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Ayah
Word by Word
وَدَخَلَ
And he entered
ٱلۡمَدِينَةَ
the city
عَلَىٰ
at
حِينِ
a time
غَفۡلَةٖ
(of) inattention
مِّنۡ
of
أَهۡلِهَا
its people
فَوَجَدَ
and found
فِيهَا
therein
رَجُلَيۡنِ
two men
يَقۡتَتِلَانِ
fighting each other
هَٰذَا
this
مِن
of
شِيعَتِهِۦ
his party
وَهَٰذَا
and this
مِنۡ
of
عَدُوِّهِۦۖ
his enemy
فَٱسۡتَغَٰثَهُ
And called him for help
ٱلَّذِي
the one who
مِن
(was) from
شِيعَتِهِۦ
his party
عَلَى
against
ٱلَّذِي
the one who
مِنۡ
(was) from
عَدُوِّهِۦ
his enemy
فَوَكَزَهُۥ
so struck him with his fist
مُوسَىٰ
Musa
فَقَضَىٰ
and killed him
عَلَيۡهِۖ
and killed him
قَالَ
He said
هَٰذَا
This (is)
مِنۡ
of
عَمَلِ
(the) deed
ٱلشَّيۡطَٰنِۖ
(of) Shaitaan
إِنَّهُۥ
Indeed, he
عَدُوّٞ
(is) an enemy
مُّضِلّٞ
one who misleads
مُّبِينٞ
clearly
وَدَخَلَ
And he entered
ٱلۡمَدِينَةَ
the city
عَلَىٰ
at
حِينِ
a time
غَفۡلَةٖ
(of) inattention
مِّنۡ
of
أَهۡلِهَا
its people
فَوَجَدَ
and found
فِيهَا
therein
رَجُلَيۡنِ
two men
يَقۡتَتِلَانِ
fighting each other
هَٰذَا
this
مِن
of
شِيعَتِهِۦ
his party
وَهَٰذَا
and this
مِنۡ
of
عَدُوِّهِۦۖ
his enemy
فَٱسۡتَغَٰثَهُ
And called him for help
ٱلَّذِي
the one who
مِن
(was) from
شِيعَتِهِۦ
his party
عَلَى
against
ٱلَّذِي
the one who
مِنۡ
(was) from
عَدُوِّهِۦ
his enemy
فَوَكَزَهُۥ
so struck him with his fist
مُوسَىٰ
Musa
فَقَضَىٰ
and killed him
عَلَيۡهِۖ
and killed him
قَالَ
He said
هَٰذَا
This (is)
مِنۡ
of
عَمَلِ
(the) deed
ٱلشَّيۡطَٰنِۖ
(of) Shaitaan
إِنَّهُۥ
Indeed, he
عَدُوّٞ
(is) an enemy
مُّضِلّٞ
one who misleads
مُّبِينٞ
clearly
Translation
And he entered the city at a time when its people were not watching: and he found there two men fighting,- one of his own religion, and the other, of his foes. Now the man of his own religion appealed to him against his foe, and Moses struck him with his fist and made an end of him. He said: "This is a work of Evil (Satan): for he is an enemy that manifestly misleads!"
Tafsir
And he, Moses, entered the city, Pharaoh's city, Memphis, having been absent from it for a while, at a time when its people were oblivious, the time of the afternoon nap, and found therein two men fighting, one of his own faction, namely, an Israelite, and the other of his enemies, in other words, an Egyptian, who was exploiting an Israelite to carry firewood to Pharaoh's kitchen. So the one who was of his faction called to him for help against the one who was of his enemies, and so Moses said to him, 'Leave him be!', and it is said that he replied to Moses [thus]: 'I am truly considering making you carry this [firewood]!'. So Moses punched him, that is, he hit him with his fist clenched - he [Moses] was a strong man with a powerful strike, and did away with him, that is, he killed him, but he had not intended to kill him. He buried him in the sand. He said, 'This, killing of him, is of Satan's doing, inciting my anger. Indeed he is an enemy, to the son of Adam, a manifest misleader', of him.
How Musa killed a Coptic Man
Allah tells:
وَلَمَّا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُ وَاسۡتَوَى اتَيۡنَاهُ حُكۡمًا وَعِلۡمًا
And when he reached maturity, and was complete, We bestowed on him Hukm and knowledge.
Having described Musa's beginnings, Allah then tells us that when he reached maturity, and was complete in stature, Allah gave him Hukm and religious knowledge.
Mujahid said that this means Prophethood.
وَكَذَلِكَ نَجۡزِي الۡمُحۡسِنِينَ
And thus do We reward the doers of good.
Then Allah describes how Musa reached the status that was decreed for him, that of Prophethood and speaking to Allah, as a direct consequence of killing the Coptic, which was the reason why he left Egypt and went to Madyan.
Allah says
وَدَخَلَ الۡمَدِينَةَ عَلَى حِينِ غَفۡلَةٍ مِّنۡ أَهۡلِهَا
And he entered the city when its people were unaware.
Ibn Jurayj narrated from Ata' Al-Khurasani, from Ibn Abbas,
That was between Maghrib and `Isha'.
