Ayah
Word by Word
وَٱتَّقُواْ
And fear
يَوۡمٗا
a day
لَّا
(will) not
تَجۡزِي
avail
نَفۡسٌ
any soul
عَن
for
نَّفۡسٖ
(another) soul
شَيۡـٔٗا
anything
وَلَا
and not
يُقۡبَلُ
will be accepted
مِنۡهَا
from it
شَفَٰعَةٞ
any intercession
وَلَا
and not
يُؤۡخَذُ
will be taken
مِنۡهَا
from it
عَدۡلٞ
a compensation
وَلَا
and not
هُمۡ
they
يُنصَرُونَ
will be helped
وَٱتَّقُواْ
And fear
يَوۡمٗا
a day
لَّا
(will) not
تَجۡزِي
avail
نَفۡسٌ
any soul
عَن
for
نَّفۡسٖ
(another) soul
شَيۡـٔٗا
anything
وَلَا
and not
يُقۡبَلُ
will be accepted
مِنۡهَا
from it
شَفَٰعَةٞ
any intercession
وَلَا
and not
يُؤۡخَذُ
will be taken
مِنۡهَا
from it
عَدۡلٞ
a compensation
وَلَا
and not
هُمۡ
they
يُنصَرُونَ
will be helped
Translation
Then guard yourselves against a day when one soul shall not avail another nor shall intercession be accepted for her, nor shall compensation be taken from her, nor shall anyone be helped (from outside).
Tafsir
and fear, be scared of, the day when no soul for another shall give satisfaction, which is the Day of Resurrection, and no intercession shall be accepted (read either tuqbal or yuqbal) from it, that is, it is not the case that it has power to intercede, for it then to be accepted from it [or rejected, as God says], So now we have no intercessors [Q. 26:100]; nor any compensation, ransom, be taken, neither shall they be helped, to avoid God's chastisement.
"The Children of Israel were saved from Pharaoh and His Army Who drowned
Allah said to the Children of Israel, ""Remember My favor on you
وَإِذۡ نَجَّيۡنَاكُم مِّنۡ الِ فِرۡعَوۡنَ يَسُومُونَكُمۡ سُوَءَ الۡعَذَابِ
And (remember) when We delivered you from Fir`awn's (Pharaoh) people, who were afflicting you with a horrible torment,
meaning, `I - Allah - saved you from them and delivered you from their hands in the company of Musa, after they subjected you to horrible torture.'
This favor came after the cursed Pharaoh had a dream in which he ﷺ a fire emerge from Bayt Al-Maqdis (Jerusalem), and then the fire entered the houses of the Coptics in Egypt, with the exception of the Children of Israel. Its purport was that his kingship would be toppled by a man among the Children of Israel.
It was also said that some of Pharaoh's entourage said that the Children of Israel were expecting a man among them to arise who would establish a state for them. We will mention the Hadith on this subject when we explain Surah Ta Ha, Allah willing.
After the dream, Pharaoh ordered that every newborn male among the Children of Israel be killed and that the girls be left alone. He also commanded that the Children of Israel be given tasks of hard labor and assigned the most humiliating jobs.
The torment here refers to killing the male infants.
In Surah Ibrahim this meaning is clearly mentioned,
يَسُومُونَكُمۡ سُوءَ الۡعَذَابِ وَيُذَبِّحُونَ أَبۡنَاءكُمۡ وَيَسۡتَحۡيُونَ نِسَاءكُمۡ
Who were afflicting you with horrible torment, and were slaughtering your sons and letting your women live. (14:6)
We will explain this Ayah in the beginning of Surah Al-Qasas, Allah willing, and our reliance and trust are with Him.
The meaning of,
يَسُومُونَكُمۡ
(who were afflicting you) is,
""They humiliated you,"" as Abu Ubaydah stated.
It was also said that it means, ""They used to exaggerate in tormenting you"" according to Al-Qurtubi.
