Taha · Makki · ayah 71 of 135

Taha 20:71

قَالَ ءَامَنتُمْ لَهُۥ قَبْلَ أَنْ ءَاذَنَ لَكُمْ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ لَكَبِيرُكُمُ ٱلَّذِى عَلَّمَكُمُ ٱلسِّحْرَ ۖ فَلَأُقَطِّعَنَّ أَيْدِيَكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُم مِّنْ خِلَـٰفٍ وَلَأُصَلِّبَنَّكُمْ فِى جُذُوعِ ٱلنَّخْلِ وَلَتَعْلَمُنَّ أَيُّنَآ أَشَدُّ عَذَابًا وَأَبْقَىٰ

“[Pharaoh] said, "You believed him [i.e., Moses] before I gave you permission. Indeed, he is your leader who has taught you magic. So I will surely cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and I will crucify you on the trunks of palm trees, and you will surely know which of us is more severe in [giving] punishment and more enduring."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Pharaoh demands that belief wait for his permission, and threatens palm trunks; his boast "more lasting" will be thrown back at him.

A reflection

Permission to believe

Pharaoh's threat appears in near-identical words elsewhere (7:123-124, 26:49), and its full weight belongs to all three. What stands out first in every version is his opening complaint: you believed before I gave you permission.

The root of ādhana, to permit, is the ear. Permission, in the lexicons' picture, is a word let into the ear: the way is open. Pharaoh assumed that nothing could enter a subject's heart until his word had entered their ear first.

One commentator explains the tactic. Pharaoh rebuked them so his people would see their faith as worthless, because it lacked his permission. Another notes his second charge: real conviction needs deliberation, and they had believed on a first impulse.

But the magicians had been listening to another voice. No ruler licenses conscience. The tyrant's anger here is the anger of a man discovering the limit of his power, in front of everyone.

The full entry has 2 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.