Az-Zukhruf · Makki · ayah 52 of 89

Az-Zukhruf 43:52

أَمْ أَنَا۠ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ هَـٰذَا ٱلَّذِى هُوَ مَهِينٌ وَلَا يَكَادُ يُبِينُ

“Or am I [not] better than this one [i.e., Moses] who is insignificant and hardly makes himself clear?[1442]”

Saheeh International

Essence

Out of arguments, Pharaoh attacks the man: he is lowly, he can barely speak, and I am better, the oldest boast of all.

A reflection

The oldest sentence of pride

Am ana khayrun min hādhā: or am I not better than this one? The words have been spoken before, in the Quran's account of the very first refusal.

When Iblis was asked why he would not prostrate to Adam, he said: ana khayrun minhu. I am better than him. You created me from fire and him from clay (7:12; 38:76).

Pharaoh's sentence is an echo of that one, almost word for word. And the logic is the same. Iblis measured worth by his material: fire against clay. Pharaoh measured it by his possessions: kingdom and rivers against a staff and a halting tongue. Both looked at the outside, and both refused the one whom Allah had chosen.

One early commentator describes Pharaoh comparing himself with Musa point by point. His kingdom, his power, his fluent tongue and sound body, set against what Musa lacked. The whole speech is a comparison, and comparison is where pride lives.

The Prophet ﷺ defined pride with precision. Pride is rejecting the truth and looking down on people (Sahih Muslim). Pharaoh does both in one breath. He rejects the signs, and he belittles the man who brought them.

A promising young doctor resents being corrected by a nurse with twenty years on the ward. He says, in front of others, that he is the one with the medical degree. The nurse was right. The patient is the one who pays for his sentence.

Whenever the words I am better than rise in you, recognise their lineage. They were first spoken by Iblis. Ask Allah to keep them from ever being yours.

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.