Ash-Shu'araa (The Poets)

63. “Then We revealed to Moses: ‘Strike the sea with your staff’, then it clove asunder and each part became like a huge mountain.”

64. “Then We made the other party approach thither.”

It is always with Allah’s will and divine revelations that all prophets do their jobs.

Allah does some jobs through His friends in order to make people pay attention to them and obey them. (Yes, the nature and its manifestations are fully, by Allah’s will, at the mercy of His special servants and are over powered by them.)

It was why that the Qur’an says:

“Then We revealed to Moses: ‘Strike the sea with your Staff’...”

The same staff that is the means of miracles and warning on one day, it is the sign of mercy and deliverance on the other day. Moses (as) did this and hit his staff against the sea and a very strange scene happened in a manner that the Children of Israel got very happy.

Suddenly the sea divided, its water separated into pieces, and each piece, like a huge mountain, was over another piece; and among them a road appeared.

The verse continues saying:

“...then it clove asunder and each part became like a huge mountain.”

The Arabic word/’infalaqa/ is derived from the word /falq/ which means to get broken up. The word /firq/ is derived from the word /farq/ which means to separate, hi other words, (as Raqib says in Mufradat), the difference between /falq/ and /firq/ is that the first one refers to breaking and the second one refers to separating.

Thus, the Arabic words /firqih/ and /firq/ are applied to a piece or group that is separated from the rest.

The Arabic word /taud/ means a huge mountain and using an adjective in this verse which means ‘huge’ for it, is for the sake of emphasis.

Anyway, Allah, Who rules everything and if waters get wavy it is because of His command, if storms take place, it is by His order, and Who has created the universe, and water, wind, and soil are under His authority, commanded waves of the sea to pile. And then roads appeared between them and every group of the Children of Israel chose one of them to pass.

Pharaoh and his men got astonished by seeing this scene and such a clear miracle, but they did not stop being conceited and still pursued Moses (as) and the Children of Israel and sought their final destiny, as the holy Qur’an says:

“Then We made the other party approach thither.”

Therefore, unaware of the fact that they were going to die and the divine command of punishment would be soon issued, Pharaoh and his ignorant men entered the marine roads and ran arrogantly after their former slaves who had disobeyed them.