Ash-Shu'ara · Makki · ayah 14 of 227

Ash-Shu'ara 26:14

وَلَهُمْ عَلَىَّ ذَنۢبٌ فَأَخَافُ أَن يَقْتُلُونِ

“And they have upon me a [claim due to] sin, so I fear that they will kill me."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Before Pharaoh can raise it, Musa raises it himself with his Lord: the old killing, the claim they hold, and the fear it brings.

A reflection

Told to his Lord before it was thrown at him

A few ayat from now, Pharaoh will throw the old killing in Musa's face before his court. 'And you did your deed, the one you did' (26:19). It is meant to silence him.

But look at where the subject first comes up. Not in Pharaoh's hall. Here, at the mountain, in Musa's own mouth. Wa-lahum ʿalayya dhanbun: and they have a charge against me. He raises the worst thing about himself with his Lord before anyone else can raise it with him.

The commentators agree on what it was. Years earlier in Egypt, Musa struck an Egyptian who was fighting a man of his own people, and the man died (28:15). He said at once that it was the work of Satan. He prayed, 'My Lord, I have wronged myself, so forgive me', and he was forgiven (28:16).

Yet he never pretended it away. A hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim describes the Day of Resurrection. People go from prophet to prophet asking for someone to intercede. When they reach Musa, he mentions this very thing. I killed a soul, he says, that I was not commanded to kill.

Forgiven, chosen, spoken to by Allah: and still he remembered it honestly. Not as a wound he reopened every morning, but as a fact he would not edit.

There is a kind of strength in that. The person who has already told Allah the worst about himself cannot easily be shamed by others. When Pharaoh finally produces the charge, it is old news to the One who matters. Musa answers calmly (26:20).

What would change if you told your Lord the thing you most fear others will bring up?

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.