"Ţā. Sīn. Mīm. 这些是明白的经典的经文。"(第1-2节)这个苏拉以这三个独立的字母开始,是要说明《古兰经》正是由像这样的字母构成的。它的经文品质极为卓越,内涵远比人们通常所作的文字更为精深:"这些是明白的经典的经文。"(第2节)因此,这部经典并非普通人的作品,因为没有人能够创作出与之相似的作品。它是真主向祂的仆人传达的启示,体现了祂无与伦比的能力,以及存在于祂所创造的万物之中、无论大小的真理:"我要把穆萨和法老的故事中的一部分,按照真理为信道的民众讲述给你听。"(第3节)因此,这部经典是针对信士们的。它旨在塑造和培养他们,为他们指明道路,并向他们展示应当遵行的准则。本苏拉所讲述的故事,是为那些信士而讲,因为只有他们才能从中受益。
“Ţā. Sīn. Mīm. These are verses of the Book that makes things clear.” (Verses 1-2) The sūrah begins with these three separate letters to make clear that it is from letters like these that the Qur’ān is composed. Its verses are of a greatly superior quality and of much finer import than what is normally composed by people: “These are verses of the Book that makes things clear.” (Verse 2) Thus, this book is not the work of ordinary people; for no one can produce its like. It is revelation that God relates to His servants, reflecting His incomparable ability, and the truth that is at the heart of everything God makes, large or small: “We shall relate to you some of the story of Moses and Pharaoh, setting forth the truth for people who will believe.” (Verse 3) It is then to the believers that this book is addressed. It is meant to remould and cultivate them, pointing out their way for them and showing them the code to implement. The stories related in this sūrah are meant for those believers, because they are the ones who will benefit from them.
这种直接来自真主的联系,给人一种对信士格外眷顾的印象,使他们感到自己备受尊重、意义重大。当真主至高无上亲自将祂的经典与祂的使者联系在一起,是为了他们自身的缘故,他们又怎会不明白这一点呢?作为信士,他们具备了接受如此崇高眷顾所必需的品质,正如经文所说:"给那些确信的民众。"(第3节)
This direct relation from God imparts an air of the special care taken of believers, making them feel worthy and important. How could they fail to realize this, when it is God Almighty that relates His book to His Messenger for their own sake. Being believers, they have the necessary qualities to receive such sublime care: “for people who will believe.” (Verse 3)
该章随后从穆萨（Moses）诞生的那一刻起，叙述了穆萨与法老的故事。虽然穆萨的故事在许多其他章中都有提及，但从未在任何别处从最初讲起。正是这个开端，描述了穆萨出生时的艰难处境：他孤立无援，生于一个长期受法老迫害和羞辱的民族之中，构成了本章的主要主题。它展示了神圣旨意在没有任何明显人为媒介的情况下公开运行，直接打击暴政与不义的根源。由此，它给受压迫者以支持与力量。这正是麦加那个弱小的穆斯林少数群体所需要充分理解的道理。同样重要的是，那强大的多数群体也必须充分认识到这一点。
The sūrah then relates the story of Moses and Pharaoh, right from its very first moment, when Moses was born. Although Moses’ story is related in many other sūrahs, it is never recounted from the very beginning anywhere else. It is this very beginning, describing the difficult circumstances in which Moses was born, powerless among a people who had long been persecuted and humiliated by Pharaoh, that serves as the main theme of the sūrah. It shows the hand of the divine will working openly, without any apparent human medium, striking directly at the root of tyranny and injustice. It thus gives support and empowerment to the oppressed. This is a concept that the small and weak Muslim minority in Makkah needed to fully understand. It was equally important that the powerful majority be made well aware of it too.
