Surah 20

Surah 20:49

"He said, ‘And who is your Lord, Moses?’"
The Conversation between Musa and Fir'awii Verses 20:49-52
Show Full Scripture Context (20:49-52) — 4 Verses
Verse 49

قَالَ فَمَن رَّبُّكُمَا يَٰمُوسَىٰ

He said, ‘And who is your Lord, Moses?’

Verse 50

قَالَ رَبُّنَا ٱلَّذِيٓ أَعۡطَىٰ كُلَّ شَيۡءٍ خَلۡقَهُۥ ثُمَّ هَدَىٰ

He said, ‘Our Lord is the One who gave everything its creation, (and) then guided (it).’

Verse 51

قَالَ فَمَا بَالُ ٱلۡقُرُونِ ٱلۡأُولَىٰ

He said, ‘What (about the) case of the former generations?’

Verse 52

قَالَ عِلۡمُهَا عِندَ رَبِّي فِي كِتَٰبٖۖ لَّا يَضِلُّ رَبِّي وَلَا يَنسَى

He said, ‘The knowledge of it is with my Lord in a Book. My Lord does not go astray, nor does He forget.

Allah, the Exalted, informs about Fir'awn that he said to Musa, in his rejection of the existence of a Supreme Maker and Creator, Who is the God of everything and his own Lord and Owner:

Quoted Scripture
"Who then, O Musa, is the Lord of you two?"

meaning “Who is the one who called you forth and sent you? For verily, I do not know him and I have not given you any god other than myself.”

Quoted Scripture
"(Mfisa) said: "Our Lord is He Who gave to each thing its form and nature, then guided it aright.""

‘Ali bin Abi Talhah related that Ibn ‘Abbas said, “He is saying that He created a mate for everything.” Ad-Dahhak said that Ibn ‘Abbas said, “He made the man a man, and the donkey a donkey and the sheep a sheep.” Layth bin Abi Sulaym reported from Mujahid that he said, “He gave everything its form.” Ibn Abi Najlh said that Mujahid said, “He fashioned the creation of every moving creature.”

Said bin Jubayr said concerning His statement,

Quoted Scripture
"(Who) gave to each thing its form and nature, then guided it aright."

“He gave each of His creatures what is suitable for its creation.” Therefore, He did not give man the form of a wild beast, nor did He give wild beasts the form of the dog. Likewise, the dog’s form is not like the sheep’s. He also gave creature a suitable spouse, and He influenced everything towards that mate. There is no species of creation that is exactly like smother species. They are different in their actions, their forms, their sustenance and their mating. Some of the scholars of Tafsir have said that this statement, “He gave to each thing its form and nature, then guided it aright,” is similar to Allah’s statement,

And Who has measured; and then guided.

This means He measured out an ordained amount (of sustenance, actions, etc.) and then guided His creatures to it. He wrote the deeds, the appointed times of death and the provisions. Then, the creatures traverse upon that and they are not able to avoid it, nor are they able to abandon it. In this Ayah Musa is saying that our Lord is the One Who created the creation, measured out its ordainment and compelled the creatures to that which He wanted.

Quoted Scripture
"(Fir'awn) said: "What about the generations of old?""

The most correct opinion concerning the meaning of this, is that when Musa informed Fir ‘awn that his Lord Who sent him is the One Who creates, sustains, ordains and guides, Fir'awn began to argue, using the previous generations as a proof. He was referring to those people of old who did not worship Allah.

In other words, “If the matter is as you say, then what happened to those people? They did not worship your Lord. Instead they worshipped other gods besides Him.” Musa said to him, in response to this, that if they did not worship Allah, then Allah knows precisely what happened to them and He will give them just recompense for their deeds, as is written in Allah’s Book (of decrees). This Book is called Al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz (The Preserved Tablet) and it is the Book of Deeds.

Quoted Scripture
"My Lord neither errs nor forgets ."

This means that nothing eludes Him and He does not miss anything, whether it is small or great. He does not forget anything and His Most Exalted knowledge is described as encompassing everything. Blessed be He, the Exalted, the Most Holy and free of any imperfections. The knowledge that creatures have has two deficiencies. The first is that it does not completely encompass anything, and the second is that the creature is prone to forget after knowing. Therefore, Allah has declared Himself above such deficiencies.

— from Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Vol. 6, Page 347-349)

About this Source & Scholarly Authority (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)

Universal Sunni Consensus: Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Azim by Hafiz Ibn Kathir (701–774 AH / 1301–1373 AD) is universally regarded across all major schools of Sunni Islam (traditional, Salafi, Ash'ari) as the most authoritative classical exegesis. It is prized because it relies on Tafsir bil-Ma'thur—interpreting the Quran using the Quran itself, authentic Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad, and recorded statements of the early Companions (Sahabah).

Standard English Edition: This text is from the standard 10-volume English abridgment published by Dar-us-Salam Publications (supervised by Shaykh Safiur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri), which is the official, most widely distributed English Quranic commentary in mosques and Islamic libraries worldwide today.