'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying, exalted and glorious is He: "And We certainly sent Musa with Our signs and a clear authority" "to Fir'aun and his chiefs, but they followed the command of Fir'aun, and what was the command of Fir'aun that was wise?" "He leads his people on the Day of Resurrection, and he brings them to the Fire, and wretched is the place to which they are brought." "And they were followed in this with a curse, and on the Day of Resurrection, wretched is the support that is given." "That is from the news of the towns, which We relate to you; some of them are standing and some are harvested." The signs: the signs, and the authority: the proof and the clarity in the argument. It is said: it is derived from the light that is used for illumination, and it is said: because it is empowered over every opponent and adversary. The chiefs: the gathering of men, and the meaning is: We sent him to them to believe in Allah, exalted is He, but Fir'aun prevented them, so they followed his command and did not believe and disbelieved. Then He informed, blessed and exalted is He, about the matter of Fir'aun that he is not wise, meaning: he is not correct in his doctrine nor does he depart from foolishness. And His saying, exalted is He: "He leads his people on the Day of Resurrection". Allah, exalted is He, informed in this verse about Fir'aun that he will come on the Day of Resurrection with his people who were drowned with him, and he leads them to the Fire. The past tense was used in "and he brings them" in the place of the future tense for the clarity of the matter and the removal of ambiguity from it. The eloquence of the Arabs is that they sometimes place the past tense in the place of the future tense because the past is more indicative of the occurrence of the action and its realization. And "the coming" in this verse is the coming of entry, and it is not the coming of overseeing something and being close to it; due to His saying, exalted is He: "And when he came to the water of Madyan" [Al-Qasas: 23]. And Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, said: "In the Qur'an there are four: 'And there is none of you except that he will enter it'" [Maryam: 71], and His saying: "And We will drive the criminals to Hell, a coming" [Maryam: 86], and this is in Maryam, and in Al-Anbiya: "Indeed, you and what you worship besides Allah are the fuel of Hell; you will enter it" [Al-Anbiya: 98]. He said: and all of them are coming of entry, then Allah saves those who are righteous. And "the brought" is an adjective for the place of "the coming" on the assumption that the meaning is: and wretched is the place of the coming that is brought. And it is said: "the brought" is the beginning and the news is advanced. And the meaning is: the brought, wretched is the coming.

And His saying: ﴿In this﴾ means the abode of this world, and "the curse": is their expulsion by drowning and extermination and the disgraceful mention throughout the ages. And His saying: ﴿And on the Day of Resurrection﴾ means: they will also be cursed by their entering Hell. Mujahid said: "So they have two curses. And a group went to say that the division is that they have in this world a curse, and on the Day of Resurrection, how evil is what they will be provided with. So it is one curse initially, and the disgrace of the provision ultimately." And His saying: ﴿How evil is the provision provided﴾ means: how evil is the gift given to them. And the provision in the speech of the Arabs is the gift. And the punishment is called provision here because this is what has taken the place of the provision. This is like saying: O so-and-so, your goodness was nothing but to strike me, meaning: what has taken the place of goodness from you. And the provision is the assistance, and from it is the provision of Quraysh, their assistance to the poor of the pilgrimage with the food they used to provide during the season.

And His saying: ﴿That is from the news of the cities﴾ the verse. "That" is a reference to what has preceded in mentioning the punishments that befell the mentioned nations. And the news: is the reports, and ﴿the cities﴾ it is possible that it refers to the cities mentioned in the preceding verses specifically, and it is possible that it means the cities in general. That is: these specific news conveyed to you are the consequences of the cities when they disbelieved, so it includes - on this interpretation - the contemporary cities. And His saying: ﴿From it is standing and reaped﴾ means: from it is inhabited and circular. And this is the saying of Ibn Abbas. And on the first interpretation - that it is those specific cities - His saying: ﴿Standing and reaped﴾ means: standing walls and demolished with no trace left of it. And this is the saying of Qatadah and Ibn Jurayj. And the verse as a whole contains a warning and serves as a parable for those present from the people of Mecca and others.