在大多数情况下,穆萨的故事在其他章中屡次出现,通常从他领受使命讲起,叙述坚定的信仰如何抵挡暴虐的权势,最终信仰获胜、暴政败亡。但本章要传达的并非这一信息。它的主旨是:邪恶达到顶点时,便已携带了自身毁灭的种子;侵略肆虐之时,无需人们去抗争和击退。真主必将介入,支持那些受其迫害而无力反抗的弱者。随后,祂将拯救他们中的善良者,培育他们,使他们成为人类的领导者和大地的继承者。
In the majority of cases, Moses’ story, frequently related in other sūrahs, begins with him receiving his message, giving an account of how strong faith stands up to tyrannical power, and eventually leading to the triumph of faith and the defeat of tyranny. But this is not the message this sūrah intends to give. Its message is that when evil is at its zenith, it carries the cause of its own destruction, and when aggression is let loose, it does not need people to fight and repel it. God will intervene to support the powerless who are made to suffer at its hands. He will then save the good elements among them, educating them and making them leaders of mankind and the inheritors of the earth.
因此,讲述这个故事的目的正在于此,所以本章以突出这一方面的段落开篇。《古兰经》中讲述的每一个故事,都是以最能服务于其所在章节目的的方式来叙述的。它是教育世人、强调理念、价值与意义的一种手段。因此,故事被安排得与其所处的上下文自然契合。
Such is the purpose of relating this story in this sūrah. Hence, it begins with the episode that highlights this aspect. Every story related in the Qur’ān is told in the way that best serves the purpose of the sūrah in which it occurs. It is a means to educate people and to emphasize concepts, values and meanings. Hence, it is made to fit smoothly with the context in which it occurs.
这里所讲述的穆萨的故事片段，包括他在极其艰难的处境中出生，以及真主如何照顾他；他的青年时期，以及真主赐予他的智慧和知识。还涵盖了他所经历的事件：他如何杀死一名埃及人，得知有人密谋杀害他后逃离埃及，他在麦德彦之地的婚姻以及他在那里度过的时光。随后讲述他受到真主的召唤并被赋予使命；他与法老及其民众的对峙，以及他们如何拒绝穆萨和哈伦，最后简略提及法老的最终结局。
The episodes of Moses’ story that are told here are those of his birth in exceptionally difficult circumstances and how God took care of him; his youth and the wisdom and knowledge God imparted to him. It also covers the events that occurred; how he killed an Egyptian, fled from Egypt after learning about a plot to kill him, his marriage in the land of Madyan and the time he spent there. It then moves on to his being called by God and given his message; the confrontation with Pharaoh and his people and how they rejected both Moses and Aaron, and finally a quick reference to Pharaoh’s ultimate end.
这两段故事只在本章中提及，因其直接向残暴的专制统治发出公开挑战，故而被详加叙述。我们清楚地看到，法老尽管百般防范、千方谋划，却完全无法逃避真主的旨意："但我欲施恩于那些在地上被欺压的人，使他们成为领袖，使他们成为继承者；并使他们在地上获得权势，且使法老、哈曼及其军队从这些人身上遭遇他们所极力防范的事。"（第6节）
The first two episodes, which are mentioned only in this sūrah, are treated at length because they bring to the fore the open challenge to aggressive tyranny. We clearly see how Pharaoh is totally unable to evade God’s will despite all his precautions and manoeuvres: “But it was Our will... to let Pharaoh, Hāmān and their hosts experience at their [i.e. the oppressed] hands the very things against which they were taking precautions.” (Verse 6)
遵循《古兰经》的叙述方法，这个故事实际上是通过一系列场景来呈现的，场景之间留有一些空白，留给我们去想象。事实上，读者并不会因为场景之间省略的事件和画面而有所缺失。相反，我们恰恰乐于让自己的想象力积极参与其中。第一集由五个场景讲述，第二集占九个场景，第三集则有四个场景。每两集之间有一段或宽或窄的间隔，场景之间亦是如此，让帷幕得以落下，又再次升起。
Following the Qur’ānic method, the story is actually shown in a series of scenes with some gaps in between that are left to our imagination. In fact the reader does not miss anything of the events and images that are left out between scenes. On the contrary, we actually enjoy the active participation of our imagination. The first episode is recounted in five scenes, while the second takes up nine scenes, followed by four scenes in the third episode. In between each two episodes there is a wide or narrow gap, as is between scenes, allowing the curtains to drop and be lifted again.
