قَالُوٓا۟ أَرْجِهْ وَأَخَاهُ وَٱبْعَثْ فِى ٱلْمَدَآئِنِ حَـٰشِرِينَ 36
Translations
They said, "Postpone [the matter of] him and his brother and send among the cities gatherers
Transliteration
Qalū arjih wa-akhāhu wab'ath fī al-madā'ini hāshirīn
Tafsir (Explanation)
Pharaoh's courtiers advise him to delay action against Musa and Harun, suggesting he dispatch gatherers throughout the cities to bring magicians to compete with them. According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, this represents the disbelievers' attempt to procrastinate and devise a counter-strategy rather than accepting the clear signs. The courtiers hoped that by assembling the best magicians of Egypt, they could discredit Musa's miracles and maintain Pharaoh's authority and their own positions of power.
Revelation Context
This ayah occurs within the narrative of Musa's confrontation with Pharaoh in Surah Ash-Shu'ara, a Meccan surah revealed to console Prophet Muhammad during early persecution in Mecca. The passage illustrates how disbelievers throughout history respond to divine signs with delay tactics, false confidence, and collective rebellion rather than submission to truth.
Related Hadiths
While no specific hadith directly addresses this verse, Surah Al-A'raf (7:109-111) contains a parallel account of the same event, and the hadith in Sahih Bukhari regarding the trials of the prophets emphasizes how believers are tested by the schemes of disbelievers.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah reminds us that those who reject divine truth often resort to delays, distractions, and collective deception to avoid accountability; true conviction requires accepting the signs of Allah immediately rather than devising worldly counter-strategies against His guidance.