Stories of the prophets

موسى

Musa - The Sea

A baby cast into the river in a chest grows up in the house of the man who wanted him dead. Called beside a fire on a mountainside, he goes back to Fir'awn with his brother, leads his people through the sea, and at the meeting of the two seas learns that there is knowledge he cannot reach.

October 28, 2026 · Sourced from the Qur'an

Musa - The Sea · 1
Entry 005:
Musa The Sea
Musa - The Sea · 2
This is Misr. Fir'awn set himself above everyone, and split its people into groups.
Musa - The Sea · 2
Musa - The Sea · 3
One group he kept down. And he killed their newborn sons.
Musa - The Sea · 3
But Allah meant to lift up the very people Fir'awn was crushing.
Musa - The Sea · 4
In those days, a woman of the Children of Israel gave birth to a boy.
Musa - The Sea · 4
Musa - The Sea · 4
Then Allah put into her heart what she had to do.

وَأَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَىٰٓ أُمِّ مُوسَىٰٓ أَنْ أَرْضِعِيهِ ۖ فَإِذَا خِفْتِ عَلَيْهِ فَأَلْقِيهِ فِى ٱلْيَمِّ وَلَا تَخَافِى وَلَا تَحْزَنِىٓ ۖ إِنَّا رَآدُّوهُ إِلَيْكِ وَجَاعِلُوهُ مِنَ ٱلْمُرْسَلِينَ

And We inspired to the mother of Moses, "Suckle him; but when you fear for him, cast him into the river and do not fear and do not grieve. Indeed, We will return him to you and will make him [one] of the messengers."

Qur'an 28:7

Saheeh International

Musa - The Sea · 6
Musa - The Sea · 6
The day came when she feared for him. So she did what Allah had put in her heart to do.
Musa - The Sea · 7
Musa - The Sea · 7
Musa - The Sea · 8
The river carried him and set him down on its bank, just as his mother had been told.
Musa - The Sea · 9
Follow where he goes.
His mother's heart was empty. She nearly let it slip. But Allah steadied her.
Musa - The Sea · 9
Musa - The Sea · 9
Musa - The Sea · 10
Fir'awn's people took him in from the water, never guessing he'd be their enemy one day.
Musa - The Sea · 10
Musa - The Sea · 10
He'll be a joy, for me and for you.
Musa - The Sea · 11
Musa - The Sea · 11
Don't kill him. He might be useful to us,
Musa - The Sea · 11
or we could raise him as our son.
Musa - The Sea · 11
Musa - The Sea · 12
In the palace the baby wouldn't feed, not from any nurse. Allah had kept them from him.
Musa - The Sea · 12
Musa - The Sea · 12
Musa - The Sea · 13
Musa - The Sea · 13
Want me to show you a family
who'd take care of him for you,
Musa - The Sea · 13
and truly look out for him?
Musa - The Sea · 14
Musa - The Sea · 14
So Allah brought him home to his mother, exactly as He'd promised.
Musa - The Sea · 14
Musa - The Sea · 15
He grew up in Fir'awn's own house.
Musa - The Sea · 15
Musa - The Sea · 15
Years passed. He grew up strong, and Allah gave him wisdom and knowledge.
Act II: The Flight
Musa - The Sea · 17
One day he went into the city while nobody was looking, and found two men fighting.
Musa - The Sea · 17
An Israelite, like him, and one of Fir'awn's people. The Israelite called to him for help.
Musa - The Sea · 17
Musa - The Sea · 18
Musa hit him. Just once. And the man died.
Musa - The Sea · 18
Musa - The Sea · 18
This is from the work of Satan.
Indeed, he is a manifest, misleading enemy.
Musa - The Sea · 19
My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself,
so forgive me,
Musa - The Sea · 19
And Allah forgave him.
Musa - The Sea · 19
My Lord, for the favor You bestowed upon me,
I will never be an assistant
to the criminals.
Musa - The Sea · 20
The next morning he was back in the city, scared and looking over his shoulder.
Musa - The Sea · 20
And there was the same man from yesterday, shouting for his help again.
Musa - The Sea · 20
Indeed, you are
an evident, [persistent] deviator.
Musa - The Sea · 21
Musa went to grab the man who was the enemy of them both.
Musa - The Sea · 21
Musa, are you going to kill me
like you killed that man yesterday?
All you want is to be a tyrant here.
You don't want to put things right.
Musa - The Sea · 21
Musa - The Sea · 22
Musa - The Sea · 22
Then a man came running from the far side of the city.
Musa - The Sea · 22
Musa, the chiefs are meeting about you.
They mean to kill you.
Musa - The Sea · 23
So get out of here.
I only want what's best for you.
Musa - The Sea · 23
Musa - The Sea · 23
So he left the city, scared and watchful.
My Lord, save me from the wrongdoing people.
Musa - The Sea · 24
He headed for Madyan.
Musa - The Sea · 24
Musa - The Sea · 24
Perhaps my Lord will guide me
to the sound way.
Musa - The Sea · 25
When he reached the water of Madyan, he found a crowd of men watering their animals.
Musa - The Sea · 25
Off to the side stood two women, holding their flock back.
Musa - The Sea · 25
What is your circumstance?
Musa - The Sea · 26
We wait to water till the shepherds leave,
and our father's an old man.
Musa - The Sea · 26
So he watered their flock for them.
Musa - The Sea · 26
Musa - The Sea · 27
Then he walked off to the shade.
My Lord, indeed I am, for whatever good
You would send down to me, in need.
Musa - The Sea · 28
A while later, one of the two women came walking up to him, shy.
Musa - The Sea · 28
Musa - The Sea · 28
My father's asking for you.
He wants to pay you
for watering our flock.
Musa - The Sea · 29
Musa - The Sea · 29
Musa went to their father and told him everything that had happened.
Musa - The Sea · 29
Don't be afraid.
You're safe now from those wrongdoers.
Musa - The Sea · 30
Father, give him work.
The best man you can hire
is someone strong you can trust.
Musa - The Sea · 30
Musa - The Sea · 31
Musa - The Sea · 31
I'd like you to marry
one of my two daughters,
if you'll work for me
Musa - The Sea · 32
for eight years.
If you do ten,
that's a kindness from you.
Musa - The Sea · 32
Musa - The Sea · 33
That is between me and you.
Whichever of the two terms I complete
there is no injustice to me,
and Allāh, over what we say, is Witness.
Musa - The Sea · 33
Musa - The Sea · 34
He married one of the two, and he served the longer term: the full ten years.
Musa - The Sea · 34
Musa - The Sea · 34
Act III: The Valley
Musa - The Sea · 36
When the ten years were up, he set off with his family.
Musa - The Sea · 36
Musa - The Sea · 36
Musa - The Sea · 37
On the way, he saw a fire off on the side of the mountain.
Musa - The Sea · 37
Stay here; indeed, I have perceived a fire.
Musa - The Sea · 37
Perhaps I will bring you from there
information or burning wood from the fire
that you may warm yourselves.
Musa - The Sea · 38
Musa - The Sea · 38
Musa - The Sea · 38
He reached the fire.

فَلَمَّآ أَتَىٰهَا نُودِىَ يَٰمُوسَىٰٓ إِنِّىٓ أَنَا۠ رَبُّكَ فَٱخْلَعْ نَعْلَيْكَ إِنَّكَ بِٱلْوَادِ ٱلْمُقَدَّسِ طُوًى وَأَنَا ٱخْتَرْتُكَ فَٱسْتَمِعْ لِمَا يُوحَىٰٓ إِنَّنِىٓ أَنَا ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّآ أَنَا۠ فَٱعْبُدْنِى وَأَقِمِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ لِذِكْرِىٓ

And when he came to it, he was called, "O Moses, Indeed, I am your Lord, so remove your sandals. Indeed, you are in the blessed valley of Ṭuwā. And I have chosen you, so listen to what is revealed [to you]. Indeed, I am Allāh. There is no deity except Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance.

