Ghafir (The Forgiver)

23. And verily We sent Moses with Our Ayat (Verses, Signs) and a manifest authority.

24. To Pharaoh, Haman, and Korah, but they called [him] a sorcerer, a liar.

25. Then when he brought them the Truth from Us, they said: “Slay the sons of those who believe with him and let their women live” but [they knew not that] the plots of disbelievers are nothing but in vain.

Messengers had two weapons of significance against tyrants: the miracle of Divine Ayat and manifest authority. Prophetic missions mainly aim at struggling with the chiefs of corruption and disbelief who make use of force, government, political power, stratagems, mischief, cultural power, worldly possessions, and economic power.

Resuming the allusion to the dire fate of ancient peoples in the preceding Verses, the verses in question alludes to the story of Pharaoh, Haman, and Korah.

Verses 23 and 24 say:

“We sent Moses with our Ayat and manifest authority to Pharaoh, Haman, and Korah, but they said: ‘He is a lying sorcerer.’”

Different interpretations have been produced by Qur’anic exegets as to the difference between Ayat and manifest authority. Some maintain that the former and the latter refer to manifest arguments and miracles respectively.

Some maintain that the former indicates all of Moses’ miracles whereas the latter designate his prominent miracles such as his walking stick and illuminating hand which led to his manifest dominance over Pharaoh. Thus, Ayat refers to his miracles and manifest authority designates his solid and decisive arguments against the people of Pharaoh.

It is worthy of note that Moses possessed intellectual arguments and also wrought miracles which demonstrated his nexus with the supernatural; however, the stance of the people of Pharaoh was that they accused him of being a liar and a sorcerer.

They made use of such accusations against Ayat and miracles and disbelieved him against his logical arguments. It bears another testimony to the acceptability of the two interpretations in question. To refute the true arguments of men of truth, lords of disbelief have always made use of such accusations. Even today we find many instances of such false accusations.

It is noteworthy that three names have been mentioned in this Verse each of whom symbolize something: Pharaoh as the symbol of rebellion and tyrannical rule; Haman as the symbol of mischief and satanic stratagems; Korah as the symbol of material possessions, rebellion, and exploitation who left no stone unturned to preserve his wealth.

Thus Moses was divinely appointed to put an end to the oppression of tyrannical rules, the mischief of treacherous politicians, and transgressions of the arrogant rich and establish a society on the basis of justice and on a politically, culturally, and economically firm ground, but those whose illegitimate interests were in jeopardy rose against him.

Verse 25 exposes some of their mischievous stratagems saying:

“Then when he brought them the Truth from Us, they said: ‘Slay the sons of those who believe with him and let their women live.’”

The expression reveals that slaying males and keeping females alive was not restricted to the time prior to Moses’ birth but it recurred following his uprising and prophethood.

It is mentioned elsewhere in the Holy Qur’an that the Children of Israel said unto Moses (as):

“We had suffered troubles before you came to us.”

The Children of Israel said it unto Moses following the conspiracies of the people of Pharaoh aiming at slaying believers’ offspring.

It is worthy of note that satanic rulers recurrently hatch vicious plots so as to destroy active forces and keep alive inactive ones for exploitation.

It is not a source of wonder that such plots were hatched prior to Moses’ (as) birth for the Children of Israel who were slaves of the people of Pharaoh and it was regarded as an anti-revolutionary move following Moses’ (as) uprising so as to severely suppress the forces of the Children of Israel forever.

At the close of the blessed Verse in question it reads:

“but [they knew not that] the plots of disbelievers are nothing but in vain.”

Their stratagems are like arrows shot in the shadows of ignorance and error hitting rocks, since they are not convinced that they will pay for the consequences of their vicious acts. It is Divine Will that the forces of Truth vanquish those of falsehood.