His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "O Children of Israel, remember My favor which I bestowed upon you and that I preferred you over the worlds." "And fear a Day when no soul will suffice for another soul at all, nor will intercession be accepted from it, nor will compensation be taken from it, nor will they be aided." "And when We saved you from the people of Pharaoh, who were inflicting upon you a terrible punishment, slaughtering your sons and keeping your women alive. And in that was a great trial from your Lord."

This call has been repeated, and the reminder of the favor. The benefit of this is that the first address can be valid for the believers, and it can also be valid for the disbelievers among them. This repetition is indeed for the disbelievers, as indicated by what follows. Also, it strengthens the emphasis on the reminder of Allah's favors and the goodness of His address to them with His saying: "I preferred you over the worlds," because the preference of their forefathers is a preference for them. The speech has a broad meaning. Qatadah, Ibn Zayd, Ibn Jurayj, and others said: The meaning is for the world of their time, in which prophethood was repeatedly present and kingship, because Allah, exalted is He, says to the nation of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him: "You are the best nation ever brought forth for mankind."

And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And fear a Day" is constructed with "a Day" being in the accusative case due to "fear" in a broad and general sense: "the punishment of a Day" or "the terror of a Day," then that was omitted, and the Day took its place. It is valid that its being in the accusative is due to the circumstance, not for the purpose of piety, because the Day of Resurrection is not a Day of action. But its meaning is: "Come fearing on a Day." And "no soul will suffice" means it will not avail. Al-Suddi said: Its meaning is it will not fulfill, and this is supported by his saying "at all." It was said: The meaning is it will not compensate, and it is said that jaza and ajza have the same meaning.

Some have distinguished between them, saying: jaza means to fulfill and compensate. And ajza means to avail and suffice. Abu al-Sammal read "tujzi'u" with a damm on the ta and a hamzah. In the speech, there is omission. The Basri scholars said: The estimation is: "no soul will suffice in it," then "in it" was omitted. Others said: A connected pronoun was omitted from "tujzi," its estimation being "no soul will suffice for it," although it is inappropriate to omit this pronoun in the news, and it is only good in the relative clause. Some of the Basri scholars said: The estimation is: "no soul will suffice in it," so the preposition was omitted and the pronoun was connected, then the pronoun was gradually omitted.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And no intercession will be accepted from it" Ibn Kathir and Abu Amr read with a ta, while the others read with a ya from below, regarding the meaning, since the femininity of intercession is not real. Intercession is derived from shaf'a, and they are two, because the intercessor and the one for whom intercession is made are both shaf'a, and likewise the shafi' in what has not been divided.

The reason for this verse is that the Children of Israel said: We are the children of Allah and the children of His prophets, and our fathers will intercede for us. So Allah, exalted is He, informed them about the Day of Resurrection that no intercession will be accepted therein, "no soul will suffice for another soul at all." And this is indeed for the disbelievers due to consensus, and the hadith about intercession for the believers has been transmitted widely.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And no compensation will be taken from it" Abu al-Aliyyah said: The compensation is the ransom.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The justice of a thing is that which equals it in value and worth, even if it is not of its kind. And justice, with a broken 'ayn, is that which equals a thing of its kind and in its substance. Al-Tabari narrated that among the Arabs, some break the 'ayn from the meaning of [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN:fidyah]. As for one of the just, it is with the broken 'ayn and nothing else.

And the pronoun in His saying: "And nor they," refers back to the disbelievers whom the verse necessitated. It is possible that it returns to the two souls previously mentioned, because two is a plural, or because the soul refers to the genus, which is plural.

And this verse has limited the meanings that the children of Adam are accustomed to in this world. For indeed, the reality in hardship with an Adamite cannot be escaped except by intercession for him, or being supported, or being ransomed.

And His saying, the Most High: "And when We saved you from the people of Pharaoh" means We rescued you. "And the people" originally means the family, the 'h' was turned into an 'a' as was done with water. Therefore, it was returned by the diminutive to the original, and it is said: 'uhayl' and 'muwayh'. And it has been said regarding "the people": that it is a name not of the family, its origin is 'awwal', and its diminutive is 'uwail'. And the action is attributed to "the people of Pharaoh" because they were indeed doing it by his command and authority, as they were compelled to do so by themselves. Al-Tabari, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This implies that whoever is commanded by a tyrant to kill someone and the commanded kills him, then he is the one held accountable for it.