Qur'an 20:11-14

Saheeh International

Musa - The Sea · 40
And there, Allah spoke to Musa.
Musa - The Sea · 41
Allah asked him what he was holding in his right hand.
Musa - The Sea · 41
It is my staff; I lean upon it,
and I bring down leaves for my sheep
and I have therein other uses.
Musa - The Sea · 41
Then Allah told him to throw it down.
Musa - The Sea · 41
Musa - The Sea · 42
Musa turned and ran. He didn't look back.
Musa - The Sea · 42
Allah told him to pick it up.
Musa - The Sea · 42
Musa - The Sea · 43
Musa - The Sea · 43
He put his hand inside his robe. It came out shining white, and nothing was wrong with it.
Musa - The Sea · 43
Musa - The Sea · 44
Then Allah sent him to Fir'awn.
Musa - The Sea · 44
My Lord, expand for me my breast
And ease for me my task
Musa - The Sea · 44
And untie the knot from my tongue
That they may understand my speech.
Musa - The Sea · 45
And appoint for me a minister from my family
Aaron, my brother.
Musa - The Sea · 45
My Lord, indeed I killed
from among them someone,
and I fear they will kill me.
Musa - The Sea · 46
And my brother Aaron
is more fluent than me in tongue,
Musa - The Sea · 46
so send him with me as support, verifying me.
Indeed, I fear that they will deny me.
Musa - The Sea · 47
Allah gave him everything he asked for.
Musa - The Sea · 47
Musa - The Sea · 48
Musa - The Sea · 48
Allah sent the two brothers to Fir'awn, and told them to speak to him gently.
Musa - The Sea · 48
Our Lord, indeed we are afraid
that he will hasten against us
or that he will transgress.
Musa - The Sea · 49
Their Lord answered them.

قَالَ لَا تَخَافَآ إِنَّنِى مَعَكُمَآ أَسْمَعُ وَأَرَىٰ

[Allāh] said, "Fear not. Indeed, I am with you both; I hear and I see.

Qur'an 20:46

Saheeh International

Act IV: The Festival
Musa - The Sea · 52
Musa - The Sea · 52
O Pharaoh, I am a messenger
from the Lord of the worlds
Musa - The Sea · 52
I have come to you with clear evidence
from your Lord,
so send with me the Children of Israel.
Musa - The Sea · 53
Didn't we raise you here as a child?
You stayed with us
for years.
Musa - The Sea · 53
Musa - The Sea · 53
And you did what you did.
You showed no gratitude.
Musa - The Sea · 54
I did it, then, while I was of those astray
So I fled from you when I feared you.
Then my Lord granted me judgement
and appointed me of the messengers.
Musa - The Sea · 54
And is this a favor of which you remind me
that you have enslaved
the Children of Israel?
Musa - The Sea · 54
Musa - The Sea · 55
What do you mean by Lord of the worlds?
Musa - The Sea · 55
The Lord of the heavens and earth
and that between them,
Musa - The Sea · 55
Are you hearing this?
Musa - The Sea · 55
Your Lord
and the Lord of your first forefathers.
Musa - The Sea · 56
This messenger of yours,
the one sent to you, is mad.
Musa - The Sea · 56
Lord of the east and the west
and that between them, if you were to reason.
Musa - The Sea · 56
If you take any god other than me,
I'll put you
in prison.
Musa - The Sea · 57
Even if I brought you something manifest?
Musa - The Sea · 57
Let's see it, then,
if you're telling the truth.
Musa - The Sea · 57
Musa - The Sea · 57
Musa threw down his staff, and right there in front of everyone it became a huge snake.
Musa - The Sea · 58
He pulled out his hand, and it shone white for everyone to see.
Musa - The Sea · 58
Musa - The Sea · 58
Musa - The Sea · 59
This man's a skilled sorcerer.
So what's your advice?
Musa - The Sea · 59
Give him and his brother a little time,
and send men out to the cities.
Musa - The Sea · 59
They'll bring you
every skilled sorcerer there is.
Musa - The Sea · 60
Did you come here to drive us out
of our land with your magic, Musa?
Then we'll bring you magic just like it.
Set a day for us to meet.
Musa - The Sea · 60
Your appointment is
on the day of the festival
when the people assemble at mid-morning.
Musa - The Sea · 61
Musa - The Sea · 61
So the sorcerers were rounded up from all over for the day they'd set.
Musa - The Sea · 61
The festival came, and the people turned out to watch.
Musa - The Sea · 61
Will you all be there?
We might end up following the sorcerers
if they win.
Musa - The Sea · 62
Do we get a reward
if we win?
Musa - The Sea · 62
Yes. And more than that,
you'll be close to me.
Musa - The Sea · 63
Woe to you!
Do not invent a lie against Allāh
or He will exterminate you with a punishment
Musa - The Sea · 63
The sorcerers argued among themselves, whispering so nobody could hear.
Musa - The Sea · 64
Musa - The Sea · 64
Musa, will you throw first
or shall we?
Musa - The Sea · 64
Rather, you throw.
Musa - The Sea · 65
They threw down their ropes and staffs.
By Fir'awn's might,
we're the ones who'll win.
Musa - The Sea · 65
Musa - The Sea · 65
Musa - The Sea · 66
The ropes seemed to come alive. They tricked everyone's eyes, and the crowd was terrified.
Musa - The Sea · 67
And Musa felt afraid inside.
Musa - The Sea · 67
Musa - The Sea · 67
Then Allah spoke to him.

قُلْنَا لَا تَخَفْ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلْأَعْلَىٰ وَأَلْقِ مَا فِى يَمِينِكَ تَلْقَفْ مَا صَنَعُوٓا۟ إِنَّمَا صَنَعُوا۟ كَيْدُ سَٰحِرٍ وَلَا يُفْلِحُ ٱلسَّاحِرُ حَيْثُ أَتَىٰ

We [i.e., Allāh] said, "Fear not. Indeed, it is you who are superior. And throw what is in your right hand; it will swallow up what they have crafted. What they have crafted is but the trick of a magician, and the magician will not succeed wherever he is."

