Surah Adh-Dhariyat, Ayah 39

Lessons from the Destruction of Fir`awn, `Ad, Thamud, and the People of Nuh

Allah the Exalted said,

وَفِى مُوسَى إِذْ أَرْسَلْنَـهُ إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ بِسُلْطَـنٍ مُّبِينٍ

(And in Musa, when We sent him to Fir`awn with a manifest authority.) meaning, with clear proof and plain evidence,

فَتَوَلَّى بِرُكْنِهِ

(But he turned away along with his hosts,) meaning, in rebellion and arrogance, Fir`awn turned away from the plain truth that Musa was sent with,

ثَانِىَ عِطْفِهِ لِيُضِلَّ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ

(Bending his neck in pride, and leading (others) too (far) astray from the path of Allah.)(22:9 ), meaning turning away from truth in arrogance,

وَقَالَ سَـحِرٌ أَوْ مَجْنُونٌ

(and said: "A sorcerer, or a madman.") meaning Fir`awn said to Musa, "With regards to the message that you brought me, you are either a magician or a madman." Allah the Exalted replied,

After the mention of the people of Lut (علیہ السلام) ، the people of Musa (علیہ السلام) ، Fir'aun and others are taken up briefly. When Musa (علیہ السلام) delivered the message of truth to Fir'aun, the latter reacted thus: فَتَوَلَّىٰ بِرُ‌كْنِهِ (So he turned away along with his chiefs,...51:39) The original word used for 'his chiefs' is rukn which means power. Here it is used to refer to his army and chiefs of his government. In the story of Lut (علیہ السلام) he has been mentioned saying, أَوْ آوِي إِلَىٰ رُ‌كْنٍ شَدِيدٍ (or that I had the backing of a strong group' The word rukn is used there in the same sense. (See Ma’ ariful Qur’ an, Vol. 4/p. 658, 661: '...or that I had the backing of some strong group...' )

After this, the stories of the people of ` Ad, Thamud and Nuh (علیہم السلام) are told. These stories were narrated many times before.

The Pharaoh of Egypt called the miracles of Moses magical feats. He interpreted Moses’s firm belief (which indicated the latter’s being on the right path) as madness. This is known as covering up (talbis) and this covering up has always been the way of those people who are not ready to accept the Truth, in spite of its being supported by sound reasoning.