direct you to someone who will take care of him?” His sister made her suggestion, which was accepted, and she brought his mother and he accepted her breast; and – that was how We returned you to your mother so that she might delight her eyes at finding you and not be grieved. You killed a man (the Copt in Egypt) – and you were upset at what might happen from Pharaoh – and We rescued you from trouble and tested you with many trials – other things from which We saved you. You stayed some ten years among the people of Madyan after you went there from Egypt and stayed with the Prophet Shu‘ayb and married his daughter. Then you arrived at the pre-ordained time for the Message, which We knew would come – Musa. That was when he was forty years old.

41. I have chosen you for Myself for conveying My Message.

42. Go, you and your brother, to the people with My nine Signs and do not slacken in remembering Me – by glorification of Me and in other ways.

43. Go to Pharaoh; he has overstepped the bounds by claiming divinity.

44. But speak to him with gentle words in answering him so that perhaps he will pay heed or show some fear – and therefore revert.’ Both hopes are mentioned although Allah knew, of course, that Pharaoh would not revert.

45. They said, ‘Our Lord, we are afraid that he might persecute us and hasten to punish us – or overstep the bounds with arrogance towards us.’

46. He said, ‘Have no fear. I will be with you – with My help – All- Hearing of what he says and All-Seeing of what he does.

47. Go to him and say, “We are your Lord’s Messengers, so send the tribe of Israel away with us to Syria and do not punish them – do not continue to force them to do your onerous tasks, like digging, building and carrying heavy loads. We have brought you a Sign (evidence) from your Lord that we are speaking the truth regarding the Message. Peace be upon those who follow the guidance. They alone will be safe from punishment.

48. It has been revealed to us that punishment is for him who denies the truth which we have brought and turns away.”’ The two of them went to Pharaoh and said all of these things.

49. Pharaoh said, ‘Who then is your Lord, Musa?’ He confined himself to asking this because it is the main issue, and then he pointed out to him how he himself had brought him up.

50. He (Musa) said, ‘Our Lord is He who gives each thing its created form – distinct from every other – and then guides it – guides the animals among them to their food, drink, procreation and other things.’

51. He (Pharaoh) said, ‘What about the previous generations such as the people of Nuh, Hud, Lut, and Salih, with their worship of idols?’

52. He (Musa) said, ‘Knowledge of them (their state) is kept with my Lord in a Book (the Preserved Tablet). He will repay them accordingly on the Day of Rising. My Lord does not misplace, nor does He forget.’ Nothing is hidden from Him and He does not forget anything.

53. It is He who made the earth a cradle for you and threaded pathways for you through it to make it easy for you to travel and sent down water – as rain – from the sky by which We have brought forth various different types of plants. Allah says this to complete His description of Musa and also addresses the people of Makka, mentioning that the rain brings forth different types of plants which vary in colour, taste and other things.

54. Eat from these plants and pasture your livestock among them. The Arabic word for “livestock”, an’am, includes camels, cattle and sheep, and gives the sense of something being allowed. Certainly there are Signs in that for people of sound intellect. The word for “intellect”, nuha, is the plural of nuhya, so called because it prevents (yanha) a person from committing ugly actions.

55. From it (the earth) We created you – by the creation of your ancestor, Adam; to it We will return you – by burial after death; and from it We will bring you forth a second time – by the Resurrection, just as We brought you forth the first time when We created you.

56. We showed him (Pharaoh) all of Our nine Signs, but he denied them and spurned them and claimed that it was all magic, and refused to declare that Allah is One.

57. He said, ‘Have you come to us to expel us from our land (Egypt) and to be the king in it by means of your magic, Musa?

58. We will bring you magic to match it. So fix a time between us and you which neither we nor you will fail to keep, at a place where we can meet halfway (read as suwa and siwa),’ – meaning a place which is the same distance from each of the two parties.

59. He (Musa) said, ‘Your time is the day of the Festival – the Day of their Eid, during which they dressed up and gathered together. The people of Egypt should gather in the late morning’ to see what would happen.

60. So Pharaoh went away and concocted his scheme together with the magicians, and then he arrived at the appointed time.

61. Musa said to them – there were seventy - two of them, each of whom had a rope and staff – ‘Woe to you! Allah will punish you. Do not fabricate lies against Allah – by associating anyone with Him – or He will annihilate (read as yushitakum and yashatakum) you with His punishment and destroy you. Fabricators of lies against Allah are bound to fail.’

62. They argued among themselves about the matter – about Musa and his brother – and had a secret conference concerning them.

63. They said among themselves: ‘These (read as hadhani and hadhini) two magicians (Musa and his brother) desire by their magic to expel you from your land and abolish your most excellent way of life.