Qur'an 20:68-69

Saheeh International

Musa - The Sea · 69
Musa - The Sea · 69
Musa's staff swallowed up every one of their tricks.
Musa - The Sea · 69
The truth was out, and everything they'd done fell apart.
Musa - The Sea · 69
Musa - The Sea · 70
The sorcerers dropped to the ground and prostrated.
Musa - The Sea · 70
We have believed in the Lord of the worlds,
The Lord of Moses and Aaron.
Musa - The Sea · 70
Musa - The Sea · 71
Musa - The Sea · 71
Musa - The Sea · 71
And you believed him
before I said you could?
So he's your master,
the one who taught you magic.
Musa - The Sea · 72
I'll cut off your hands and feet
on opposite sides,
and I'll crucify you
on palm trunks.
Musa - The Sea · 72
Musa - The Sea · 73
Never will we prefer you
over what has come to us of clear proofs
and He who created us.
Musa - The Sea · 73
So decree whatever you are to decree.
You can only decree for this worldly life.
Musa - The Sea · 74
No harm.
Indeed, to our Lord we will return.
Musa - The Sea · 74
Our Lord, pour upon us patience
and let us die as Muslims
Musa - The Sea · 74
The Qur'an doesn't tell us what Fir'awn did to them next.
Ibn Abbas put it this way: they started the day as sorcerers and ended it as martyrs.
Act V: The Sea
Musa - The Sea · 77
Asiya, Fir'awn's own wife, believed.
Musa - The Sea · 77
My Lord, build for me near You
a house in Paradise
Musa - The Sea · 78
and save me from Pharaoh and his deeds
and save me from the wrongdoing people.
Musa - The Sea · 78
Musa - The Sea · 79
Will you let Musa and his people
spread corruption in the land,
and leave you and your gods behind?
Musa - The Sea · 79
We'll kill their sons
and leave their women alive.
We have full power over them.
Musa - The Sea · 79
Musa - The Sea · 80
Seek help through Allāh and be patient.
Indeed, the earth belongs to Allāh.
Musa - The Sea · 80
He causes to inherit it
whom He wills of His servants.
Musa - The Sea · 81
We suffered before you came,
and we're still suffering now you're here.
Musa - The Sea · 81
Perhaps your Lord will destroy your enemy
and grant you succession in the land
and see how you will do.
Musa - The Sea · 82
Let me kill Musa,
and let him call on his Lord.
Musa - The Sea · 82
I'm afraid
he'll change your religion
or spread corruption in the land.
Musa - The Sea · 83
Musa - The Sea · 83
Indeed, I have sought refuge
in my Lord and your Lord
from every arrogant one
who does not believe in the Day of Account.
Musa - The Sea · 84
Then a man from Fir'awn's own family spoke up. He was a believer, and he'd been hiding it.
Musa - The Sea · 84
Do you kill a man
because he says, 'My Lord is Allāh'
while he has brought you clear proofs
from your Lord?
Musa - The Sea · 85
I'm only showing you what I see,
and I'm only leading you
down the right road.
Musa - The Sea · 85
Musa - The Sea · 86
Chiefs, as far as I know,
you have no god other than me.
Musa - The Sea · 86
Haman, fire the clay for me
and build me a tower
so I might look at Musa's God.
Musa - The Sea · 87
Musa - The Sea · 87
Musa - The Sea · 87
and I entrust my affair to Allāh.
Allah kept him safe from everything they plotted against him.
Musa - The Sea · 88
Then the hard years came. Drought hit Fir'awn's people, and the crops came up short.
Musa - The Sea · 88
Musa - The Sea · 88
Whatever sign you bring us
to bewitch us with,
we won't believe you.
Musa - The Sea · 89
Then came the flood. Then the locusts, the lice, the frogs. Then the blood.
Musa - The Sea · 89
Musa - The Sea · 89
Musa - The Sea · 89
Musa - The Sea · 89
Musa - The Sea · 90
Musa, call on your Lord for us,
by the promise He made you.
If you lift this punishment off us,
Musa - The Sea · 90
Musa - The Sea · 91
we'll believe you,
and the Children of Israel
can go with you.
Musa - The Sea · 91
Musa - The Sea · 91
Every single time Allah lifted it, they went back on their word.
Musa - The Sea · 92
Then Allah told Musa to take his people and leave by night.
Musa - The Sea · 92
Musa - The Sea · 92
Musa - The Sea · 92
Musa - The Sea · 92
Musa - The Sea · 93
Fir'awn sent men out to every city to gather his army.
They're only a small band,
and they've made us angry,
and we're all on our guard.
Musa - The Sea · 93
Musa - The Sea · 93
Fir'awn marched his army out, leaving gardens, springs, treasures and fine houses behind.
Musa - The Sea · 94
At sunrise, they came after them.
Musa - The Sea · 94
Musa - The Sea · 94
Musa - The Sea · 94
Musa - The Sea · 95
They're going to catch us!
Musa - The Sea · 95
Musa - The Sea · 95
No! Indeed, with me is my Lord;
He will guide me.
Musa - The Sea · 95
Then Allah told Musa what to do.

فَأَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَىٰ مُوسَىٰٓ أَنِ ٱضْرِب بِّعَصَاكَ ٱلْبَحْرَ فَٱنفَلَقَ فَكَانَ كُلُّ فِرْقٍ كَٱلطَّوْدِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ

Then We inspired to Moses, "Strike with your staff the sea," and it parted, and each portion was like a great towering mountain.

Qur'an 26:63

Saheeh International

Musa - The Sea · 97
And they walked straight through the sea, on a path of dry ground.
Musa - The Sea · 98
Musa - The Sea · 98
Musa - The Sea · 98
Musa - The Sea · 98
Musa - The Sea · 98
Allah told him to leave the sea as it was, wide open.
Musa - The Sea · 99
Musa - The Sea · 99
Musa - The Sea · 99
Musa - The Sea · 99
Musa - The Sea · 99
As the water took him, Fir'awn spoke.

وَجَٰوَزْنَا بِبَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ ٱلْبَحْرَ فَأَتْبَعَهُمْ فِرْعَوْنُ وَجُنُودُهُۥ بَغْيًا وَعَدْوًا حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَآ أَدْرَكَهُ ٱلْغَرَقُ قَالَ ءَامَنتُ أَنَّهُۥ لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱلَّذِىٓ ءَامَنَتْ بِهِۦ بَنُوٓا۟ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ وَأَنَا۠ مِنَ ٱلْمُسْلِمِينَ ءَآلْـَٰٔنَ وَقَدْ عَصَيْتَ قَبْلُ وَكُنتَ مِنَ ٱلْمُفْسِدِينَ فَٱلْيَوْمَ نُنَجِّيكَ بِبَدَنِكَ لِتَكُونَ لِمَنْ خَلْفَكَ ءَايَةً وَإِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِّنَ ٱلنَّاسِ عَنْ ءَايَٰتِنَا لَغَٰفِلُونَ

And We took the Children of Israel across the sea, and Pharaoh and his soldiers pursued them in tyranny and enmity until, when drowning overtook him, he said, "I believe that there is no deity except that in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am of the Muslims." Now? And you had disobeyed [Him] before and were of the corrupters? So today We will save you in body that you may be to those who succeed you a sign. And indeed, many among the people, of Our signs, are heedless.

Qur'an 10:90-92

Saheeh International

Musa - The Sea · 101
Allah saved Musa and every single person with him.
Musa - The Sea · 101
Musa - The Sea · 101
The people Fir'awn had crushed inherited the land, because they had been patient.
That day, the day they crossed, is the one the hadith calls Ashura.
Act VI: The Mountain
Musa - The Sea · 103
On the other side of the sea, they passed a people who were busy worshipping idols.
Musa - The Sea · 103
Musa - The Sea · 103
Musa - The Sea · 104
Musa, make us a god
like the ones they have.
Musa - The Sea · 104
Indeed, you are a people behaving ignorantly.
Indeed, those - destroyed is that
in which they are
and worthless is whatever they were doing.
Musa - The Sea · 105
Musa - The Sea · 105
Is it other than Allāh
I should desire for you as a god
while He has preferred you over the worlds?
Musa - The Sea · 106
Then Allah set Musa a meeting. Forty nights.
Musa - The Sea · 106
Take my place
among my people, do right
and do not follow
the way of the corrup­ters.
Musa - The Sea · 106
Musa - The Sea · 106
Musa - The Sea · 107
Musa hurried on ahead of his people.
Musa - The Sea · 107
Allah asked him why he'd rushed ahead of his people.
Musa - The Sea · 107
They are close upon my tracks,
and I hastened to You, my Lord,
that You be pleased.
Musa - The Sea · 107
Then Musa asked his Lord for something.

وَلَمَّا جَآءَ مُوسَىٰ لِمِيقَٰتِنَا وَكَلَّمَهُۥ رَبُّهُۥ قَالَ رَبِّ أَرِنِىٓ أَنظُرْ إِلَيْكَ قَالَ لَن تَرَىٰنِى وَلَٰكِنِ ٱنظُرْ إِلَى ٱلْجَبَلِ فَإِنِ ٱسْتَقَرَّ مَكَانَهُۥ فَسَوْفَ تَرَىٰنِى فَلَمَّا تَجَلَّىٰ رَبُّهُۥ لِلْجَبَلِ جَعَلَهُۥ دَكًّا وَخَرَّ مُوسَىٰ صَعِقًا فَلَمَّآ أَفَاقَ قَالَ سُبْحَٰنَكَ تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَأَنَا۠ أَوَّلُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

And when Moses arrived at Our appointed time and his Lord spoke to him, he said, "My Lord, show me [Yourself] that I may look at You." [Allāh] said, "You will not see Me, but look at the mountain; if it should remain in place, then you will see Me." But when his Lord appeared to the mountain, He rendered it level, and Moses fell unconscious. And when he awoke, he said, "Exalted are You! I have repented to You, and I am the first [among my people] of the believers."