As for Allah saying,
يُذَبِّحُونَ أَبۡنَاءكُمۡ وَيَسۡتَحۡيُونَ نِسَاءكُمۡ
killing your sons and sparing your women,
that explains His statement,
يَسُومُونَكُمۡ سُوَءَ الۡعَذَابِ
(who were afflicting you with horrible torment) then it explains the meaning of the favor He gave them, as mentioned in His statement,
اذۡكُرُواۡ نِعۡمَتِيَ الَّتِي أَنۡعَمۡتُ عَلَيۡكُمۡ
(Remember My favor which I bestowed upon you).
As for what Allah said in Surah Ibrahim,
وَذَكِّرۡهُمۡ بِأَيَّامِ اللّهِ
(And remind them of the annals of Allah), (14:5) meaning,
the favors and blessing He granted them,
He then said,
يَسُومُونَكُمۡ سُوءَ الۡعَذَابِ وَيُذَبِّحُونَ أَبۡنَاءكُمۡ وَيَسۡتَحۡيُونَ نِسَاءكُمۡ
(Who were afflicting you with horrible torment, and were slaughtering your sons and letting your women live), (14:6).
So Allah mentioned saving their children from being slaughtered in order to remind them of the many favors that He granted them.
We should state here that Pharaoh (Fir`awn) is a title that was given to every disbelieving king who ruled Egypt, whether from the Amaliq (Canaanites) or otherwise, just as Caesar (Qaysar) is the title of the disbelieving kings who ruled Rome and Damascus. Also, Khosrau (Kisra) is the title of the kings who ruled Persia, while Tubba is the title of the kings of Yemen, and the kings of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) were called Negus (An-Najashi).
Allah said,
وَفِي ذَلِكُم بَلء مِّن رَّبِّكُمۡ عَظِيمٌ
And therein was a mighty trial from your Lord.)
Ibn Jarir commented that this part of the Ayah means,
""Our saving your fathers from the torment that they suffered by the hand of Pharaoh, is a great blessing from your Lord.""
We should mention that in the blessing there a is test, the same as with hardship, for Allah said,
وَنَبۡلُوكُم بِالشَّرِّ وَالۡخَيۡرِ فِتۡنَةً
And We shall make a trial of you with evil and with good. (21:35)
and,
وَبَلَوۡنَـهُمۡ بِالۡحَسَنَـتِ وَالسَّيِّيَاتِ لَعَلَّهُمۡ يَرۡجِعُونَ
And We tried them with good (blessings) and evil (calamities) in order that they might turn (to obey Allah). (7:168).
Allah's statement next,
وَإِذۡ فَرَقۡنَا بِكُمُ الۡبَحۡرَ فَأَنجَيۡنَاكُمۡ وَأَغۡرَقۡنَا الَ فِرۡعَوۡنَ وَأَنتُمۡ تَنظُرُونَ
And (remember) when We separated the sea for you and saved you and drowned Fir`awn's (Pharaoh) people while you were watching.
means, `After We saved you from Fir`awn and you escaped with Musa; Fir`awn went out in your pursuit and We parted the sea for you.'
Allah mentioned this story in detail, as we will come to know, Allah willing.
One of the shortest references to this story is Allah's statement,
فَأَنجَيۡنَاكُمۡ
(And saved you) meaning,
""We saved you from them, drowning them while you watched, bringing relief to your hearts and humiliation to your enemy.""
Fasting the Day of `Ashura
It was reported that the day the Children of Israel were saved from Fir`awn was called the day of Ashura.
Imam Ahmad reported that Ibn Abbas said that;
the Messenger of Allah came to Al-Madinah and found that the Jews were fasting the day of Ashura. He asked them, ""What is this day that you fast?""
They said, ""This is a good day during which Allah saved the Children of Israel from their enemy, and Musa used to fast this day.""
The Messenger of Allah said,
أَنَا أَحَقُّ بِمُوسَى مِنۡكُم
I have more right to Musa than you have.
So the Messenger of Allah fasted that day and ordered that it be fasted.
This Hadith was collected by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, An-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah."
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