Walaupun mereka menganut agama pagan, dalam kejahilan yang amat sangat, dan dalam kesesatan yang membolehkan Firaun memperbodohkan mereka, mereka tetap bergegas kepada Nabi Musa, berulang kali, memohon agar baginda berdoa kepada Tuhannya kerana perjanjian yang baginda ada dengan-Nya. Mereka merasakan itu satu-satunya jalan untuk wabak itu diangkat. Tetapi golongan yang berkuasa enggan menunaikan janji mereka kerana seluruh kuasa mereka berasaskan dakwaan bahawa Firaun ialah Tuhan kaumnya. Mereka takut akan apa yang akan berlaku jika ketuhanan Tuhan diiktiraf. Itu bermakna seluruh sistem, yang memberikan kedaulatan dan kuasa perundangan kepada Firaun, akan runtuh, memberi laluan kepada sistem yang mengiktiraf kedaulatan hanya milik Tuhan.
Despite their pagan religion, their total ignorance, and their transgression which enabled Pharaoh to take them as fools, they still rushed to the Prophet Moses, time and again, beseeching him to pray to his Lord on account of the covenant he had with Him. They felt that was the only way for the plague to be lifted. But those in power refused to honour their promises because their whole authority was based on their claim that Pharaoh was the Lord of his people. They feared what would have happened if God’s Lordship was to be recognized. That would have meant that the entire system, which assigned sovereignty and legislative authority to Pharaoh, would collapse, giving way to a system which recognized sovereignty as belonging only to God.
Dalam jāhiliyyah masa kini, God mungkin membenarkan serangga perosak mengancam hasil tanaman, tetapi manusia sama sekali tidak kembali kepada God. Apabila para petani mengalami perasaan semula jadi yang timbul dalam diri manusia, walaupun orang kafir, ketika menghadapi kesusahan, iaitu perasaan bahawa God-lah yang menurunkan malapetaka ini, dan apabila mereka kembali kepada God dengan berdoa kepada-Nya supaya mengangkat bala ini, para penyokong 'sains' palsu memberitahu mereka bahawa tindakan itu berakar umbi dalam kepercayara karut dan metafizik. Mereka mengambil sikap yang sangat sinis untuk memaksa mereka kembali kepada keadaan penolakan yang jauh lebih buruk daripada keadaan kaum musyrikin zaman dahulu.
In present-day jāhiliyyah, God may allow pests to threaten harvests, but people do not turn back to God at all. If the farmers experience the natural feeling which occurs to human beings, even unbelievers, in times of hardship, that it is God who sends these plagues, and if they turn to God praying to Him to lift this affliction, the advocates of false `science’ tell them that their action is deeply rooted in superstition and metaphysics. They adopt a very sarcastic attitude in order to turn them back to a state of rejection that is far worse than that of ancient pagans.
Akhirnya, ia berlaku menurut hukum Tuhan untuk menghukum orang-orang kafir setelah mereka diuji dengan kesusahan dan kemewahan.
The end then takes place in accordance with God’s law of punishing unbelievers after having tested them both with affliction and affluence.
