His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "They said, 'That is indeed a losing return.'" "It is but a single blast." "And then they are on the earth, alive." "Has the story of Moses come to you?" "When his Lord called him in the sacred valley of Tuwa." "Go to Pharaoh, indeed he has transgressed." "And say, 'Will you purify yourself?'" "And I will guide you to your Lord, so you may fear Him." "Then he showed him the greatest sign." "But he denied and disobeyed." "Then he turned away, striving." "So he gathered and called out." "And said, 'I am your most exalted Lord.'"

Allah, the Exalted, mentioned their saying: "That is indeed a losing return," and that is because they, in their denial of resurrection and their rejection of it, said: 'If this were true, our return would be a losing return.' And that is for them, as it is the Fire. Al-Hasan said: "Losing" means "false," meaning it is not sufficient. It has been narrated that some of the leaders of Quraysh said that.

Then Allah, the Exalted, informed about the Day of Resurrection and said: "It is but a single blast," meaning a blowing in the trumpet. Then the people will be resurrected and become alive on the surface of the earth. In the reading of Abdullah: "It is but a single call." And "the earth" means the surface of the earth, and from it is the saying of Umayyah ibn Abi al-Salt:

And in it is the flesh of the earth and a sea, and what they have spoken of it is established for them.

And Wahb ibn Munabbih said: The earth is a mountain in Sham, which Allah, the Exalted, extends for the gathering of people on the Day of Resurrection as He wills. Abu al-Aliyah and Sufyan said: The earth is the land of Makkah. Al-Zuhri said: "The earth" is the entire earth.

Then the Exalted One directed His Prophet Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, towards the gathering of souls to receive the story, and He said: "Has the story of Moses come to you?" The sacred valley is a valley in Sham. Munthir ibn Sa'id said: It is between Medina and Egypt. Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan, Al-Amash, Ibn Ishaq, and Qun'ab read "Tuwa" with a kasrah on the ta and with tanween. It was narrated from Asim, and the majority read: "Tuwa" with a dammah on the ta. Some of the reciters read "Tuwa" and Ibn Kathir, Abu Amr, Nafi, Al-Hasan, and a group left it. The explanation of the term has already been mentioned in Surah Taha.

And His saying, the Exalted, "Go" is an explanation of the call with which He called him. It is possible that the meaning is: He said to him, 'Go.' And in these words is a good invitation, as He commanded him to say to him: "Will you purify yourself?" And this is the response of every rational person: 'Yes, I want to purify myself.' And purification is the cleansing from deficiencies and the embracing of virtues. Some of them interpreted "purify yourself" as "submit," and some interpreted it as saying "There is no god but Allah." And this is a specification, and what we mentioned encompasses all of this. Ibn Kathir, Nafi, and Abu Amr read - with a difference from him - "purify yourself" with a shaddah on the zay, while the others read: "purify yourself" with a light zay.

Then Allah, the Exalted, commanded Moses, peace be upon him, to explain to him the purification to which He called him by saying: "And I will guide you to your Lord, so you may fear Him." Knowledge is a follower of guidance, and fear is a follower of knowledge. "Indeed, it is only those who have knowledge among His servants who fear Allah." [Fatir: 28]

'And the greatest sign' is the staff and the hand. This was said by Mujahid and others. They are the staff of Musa, peace be upon him, for the challenge. The opposition occurred in the singular, and the team of falsehood was defeated in it. Some of the interpreters said: 'He turned away, striving' is truly the case. He got up from his place, turning away, fleeing with himself from sitting with Musa, peace be upon him. The majority said: 'He turned away' is a metaphor for his turning away from faith, and 'striving' means he is making an effort against the matter of Musa, peace be upon him, and opposing his law. And His saying, exalted is He: 'So he gathered' means he gathered the people of his kingdom. Then he called them with the saying: 'I am your Lord, the Most High.' It has been narrated from Ibn Abbas that he said: the meaning is: he called and gathered. And His saying: 'I am your Lord, the Most High' is an end in the exaggeration, and something similar remains among the kings of Egypt and their followers.