His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And We did not send any messenger except with the tongue of his people, so that he might make clear to them. Then Allah leads astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills, and He is the Almighty, the Wise." "And We certainly sent Moses with Our signs, saying: 'Bring your people out from darkness into light, and remind them of the days of Allah. Indeed, in that are signs for every patient and grateful one.'"

This verse is a refutation and a criticism of those who are astonished by the matter of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. That is, you are not, O Muhammad, an innovation among the messengers. Rather, We sent you to bring people out from darkness into light, in accordance with Our custom with Our messengers, that We send them with the tongues of their nations so that there can be speech with clear expression and effective wording. Then, there will be a distinction among people who are not of the language, being dependent on the clarification from the people of the language, which is for the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. And Allah made the reason for sending the messengers with the tongues of their people the pursuit of clarification. Then His saying, "So He leads astray," means that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, his goal is merely to convey and clarify. It is not in what he was tasked with to guide or lead astray; that is in the hands of Allah, who executes therein His prior decree, and He has in that the might that cannot be opposed, and the wisdom that cannot be questioned, there is no Lord other than Him.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

If a non-Arab were to object by saying: 'How can this messenger clarify the Shari'ah for me when I do not understand him?' It is said to him: 'The people of knowledge of the language will express it for you, and in that is enough for you.' And if he says: 'And how can I understand the miracle and comprehend the miraculousness when I do not understand the language?' It is said to him: 'The proof against you is the acknowledgment of the eloquent people who were thought to be capable of opposition. By their acknowledgment, the proof was established against humanity, just as the proof was established in the miracle of Moses by the acknowledgment of the magicians, and in the miracle of Jesus by the acknowledgment of the physicians.'

And "the tongue" in this verse refers to the language. Abu al-Sammal read: "with the tongue of his people" with the 's' in 'sīn' being silent, without an 'alif,' like 'riš' and 'riyāš.' And we say: 'lisn' and 'lisān' in 'language.' As for the organ, it is not said: 'lisn' with the 's' in 'sīn' being silent.

And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And We certainly sent Moses" - the signs of Allah are the staff, the hand, and the rest of the nine. And His saying: "saying: 'Bring your people out'" means: 'by bringing out,' and it is permissible that "to bring out" is an explanatory particle and has no grammatical role. As for "darkness and light," it is possible that it refers to: from disbelief to faith. This is in accordance with the apparent condition of the Children of Israel, that they were before the sending of Moses, divided in religion, with a branch among the Copts in the worship of Pharaoh, and all of them were upon nothing. This is the view of al-Tabari, and he reported it from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both. And if it is correct that they were upon the religion of Abraham and Israel, then the darkness is humiliation and servitude, and the light is the honor of the religion and the manifestation of the command of Allah, blessed and exalted is He.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

The apparent meaning of this verse and most of the verses regarding the mission of Musa, blessings and peace be upon him, is that it was specifically directed to the Children of Israel in terms of the law for them, and their commands and prohibitions regarding the branches of religion. It was also directed to Fir'aun and the nobles of his people so that they would look and take heed of the signs of Musa, and acknowledge Allah, the Most High, and believe in Him and in Musa and in his miracle, and confirm his prophethood, and send with him the Children of Israel.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This cannot be established by them except with faith in him.

As for his mission to them in terms of following him and entering into his law, this is not the apparent meaning of the story, nor has the unseen revealed that. Do you not see that Musa, blessings and peace be upon him, left them with the Children of Israel? If he had not been followed, would he not have proceeded with his community? And do you not see that he did not call the Egyptians as a whole, but rather he was conversing with the leaders? Also, his call to them is not on par with the call of Nuh, Hud, and Salih, blessings be upon them, to their nations in terms of their disbelief and sins, but rather in guidance and purification and sending the Children of Israel. What supports this is that if his call had been to Fir'aun and the Egyptians in the same manner as his call to the Children of Israel, why was he requesting by the command of Allah that he send with him the Children of Israel? Rather, he was requesting that everyone believe and adhere to his law and that the matter be established. Furthermore, if he had been sent to the Egyptians, Allah would have returned him to them when Fir'aun and his soldiers drowned, but they were not his community, so He did not want to return him to them.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Those who argue that Musa, blessings and peace be upon him, was sent to all of them cite His saying, the Most High, in another verse: "To Fir'aun and his nobles" [Al-A'raf: 103], and "To Fir'aun and his people" [An-Naml: 12]. And Allah knows best.

And His saying: "And remind them of the days of Allah" is a command from Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, to Musa to admonish his people by warning them of the punishments of Allah that befell the disbelieving nations before them, and by recounting His blessings upon them in the earlier instances, and upon others from the people of His obedience. This is so that they may follow the path of those upon whom He has bestowed His grace, and flee from the way of those upon whom calamities have befallen. He expressed blessings and calamities by days, as they occur in days. In this expression is the glorification of these events being mentioned. From this meaning is their saying: a difficult day, a gloomy day, a cheerful day. The reality is the description of what occurred in it of hardship or joy. Al-Tabari narrated from a group that they said: The days of Allah are His blessings. And from another group that they said: The days of Allah are His punishments.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The term "days" encompasses both meanings, as the reminder applies in both ways.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "For every patient and grateful one" means: for every believer who looks to himself. He took from the attributes of the believer two qualities that encompass most of the virtues and include the best of actions.