Setelah memberi Firaun dan kaumnya setiap peluang, serta menetapkan bagi mereka suatu tempoh yang pasti akan mereka capai, Tuhan membinasakan Firaun dan kumpulannya. Dia juga menunaikan janji-Nya kepada kaum yang tertindas dan yang tetap sabar dalam kesusahan: "Maka Kami membalas dendam kepada mereka dan menenggelamkan mereka di laut, kerana mereka mendustakan tanda-tanda Kami dan lalai daripadanya. Kami mewariskan kepada kaum yang ditindas dan dianggap hina itu bahagian timur dan barat negeri yang telah Kami berkati. Demikianlah janji baik Tuhanmu kepada Bani Israil telah terlaksana, kerana mereka bersabar dalam kesusahan; dan Kami binasakan segala yang telah dibuat oleh Firaun dan kaumnya, serta segala yang mereka bangunkan." (Ayat 136-137)
Having given Pharaoh and his people every chance, and assigned for them a term which they were certain to reach, God destroyed Pharaoh and his clique. He also fulfilled His promise to the oppressed who remained patient in adversity: “So We inflicted Our retribution on them, and caused them to drown in the sea, because they denied Our signs and were heedless of them. We caused the people who were persecuted and deemed utterly low to inherit the eastern and western parts of the land which We had blessed. Thus your Lord’s gracious promise to the Children of Israel was fulfilled, because they were patient in adversity; and We destroyed all that Pharaoh and his people had wrought, and all that they had built.” (Verses 136-137)
Surah ini menyebut secara sangat ringkas tentang tenggelamnya Firaun dan kaumnya. Perincian kisah itu tidak dipaparkan dengan panjang lebar seperti dalam surah-surah lain. Yang ditonjolkan di sini ialah kesan hukuman yang datang dengan cepat setelah orang-orang kafir itu diberi waktu yang lama untuk merenung. Oleh sebab itu, perincian tidak diutamakan. Kecepatan hukuman itulah yang memberi kesan dan menimbulkan rasa gerun. "Maka Kami membalas dendam kepada mereka, lalu Kami tenggelamkan mereka di laut." (Ayat 136) Hanya dengan satu pukulan, mereka semua binasa. Mereka memang sombong, angkuh dan zalim, lalu tiba-tiba mereka tenggelam hingga ke dasar laut. Ini benar-benar balasan yang setimpal, "Kerana mereka mendustakan tanda-tanda Kami dan lalai terhadapnya." (Ayat 136) Di sini jelas kesesuaian antara sikap mereka yang mendustakan tanda-tanda kebesaran Allah, memilih untuk terus lalai daripadanya, dan nasib yang setimpal itu. Kita diberitahu dengan jelas bahawa peristiwa tidak berlaku secara kebetulan. Ia tidak berlaku begitu sahaja secara rambang, sebagaimana yang sering difikirkan oleh orang yang sempit pemikirannya.
The sūrah refers very briefly here to the drowning of Pharaoh and his people. The details are not given here in a relaxed pattern as they are given in other sūrahs. What happens here instead is to give an air of swift punishment after the unbelievers have had a long time to reconsider. Hence, the details are overlooked. The swiftness of the punishment has its effect which fills us with awe. “So We inflicted Our retribution on them, and caused them to drown in the sea.” (Verse 136) Just one strike and they are all destroyed. Proud, arrogant and despotic they certainly were, and suddenly they sink right to the bottom of the sea. It is certainly a fitting recompense, “Because they denied Our signs and were heedless of them.” (Verse 136) The compatibility is made clear between their attitude of denying God’s signs, choosing to remain heedless of them and this fitting destiny. We are clearly told that events do not come as a result of coincidence. They do not just happen haphazardly, as simple people tend to think.
Untuk meningkatkan suasana kepantasan dan ketegasan, surah ini juga menggambarkan gambaran yang bertentangan, iaitu pemberian kuasa kepada golongan yang ditindas. Perkara ini diketengahkan kerana Bani Israil tidak diberi kuasa di Mesir, tempat Firaun dan kaumnya tinggal. Sebaliknya, mereka diberi kuasa ketika mereka berada pada tahap terbaik dalam mengikuti petunjuk ilahi, sebelum mereka menyimpang dan menanggung hukuman berupa kehinaan dan perselerakan. Kerajaan mereka berada di Palestin, beberapa dekad selepas keseluruhan sistem yang memberikan kedaulatan dan kuasa perundangan kepada Firaun itu runtuh, lalu digantikan dengan sistem yang mengiktiraf kedaulatan hanya milik God.