64. So decide (read as fa-jmi‘u and fa-jma‘u) on your scheme – to use magic – and then arrive together in force (in ranks). He who gains the upper hand today and is victorious will definitely prosper.’

65. They said, ‘Musa – choose – will you throw your staff first or shall we be the first to throw?’

66. He said, ‘No, you throw.’ They threw. And suddenly their ropes and staffs appeared to him, by their magic, to be snakes slithering about.

67. Musa experienced in himself a feeling of alarm because their magic appeared to be similar to his miracle, and so it might confuse people and they would not believe him.

68. We said to him: ‘Have no fear. You will have the upper hand.

69. Throw down what is in your right hand (your staff). It will swallow up their handiwork. Their handiwork is just a magician’s trick. Magicians do not prosper wherever they go.’ Musa threw down his staff and it swallowed up what they had produced.

70. The magicians threw themselves down in prostration to Allah. They said, ‘We believe in the Lord of Harun and Musa.’

71. Pharaoh said, ‘Do you believe in him before I have authorised you? He is your chief, the one who taught you magic. I will cut off your hands and feet alternately – your right hands and left feet – and have you crucified on palm trunks. Then you will know for certain which of us – him or the Lord of Musa – has the harsher and longer lasting punishment.’

72. They said, ‘We will never prefer you to – and choose you over – the Clear Signs which have come to us – which show the truthfulness of Musa – nor to Him who brought us into being. Decide on any judgement you like . Do what you said you would do. Your jurisdiction only covers the life of this world.

73. We have put our faith in our Lord, so that He may forgive us for our mistakes in committing shirk and other things and for the magic which you forced us to perform – to learn and do to oppose Musa. Allah is better in terms of reward than you are and longer lasting in terms of punishment.’

74. Allah says: As for those who come to their Lord as evildoers – unbelievers, like Pharaoh – they will have Hell, where they will neither die – so that they have a rest – nor stay alive – so they can benefit.

75. But as for those who come to Him as believers, having done right actions – both obligatory and supererogatory ones – they will have the highest ranks:

76. Gardens of Eden where they will abide with rivers flowing under them, remaining in them timelessly, for ever. That is the reward of those who purify themselves of wrong actions.

77. We revealed to Musa, Travel (read as an asri and an’sri) with My slaves by night out of the land of Egypt. Strike a dry path for them with your staff through the sea. Musa obeyed the command and Allah made the land dry for him, and so they crossed on it. Have no fear of being overtaken by Pharaoh and do not be afraid of drowning.’

78. Pharaoh pursued them with his troops and the sea overwhelmed them utterly and drowned them.

79. Pharaoh misguided his people by calling on them to worship him. He was no guide but rather caused them to fall into destruction, which was the opposite of his words: “I only guide you to the Path of Rectitude.” (40:29)

80. Tribe of Israel, We rescued you from your enemy (Pharaoh) by drowning him and made an appointment with you on the right hand side of the Mount – where Musa was given the Torah – so that it might serve as basis for action – and sent down manna and quails for you. This yat was addressed to those Jews who were present at the time of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and were being addressed regarding the blessings which were bestowed on their ancestors in the time of the Prophet Musa. This is a prelude to the following ayat:

81. Eat of the good things We have provided for you – as blessings – but do not go to excess in it by being ungrateful for your blessings or My anger will be unleashed (read as yahullu and yahlulu) on you. Anyone who has My anger unleashed (read as yahillu and yahlil) on him has plunged to his ruin – into the Fire.

82. But I am Ever-Forgiving to anyone who repents – of committing shirk – and believes – by affirming Allah’s unity – and acts rightly – by being sincere in obligatory and supererogatory acts – and then is guided – by continuing to act in the way that has been mentioned until he dies.

83. ‘Why have you hurried on ahead of your people, Musa to come to the meeting to receive the Torah?’

84. He said, ‘They are following in my tracks – coming along close behind me. I have hurried on ahead to you, My Lord, to gain more of Your good pleasure.’ The reply was accepted because the excuse showed his good opinion of Allah.

85. He (Allah) said, ‘We tried your people after you left them and the Samiri has misguided them into worshipping the Calf.’

86. Musa returned to his people in anger and great sorrow. He said, ‘My people, did not your Lord make you a handsome promise to give you the Torah? Did the fulfilment of the contract seem too long to you – a reference to the time Musa was away from them – or did you want to unleash your Lord’s anger upon yourselves – did you want Allah to be wrathful towards you for worshipping the Calf – so you broke your promise to me and did not follow me?’