Qur'an 7:143

Saheeh International

Musa - The Sea · 109
Musa - The Sea · 110
Musa - The Sea · 110
Musa - The Sea · 110
And his Lord spoke to him again.

قَالَ يَٰمُوسَىٰٓ إِنِّى ٱصْطَفَيْتُكَ عَلَى ٱلنَّاسِ بِرِسَٰلَٰتِى وَبِكَلَٰمِى فَخُذْ مَآ ءَاتَيْتُكَ وَكُن مِّنَ ٱلشَّٰكِرِينَ وَكَتَبْنَا لَهُۥ فِى ٱلْأَلْوَاحِ مِن كُلِّ شَىْءٍ مَّوْعِظَةً وَتَفْصِيلًا لِّكُلِّ شَىْءٍ فَخُذْهَا بِقُوَّةٍ وَأْمُرْ قَوْمَكَ يَأْخُذُوا۟ بِأَحْسَنِهَا سَأُو۟رِيكُمْ دَارَ ٱلْفَٰسِقِينَ

[Allāh] said, "O Moses, I have chosen you over the people with My messages and My words [to you]. So take what I have given you and be among the grateful." And We wrote for him on the tablets [something] of all things - instruction and explanation for all things, [saying], "Take them with determination and order your people to take the best of it. I will show you the home of the defiantly disobedient."

Qur'an 7:144-145

Saheeh International

Musa - The Sea · 112
Musa - The Sea · 112
Musa - The Sea · 112
Then his Lord told him what his people had done while he was gone.
Musa - The Sea · 112
Act VII: The Calf
Musa - The Sea · 114
Meanwhile, with Musa gone, his people threw the jewellery they were carrying into a fire.
Musa - The Sea · 114
Musa - The Sea · 114
Musa - The Sea · 114
And al-Samiri threw something in too.
Musa - The Sea · 115
Then he pulled out a calf for them. A statue, but it made a sound like a real one.
Musa - The Sea · 115
This is your god, and Musa's too.
Musa - The Sea · 115
It couldn't answer them. It couldn't hurt them or help them. And still they worshipped it.
Musa - The Sea · 115
Musa - The Sea · 116
Musa - The Sea · 116
O my people, you are only being tested by it,
and indeed, your Lord is the Most Merciful,
so follow me and obey my order.
Musa - The Sea · 117
Musa - The Sea · 117
We won't stop worshipping it
until Musa comes back.
Musa - The Sea · 117
Musa - The Sea · 118
Musa came back to his people furious, and heartbroken.
Musa - The Sea · 118
O my people,
did your Lord not make you a good promise?
Then, was the time too long for you,
Musa - The Sea · 119
or did you wish that wrath from your Lord
descend upon you,
so you broke your promise to me?
Musa - The Sea · 119
We didn't go back on our word to you
by our own choice.
We were loaded down
Musa - The Sea · 120
with the people's jewellery,
so we threw it in,
and al-Samiri threw his in too.
Musa - The Sea · 120
Musa - The Sea · 121
He threw the Tablets down.
Musa - The Sea · 121
O Aaron, what prevented you,
when you saw them going astray,
From following me?
Then have you disobeyed my order?
Musa - The Sea · 122
Musa - The Sea · 122
O son of my mother,
do not seize by my beard or by my head.
Indeed, I feared that you would say,
Musa - The Sea · 123
'You caused division
among the Children of Israel,
and you did not observe my word.'
Musa - The Sea · 123
Musa - The Sea · 124
Musa - The Sea · 124
My Lord, forgive me and my brother
and admit us into Your mercy,
for You are the most merciful
of the merciful.
Musa - The Sea · 125
Musa - The Sea · 125
Musa - The Sea · 125
And what is your case, O Sāmirī?
Musa - The Sea · 126
Musa - The Sea · 126
I saw something they didn't see,
so I scooped up a handful
from the messenger's track and threw it.
My own soul talked me into it.
Musa - The Sea · 127
Then go.
And indeed, it is for you in life to say,
'No contact.'
Musa - The Sea · 127
And indeed, you have an appointment
you will not fail to keep.
Musa - The Sea · 128
Musa - The Sea · 128
And look at your 'god'
to which you remained devoted.
We will surely burn it and blow it
into the sea with a blast.
Musa - The Sea · 128
Musa - The Sea · 128
Musa - The Sea · 129
Musa - The Sea · 129
Musa - The Sea · 129
Musa - The Sea · 129
Musa - The Sea · 130
Musa - The Sea · 131
Musa - The Sea · 131
If our Lord does not have mercy upon us
and forgive us,
we will surely be among the losers.
Musa - The Sea · 132
Your god is only Allāh,
except for whom there is no deity.
He has encompassed all things in knowledge.
Musa - The Sea · 132
Musa - The Sea · 133
When his anger finally cooled, he picked the Tablets back up.
Musa - The Sea · 133
Musa - The Sea · 133
Written on them was guidance and mercy for anyone who feared their Lord.
Act VIII: The Two Seas
Musa - The Sea · 135
Allah told Musa about a man, where the two seas meet, who knew more than he did.
Musa - The Sea · 135
I will not cease
until I reach the junction of the two seas
or continue for a long period.
Musa - The Sea · 135
Musa - The Sea · 135
Musa - The Sea · 136
Where the two seas meet, they forgot their fish. And it slipped away into the sea.
Musa - The Sea · 136
Musa - The Sea · 136
Musa - The Sea · 137
Musa - The Sea · 138
Musa - The Sea · 138
Bring us our morning meal.
We have certainly suffered
in this, our journey, fatigue.
Musa - The Sea · 139
Musa - The Sea · 139
Did you see when we retired to the rock?
Indeed, I forgot the fish.
Musa - The Sea · 140
And none made me forget it except Satan
that I should mention it.
And it took its course
into the sea amazingly.
Musa - The Sea · 140
That is what we were seeking.
Musa - The Sea · 140
Musa - The Sea · 141
Musa - The Sea · 141
Musa - The Sea · 141
So they turned around and went back the way they'd come.

فَوَجَدَا عَبْدًا مِّنْ عِبَادِنَآ ءَاتَيْنَٰهُ رَحْمَةً مِّنْ عِندِنَا وَعَلَّمْنَٰهُ مِن لَّدُنَّا عِلْمًا

And they found a servant from among Our servants to whom We had given mercy from Us and had taught him from Us a [certain] knowledge.