To enhance the atmosphere of swiftness and decisiveness, the sūrah also portrays the opposite picture of giving power to the oppressed. This is brought forward because the Children of Israel were not given power in Egypt, where Pharaoh and his people lived. Instead, they were given power when they were at their best in following divine guidance, before they deviated and incurred the punishment of humiliation and dispersal. Their kingdom was in Palestine, several decades after theentire system, which assigned sovereignty and legislative authority to Pharaoh, would collapse, giving way to a system which recognized sovereignty as belonging only to God.
Dalam jāhiliyyah masa kini, God mungkin membenarkan serangga perosak mengancam hasil tanaman, tetapi manusia sama sekali tidak kembali kepada God. Apabila para petani mengalami perasaan semula jadi yang timbul dalam diri manusia, walaupun orang kafir, ketika menghadapi kesusahan, iaitu perasaan bahawa God-lah yang menurunkan malapetaka ini, dan apabila mereka kembali kepada God dengan berdoa kepada-Nya supaya mengangkat bala ini, para penyokong 'sains' palsu memberitahu mereka bahawa tindakan itu berakar umbi dalam kepercayara karut dan metafizik. Mereka mengambil sikap yang sangat sinis untuk memaksa mereka kembali kepada keadaan penolakan yang jauh lebih buruk daripada keadaan kaum musyrikin zaman dahulu.
In present-day jāhiliyyah, God may allow pests to threaten harvests, but people do not turn back to God at all. If the farmers experience the natural feeling which occurs to human beings, even unbelievers, in times of hardship, that it is God who sends these plagues, and if they turn to God praying to Him to lift this affliction, the advocates of false `science’ tell them that their action is deeply rooted in superstition and metaphysics. They adopt a very sarcastic attitude in order to turn them back to a state of rejection that is far worse than that of ancient pagans.
Akhirnya, ia berlaku menurut hukum Tuhan untuk menghukum orang-orang kafir setelah mereka diuji dengan kesusahan dan kemewahan.
The end then takes place in accordance with God’s law of punishing unbelievers after having tested them both with affliction and affluence.
Setelah memberi Firaun dan kaumnya setiap peluang, serta menetapkan bagi mereka suatu tempoh yang pasti akan mereka capai, Tuhan membinasakan Firaun dan kumpulannya. Dia juga menunaikan janji-Nya kepada kaum yang tertindas dan yang tetap sabar dalam kesusahan: "Maka Kami membalas dendam kepada mereka dan menenggelamkan mereka di laut, kerana mereka mendustakan tanda-tanda Kami dan lalai daripadanya. Kami mewariskan kepada kaum yang ditindas dan dianggap hina itu bahagian timur dan barat negeri yang telah Kami berkati. Demikianlah janji baik Tuhanmu kepada Bani Israil telah terlaksana, kerana mereka bersabar dalam kesusahan; dan Kami binasakan segala yang telah dibuat oleh Firaun dan kaumnya, serta segala yang mereka bangunkan." (Ayat 136-137)
Having given Pharaoh and his people every chance, and assigned for them a term which they were certain to reach, God destroyed Pharaoh and his clique. He also fulfilled His promise to the oppressed who remained patient in adversity: “So We inflicted Our retribution on them, and caused them to drown in the sea, because they denied Our signs and were heedless of them. We caused the people who were persecuted and deemed utterly low to inherit the eastern and western parts of the land which We had blessed. Thus your Lord’s gracious promise to the Children of Israel was fulfilled, because they were patient in adversity; and We destroyed all that Pharaoh and his people had wrought, and all that they had built.” (Verses 136-137)
Surah ini menyebut secara sangat ringkas tentang tenggelamnya Firaun dan kaumnya. Perincian kisah itu tidak dipaparkan dengan panjang lebar seperti dalam surah-surah lain. Yang ditonjolkan di sini ialah kesan hukuman yang datang dengan cepat setelah orang-orang kafir itu diberi waktu yang lama untuk merenung. Oleh sebab itu, perincian tidak diutamakan. Kecepatan hukuman itulah yang memberi kesan dan menimbulkan rasa gerun. "Maka Kami membalas dendam kepada mereka, lalu Kami tenggelamkan mereka di laut." (Ayat 136) Hanya dengan satu pukulan, mereka semua binasa. Mereka memang sombong, angkuh dan zalim, lalu tiba-tiba mereka tenggelam hingga ke dasar laut. Ini benar-benar balasan yang setimpal, "Kerana mereka mendustakan tanda-tanda Kami dan lalai terhadapnya." (Ayat 136) Di sini jelas kesesuaian antara sikap mereka yang mendustakan tanda-tanda kebesaran Allah, memilih untuk terus lalai daripadanya, dan nasib yang setimpal itu. Kita diberitahu dengan jelas bahawa peristiwa tidak berlaku secara kebetulan. Ia tidak berlaku begitu sahaja secara rambang, sebagaimana yang sering difikirkan oleh orang yang sempit pemikirannya.
