Quran 28:18 — Surah Al-Qasas Ayah 18 | Arabic, Translation & Tafsir

قَالَ رَبِّ بِمَآ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَىَّ فَلَنْ أَكُون...

28:18

Al-Qasas

فَلَمَّآ أَنْ أَرَادَ أَن يَبْطِشَ بِٱلَّذِى هُوَ ...

فَأَصْبَحَ فِى ٱلْمَدِينَةِ خَآئِفًۭا يَتَرَقَّبُ فَإِذَا ٱلَّذِى ٱسْتَنصَرَهُۥ بِٱلْأَمْسِ يَسْتَصْرِخُهُۥ ۚ قَالَ لَهُۥ مُوسَىٰٓ إِنَّكَ لَغَوِىٌّۭ مُّبِينٌۭ

Fa asbaha fil madeenati khaaa'ifany yataraqqabu fa izal lazis tansarahoo bil amsi yastasrikhuh; qaala lahoo moosaaa innaka laghawiyyum mubeen

And he became inside the city fearful and anticipating [exposure], when suddenly the one who sought his help the previous day cried out to him [once again]. Moses said to him, "Indeed, you are an evident, [persistent] deviator."

Related Tafsir

Ibn Kathir

How the Secret of this Killing became known

Allah tells us that when Musa killed that Coptic,

فِى الْمَدِينَةِ خَآئِفاً

(he became afraid in the city) meaning, of the consequences of his action,

يَتَرَقَّبُ

(looking about) means, turning around and watching out, waiting for the consequences of his action to befall him. He went out and about, and saw the man who sought his help the day before, fighting with another Coptic. When Musa passed by him, he called for his help again, against this other Coptic. Musa said to him:

إِنَّكَ لَغَوِىٌّ مُّبِينٌ

(Verily, you are a plain misleader!) meaning, `you obviously lead people astray and are very evil.' Then Musa intended to attack that Coptic, but the Israelite -- because of his own cowardice and weakness -- thought that Musa wanted to hit him because of what he had said, so he said, in self-defence --

يمُوسَى أَتُرِيدُ أَن تَقْتُلَنِى كَمَا قَتَلْتَ نَفْساً بِالاٌّمْسِ

(O Musa! Is it your intention to kill me as you killed a man yesterday) Nobody except him and Musa, peace be upon him, knew about it, but when the other Coptic heard this, he took the news to Fir`awn's gate and told him about it. So Fir`awn came to know of it, and he became very angry and resolved to kill Musa, so he sent people after him to bring him to him.

View Full Tafsir: How the Secret of this Killing became knownAyahs 18–19

One day the Prophet (ﷺ) divided and distributed something amongst the people whereupon an Ansari man said, "In this division Allah's Countenance has not been sought." I said, "By Allah! I will go (and inform) the Prophet." So I went to him while he was with a group of people, and I secretly informed him of that, whereupon he became so angry that his face became red, and he then said, "May Allah bestow His Mercy on Moses (for) he was hurt more than that, yet he remained patient."

Sahih Muslim #5991Abu Huraira reported that Moses was a modest person. He was never seen naked and Banu Isra'iI said:

(He was afraid to expose his private part) because he had been suffering from scrotal hernia. He (one day) took bath in water and placed his garments upon a stone. The stone began to move on quickly. He followed that and struck it with the help of a stone (saying): O stone, my garment; O stone, my garments, O stone; until it stopped near the big gathering of Isrii'll, and this verse was revealed (pertaining to the incident):" O you who believe, be not Iike those who maligned Moses, but Allah cleared him of what they said, and he was worthy of regard with Allah" (xxxiii. 69).

Sunan Abu Dawud #5155Abu Hurairah said :

A man came to the prophet (May peace be upon him) complaining against his neighbor. He said: go and have patience. He again came to him twice or thrice. He then said : Go and throw your property in the way. So he threw his property in the way and the people began to ask him and he would tell them about him. The people then began to curse him; may Allah do with him so and so! Then his neighbor came to him and said: Return, you will not see from me anything which you dislike.

Sunan Abu Dawud #4110The tradition mentioned about has also been transmitted by 'Aishah through a different chain of narrators. This version has:

He (the Prophet) exiled him and he lived in a desert (outside Medina). He would come every Friday asking for food.

Sahih al-Bukhari #2533Narrated `Abdullah bin `Umar:

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and Ubai bin Ka`b Al-Ansari went to the garden where Ibn Saiyad used to live. When Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) entered (the garden), he (i.e. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) ) started hiding himself behind the date108 palms as he wanted to hear secretly the talk of Ibn Saiyad before the latter saw him. Ibn Saiyad wrapped with a soft decorated sheet was lying on his bed murmuring. Ibn Saiyad's mother saw the Prophet hiding behind the stems of the date-palms. She addressed Ibn Saiyad saying, "O Saf, this is Muhammad." Hearing that Ibn Saiyad stopped murmuring (or got cautious), the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "If she had left him undisturbed, he would have revealed his reality." (See Hadith No. 290, Vol 4 for details)