Prophet Mūsā: Part 3 — The Signs, the Sea and the End of Firʿawn
Section 10 of 30 · Lives of the Prophets
Is Not Mine the Kingdom of Egypt?
So Allah (swt) tells us that after that, Firʿawn proclaimed among his people:
وَنَادَىٰ فِرْعَوْنُ فِى قَوْمِهِۦ قَالَ يَـٰقَوْمِ أَلَيْسَ لِى مُلْكُ مِصْرَ وَهَـٰذِهِ ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِىٓ ۖ أَفَلَا تُبْصِرُونَ أَمْ أَنَا۠ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ هَـٰذَا ٱلَّذِى هُوَ مَهِينٌ وَلَا يَكَادُ يُبِينُ
“And Fir’aun (Pharaoh) proclaimed among his people, saying, “Does not the kingdom of Egypt belong to me, and these rivers are flowing right underneath me? Do you, then, not discern? Or (do you not see that) I am much better than this one (Mūsā) who is worthless and can hardly express himself?” (43:51–52)
Allah says: and Firʿawn proclaimed among his people, saying: O my people, is not mine the dominion of Egypt, and these rivers flowing underneath me? Do you not see? Am I not better than this man, who is despicable, and can scarcely express himself clearly? Firʿawn is saying: am I not better than this man who is mahīn — who is degraded, who is weak? He is saying this about Mūsā. Wa lā yakādu yubīn — he is not even able to speak. He is making fun of the speech of Mūsā. We saw that Mūsā had a problem with speaking, and Firʿawn was making fun of that.
فَلَوْلَآ أُلْقِىَ عَلَيْهِ أَسْوِرَةٌ مِّن ذَهَبٍ أَوْ جَآءَ مَعَهُ ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةُ مُقْتَرِنِينَ
“So why were the bracelets of gold not sent down to him, or (why) did the angels not come along with him as companions?”” (43:53)
And then look at the standards of Firʿawn. Firʿawn is saying that Mūsā is mahīn — degraded, low class. Why? Firʿawn says: why then are golden bracelets not bestowed on him, or angels sent along with him? How come Mūsā does not have any gold bracelets? Look at the standard of thinking of Firʿawn. How come he does not have any gold? Why is he poor? Why does he not have angels with him? Why does he need to seek assistance from the weak slaves of Banū Isrāʾīl? That is the way they think.