Ibn Al-Munkadir narrated from Ata' bin Yasar from Ibn Abbas,
That was in the middle of the day.
This was also the view of Sa`id bin Jubayr, Ikrimah, As-Suddi and Qatadah.
فَوَجَدَ فِيهَا رَجُلَيۡنِ يَقۡتَتِلَنِ
and he found there two men fighting,
meaning, hitting one another and struggling with one another.
هَذَا مِن شِيعَتِهِ
one of his party,
meaning, an Israelite,
وَهَذَا مِنۡ عَدُوِّهِ
and the other of his foes.
meaning, a Coptic.
This was the view of Ibn Abbas, Qatadah, As-Suddi and Muhammad bin Ishaq.
فَاسۡتَغَاثَهُ الَّذِي مِن شِيعَتِهِ عَلَى الَّذِي مِنۡ عَدُوِّهِ
The man of his (own) party asked him for help against his foe,
The Israelite man asked Musa, peace be upon him, for help, and Musa took advantage of the fact that people were not paying attention, so he went to the Coptic man and
فَوَكَزَهُ مُوسَى فَقَضَى عَلَيۡهِ
so Musa struck him with his fist and he died.
Mujahid said,
This means he punched him with his fist. And then he died.
قَالَ
He said, (refers to Musa).
هَذَا مِنۡ عَمَلِ الشَّيۡطَانِ إِنَّهُ عَدُوٌّ مُّضِلٌّ مُّبِينٌ
This is of Shaytan's doing, verily, he is a plain misleading enemy.
قَالَ
He said, (refers to Musa).
رَبِّ إِنِّي ظَلَمۡتُ نَفۡسِي فَاغۡفِرۡ لِي
My Lord! Verily, I have wronged myself, so forgive me.
فَغَفَرَ لَهُ
Then He forgave him.
إِنَّهُ هُوَ الۡغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
Verily, He is the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful
قَالَ رَبِّ بِمَا أَنۡعَمۡتَ عَلَيَّ
He said:My Lord! For that with which You have favored me,
meaning, `what You have given me of prestige, power and blessings -- '
فَلَنۡ أَكُونَ ظَهِيرًا لِّلۡمُجۡرِمِينَ
I will nevermore be a helper of the criminals!
`those who disbelieve in You and go against Your commands.
How the Secret of this Killing became known
Allah tells us that when Musa killed that Coptic,
فَأَصۡبَحَ فِي الۡمَدِينَةِ خَايِفًا
So he became afraid in the city,
meaning, of the consequences of his action,
يَتَرَقَّبُ
looking about,
means, turning around and watching out, waiting for the consequences of his action to befall him.
فَإِذَا الَّذِي اسۡتَنصَرَهُ بِالاۡإَمۡسِ يَسۡتَصۡرِخُهُ
when behold, the man who had sought his help the day before, called for his help (again).
He went out and about, and ﷺ the man who sought his help the day before, fighting with another Coptic. When Musa passed by him, he called for his help again, against this other Coptic.
قَالَ لَهُ مُوسَى
Musa said to him:
إِنَّكَ لَغَوِيٌّ مُّبِينٌ
Verily, you are a plain misleader!
meaning, `you obviously lead people astray and are very evil.
فَلَمَّا أَنۡ أَرَادَ أَن يَبۡطِشَ بِالَّذِي هُوَ عَدُوٌّ لَّهُمَا
Then when he decided to seize the man who was an enemy to both of them,
Then Musa intended to attack that Coptic, but the Israelite -- because of his own cowardice and weakness -- thought that Musa wanted to hit him because of what he had said, so he said, in self-defence --
قَالَ
يَا مُوسَى أَتُرِيدُ أَن تَقۡتُلَنِي كَمَا قَتَلۡتَ نَفۡسًا بِالاۡاَمۡسِ
the man said:O Musa! Is it your intention to kill me as you killed a man yesterday?
إِن تُرِيدُ إِلاَّ أَن تَكُونَ جَبَّارًا فِي الاَۡرۡضِ وَمَا تُرِيدُ أَن تَكُونَ مِنَ الۡمُصۡلِحِينَ
Your aim is nothing but to become a tyrant in the land, and not to be one of those who do right.
Nobody except him and Musa, peace be upon him, knew about it, but when the other Coptic heard this, he took the news to Fir`awn's gate and told him about it. So Fir`awn came to know of it, and he became very angry and resolved to kill Musa, so he sent people after him to bring him to him
Allah tells:
وَجَاء رَجُلٌ مِّنۡ أَقۡصَى الۡمَدِينَةِ يَسۡعَى قَالَ يَا مُوسَى
And there came a man running, from the farthest end of the city. He said:O Musa!
He is described as being a man because he had the courage to take a different route, a shorter route than those who were sent after Musa, so he reached Musa first and said to him:O Musa,
إِنَّ الۡمَلََ يَأۡتَمِرُونَ بِكَ
Verily, the chiefs are taking counsel together about you.,
meaning, `they are consulting with one another about you.'
لِيَقۡتُلُوكَ فَاخۡرُجۡ
to kill you, so escape.
means, from this land.
إِنِّي لَكَ مِنَ النَّاصِحِينَ
Truly, I am one of the good advisers to you.
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