Qur'an 18:65

Saheeh International

Musa - The Sea · 143
Musa - The Sea · 143
Musa - The Sea · 143
May I follow you on [the condition]
that you teach me
from what you have been taught
of sound judgement?
Musa - The Sea · 144
Indeed, with me you will never
be able to have patience.
Musa - The Sea · 144
And how can you have patience
for what you do not encompass in knowledge?
Musa - The Sea · 144
Musa - The Sea · 145
You will find me, if Allāh wills, patient,
and I will not disobey you in [any] order.
Musa - The Sea · 145
Musa - The Sea · 145
Musa - The Sea · 146
Then if you follow me,
do not ask me about anything
until I make to you about it mention
Musa - The Sea · 146
Musa - The Sea · 147
Musa - The Sea · 147
Musa - The Sea · 147
Musa - The Sea · 147
Musa - The Sea · 148
They got on a boat. And the man tore a hole in it.
Musa - The Sea · 148
Have you torn it open to drown its people?
You have certainly done a grave thing.
Musa - The Sea · 149
Musa - The Sea · 149
Did I not say that with me
you would never be able to have patience?
Musa - The Sea · 150
Do not blame me for what I forgot
and do not overwhelm me in my matter
with difficulty.
Musa - The Sea · 150
Musa - The Sea · 151
Then they came across a boy. And the man killed him.
Musa - The Sea · 151
Have you killed a pure soul
for other than [having killed] a soul?
You have certainly done a deplorable thing.
Musa - The Sea · 152
Musa - The Sea · 152
Musa - The Sea · 152
Did I not tell you that with me
you would never be able to have patience?
Musa - The Sea · 153
If I should ask you about anything
after this,
then do not keep me as a companion.
You have obtained from me an excuse.
Musa - The Sea · 153
Musa - The Sea · 154
They came to a town and asked for food. Nobody there would take them in.
Musa - The Sea · 154
Musa - The Sea · 154
Musa - The Sea · 155
In that same town they found a wall about to collapse. And the man fixed it up straight.
Musa - The Sea · 155
If you wished,
you could have taken for it a payment.
Musa - The Sea · 156
Musa - The Sea · 156
This is parting between me and you.
I will inform you of the interpretation
of that about which
you could not have patience.
Musa - The Sea · 157
Musa - The Sea · 157
As for the ship,
it belonged to poor people working at sea.
So I intended to cause defect in it
Musa - The Sea · 158
Musa - The Sea · 158
as there was after them a king
who seized every [good] ship by force.
Musa - The Sea · 159
Musa - The Sea · 159
And as for the boy,
his parents were believers,
and we feared that he would overburden them
by transgression and disbelief.
Musa - The Sea · 160
Musa - The Sea · 160
So we intended that their Lord
should substitute for them
one better than him in purity
and nearer to mercy.
Musa - The Sea · 161
And as for the wall,
it belonged to two orphan boys in the city,
Musa - The Sea · 161
Musa - The Sea · 161
Musa - The Sea · 162
and there was beneath it a treasure for them,
and their father had been righteous.
Musa - The Sea · 162
So your Lord intended
that they reach maturity
and extract their treasure,
as a mercy from your Lord.
Musa - The Sea · 163
And I did it not of my own accord.
That is the interpretation of that
about which you could not have patience.
Musa - The Sea · 163
Musa - The Sea · 164
Musa - The Sea · 164
Musa - The Sea · 164