And the family of a man is his relatives, his followers, and his supporters. From this is the saying of Arakah al-Thaqafi:

So do not weep for a dead one after a dead one, for Ali and Abbas and the family of Abu Bakr

Meaning the believers who buried the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him.

And the most common use of "the family" is to be added to names, not to places and lands. It may be said: the family of Mecca, and the family of Medina. And "Pharaoh" is a name for everyone who ruled among the giants of Egypt. It is said that the Pharaoh of Moses was named Mus'ab ibn al-Rayan, and Ibn Ishaq said his name was al-Walid ibn Mus'ab. It has been narrated that he was from the people of Istakhar, and he returned to Egypt, thus he attained kingship there. The origin of the presence of the Children of Israel in Egypt was the settlement of Israel there during the time of his son Joseph, peace be upon them.

"They were making you suffer" means they were taking you with it, and obliging you to it. From this is the negotiation with goods. And "they were making you suffer" is in the nominative case as a new sentence. And the phrase is in the accusative case as a state, meaning: they were making you suffer the worst of punishment. It is permissible that the state is not specified in it, and it may be a description of a past state. And the worst of punishment is the most severe and hardest. Al-Suddi said: They were forcing them into filthy works, slaughtering the boys, and keeping the women alive. Others said: They forced them into works: agriculture, farming, construction, and others, and his people were a mighty army.

And the majority read: "They were slaughtering" with a heavy 'b' for emphasis, while Ibn Muhaisin read: "They were slaughtering" with a lightening. The first is more likely, as the slaughtering was repeated.

And Pharaoh, as it has been narrated, saw in his dream a fire that came out from the House of Al-Maqdis and burned the houses of Egypt. His dream was interpreted for him: that a newborn from the Children of Israel would grow up and destroy Pharaoh's kingdom by his hands. Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Abbas, and others said: The soothsayers and astrologers told Pharaoh: A time has come for a newborn from the Children of Israel who will destroy your kingdom. Ibn Abbas also said: Pharaoh and his people discussed Allah's promise to Ibrahim that He would make prophets and kings from his descendants. At that time, he ordered the slaughter of the males among the newborns of the Children of Israel, and he assigned a man to each ten women to guard those who were pregnant. It was said that he assigned this task to the midwives.

A group said: The meaning of "They will slaughter your sons": they will slaughter the men, and they call them sons because they were like that. This speaker supported his statement with Allah's saying: "Your women."

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The correct interpretation is that the sons are the male children, and the women are the female children. He referred to them by the name of women in the end, and to remind them by the name that was in their time, they use and practice. The very nature of modesty is not a punishment, but the punishment occurred because of it, and "They will slaughter" is a substitute for "They will oppress."

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "And in that for you" is a reference to the entirety of the matter, as it is news, so it is like a present singular. And "trial" means: testing and examination, and the trial can be in good and evil. Some said: The reference in "that for you" is to salvation, so the trial in this case is in good and evil, meaning: And in your salvation is a blessing from Allah upon you. The majority of people said: The reference is to the slaughter and the like, and the trial here is in evil, and the meaning is: And in the slaughter is something disliked and a test.

Al-Tabari and others narrated regarding their salvation: That Moses, peace be upon him, was revealed to leave Egypt with the Children of Israel. Moses commanded them to borrow jewelry and goods from the Egyptians, and Allah made that permissible for the Children of Israel. So Moses set out with them from the beginning of the night. He informed Pharaoh and said: No one should follow them until the roosters crow. That night, no rooster in Egypt crowed until morning. Allah caused many of the children of the Egyptians to die that night, so they were busy with burial. They emerged in pursuit at dawn. Moses went towards the sea until he reached it. The number of the Children of Israel was over six hundred thousand, while the number of Pharaoh was one million and two hundred thousand. Other accounts have been narrated, which I have summarized due to their lack of authenticity. When Pharaoh caught up with Moses, the Children of Israel thought they would not be saved. Joshua ibn Nun said to Moses: Where were you commanded? He said: Like this, and pointed to the sea. Joshua rode his horse into it until he reached the depth, then he returned and said to Moses: Where were you commanded? By Allah, you did not lie, nor did you lie. He pointed to the sea, and Allah, exalted and glorified is He, revealed to him: "Strike the sea with your staff" [Ash-Shu'ara: 63]. And He revealed to the sea to part for Moses when he struck it. The sea was agitated that night. When morning came, Moses struck the sea, calling it Abu Khalid, and it parted. This occurred on the Day of Ashura.