Ash-Shu'ara · Makki · ayah 47 of 227

Ash-Shu'ara 26:47

قَالُوٓا۟ ءَامَنَّا بِرَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ

“They said, "We have believed in the Lord of the worlds,”

Saheeh International

Essence

Minutes after asking Pharaoh for a wage, his magicians answer his own sneering question aloud: we believe in the Lord of the worlds.

A reflection

Pharaoh's question, answered from his own payroll

This line returns word for word at 7:121, and the fuller reflection on it belongs with that twin. Here it does one particular job inside Ash-Shuʿara.

Earlier in this surah Pharaoh asked, with contempt: and what is the Lord of the worlds? (26:23). Musa answered with the heavens, the earth, the east and the west. Pharaoh called him mad. Now the answer comes from men on Pharaoh's own payroll, a few ayat after they asked him for their fee (26:41). They do not describe. They declare. One commentator glosses it: the Lord to whose worship Musa called us, rather than Pharaoh and his chiefs.

The ego builds small kingdoms and wants them called worlds. Pharaoh's was one of the grandest ever built, and in one sentence his own experts set it back to its size.

Does Allah need their declaration to be complete? No. The gain was entirely theirs. They traded a king's favour for the favour of the Lord of every king.

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.