87. They said, ‘We did not break our promise to you of our own volition (read as malk, milk and mulk) – meaning that they did not do it by their own power or from themselve s. But we were weighed down (read as Hummilna and hamalna) with the heavy loads of the people’s jewellery – the jewellery of the people of Pharaoh which the tribe of Israel had borrowed from them for a wedding and which was still in their possession – and we threw them in – into the fire, as the Samiri commanded – for that is what the Samiri did.’ The Samirı told them to throw it in, just as he was throwing in the jewellery which he had, and also some of the earth he had taken from the footprints of Jibril’s horse as will be explained.

88. Then he produced a calf for them – from the jewellery – a physical form of flesh and blood which made a lowing sound – a sound that could be heard. It was transformed because of the earth from the angel’s footprints, which produces life in anything in which it is placed. After it was made, he put the dust in its mouth. So they (the Samiri and his followers) said, ‘This is your god – and Musa’s god as well, but he (Musa) forgot his Lord and went to look for it.’ Allah said:

89. Could they not see that it (the Calf) did not reply to them and that it possessed no power to either harm or benefit them? It had no power to do anything, so why did they take it as a god?

90. Harun had earlier said to them – before Musa returned – ‘My people, it is just a trial for you. Your Lord is the All-Merciful, so follow me in worshipping Allah and obey my command!’

91. They said, ‘We will not stop devoting ourselves to it and worshipping it until Musa returns to us.’

92. He (Musa) said – when he returned – ‘What prevented you following me, Harun, when you saw that they had gone astray by worshipping the Calf?

93. Did you too, then, disobey my command by staying among those who worshipped something other than Allah?’ The la in this sentence is redundant.

94. He (Harun) said, ‘Son of my mother, (read as yabna’ummi and yabna’umma) – he mentioned this to soften Musa’s heart, as he had grabbed his hair in his right hand in anger – do not seize me by the beard or by the hair. I was afraid that if I had followed you, then all who did not worship the Calf would have followed me as well, and you would say in anger at me: “ You have caused division in the tribe of Israel and taken no notice of anything I said.”’

95. He said, ‘What do you think you were doing, Samiri?’ Why were calling people to this?

96. He said, ‘I saw what they did not see (read as yabsuru and tabsuru, “you did not see”). I knew what they did not know. So I gathered up a handful of earth from the Messenger’s footprints – from the tracks left by the hooves of Jibrıl’s horse – and threw it in – into the manufactured Calf. That is what my inner self urged me to do.’ That was what his self made seem attractive to him: to take the handful of earth and throw it into something which had no spirit so that it would have a spirit. He said, “I saw your people ask you to make a god for them, and so my self told me to make the Calf as a god for them.”

97. He (Musa) said to him, ‘Go – from us! In this world – for as long as you live – you will have to say to whomever you meet, “Untouchable!” – meaning: “Do not come near me.” He wandered in the desert and if anyone touched him or he touched anyone, they came down with a fever. And you have an appointment with your punishment which you will not fail to keep (read as tukhlafahu and tukhlifahu). Look at your god to which you devoted so much time! We will burn it up with fire and then scatter it as dust into the air above the sea. Musa did that after he slaughtered it.

98. Your god is Allah alone, there is no god but Him. He encompasses all things in His knowledge.’

99. In this way We give you news – which We recount to you, Muhammad – of what has gone before – in respect of this story and other reports of past communities – and We have given you a reminder (the Qur’an) direct from Us.

100. Those who turn away from it and do not believe in it will bear a heavy burden of sin on the Day of Rising,

101. …remaining in it – in the punishment, on account of the burden – timelessly, for ever. What an evil load they will bear on the Day of Rising!

102. On the Day the second blast of the Trumpet is blown, and We gather the evildoers (the unbelievers) sightless – the word used here, zurq, which normally means blue, comes to mean blind because the eyes turn bluish when blind from cataracts – on that Day…

103. …they will whisper secretly to one other, ‘You only stayed in this world for ten days and nights.’

104. We know best what they will say about that, but the truth is different from what they say when the most correct of them will say, ‘ You only stayed one day.’ This statement is the most correct because it reflects the shortness of their time in this world once they see the Next World with all its terrors.

105. They will ask you about the mountains and how they will be on the Day of Rising. Say to them: ‘My Lord will scatter them as dust, like sand blown by the wind.

106. He will leave them as a barren, level plain Whenever some of it was sent down on him, it increased his knowledge of it.

107.

108.

109.

110.

111.

112.

113.

114.

115. We made a contract with Adam before – ordering him not to eat from the Tree before he did eat from it – but he forgot and abandoned Our contract with him. We did not find that he had a firm resolve and the necessary steadfastness to avoid what We had forbidden him.

