وَأَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَىٰ مُوسَىٰ وَأَخِيهِ أَن تَبَوَّءَا لِقَوْمِكُمَا بِمِصْرَ بُيُوتًا وَٱجْعَلُوا۟ بُيُوتَكُمْ قِبْلَةً وَأَقِيمُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ · وَقَالَ مُوسَىٰ رَبَّنَآ إِنَّكَ ءَاتَيْتَ فِرْعَوْنَ وَمَلَأَهُۥ زِينَةً وَأَمْوَٰلًا … رَبَّنَا ٱطْمِسْ عَلَىٰٓ أَمْوَٰلِهِمْ وَٱشْدُدْ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ
"We revealed to Moses and his brother: 'Prepare houses for your people in Egypt, make your houses a qibla, and perform the prayer.' And give good news to those who believe. · Moses said: 'Our Lord! You have given Pharaoh and his notables ornament and wealth in the life of this world. Our Lord, was it so that they might lead astray from Your way? Our Lord, wipe out their wealth and harden their hearts, so that they may not believe until they see the painful punishment.' · 'The prayer of you two is answered. So keep straight, and do not follow the way of those who do not know.'"
| Reading | What the qibla is |
|---|---|
| 1 | A place of prayer — let the houses be made places of worship (the temples being closed) |
| 2 | A unity of direction — let the houses be set facing one direction (the qibla) |
| 3 | Facing one another — let the houses be built so as to face each other |
And the context of the command must be recorded: the first instruction given to a people under pressure is to settle and to pray. I record this as an observation: the commands are not to flee or to fight; they are to build a place and to keep an order standing.
And there is a shift of person in the word order: tabawwaʾā (dual — you two) → wa'jʿalū, wa aqīmū (plural — all of you). The command begins with the two of them and opens out to the community.
The root ط-م-س was treated in the index: the root was analysed in al-Mursalāt, at Yāsīn 36/66, at al-Qamar 54/37 and in al-Dukhān, and this verse was named there.
The note there was this, and I rely on it: "the wealth is not destroyed; it is made useless and unrecognisable." The core of the root: to wipe out the traces, the shape, the distinguishing lines of a thing.
And in al-Dukhān this prayer was tabulated as a "plain request".
وَٱشْدُدْ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ فَلَا يُؤْمِنُوا۟ حَتَّىٰ يَرَوُا۟ ٱلْعَذَابَ ٱلْأَلِيمَ — this part of the prayer has been dwelt on.
| Explanation | What it says |
|---|---|
| 1 | Fa-lā yuʾminū is a clause of result, not a request: "harden their hearts — and so they will not believe" |
| 2 | The prayer asks for the registering of a verdict: it has become clear that they will not believe; the prayer asks for this verdict to take effect |
| 3 | An imprecation — in the face of an oppression that has gone past all bounds |
And this datum of the text must be recorded, and it can be stated without entering into a preference: the ninety-sixth and ninety-seventh verses will repeat the same sentence as a ruling: inna'lladhīna ḥaqqat ʿalayhim kalimatu rabbika lā yuʾminūn · wa law jāʾathum kullu āyatin ḥattā yarawu'l-ʿadhāba'l-alīm.
That is, the expression in the prayer (fa-lā yuʾminū ḥattā yarawu'l-ʿadhāba'l-alīm) and the ruling in the ninety-seventh verse (ḥattā yarawu'l-ʿadhāba'l-alīm) are word for word the same.
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is this word-for-word repetition: the sūra afterwards gives the sentence of Moses's prayer as a general rule. This is an observation that supports the second explanation from within the text — but it is not a preference, because the other explanations are not contrary to the wording either.
قَدْ أُجِيبَت دَّعْوَتُكُمَا فَٱسْتَقِيمَا (89) — the answer is in the dual: "the prayer of you two". Yet it was Moses who was speaking.
The grammarians explain this as "Aaron's saying amen" or as "the prayer having been made on behalf of them both". I relate these explanations as they are transmitted.
فَٱسْتَقِيمَا — Form X, root ق-و-م: to stand straight. The root was analysed at al-Aḥqāf 46/13 (thumma'staqāmū); I rely on that treatment.
And the word order must be recorded: the prayer is answered, and a command follows at once. Being answered, that is, produces not a conclusion but a responsibility.