Table of Contents

No. 28 (Revealed in Mecca)

88 Verses in 9 Sections

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful

The holy Prophet (S) in a tradition said:

“The one who recites Surah Al-Qasas will be given ten rewards as many as the number of all those who assented Moses and those who rejected him, and there is no angel in the heavens and the earth but he will attest to his rightfulness in Hereafter.”1

Imam Sadiq (as) in another tradition says:

“The one who recites suras Al-Qasas, An-Naml, and Ash-Shu‘ara by the night before Friday, he will be of the friends of Allah, will be nigh to Him, and will be supported by Him; and in this world he will not encounter a sever poverty, insecurity and disquiet, and in Hereafter Allah will bestow on him so much merits that he will be pleased and even more than being pleased.”2

It is evident that all of these rewards will be given to the one who, by reciting this Surah, tries to be in the row of Moses (as), the true believers, and those who struggle against the wrongdoers such as Pharaoh and Korah.

When confronting the difficulties, he must not knee before the enemies and accept the disgrace of submission, for all these many rewards are not given to anyone cheaply. They are specified to those who usually recite the Surah, contemplate its content, and fulfil them accordingly.

Section 1: The Narrative of Moses

Surah Al-Qasas - Verses 1-3

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ‌ طسم (1) تِلْكَ آياتُ الْكِتابِ الْمُبِينِ (2) نَتْلُوا عَلَيْكَ مِنْ نَبَإِ مُوسی‌ وَ فِرْعَوْنَ بِالْحَقِّ لِقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ (3)

In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful

1. “Ta. Sin. Mim.”

2. “There are verses of the Book (that makes the truth) clear.”

3. “We recite to you of the story of Moses and Pharaoh in truth, for a people who believe.”

The Qur’an, the eternal miracle of Islam, has been formed of these very Arabic letters. If you think that it is the word of a human, you may bring the like of it, too.

This is the fourteenth Surah of the Qur’an which begins with ‘the abbreviated letter’, and the form Ta. Sin. Mim., in particular, is for the third and the last time that has been mentioned in the Qur’an.

As we have cited repeatedly, the Abbreviated letters of the Qur’an have different interpretations which we have referred to at the beginning of Suras of Al-Baqarah, ’Al-i-‘Imran, and Al-’A‘raf.

Moreover, there are a lot of traditions which indicate that the letters Ta. Sin. Mim., in the Qur’an are some abbreviation signs of the attributes of Allah or sacred places, but this does not hinder the famous commentary, which we have repeatedly emphasized on, that Allah desires to make clear this fact to all that this great Heavenly Book which is the source of a great revolution in the history of man and contains the complete program of the happy life of humankind, has been formed of a simple means such as alphabetical letters which everybody can pronounce.

This is the ultimate greatness of the Qur’an that it produces such an extraordinary important product from such simple materials which every body possesses.

Perhaps this is for the same reason that immediately, after these abbreviated letters, it refers to the greatness of the Qur’an and implies that these great verses are the verses of the Book manifest, the Book which is clear itself and makes clear the man’s way of happiness both.

It says:

“There are verses of the Book (that makes the truth) clear.”

The Qur’anic phrase /kitabun mubin/ has been rendered to ‘Protected Tablet’ in some verses of the Qur’an, like Surah Yunus, No. 10, verse 61 where it says:

“…not anything lesser than that or greater but are (recorded) in a Clear Book.”,

and Surah Hud, No. 11, verse 6 where it says:

“…All is (recorded) in a Clear Book”,

but in the verse under discussion, with the frame reference of mentioning /’ayat/ (verses) and the phrase /natlu ‘alayka/ (We recite to you) mentioned in the next verse, it means ‘Qur’an’.

Here the word Qur’an has been qualified by /mubin/ (clear), and the Arabic word /mubin/, as understood from lexicon, is used both in the senses of ‘transitive’ and ‘intransitive’ case, viz. it means something which is ‘clear’ and ‘makes clear’. So, the Holy Qur’an, with its clear content, makes clear the Truth from untruth, and the true way from false way.

After mentioning this short proposition, referred to in the above, in the next verse the Qur’an points to the life story of Moses and Pharaoh where it says:

“We recite to you of the story of Moses and Pharaoh in truth, for a people who believe.”

The application of the word /min/, here, points to this fact that whatever is mentioned here is a part of the concerning adventurous story the statement of which has been appropriate and necessary.

And the application of /bil haqq/ in the verse points to this fact that whatever has been mentioned here is free from any superstition, old fables, and false matters; and it is a recitation with truth and exact reality.

The application of the phrase /liqaumin yu’minun/ (for a people who believe) is an emphasis on this fact that those believers who were under pressure at that time in Mecca, and the like of them, should reach to this fact, by hearing this story, that how abundant the enemy’s power, number of persons, and their forces is, and how the number of believers is apparently little and they are under pressure, the power of Allah is above all and they must not feel weakness in themselves.

The Lord Who caused Moses to be brought up in the bosom of Pharaoh to destroy him; the Lord Who made the oppressed slaves as the governors on the earth, and made the cruel oppressors abject, mean, and annihilated; the Lord Who protected a little baby in the rushing waves of water, and buried thousands of thousand strong people of Pharaoh inside the sea, is able to save you, too.

Yes, the main target of these verses is believers, and this recitation has been accomplished for them. They are the believers who can be respired by it and find their way to the aim among the mass of difficulties.