Allah tells us of the arrogant and hostile defiance of Fir`awn and his rejection of Musa, when he commanded his minister Haman to build him a tower, i.e., a tall, high, strong fortress. He built it of bricks made from baked clay, as Allah says:
(that I may arrive at the ways -- the ways of the heavens,) Sa`id bin Jubayr and Abu Salih said, "The gates of the heavens." Or it was said, the ways of the heavens.
(and I may look upon the God of Musa, but verily, I think him to be a liar.) Because of his disbelief and defiance, he did not believe that Allah had sent Musa to him. Allah says:
(Thus it was made fair seeming, in Fir`awn's eyes, the evil of his deeds, and he was hindered from the path;) means, this act of his building the tower, by means of which he wanted to deceive his people and make them think that he could prove that Musa was lying. Allah says:
وَمَا كَـيْدُ فِرْعَوْنَ إِلاَّ فِى تَبَابٍ
(and the plot of Fir`awn led to nothing but loss and destruction.) Ibn `Abbas and Mujahid said, "Meaning nothing but ruin."
Ma'arif al-Qur'an
Mufti Muhammad ShafiOn ayahs 36–43
The word: صرح (sarh) in verse 36: وَقَالَ فِرْعَوْنُ يَا هَامَانُ ابْنِ لِي صَرْحًا (And the Pharaoh said, "0 Haman, make a tower for me,) means a structure that rises high. An outward look at this statement suggests that the Pharaoh ordered his minister, Haman to build a structure that rises high into the sky close enough for him to go up, peek in and have a glimpse of God. If this wild thought, not imaginable even in the case of a man of very ordinary commonsense, really comes from Pharaoh, the sole master of the kingdom of Egypt, then, it is an evidence of his unbelievable folly - and if the minister carried out his orders, then, the apple did not fall far from the tree, as the king, so the courtier! Since no one expects any head of the state to go that wild in his imagination, therefore, some commentators have said that this much he too knew that, no matter how high a structure is made for him, he still cannot reach the skies (by that mode of ascent). But, he did that only to impress or confuse his people. Then, we have no sound and strong report to prove whether or not such a palatial high structure was ever raised. However, al-Qurtubi reports that this building was constructed, but once it reached its higher levels, it collapsed.
My respected father, Maulana Muhammad Yasin, a dear disciple of Maulana Muhammad Ya` qub, the first principal of the famous Darul-` Uloom of Deoband in India has reported his learned teacher saying, 'For this lofty palace to collapse, it is not necessary that it be hit by some Divine punishment. The fact is that the height of every building depends on the capability of its foundation to bear weight. No matter how deep the foundation is laid, it cannot go deeper than a certain limit. Now, when levels after levels were added to this building, it was inevitable that, once it exceeded the capability of its foundation to bear additional weight, it must collapse.' This provides another proof of the folly of Pharaoh and Haman. Allah knows best.
Tazkirul Quran
Maulana Wahiduddin KhanOn ayahs 35–36
During the life of Joseph, majority of the people of Egypt did not accept his prophethood. It was only after his death, when the administrative system of the country began to deteriorate, that the Egyptians came to realise his greatness. Then, they started saying that Joseph’s existence had been a great boon to Egypt. And they said that such a prophet would never come again. Though Joseph was a prophet of God, he was also a human being. This gave people the scope to say, ‘It is not necessary that the feats performed by Joseph were on the basis of his being a prophet. It is quite possible that as a brilliant man, he was able to put up this excellent performance.’ Under the influence of such opinions, the people of Egypt began to have doubts about his prophethood. However clear and obvious the Truth may be, in this world of trial, it is always possible for a man to find shadows of doubt in it and then deny it. Those who are by nature arrogant and haughty, and those who think that by admitting the Truth, they will lose their greatness, can never overcome their doubts. Rather they nurture and exaggerate these doubts to such an extent that they come to prevail over their minds and souls. Consequently, they are unable to think about the Truth in an unbiased and objective manner. They remain its rejecters till the day they die.
Uthmani text of the Madinah mushaf (King Fahd Complex). Translation: Saheeh International. Tafsir via Quran.com.
