His saying, exalted is He: "So the heaven and the earth did not weep for them, nor were they given respite." "And We certainly saved the Children of Israel from the humiliating punishment." "From Pharaoh. Indeed, he was high among the transgressors." "And We certainly chose them with knowledge over the worlds." "And We gave them from the signs that in it is a clear trial." "Indeed, these say, 'There is nothing but our first death, and we will not be resurrected.'" "So bring our forefathers if you should be among the truthful." (p-578) This verse negates that the heaven and the earth wept for the people of Pharaoh. Thus, the wording implies that the heaven and the earth have a weeping. The interpreters differed in the meaning of that. Ali ibn Abi Talib, Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, and Ibn Jubayr, may Allah be pleased with them, said: When a believing man dies, the earth weeps for him from the place of his worship for forty mornings, and the heaven weeps for him from the place of his deeds ascending. They said: So there was no one among the people of Pharaoh who had such a state. This is the meaning of the verse. Al-Suddi and Ata said: The weeping of the heaven is the redness of its edges. They said: The heaven turned red on the day Hussein ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with them, was killed, and that was a weeping for him. This is the meaning of the verse. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The good meaning in the verse is that it is a magnificent and eloquent metaphor that includes belittling their matter, and that nothing changed from their destruction. This is similar to His saying, exalted is He: "And if their plotting were to remove the mountains." [Ibrahim: 46] according to the reading of one who reads: "to remove" with a kasra on the lam and a nasb of the verb, making "if" a negation. This meaning is similar to the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "Two goats do not butt heads in it," for it includes belittling. However, these words are according to what was said about it, which is the killing of the disbelieving woman who used to harm the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. The greatness of the story of Pharaoh and his people comes according to it, the beauty of the description and the splendor of the expression in His saying, exalted is He: "So the heaven and the earth did not weep for them." It is similar to this that the saying of Jarir is reversed: When the news of Al-Zubair came, the walls of the city humbled themselves, and the mountains were humbled. (p-579) It is said in belittling: "So-and-so died, and the mountains did not tremble." And similar to this, in the hadith about the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: "No believer dies in a foreign land where his mourners are absent except that the heaven and the earth weep for him," then he recited this verse. And he said: "Indeed, they do not weep for a disbeliever." Among the exaltation by the weeping of the great creatures is the saying of Yazid ibn Mu'farraq: The wind weeps for its sorrow, and the lightning flashes in the clouds. And the saying of Al-Farazdaq: The sun rises, not overcast, and the stars of the night and the moon weep for you. (p-580) And "given respite" means: delayed and granted time.

Then He, the Exalted, mentioned His favor upon the Children of Israel in saving them from Pharaoh and his people. The humiliating punishment is the slaughter of the children and the forced labor in professions such as building and digging, and in the reading of Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him: "from the humiliating punishment" with the definite article 'the' dropped from 'the punishment.' And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿from Pharaoh﴾ is an alternative to His saying, the Exalted: ﴿from the punishment﴾. And 'from' with a kasra on the meem is the reading of the majority, and it was narrated by Qatadah that Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, used to read it as "man" with a fatha on the meem, "Pharaoh" with the noon raised.

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿upon knowledge﴾ means: upon something that was previously known to us about them and established in our knowledge that it will be executed. And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿upon the worlds﴾ means: upon all people. This is based on the previous interpretation regarding knowledge. The meaning is: We have chosen them for this salvation and these blessings based on prior knowledge we have of them, and we have specified them with that over the worlds. It is possible that His saying, the Exalted: ﴿upon knowledge﴾ could mean: upon knowledge of their virtues, and the meaning is: We have chosen them for prophethood and messages. Thus, His saying, the Exalted: ﴿upon the worlds﴾ - in this interpretation - means: upon the world of their time. This is evidenced by the virtue of the Ummah of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, over them and upon them, and that the Ummah of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, is the best Ummah brought forth for the people. And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿and We gave them from the signs﴾ is a comprehensive term for the miracles of Moses, peace be upon him, and for the lessons that appeared among the people of Pharaoh from the locusts, lice, frogs, and others, and for what He bestowed upon the Children of Israel from the shading of the clouds, and the manna and quails, and others. For the term 'signs' encompasses all of this, and 'the trial' - in this context - means: the test and examination. This is as He, the Exalted, said: ﴿and We will test you with evil and good as a trial﴾ [Al-Anbiya: 35], and ﴿clear﴾ here means: evident.

Then He, the Exalted, mentioned Quraysh and narrated about them - in the context of their denial of His words when they denied what is rationally permissible - so He, the Exalted, said: ﴿Indeed, these say﴾ ﴿There is nothing but our first death﴾ meaning: our final matter and the end of our existence is only at our death, ﴿and we are not to be resurrected﴾ meaning: we are not to be raised. It is said: Allah resurrected the dead, and he was resurrected. And Quraysh's saying: ﴿Then bring back our forefathers﴾ is addressed to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, except that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, was supported in his words and actions by Allah, the Exalted, and through an angel who addressed him as one addresses a group, and they intended him and his Lord, the Exalted, and His angels. The disbelievers in this verse demanded that He bring back some of their forefathers - and they mentioned Qusayy - so that they could ask them about what they saw in their afterlife. And the response to them was not elaborated upon in this verse to clarify it, and its affirmation is in other verses of the Book of Allah, the Exalted. For Allah, the Exalted, has decisively affirmed resurrection from the graves at a specified time that no one will exceed. And examples from the dead earth and the state of plants have clarified the matter of resurrection from the graves.