The sūrah refers very briefly here to the drowning of Pharaoh and his people. The details are not given here in a relaxed pattern as they are given in other sūrahs. What happens here instead is to give an air of swift punishment after the unbelievers have had a long time to reconsider. Hence, the details are overlooked. The swiftness of the punishment has its effect which fills us with awe. “So We inflicted Our retribution on them, and caused them to drown in the sea.” (Verse 136) Just one strike and they are all destroyed. Proud, arrogant and despotic they certainly were, and suddenly they sink right to the bottom of the sea. It is certainly a fitting recompense, “Because they denied Our signs and were heedless of them.” (Verse 136) The compatibility is made clear between their attitude of denying God’s signs, choosing to remain heedless of them and this fitting destiny. We are clearly told that events do not come as a result of coincidence. They do not just happen haphazardly, as simple people tend to think.
Untuk menambah suasana pantas dan tegas, surah ini juga menggambarkan gambaran yang bertentangan, iaitu pemberian kuasa kepada golongan yang ditindas. Gambaran ini dikemukakan kerana Bani Israil tidak diberi kuasa di Mesir, tempat Firaun dan kaumnya tinggal. Sebaliknya, mereka diberi kuasa ketika mereka berada pada tahap terbaik dalam mengikuti petunjuk ilahi, sebelum mereka menyimpang dan menerima hukuman kehinaan serta perserakan. Kerajaan mereka berada di Palestin, beberapa dekad selepas tenggelamnya Firaun, dan lama selepas Nabi Musa ﷺ wafat, malah selepas empat puluh tahun mereka berada di padang pasir yang disebut di tempat lain dalam al-Qur'an. Namun surah ini melangkau kesemua peristiwa tersebut dan beralih dari satu tempoh masa ke tempoh masa yang lain bagi menonjolkan hakikat bahawa mereka ditubuhkan dan diberi kuasa untuk bebas mengurus urusan mereka sendiri. Ini memberikan kontras yang jelas dengan keadaan lemah mereka ketika mereka menanggung penindasan Firaun: "Dan Kami wariskan kepada kaum yang telah ditindas dan dianggap amat hina itu, bahagian-bahagian timur dan barat negeri yang telah Kami berkati. Demikianlah telah sempurna janji baik Tuhanmu kepada Bani Israil, kerana mereka bersabar menghadapi kesusahan; dan Kami musnahkan segala yang telah dibuat oleh Firaun dan kaumnya, serta segala yang telah mereka bina." (Ayat 137)
To enhance the atmosphere of swiftness and decisiveness, the sūrah also portrays the opposite picture of giving power to the oppressed. This is brought forward because the Children of Israel were not given power in Egypt, where Pharaoh and his people lived. Instead, they were given power when they were at their best in following divine guidance, before they deviated and incurred the punishment of humiliation and dispersal. Their kingdom was in Palestine, several decades after the drowning of Pharaoh, and long after the Prophet Moses had passed away, and indeed after their forty years in the wilderness which is mentioned elsewhere in the Qur’ān. But the sūrah glides over all these events and shifts from one period of time to another in order to highlight the fact that they were established and given power to be free to conduct their own affairs. This provides a clear contrast with their state of weakness when they endured Pharaoh’s persecution: “We caused the people who were persecuted and deemed utterly low to inherit the eastern and western parts of the land which We had blessed. Thus your Lord’s gracious promise to the Children of Israel was fulfilled, because they were patient in adversity; and We destroyed all that Pharaoh and his people had wrought, and all that they had built.” (Verse 137)