在叙述这些事件之前，这一章先为故事铺设背景，由此点明整个故事的总体目的：
Before relating the events of the story, however, the sūrah sets the scene against which it all unfolds, thus telling us the story’s overall purpose:
法老在大地上自高自大，把其民众分成不同的等级。他迫害其中的一群人，宰杀他们的儿子，却留下他们的妇女。他确实是一个制造腐败的人。然而，我们的意愿是要向那些在大地上受压迫的人施恩，使他们成为领袖，使他们成为继承者，并使他们稳固地立足于大地，并让法老、哈曼及其军队遭遇他们曾经提防的事情，而这些事情正是由那些人所造成的。（第4-6节）
Pharaoh exalted himself in the land and divided its people into castes. One group of them he persecuted, slaying their sons and keeping their women alive. For certain, he was one who sows corruption. But it was Our will to bestow Our favour upon those who were oppressed in the land and to make them leaders, and to make them the ones to inherit [the land], and to establish them securely on earth, and to let Pharaoh, Hāmān and their hosts experience at their hands the very things against which they were taking precautions. (Verses 4-6)
由此，舞台已经搭好，掌控事件的那只手也已显现，同时所要达成的目标也一并呈现。在故事一开始就点明这只手属于谁，是有意为之的，也契合整个故事从头至尾的走向。
Thus the stage is set, and the hand that controls events is shown, together with the goal to be achieved. Declaring to whom this hand belongs right at the outset is intentional and fits the drift of the story from beginning to end.
我们并不确定这些事件发生时在位的法老究竟是谁。在《古兰经》的故事中，确定具体的历史时期并不重要，因为这些时期对故事的道德训诫并无贡献。我们只需知道，这一切发生在先知约瑟夫的时代之后很久。正是约瑟夫把他的父亲雅各布，也就是以色列，以及他的兄弟们带到了埃及，他们在那里生活了好几代，从而发展成为一个庞大的群体。
We do not know for certain the identity of the Pharaoh in whose reign these events took place. Defining specific historical periods is not important in Qur’ānic stories, as these do not contribute anything to their morals. It is sufficient that we know that it all took place long after the Prophet Joseph’s time. It was Joseph who brought his father, Jacob or Israel, and his brothers to Egypt where they lived for several generations and, thus, becoming a large community.
当这个故事中的法老掌权时,他把过多的个人权力归于自己,并将埃及人民划分为不同的等级。
When the Pharaoh of this story took power, he attributed to himself too much personal power and divided the people of Egypt into castes.
在他统治期间，以色列的后裔是受压迫最严重的群体，因为他们所信奉的宗教与他及其本族人所信奉的不同。他们相信其始祖易卜拉欣以及易卜拉欣的孙子叶尔孤卜所传播的信仰。尽管他们的信仰中已渗入种种歪曲，他们仍然保持着对独一真神的基本信念，并否认法老自称为神的说法。事实上，他们完全拒绝法老式的多神崇拜。
The Children of Israel were the most oppressed group during his reign, because they followed a religion different from the one he and his own people followed. They believed in the faith preached by their first grandfather, Abraham, and his grandson, Jacob. Despite all the distortions that had crept into their faith, they still retained their basic belief in the One God and denied Pharaoh’s claims to be a deity. Indeed, they rejected Pharaohnic polytheism altogether.
