(40:26-45)
Although Pharaoh had started a
movement of propaganda against Moses, he was not satisfied with the
outcome. The common men in Egypt were
grateful for the help Moses had rendered to them in removing the plagues from
the land. It was Moses, not Pharaoh, who
helped them in the time of scourge.
Pharaoh wanted to paint Moses as an enemy of Egyptian culture and
civilization, a liar who wanted to occupy their land. The image that had emerged was quite contrary
to his desires: a compassionate reformer, a helper in time of distress, and a
friend of common folks.
This situation infuriated Pharaoh; he
conducted a full court, and collected all his courtiers and advisers to seek a
remedy. He said, “We have been too lenient in tackling Moses’ problem, which is
getting out of control. This is the
result of our leniency. The only remedy
that comes to my mind is to kill him and get rid of his nonsense forever. Let
him call his Allah to save him— if he can; otherwise, he will bring radical
changes in our governing system, and cause fasad
disorder in Egypt.
The full court was silent like a
picture. The silence was so deep that
the voice of a leaf’s falling from a tree could be heard. Most of the Egyptian
people believed in Moses, but they never wanted to declare it openly. The arrogant, headstrong dictator was making
a decision, and nobody could dare to oppose him.
Suddenly, someone stirred
among the audience. A man who belonged
to the royal family of Pharaoh stood up, looked at Pharaoh, and an unexpected
voice broke the silence. He said, “Do
you want to kill a man because he has been saying Allah is the sustainer (Rub) of the universe? He has shown illuminating signs of his prophethood,
and clear reasons for his demands. If he
is a liar, then his lie is upon him; God never shows the right path to a
transgressing liar. If he is truthful,
then the punishment with which he is threatening you will definitely strike. Who is
going to save us at that time? No doubt,
you are the number one power in the world, but this wouldn’t save you from the
dire consequences of your denial of truth.”
Pharaoh was unable to
bear the outburst of reality, so he said, “I am only telling you what I
foresee. In my opinion, the killing of Moses is the only solution to this
problem. I always ask you to follow the
wise policy.”
The speaker ignored the
interruption, and carried on with his speech.
He said, “My people, I don’t want a doom like that of Noah, Aad, or
Thamud--and many nations after them—to seize you. All these mighty nations destroyed themselves
by wrong doings; God is never unjust with human beings. It would be a doom when you are going to call
each other for help, but no one will stop to hear your cries. On the contrary,
everyone will turn his back toward the holler because everyone is going to be
preoccupied with his own misery. That day the realization of the truth would be
useless for you, so change your behavior while there is time. Before Moses, Joseph came to you with laws of
God; but you were doubtful about his message until he died. Your reaction was that the death of Joseph
was the end of the story, God is not going to send a new messenger, and there will
be no one to admonish you. People with
such mentality are always struggling to circumvent and defeat the laws of God;
the result is going to be utter ruin and destruction.”
Pharaoh again tried to
interrupt him. He said to his chief
priest, “O, Haman, build for me a tower that I can reach the roads of the heavens,
and see Moses’ God because I think he is a liar.” Pharaoh was so corrupted by
his wrong thinking that every subversive trick delighted him. The speaker was not perturbed by his comment;
he continued his speech. “According to
the law of Allah, every human being, man or woman, is repaid according to his
or her deeds, so be careful about what you decide. I have done my duty by explaining the coming
disaster to you; I am leaving my affairs in the hands of a unique sovereign—Allah—to
decide whatever He likes for me because He is the best decider.”