Terikat oleh batasan masa, kita manusia bercakap tentang urutan waktu kerana kita mencatat peristiwa mengikut kejadiannya dan saat kita mencatat berlakunya peristiwa itu. Oleh sebab itu, kita mengatakan bahawa kuasa yang diberikan kepada mereka yang ditindas datang selepas peristiwa tenggelamnya Firaun. Itulah pemahaman kita sendiri tentang peristiwa-peristiwa. Apakah makna "sebelum" dan "selepas" bagi Tuhan dalam ilmu-Nya yang mutlak, kita tidak dapat memastikannya. Segala yang berlaku nyata kelihatan kepada-Nya dalam penglihatan yang menyeluruh, tanpa sebahagian atau seluruhnya terhijab oleh batasan masa dan tempat.
Restricted by the limitations of time as we are, we, human beings, speak of a time order because we record events in accordance with their occurrence and the moment when we note their happening. For this reason, we say that the power that was given to those who were oppressed came after the event of Pharaoh’s drowning. That is our own understanding of events. What could “before” and “after” signify to God in His absolute knowledge, we cannot tell. All that takes place clearly appears to Him in full vision, with nothing partially or totally screened by limitations of time and place.
Kepada-Nya segala sesuatu diketahui dengan sempurna sepenuhnya, sedangkan ilmu kita tetaplah sangat sedikit.
To Him everything is known absolutely perfectly, while our knowledge remains scanty indeed.
Maka tirai pun turun dengan adegan kehancuran total di satu pihak dan kekuatan baru untuk membina tamadun baru di pihak yang lain. Firaun, si zalim pada zaman dahulu, ditenggelamkan bersama kaumnya. Segala yang telah mereka bina dalam kehidupan dunia ini, dan segala bangunan serta menara yang mereka dirikan di atas tiang-tiang yang besar, dan segala pembinaan, kebun anggur dan kekayaan mereka, semuanya musnah. Semua ini berlaku dalam sekelip mata, dan kesemuanya digambarkan dalam beberapa patah kata sahaja.
Thus the curtain falls with the scene of total destruction on the one side and that of a new power to build a new civilization on the other. Pharaoh, yesterday’s tyrant, is drowned with his people. All that they had built in this life, and all the edifices and towers they raised on great pillars, and all their construction, vineyards and riches lie in ruin. All this takes place in a fraction of a moment, and all is portrayed in a few short words.
Ini adalah satu contoh yang Tuhan berikan kepada sekumpulan kecil orang beriman di Makkah yang menderita penganiayaan oleh orang-orang Arab musyrik. Ia juga memberikan perspektif yang lebih luas kepada setiap kumpulan orang beriman yang menderita penganiayaan di tangan firaun-firaun baharu di dunia ini. Mereka sentiasa boleh melihat penindasan yang mereka alami dalam cahaya yang sama seperti orang-orang beriman itu menderita di tangan Firaun. Mereka tetap teguh dan menunjukkan kesabaran dalam kesusahan, lalu Tuhan menjadikan mereka mewarisi negeri yang diberkati itu untuk melihat bagaimana mereka akan berkelakuan.
This is an example given by God to the small band of believers in Makkah who suffered persecution by the pagan Arabs. It also provides a wider perspective to every group of believers suffering persecution at the hands of the new pharaohs of this world. They can always look at the oppression they suffer in the same light as those believers suffered at Pharaoh’s hands. They remained steadfast and showed patience in adversity, so God caused them to inherit the blessed land to see how they would conduct themselves.