116. Remember when We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate yourselves to Adam’, they prostrated, with the exception of Iblis, the forefather of the jinn. He used to keep the company of the angels and worshipped Allah with them – who disdained to do it – to prostrate to Adam, and said, “I am better than him.”

117. We said, ‘Adam, this is an enemy to you and your wife (Hawwa’), so do not let him expel you from the Garden and thus make you miserable – cause you to become tired by cultivation, harvesting, milling, and making bread and the like. Adam’s misery alone is mentioned because naming the man automatically includes his wife.

118. You will not go hungry in it or suffer from nakedness.

119. You (read as annaka and innaka) will not go thirsty in it or burn in the sun.’ This means that in the Garden he did not suffer from the heat of the morning sun, not that there is no sunlight in the Garden.

120. But Shaytan whispered to him, saying, ‘Adam, shall I show you the way to the Tree of Everlasting Life – a Tree such that if someone eats from it, he will become immortal – and to a kingdom which will never fade away – but will last forever?’

121. So the two of them (Adam and Hawwa’) ate from it and their private parts were disclosed to them – each of them noticed the private parts of the other, and they are called private parts (sawa’a) because their disclosure is bad (sü’) for a person – and they started stitching together the leaves of the Garden to cover themselves. Adam disobeyed his Lord – when he ate from the Tree – and became misled.

122. But then his Lord chose him – brought him near – and turned to him – before his repentance – and guided him to be constant in repentance.

123. He (Allah) said to Adam and Hawwa’ – and that includes all of their offspring – ‘Go down from it (the Garden) all of you, as enemies to one another! Their offspring would become enemies to one another by wronging one another. But when guidance (the Qur’an) comes to you from Me, all those who follow My guidance will not go astray in this world and will not be miserable in the Next World.

124. But if anyone turns away from My reminder (the Qur’an) and does not believe in it his life will be a dark and narrow (constricted) one – and a hadith explains this as referring to the punishment of the unbeliever in his grave – and on the Day of Rising We will gather him – the one who turns away from the Qur’an – blind.’

125. He will say, ‘My Lord, why have you gathered me blind when before I was able to see – in the world and at the Resurrection?’

126. He will say, ‘What else could you expect? – just as Our Signs came to you and you forgot them – rejected them and did not believe in them – in the same way as you ignored Our signs you too are forgotten today in the Fire.’

127. As We repay those who turn away from the Qur’an, that is how We also repay anyone who is profligate – by committing shirk – and does not believe in the Signs of his Lord. And punishment in the Next World is much harsher and longer lasting than punishment in this world and punishment in the grave.

128. Are they (the unbelievers of Makka) not guided – has it not been made clear to them – by the many generations We have destroyed before them – because of their denial of the Messengers – among whose dwelling places they walk about when they travel to Syria and elsewhere, so that they reflect? There are Signs and lessons in that for people of sound intellect.

129. And were it not for a prior word from your Lord – of the postponement of punishment for them until the Next World – and a specified term, it (their destruction) would inevitably have already taken place in this world.

130. So be steadfast in the face of what they say – but this was abrogated by the Ayat of Fighting – and pray and glorify your Lord with praise before the rising of the sun – in the subh prayer – and before its setting – in the ‘Asr prayer. And glorify Him during part of the night – in the prayers of Maghrib and ‘Isha’ – and at both ends of the day – in the dhuhr prayer, which divides the day into two – so that perhaps you may be pleased (rewarded).

131. Do not direct your eyes longingly to what We have given certain of them – the word azwaj (literally pairs) here means different categories – to enjoy, the flower and adornment of the life of this world, so that We may test them by it to see whether they will transgress. Your Lord’s provision in Paradise is better and longer lasting than what they receive in this world.

132. Instruct your family to prayer, and be constant (steadfast) in it. We do not ask you for provision: either for yourself or for anyone else. We provide for you. And the best end result (the Garden) is gained by fearfulness of Allah.

133. They (the idolaters) say, ‘If only he (Muhammad) would bring us a Sign from his Lord as we demand!’ Have they not received (read as ta’tihim and ya’tihim) the Clear Sign of what is written in the earlier texts? The Qur’an contains reports of past nations and their destruction on account of their denial of their Messengers.

134. If We had destroyed them with a punishment before this – before Muhammad came as a Messenger – they would have said – on the Day of Rising, ‘Our Lord, why did You not send us a Messenger, so we could follow Your Signs before we were humbled at the Resurrection and disgraced in Hellfire?’

135. Say to them: ‘Everyone – we and you – is waiting expectantly for the final outcome, so wait expectantly. You will soon know – at the Resurrection – who are the Companions of the Right (straight) Path and who is guided away from misguidance: us or you.’