Prophet Mūsā: Part 1 — His Birth, the Palace and the Flight to Madyan
Section 23 of 30 · Lives of the Prophets
The Man He Had Saved
The next day, Mūsā came into the town and saw the same man from Banū Isrāʾīl fighting with another Egyptian. The very next day he had already picked another fight — a troublemaker, looking for trouble. So Mūsā told him: you are clearly a misleader.
فَأَصْبَحَ فِى ٱلْمَدِينَةِ خَآئِفًا يَتَرَقَّبُ فَإِذَا ٱلَّذِى ٱسْتَنصَرَهُۥ بِٱلْأَمْسِ يَسْتَصْرِخُهُۥ ۚ قَالَ لَهُۥ مُوسَىٰٓ إِنَّكَ لَغَوِىٌّ مُّبِينٌ فَلَمَّآ أَنْ أَرَادَ أَن يَبْطِشَ بِٱلَّذِى هُوَ عَدُوٌّ لَّهُمَا قَالَ يَـٰمُوسَىٰٓ أَتُرِيدُ أَن تَقْتُلَنِى كَمَا قَتَلْتَ نَفْسًۢا بِٱلْأَمْسِ ۖ إِن تُرِيدُ إِلَّآ أَن تَكُونَ جَبَّارًا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَا تُرِيدُ أَن تَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلْمُصْلِحِينَ
“Then next morning he was fearful in the city, waiting (for what comes next) when the man who sought his help the day before, shouted to him for help (again). Mūsā said to him, “You are surely a clear trouble-maker.” Thereafter when he intended to grasp at the one who was an enemy to both of them, he (i.e. the Israelite) said, “O Mūsā, do you want to kill me as you have killed a person yesterday? Your intention is only to become a tyrant in the land, and you do not intend to be one of the peace-makers.”” (28:18–19)
He said to him innaka la-ghawiyyun mubīn — you are a plain misleader — because the man was causing too much trouble. When Mūsā told him this, the Israelite took it to mean that Mūsā wanted to attack him. He thought Mūsā was going to attack him. So when Mūsā moved forward, the man backed away and said: do you want to kill me, as you killed someone yesterday?
Until that moment, nobody knew that Mūsā was the one who had killed the Egyptian — and now this Israelite let the word out in front of the other man, because the other Egyptian was there. And whom had Mūsā helped the day before? This very man. The next day, the man was willing to betray Mūsā, who had just saved him the day before. Mūsā had done this man a favour, helped him and supported him, and the next day this man betrayed Mūsā and disclosed the secret of what had happened the day before.