Sources

  • Qur'an 28:4; 2:49; 14:6; 7:141 - Fir'awn raised himself in the land, split its people into factions, held one group down and slaughtered their sons while keeping their women alive (28:4); 2:49, 14:6 and 7:141 recall the same oppression. It is reported and never drawn: a torch passes a shut door and nothing behind the door is shown
  • Qur'an 28:5-6 - Allah willed to favour those held down, to make them leaders and inheritors, and to show Fir'awn, Haman and their soldiers what they feared. The narrator says only THAT He willed it and the ayat are never rendered in a caption.
  • Qur'an 28:6; 40:24; 43:51; 29:39 - Fir'awn is the Qur'an's name for the ruler of Misr in Musa's time, with Haman and Qarun named beside him; the Qur'an names no dynasty. By studio rule he is identified with no historical pharaoh, in words or in dress: no double crown, striped head-cloth with a cobra, crook and flail or false beard, no sun disc, hieroglyph or monument, and nobody bows to him
  • Qur'an 28:7 - the pause page: Allah inspired Musa's mother to suckle him and, when she feared for him, to cast him into the river, and not to fear or grieve, for He would return him to her and make him one of the messengers. The page before it reports only THAT Allah inspired her, and the ayah is the first place its words appear. Ibn Kathir on 28:7-9 reads this inspiration as one put into her heart and mind, so she is drawn with no sign of prophethood
  • Qur'an 20:38-39 - the chest and the river: she was inspired to put him in a chest and cast it into the river, which would throw it onto the bank, where one who was an enemy to Allah and to him would take him. The chest is the Qur'an's word (al-tabut) and is drawn as a plain wooden chest the size of a cradle, with a lid; the Qur'an gives no more. A vessel named in brackets in a translation (a wicker basket, a box) is the translator's, not the Qur'an's. The Qur'an uses one word, al-yamm, for the river that carried him (28:7; 20:39) and for the sea in which Fir'awn is drowned (28:40; 20:78; 7:136)
  • Qur'an 28:8 - the household of Fir'awn picked him up, to become to them an enemy and a grief. The story tells it by what it shows: servants lift the chest from the water-stair, and the narrator says they took in one who would be their enemy and did not know it
  • Qur'an 28:9; Ibn Kathir on 28:7-9 - Fir'awn's wife asked that he not be killed: a comfort of the eye for her and for him; perhaps he would benefit them or they would take him as a son; and they did not perceive. Her words are lettered whole, in three bubbles. The Qur'an does not name her; this codex calls her the wife of Fir'awn. Ibn Kathir relates that Fir'awn feared the child was one of the Children of Israel who would end his kingdom: the threat lives in her plea and no weapon is raised over the child. Fir'awn's silence while she speaks, and his standing over the chest unarmed, are the studio's staging
  • Sahih al-Bukhari 3411 (Abu Musa) - the name Asiya for Fir'awn's wife is a sahih hadith's and not the Qur'an's. One caption gives it, once (p188), and nothing else tradition says of her is on the page
  • Qur'an 28:10 - Musa's mother's heart became empty, and she would have disclosed him had Allah not bound her heart. Reported in a caption in the narrator's own words
  • Qur'an 28:11; 20:40 - she told his sister to follow him, and the girl watched him from a distance while they did not perceive her. The mother's one word is lettered whole. The Qur'an does not name the sister or give her age; a girl of about ten, the river path and the palace wall are the studio's staging
  • Qur'an 28:12; 20:40 - Allah had forbidden him every wet nurse beforehand, and his sister offered to direct them to a household who would care for him sincerely. Her words are lettered whole, in three bubbles. The room of women, the refused nurses and the girl at the door are the studio's staging; nursing is never drawn
  • Qur'an 28:13; 20:40 - he was returned to his mother so that her eyes might be cooled and she not grieve, and so that she would know that Allah's promise is true (28:13); 20:40 recalls it to Musa in Allah's own words, which are not lettered. The story shows the mother led through the palace gate and the child quiet in her arms
  • Qur'an 28:14; 26:18 - he was raised in Fir'awn's house (Fir'awn says it himself in the court, 26:18), and when he reached his full strength and maturity Allah gave him judgement and knowledge (28:14). His age at each step, a boy of about ten, a youth of about seventeen and a man of about thirty, is the studio's staging
  • Sahih al-Bukhari 3394 (Abu Huraira) - Musa is drawn thin, with lank hair, after this hadith
  • Qur'an throughout - the Qur'an names Musa, Harun, Fir'awn, Haman, Qarun and al-Samiri; it does not name his mother, his sister, Fir'awn's wife, the servants, the nurses, the overseer, the man of his people, the man who came running, the old man of Madyan, his two daughters, the believer of Fir'awn's family, the sorcerers, Musa's young man or the servant he followed. The one name from tradition on any page is Asiya's (p188), as a sahih hadith gives it; the servant and the young man, whom the hadith names, are named nowhere in this chapter
  • What the story stages inside the verses is the studio's own: the overseer over the labourers in the low quarter (for the torment of 2:49), the house, the lamp, the torch and the shut door, the size of the chest, the river path and the water-stair, Fir'awn standing over the chest unarmed and silent, the room of women, the palace gate, the reeds along the river, the clay baskets of the labourers, the folded cloth in the chest, the measuring rod in Haman's hand and Musa's three ages
  • Qur'an 28:1-3; 20:9 - where the two surahs turn to Musa's story they address the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him); that address is not told; the story begins on the land (28:4)
  • Recitation on the pause pages: Abdul Rahman al-Sudais, murattal, Hafs from Asim, streamed per ayah from everyayah.com
  • Arabic text on the pause pages: the Uthmani text, Hafs from Asim, as quran.com serves it
  • Qur'an 28:15 - he entered the city at a time its people were unaware and found two men fighting, one of his own people and one of his enemy; the first called to him for help, Musa struck the other, and the man died (p37 to p40). Mujahid in Ibn Kathir on 28:15 - it was one blow of the fist. The blow is not drawn and no caption says how the man fell; the empty street is the studio's staging, since the commentators differ on the hour
  • Qur'an 28:15-17 - Musa called the deed the work of Satan, asked his Lord to forgive him for wronging himself, and He forgave him (p42 to p45); 26:20-21 - before Fir'awn he named the deed himself, done while he was 'of those astray' (p128). Ibn Kathir on 26:20, from Ibn Abbas and Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd ibn Aslam, the view Ibn Jarir favoured - 'astray' means before revelation came to him and before he was made a prophet
  • Qur'an 28:18-19 - the next morning the same man cried out to him again, and as Musa moved to seize the one who was an enemy to them both, a voice cried out about the killing of the day before (p46 to p50). The Qur'an does not name the speaker; that it was the man of his own people, who thought the blow was meant for him, is Ibn Kathir's reading on 28:18-19, and the bubble follows it as the studio's staging
  • Qur'an 28:20-21 - a man came running from the farthest end of the city to warn him that the chiefs were conferring to kill him, and Musa left the city, afraid and watchful (p53 to p57). The Qur'an does not name the runner; Ibn Kathir on 40:28 gives Ibn Abbas counting him apart from the believer of Fir'awn's family, so the story keeps them two men
  • Qur'an 28:22-24 - he set out toward Madyan; at its water he found a crowd of men watering and two women holding their flocks back, who said they water only when the shepherds leave and their father is a very old man; he watered for them and went back to the shade (p58 to p67). The two answer together, as the Arabic's dual has them. The great stone at the well's mouth and the tree he sat under are from Ibn Kathir's reports on 28:22-28, drawn and never told
  • Qur'an 28:25 - one of the two came to him walking shyly and said that her father invited him, to repay him for the watering (p68 to p70). Umar ibn al-Khattab in Ibn Kathir on 28:25 - she came with her garment held over her face (a sound chain, Ibn Kathir says); Umar, Ibn Abbas and others in Ibn Kathir on 28:26 - on the way Musa asked her to walk behind him and show him the way with a pebble thrown ahead. The two are drawn veiled throughout Madyan, and the distance kept between them is the studio's staging
  • Qur'an 28:25 - Musa told the old man his story, and the old man told him not to fear, for he had escaped the wrongdoing people (p72, p73). The Qur'an does not name him. The commentators differ on whether he was the prophet Shu'ayb (al-Hasan al-Basri and others), a nephew of Shu'ayb or a believer of Shu'ayb's people, and others hold that Shu'ayb lived long before Musa. He is drawn as a believing man of Madyan, with his face and without a name
  • Qur'an 28:26-28 - one of the two asked her father to hire him, for the best to hire is the strong and the trustworthy; the old man offered him one of his two daughters in marriage for eight years' service, or ten as a favour from him, and Musa agreed with Allah as witness (p74 to p81). The Qur'an does not say which daughter he married
  • Sahih al-Bukhari 2684 (Sa'id ibn Jubayr, from Ibn Abbas) - Musa completed the longer and better of the two terms (p82)
  • Qur'an 28:29; 20:10; 27:7 - when he had completed the term he set out with his family, saw a fire on the side of the mount, and told them to stay while he went to it (p86 to p91). Ibn Kathir on 20:10 - a cold, dark night on which he had lost the way. The fire is drawn small and far, caught in a plain tree, with nothing drawn in it
  • Qur'an 20:11-14 - the pause page (p95): the call in the sacred valley, Allah's own words, the span and nothing else. The page before it says only that he reached the fire, and p96 says only THAT Allah spoke to Musa (4:164). His bare feet beside his sandals follow 20:12; the reason the sandals were removed, given by Ibn Kathir on 20:12 from several of the Salaf, is not told
  • Qur'an 20:17-22; 28:31-32; 27:10-12 - asked what was in his right hand, Musa named his staff and its uses (p98); told to throw it, he threw it and it was a snake moving swiftly; he turned and fled, was told to take it, and drew out his hand white, without harm (p99 to p106). The questions and the commands are reported in the narrator's words. 27:10 and 28:31 liken its movement to a jann, a small quick snake, so it is drawn as a snake and never as a jinn. The white hand is never in frame (p105, p142)
