Surah Al-Qasas, Ayah 39

The Arrogance of Fir`awn and His ultimate Destiny

Allah tells us of Fir`awn's disbelief and wrongdoing, and how he falsely claimed divinity for his evil self, may Allah curse him.

فَاسْتَخَفَّ قَوْمَهُ فَأَطَاعُوهُ

(Thus he fooled his people, and they obeyed him.) 43:54 He called on his people to recognize his divinity, and they responded, because of their weak and foolish minds. So, he said:

يأَيُّهَا الْملأ مَا عَلِمْتُ لَكُمْ مِّنْ إِلَـهٍ غَيْرِى

(O chiefs! I know not that you have a god other than me.) Allah tells us about Fir`awn:

فَحَشَرَ فَنَادَى - فَقَالَ أَنَاْ رَبُّكُمُ الاٌّعْلَى - فَأَخَذَهُ اللَّهُ نَكَالَ الاٌّخِرَةِ وَالاٍّوْلَى - إِنَّ فِى ذَلِكَ لَعِبْرَةً لِّمَن يَخْشَى

Commentary

فَأَوْقِدْ لِي يَا هَامَانُ عَلَى الطِّينِ (So kindle for me, 0 Haman, a fire on the clay (to bake bricks) - 28:38). When the Pharaoh planned to build a very tall palace for himself, he asked his minister Haman to get the bricks baked properly first, because half baked bricks could not take the load of a tall building. Some people have observed that the Pharaoh was the first one to have tough bricks baked for the buildings, as no one had used them before. Historical narrations have recorded that Haman had collected fifty thousand masons for building this palace. Skilled labour, such as carpenters and blacksmith, were additional. This palace was built so tall that there was no parallel to it in the world. When it was completed, Allah Ta` ala commanded Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) to knock it down. He struck only one blow to it and it tumbled down in three pieces, killing thousands of soldiers of the Pharaoh's army. (Qurtubi)

Literally, ‘I do not know any being other than myself who is worth worshipping.’ This was not a serious statement. In uttering these words Pharaoh did not intend to state any fact. He only wanted to denigrate Moses. Similarly, when Pharaoh ordered his minister Haman to prepare fired bricks and construct a high tower so that he could peep into the sky and see Moses’s God, this was not a genuine order. Its sole purpose was to make a mockery of Moses.