'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: ﴿And when Moses said to his people, 'O my people, remember the favor of Allah upon you when He appointed among you prophets and made you kings and gave you what He had not given anyone of the worlds.'﴾ ﴿O my people, enter the holy land which Allah has decreed for you, and do not turn back on your heels, for then you would turn back as losers.'﴾ ﴿They said, 'O Moses, indeed in it are a people of great strength, and we will never enter it until they leave it. If they leave it, then we will enter.'﴾ The meaning: 'And remind them, O Muhammad, in order to inform them; without their books; so that they may confirm your prophethood; and in that, the favors of Allah upon them may be organized; and their reception of those favors with disbelief and little obedience and repentance.' Ibn Muhaisin read: 'O my people' with a raised tone; and likewise wherever it occurs in the Qur'an; and this has been narrated from Ibn Kathir; and 'the favor of Allah' here is a noun of generality; then he enumerated the details of those favors; and the prophets whom He appointed among them; their matter is well-known from the Children of Israel to the time of Jesus - peace be upon him -; and the prophets are protectors; and saviors from the fire; and honor in this world and the Hereafter; and His saying: ﴿And made you kings﴾; it carries meanings; one of which is to enumerate for them the kings who ruled from the Children of Israel; because kingship is an honor in this world; and a protection from its calamities; and the other meaning is that He means: 'He rescued you from the Egyptians who used to enslave you; so you became free, owning; and not being owned'; so they are kings in this regard; and in this way, Al-Suddi and others interpreted it; and Qatadah said: He only said: ﴿And made you kings﴾; because we used to talk about them as the first to serve anyone from the Children of Adam. Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And this is weak; because the Egyptians used to enslave the Children of Israel; and the apparent matter of the Children of Adam is that some of them used to enslave others since they multiplied; and the nations only differed in the meaning of ownership; and Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Al-As; and Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan; and a group of scholars said: Whoever has a dwelling; and a woman; and a servant; is a king; and it was said: Whoever has a dwelling that no one enters without permission is a king. And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿And He gave you what He had not given anyone of the worlds﴾; Abu Malik and Sa'id ibn Jubair said about it: The address is to the nation of Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him -; and this is weak; and the majority of the interpreters said: The address is from Moses - peace be upon him - to his people; then the interpreters differed: What is it that they were given and no one was given like it? Mujahid said: The manna and quails; and the stone; and the cloud; and others said: The abundance of prophets.

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And on this, regarding the multitude of prophets; the scholars in general; and the generality; and on the saying that what is given is the signs of Musa - peace be upon him -; the scholars are restricted by the time in which they were; because the nation of Muhammad has been given more signs of Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him - than that; the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - was shaded by a cloud before his prophethood; and the stones and animals spoke to him; and the tree approached him; and the trunk of the tree wept; and water gushed forth from between his fingers; and many people were satisfied from a little food due to his blessings; and the moon split for him; and the stick returned as a sword; and the stone that obstructed in the trench returned as fine sand.

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And this statement from Musa is a prelude for their souls; so that it may strengthen; and the matter may take hold of entering the land of the tyrants with strength; and that is by the support of the one whom Allah has honored and raised in status; and "the sacred"; its meaning is: the purified; and Mujahid said: the blessed.

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And the blessing is purification from drought; and hunger and the like; and people differed in specifying it; Ibn Abbas and Mujahid said: It is the mountain; and what is around it; and Qatadah said: It is the Levant; and Ibn Zayd said: It is Ariha; and this was also said by Al-Suddi; and Ibn Abbas as well; and a group said: It is the Ghouta; and Palestine; and some of Jordan; Al-Tabari said: There is no disagreement that it is between the Euphrates and the border of Egypt.

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And the narrations have agreed that Damascus is the capital of the tyrants.

And His saying, the Exalted: "which Allah has written for you"; its meaning is: which Allah has decreed in His decree; and His predestination that you will inherit it; and dwell in it; owning it; but your trial in entering it is by the obligation of fighting those who are in it against you; as a purification and a test; then Musa - peace be upon him - warned them against turning back; and that is the retreat; and it is possible that it is turning away; and returning on the path from which they came; and the loser is the one whose share has decreased.

Then he mentioned - glorified and exalted is He - about the Children of Israel that they were obstinate and turned back. They said: "Indeed, there are a people in it who are tyrants." And the tyrant is "Fa'al"; from "al-Jabr"; as if due to his strength and oppression and violence, he forces people to his will. And the towering palm tree is the high one that cannot be reached by hand. It was reported about the tyrants that they were people of strength. So when Moses sent twelve scouts to investigate the matter of the tyrants and their conditions, they saw that they had strength and violence. They imagined that they had no power against them. So they came to the Children of Israel and broke the covenant by informing them about the condition of the tyrants, as we have previously mentioned in the account of sending the scouts. And none among them fulfilled except for Joshua ibn Nun and Caleb ibn Yufana. Then the Children of Israel hesitated and became cowardly. They said: "Being servants to the Egyptians is easier than fighting these." And many of them were inclined to appoint a man over themselves and return with him to the land of Egypt, turning back on their heels. They forgot that when Allah, the Exalted, supports the weak, He overcomes the strong. They informed Moses - blessings and peace be upon him - that they would not enter the land as long as the tyrants were in it. They requested from him that Allah should remove the tyrants with an army from Him; and then the Children of Israel would enter.