暴君感到这个群体的存在对他的王位构成威胁，尤其是因为他们可能与敌对的邻国联合。然而，由于他们人数众多，多达数十万，他无法将他们驱逐出境。于是，他想出了一个邪恶的计划，以防范他预料中来自这个不承认他为神明的群体的危险。他的计划是让他们去做最艰苦、最危险的工作，从而确保他们受尽苦难。除此之外，他还在男婴出生时将其杀害，却留下女婴的性命。这样一来，他们的女性数量将远远多于男性，从而削弱他们的力量。历史记载也表明，他指派了接生婆，让她们向他报告以色列人中出生了哪些孩子，借此实施对所有男婴的屠杀，对他们幼小的年纪毫无怜悯之心。摩西正是在这样的境况中降生的："法老在地上妄自尊大，使其民分为若干派系，其中一派他加以迫害，屠杀他们的儿子，留下他们的女子。他确实是一个散布败坏的人。"（第4节）
The tyrant felt that the presence of this community represented a threat to his throne, not least because they could side with hostile neighbours. He could not, however, expel them because of their large numbers, amounting to hundreds of thousands. He, therefore, hit on a devilish plan to forestall the danger he anticipated from such a community that did not recognize him as their deity. His plan involved putting them to do the hardest and most dangerous of jobs, thereby ensuring their suffering. On top of all this, he slew their male children at birth, but spared their female offspring. This ensured that their women would be much larger in number than their men, and so weaken them. Historical reports also suggest that he appointed birth attendants to inform him of what children were born to the Israelites, in this way enabling the slaying of all the males, showing no compassion for their tender age. It was in such circumstances that Moses was born: “Pharaoh exalted himself in the land and divided its people into castes. One group of them he persecuted, slaying their sons and keeping their women alive. For certain, he was one who sows corruption.” (Verse 4)
然而，真主所意欲和所希望的，与这个暴君所想要的截然不同。专制的统治者常常被自身的权力和手中所掌握的手段所迷惑。他们忘记了真主、祂的大能和祂的谋划，以为无论是为自己还是为敌人，都可以随心所欲地作出选择。他们相信，没有任何力量能够阻止他们实现自己的意图。
God, however, wanted and willed something totally different from what this tyrant wanted. Despotic rulers are often deceived by their own power and the means available to them. They forget God, His power and His planning, thinking that they choose what they wish both for themselves and for their enemies. They believe that nothing can stop them from fulfilling their own agenda.
真主在此宣告祂的旨意，并向法老、哈曼10及其军队提出挑战，告诉他们，无论他们采取何种防范措施，都将毫无用处：
God declares here what He wishes and challenges Pharaoh, Hāmān10 and their hosts, telling them that whatever precautions they might take will be of no avail:
“但我意欲施恩于那些在大地上受压迫的人，使他们成为领袖，使他们成为继承者，使他们在大地上稳固地立足，并让法老、哈曼及其军队亲身经历他们一直所防备的事情。”（第5-6节）因此，真主意欲将祂的恩惠赐予受压迫者，这些恩惠并未具体说明，并且要改变他们的处境，使他们在长期受他人统治之后成为领袖。祂还想在他们达到一定的信仰与正直程度、足以配得这片圣地之后，将圣地赐给他们。由此可见，真主的旨意在于赋予以色列的后裔权力与安全，同时挫败法老的图谋。
“But it was Our will to bestow Our favour upon those who were oppressed in the land and to make them leaders, and to make them the ones to inherit [the land], and to establish them securely on earth, and to let Pharaoh, Hāmān and their hosts experience at their hands the very things against which they were taking precautions.” (Verses 5-6) Thus God wants to grant the oppressed some of His gifts, which He does not specify, and to change their situation making them leaders after they have been subjected to other people’s leadership. He also wanted to give them the Holy Land once they had attained a degree of faith and righteousness which made them worthy of it. God’s intent, then was to give the Children of Israel power and security, and at the same time foil Pharaoh’s plans.
因此，该章以清晰的画面呈现了当下的局面与未来的景象，在叙述具体事件之前先行铺陈。这样做是为了将法老那自夸的权势（在人的感知中，它显得极其庞大）与真主无限的大能并置而观：在后者面前，任何事物都无法抗衡。
Thus the sūrah paints a clear picture of both the existing situation and the future one. It does this prior to its recounting of events so as to place Pharaoh’s boasting power, which to human sensibilities appears enormous, face to face with God’s infinite power, against which nothing can stand.
于是舞台已经搭好,听众的兴趣也高度集中,他们此刻急于想知道这一目标将如何实现。这为故事增添了生气,仿佛它不是发生在几百年前,而是此刻正在上演。这正是《古兰经》叙事的一般方法。
The stage is thus set and the audience’s interest so focused that they are now eager to know how this objective can be achieved. This adds life to the story; it is as though it is being acted out now, rather than centuries ago. Such is the general Qur’ānic method of storytelling.