  • Qur'an 20:24-36; 28:33-35 - he was sent to Fir'awn; he asked for an opened breast, an eased task, the knot untied from his tongue and Harun his brother as a minister, for he had killed one of them and Harun was more eloquent; his request was granted (p107 to p115)
  • Qur'an 19:53; 4:163; 6:84 - Harun is a prophet, drawn full-faced and shipped with his eyes smeared like every prophet in the story. Qur'an 20:42-46 - both were sent to Fir'awn and told to speak to him gently; they feared he would hasten against them or transgress (p116 to p119), words the Arabic gives to both of them, so the bubbles hang over the two with no tail to either; 20:46 is the pause page (p120). Where the brothers met is the studio's staging
  • Qur'an 7:104-105; 26:18-29 - Musa before Fir'awn: a messenger from the Lord of the worlds, so send the Children of Israel with me; Fir'awn's 'did we not raise you among us as a child', Musa's answer, and the exchange on the Lord of the worlds that ends in Fir'awn's threat of prison (p123 to p137)
  • Qur'an 26:30-37; 7:107-112 - the staff became a serpent, plain to see, and his hand came out white to the onlookers (p141, p142); Fir'awn called him a learned magician, and the chiefs advised him to send gatherers to the cities (p145 to p147). In 7:109-110 the chiefs say the first words; the bubbles follow ash-Shu'ara
  • Qur'an 20:57-59 - Fir'awn demanded a contest at an appointed place, and Musa set it on the day of the festival, with the people gathered at mid-morning (p148, p149). Ibn Kathir on 20:59 gives several views of the day, among them their festival and their market day, and says they do not contradict each other. The festival ground carries no idol, statue, standard or emblem
  • Qur'an 26:38-42; 7:113-114 - the people were urged to gather, and the sorcerers asked Fir'awn for a reward and were promised nearness (p151 to p155). The Qur'an says only that it was said to the people; that a man of the council calls it is the studio's staging. Ibn Abbas in Ibn Kathir on 20:67-70 counts seventy sorcerers; the reports differ on the number, so none is told and they are drawn as many
  • Qur'an 20:61-66; 26:43-44; 7:115-116 - Musa warned them not to invent a lie against Allah; they disputed among themselves and spoke in secret; they threw their ropes and their staffs by the might of Fir'awn, bewitched the people's eyes and struck them with terror (p156 to p164)
  • Qur'an 20:67 - Musa felt fear within himself (p165). Ibn Kathir reads it as fear for the people, that they would be deceived before he could throw; the art shows him watching the crowd and does not assert the reading. 20:68-69 is the pause page (p168), and p167 says only THAT Allah spoke to him
  • Qur'an 7:117-119; 26:45 - his staff swallowed what they had faked; the truth stood, and what they had worked came to nothing (p169 to p172)
  • Qur'an 26:46-48; 7:120-122; 20:70 - the sorcerers fell down in prostration and said they believed in the Lord of the worlds, the Lord of Musa and Harun (p173, p174). Their own words name the One the prostration is for. They are drawn from above, every forehead toward one edge of the frame, with nobody and nothing before them
  • Qur'an 20:71; 7:123-124 - Fir'awn's charge and threat: belief before his leave, Musa their chief who taught them magic, hands and feet cut off on opposite sides, crucifixion on the trunks of palms (p178, p179). It is spoken and nothing of it is drawn. Qur'an 20:72; 26:50; 7:126 - their answer (p181 to p184); the Qur'an gives it to them all, and its division among their voices is the studio's staging
  • Ibn Kathir on 7:123-126 - Ibn Abbas, Ubayd ibn Umayr, Qatada and Ibn Jurayj said they began the day as sorcerers and ended it as martyrs. The Qur'an does not say what Fir'awn did to them, and the black page says only that and Ibn Abbas's saying (p186)
  • Qur'an 66:11 - Fir'awn's wife prayed for a house near Allah in Paradise and to be saved from Fir'awn and his deeds and from the wrongdoing people (p188 to p190). Her own words are lettered; the frame of the ayah, which is Allah's, is not. Where her prayer falls in the story is not said; placing it after the sorcerers is the studio's staging, and whatever she suffered for her faith is not told
  • Qur'an 7:127 - the chiefs urged Fir'awn against Musa and his people, and he ordered their sons killed and their women kept alive (p192, p193); 40:25 gives the same order. It is spoken and nothing of it is drawn. 7:128-129 - Musa told his people to seek help through Allah and be patient; their complaint, and his hope (p195 to p198)
  • Qur'an 40:26-27 - Fir'awn: let me kill Musa; Musa sought refuge in his Lord and theirs from every arrogant one (p199 to p202). That Musa says it in a place apart from the council is the studio's staging
  • Qur'an 40:28-29 - a believing man of Fir'awn's family who hid his faith asked whether they would kill a man for saying 'My Lord is Allah', and Fir'awn answered that he showed them only what he saw (p203 to p205). The Qur'an does not name him; Ibn Kathir on 40:28 records that the commentators differ on who he was. Qur'an 40:44-45 - he entrusted his affair to Allah, and Allah protected him from what they plotted (p211)
  • Qur'an 28:38; 40:36-37 - Fir'awn: I have not known you to have a god other than me; Haman, fire the clay and build me a tower to look at the God of Musa (p207, p208). Whether the tower was finished is not said: the kilns and the scaffold are drawn, never a finished tower
  • Qur'an 7:130-135 - Fir'awn's people were seized with years of drought and a shortage of fruit, then the flood, the locusts, the lice, the frogs and the blood; each time they begged Musa to pray it away and promised to believe and to send the Children of Israel with him, and each time it was lifted they broke their word (p212 to p224). How each sign looks is drawn from the commentators' reports and is the studio's staging
  • Qur'an 26:52; 20:77; 44:23 - Musa was told to set out by night with Allah's servants, for they would be pursued (p225 says only that he was told to set out by night); 26:53-60 - Fir'awn sent gatherers through the cities; Allah brought them out of gardens and springs, treasures and an honoured place (p232), and at sunrise they followed (p230 to p233). The words of 26:54-56 are the message Fir'awn sent with his gatherers, and the bubbles give them to him; the order of the night's leaving and the watchman on the wall are the studio's staging
  • Qur'an 26:61-62 - when the two hosts saw each other, Musa's companions said they would be overtaken, and Musa said no, his Lord was with him and would guide him (p237, p239). 26:63 is the pause page (p241), and p240 says only THAT Allah inspired him
  • Qur'an 20:77; 26:64-66; 2:50 - they walked a dry path through the sea, with no fear of being overtaken; Allah saved Musa and all who were with him and drowned the others (p242 to p254). The ayah's word is one path, and one path is drawn
  • Qur'an 44:24 - he was told to leave the sea as it was, for they were an army to be drowned (p247). Ibn Kathir on 44:24 - he had wished to strike it shut behind them; the staff is drawn lowered on the far shore
  • Qur'an 10:90-92 - the pause page (p253): Fir'awn's words when the drowning overtook him, the answer, and his body saved as a sign. p252 says only THAT he spoke at the last. The drowning is drawn as the sea closing and then his face at its surface, in profile, with no hand or body
  • Qur'an 7:137; 26:59; 44:28 - the people who had been held down inherited the land Allah had blessed, because they had been patient (p256). The commentators differ on which land is meant, and the page does not name it
  • Sahih al-Bukhari 3397 (Ibn Abbas) - the Jews of Madinah fasted the day of Ashura and said it was the day Allah saved Musa and drowned Fir'awn's people; the Prophet (peace be upon him) said he was closer to Musa than they, fasted it and ordered it fasted. p256's closing caption names the day as this report remembers it, and no more
  • Qur'an 7:105; 7:126; 7:128; 20:58; 20:61; 20:71; 26:24; 26:35; 28:27; 28:38; 40:26; 40:28; 40:44 - these lines are lettered in part, cut at the start or the end of a clause and never inside one, so that each page holds what its panels can carry; what is left out is the same speaker's words
  • What Acts II to V stage inside the verses is the studio's own: the empty street, the second man slipping toward the palace, the great stone at the well, the path to the old man's house, his wife at the tent door, the climb alone, the sandals set down, the brothers meeting on the river road, the herald at the festival, Musa's eyes on the crowd, the prostration seen from above, the sorcerers' answer voice by voice, the guards taking them by the arms, Fir'awn's wife on the palace roof, where her prayer falls, Musa's words apart from the council, the kilns and the scaffold, how each sign looks, the night's leaving and the watchman on the wall, who stands where in each crowd, the staff lowered on the far shore and the reeds at the close
  • Qur'an 7:138-140 - past the sea they came upon a people devoted to idols of their own and asked Musa to make them a god like theirs; he called them a people behaving ignorantly, said that what those people were engaged in was destroyed, and asked whether he should seek for them a god other than Allah, who had preferred them over the worlds (p258 to p264). Who that people were and what their idols looked like is not told: the idols are covered shapes far off, and nobody is drawn bowing to them
  • Qur'an 7:142 - Musa was given an appointment of thirty nights, completed with ten more to forty, and left Harun in his place among his people, to do right and not follow the way of the corrupters (p265 to p268). The appointment is told in the narrator's words, never in His first person; Ibn Kathir on 7:142 reads the charge to Harun, himself a prophet, as a reminder
  • Qur'an 20:83-84 - Musa went on ahead of his people; asked what had made him hasten, he answered that they were close on his tracks and that he had hastened to his Lord, that He be pleased (p269 to p271). The question is Allah's speech: p270 says only THAT he was asked, and his answer is lettered
  • Qur'an 7:143 - the pause page (p273): the ayah alone, with Musa's request to see his Lord, the answer, the mountain made level, his fall and his words on waking; p272 says only THAT he asked. Nothing on or above the mountain stands for Allah: no light, shape, hand, figure or cloud is drawn. Ibn Kathir on 7:143 - the mountain was levelled to dust. After the ayah the collapse itself is drawn, from far and as consequence only: the mountain falling in on itself to level ground in great dust, with Musa small and far off, falling, his face turned away (p274); then he rises and stands with his back to the heap (p275, p276)
  • Qur'an 7:144-145 - the pause page (p278): his choosing, and the Tablets given him; p277 says only THAT his Lord spoke to him again. The Qur'an does not say what the Tablets were made of or how many they were: they are drawn as a few plain stone slabs with no writing and no light (p279, p280)
  • Qur'an 20:85 - that his people had been tried after him and al-Samiri had led them astray is Allah's speech to Musa; p281 says only THAT He told him what had become of his people
  • Qur'an 7:148; 20:87-89 - while Musa was away his people threw the ornaments they carried into a fire, al-Samiri threw likewise, and he brought out for them a calf, a body that lowed, which could not answer them, harm them or help them (p284 to p291). Ibn Kathir on 7:148-149 and 20:83-89 - the ornaments had been borrowed from Fir'awn's people and were thrown into a pit of fire. How it lowed is disputed: it is drawn as metal, never alive, and no sound is lettered. The people are seated round it, seen from behind; nobody bows, kneels or raises hands to it
  • Qur'an 20:88 - the bubble stops at 'the god of Moses' (p289). Saheeh International sets 'but he forgot' inside their words; Ibn Kathir on 20:88 gives both readings, their claim that Musa forgot (Ibn Abbas, Mujahid) and Allah's word that al-Samiri forgot, leaving his religion (Ibn Abbas, through Sa'id ibn Jubayr); the clause is not lettered
  • Qur'an 20:90-91 - Harun had told them they were only being tried by it, that their Lord is the Most Merciful, and to follow him and obey his order; they said they would stay devoted to it until Musa came back (p292 to p296). In 7:150 Harun says the people overpowered him and almost killed him: drawn as men pressing on him, a hand on his cloak, and no blow
  • Qur'an 20:86-87 - Musa came back to his people angry and grieved and reproached them; they said they had not broken their promise to him by their own will, but had been made to carry loads of the people's ornaments and threw them (p297 to p302). Where al-A'raf and Ta-Ha tell one scene, Ta-Ha's words are lettered
  • Qur'an 7:150; 20:92-94 - he threw down the Tablets (p303) and asked Harun what had kept him from following him when he saw them go astray; he seized his brother, and Harun asked him, son of his mother, not to seize him by his beard or his head, for he had feared Musa would say he had divided the Children of Israel (p304 to p308). The seizing is not drawn. The Qur'an does not say whether the Tablets broke; Ibn Kathir on 7:154 reports that many commentators held they broke when he threw them and that he gathered them after. Here they lie whole on the ground and are whole when taken up (p332), as the studio's staging
  • Qur'an 7:151 - Musa asked his Lord to forgive him and his brother and admit them into His mercy (p309 to p311). Both are drawn side-on, heads bowed, facing open ground, never toward where the calf stood
  • Qur'an 20:95-97 - Musa asked al-Samiri what his case was; he said he saw what they did not see, took a handful from the track of the messenger and threw it, and so his soul enticed him; Musa told him to go, that all his life he would say 'No contact', and that he had an appointment he would not fail to keep (p312 to p318). Ibn Kathir on 20:95-98 - most commentators say the messenger was Jibril and the handful dust from the track of his horse. It stays al-Samiri's own words: no horse, hoofprint, rider, angel or light is drawn, and nothing leaves his hand. Qatadah, in the same place, reads 'No contact' as a punishment for him and those after him; the people step back as he goes (p318)
  • Qur'an 20:97 - Musa told him to look at his god, to which he had remained devoted: they would burn it and blow it into the sea (p319 to p326). How it was burned and scattered is the studio's staging. The sea is al-yamm, the word of 28:7 and 20:78
  • Qur'an 7:149 - the people regretted, saw that they had gone astray, and said that if their Lord did not have mercy on them and forgive them they would be among the losers (p327, p328); the ayah gives no time, and placing it after the burning is the studio's staging. Qur'an 20:98 - their god is only Allah, beside whom there is no god, who encompasses all things in knowledge (p329); Ibn Kathir on 20:95-98 gives it as Musa's word to them
  • Qur'an 7:154 - when his anger subsided Musa took up the Tablets, and in their inscription was guidance and mercy for those who fear their Lord (p331 to p333)
  • Sahih al-Bukhari 122 and 3401 (Ubayy ibn Ka'b, through Ibn Abbas) - asked who was the most learned of people, Musa said 'I', and was told of a servant of Allah at the junction of the two seas who knew more than he, whom he would find where he lost a fish. p335 says only that he was told of a man who knew more than he did. The hadith names his young man too; this chapter does not, and draws him full face
  • Qur'an 18:60-64 - Musa told his young man he would not stop until he reached the junction of the two seas or went on for a long time; there they forgot their fish, and it took its way into the sea as through a tunnel; further on, the young man said he had forgotten the fish and only Satan made him forget to mention it; Musa said that was what they were seeking, and they went back on their tracks (p335 to p352). No place is named (Ibn Kathir on 18:60-65); Satan is named and never drawn. Ubayy's hadith in Ibn Kathir on 18:60-65 - they slept at the rock (p340), and the water stood back on either side of the fish's way (p342). Whether the fish was salted and a spring brought it to life is disputed and not told
  • Qur'an 18:65 - the pause page (p353): the ayah alone, Allah's own words of the servant they found; p352 says only that they went back the way they had come
  • Sahih al-Bukhari 122 and 3401 - the hadith gives the servant a name; this chapter names him nowhere, on its pages or here, and calls him only the servant, as 18:65 does (p353, p354). Ibn Kathir on 18:60-65, from Ubayy - they found him covered with a garment, so he is drawn wrapped in his cloak. Ibn Kathir on 18:82 takes his saying that he did not act of his own accord, with 18:65, as proof for those who hold he was a prophet; others differ. His eyes are smeared out of caution, as the prophets' are, and no caption says either way. Nobody bows to him
  • Qur'an 18:66-70 - Musa asked to follow him, to be taught of the right guidance he had been taught; he said Musa could not have patience with him, for how could he be patient over what he did not encompass in knowledge; Musa promised patience, if Allah willed; he set the condition that Musa ask him about nothing until he himself spoke of it (p355 to p363). Ibn Kathir on 18:66-70 - the request is a student's courtesy. From 18:71 the verbs are dual, so the young man is not drawn after p355
  • Sahih al-Bukhari 3401 - the crew knew the servant and carried them without fare (p365); a sparrow alighted on the edge of the boat and dipped its beak into the sea, and the servant said that his knowledge and Musa's took from Allah's knowledge no more than the sparrow's beak took from the sea. The sparrow is drawn (p367); the saying is not lettered, and is given here in paraphrase
  • Qur'an 18:71-73 - when they boarded the ship he holed it; Musa asked whether he had holed it to drown its people, a grave thing; he reminded him that he had said Musa would not have patience; Musa asked not to be blamed for forgetting (p364 to p373). Ibn Kathir on 18:71-73, from the hadith - he pulled out one plank: the hull is otherwise whole and the boat afloat
  • Qur'an 18:74-76 - they met a boy, and the servant killed him; Musa said he had killed a pure soul for no soul, a deplorable thing; he was reminded again, and said that if he asked about anything after this he should be left behind (p374 to p382). The boy, the act and the body are never drawn: boys at play are seen far off, none singled out (p375), then p376 is a black panel with the narrator's plain report
  • Qur'an 18:77 - they asked the people of a town for food and were refused; they found there a wall about to fall, and he set it straight; Musa said that had he wished he could have taken a wage for it (p383 to p387). The town is not named, and Ibn Sirin's naming of it in Ibn Kathir on 18:77-78 is not told. Ibn Kathir, from the hadith - he set it straight with his hand: his hands are drawn laid on the wall, with no light (p386)
  • Qur'an 18:78-82 - the parting and the interpretation: the ship of poor men working at sea, which he damaged because a king behind them seized every good ship by force; the boy's believing parents, the fear that he would burden them with transgression and disbelief, and a better child in his place; the wall of two orphan boys, their treasure beneath it, their righteous father and their Lord's mercy; and that he did not do it of his own accord (p388 to p404). 'We feared' and 'we intended' are lettered as the ayat have them. The king is never drawn, only his men (p394); neither child of 18:80-81 is drawn, and the parents are seen from behind (p396); the treasure is never drawn, and the wall stands over bare ground (p400)
  • Sahih al-Bukhari 4726 - the child given in place of the boy was better, and some narrators say it was a girl. Neither is drawn or named
  • Sahih al-Bukhari 4725 (Ubayy ibn Ka'b, through Ibn Abbas) - the Prophet (peace be upon him) said he wished Musa had been more patient, so that Allah would have told them more of the two men's story. It stands here; the page does not bring his name onto it
  • What Acts VI to VIII stage inside the verses is the studio's own: the covered idols far off, Musa leaving the camp alone at dawn, the climb and the bare height, the mountain's collapse seen only from far, Musa never facing the levelled mountain, the Tablets in the crook of his arm, the fire pit and al-Samiri's closed hand, the crowd seated round the calf, the men pressing on Harun, the people stepping back from al-Samiri, the ash cast into the wind from the shore, the regret after the burning, Harun beside Musa as he takes up the Tablets, the basket, the young man not drawn after the meeting at the rock, the boatmen fitting the plank back, the boys at play seen far off, the parting at the foot of the wall in the grey of evening, the servant's age and white beard, and the servant walking away along the waterline

Play this chapter

Test what you know about this chapter.

Every story on this page is a chapter in DeenOD: Islamic Trivia & Games - free, no ads, every question source-cited.