ثُمَّ بَعَثْنَا مِنۢ بَعْدِهِم مُّوسَىٰ وَهَـٰرُونَ إِلَىٰ فِرْعَوْنَ وَمَلَإِي۟هِۦ بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَا فَٱسْتَكْبَرُوا۟ وَكَانُوا۟ قَوْمًا مُّجْرِمِينَ 75
Translations
Then We sent after them Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh and his establishment with Our signs, but they behaved arrogantly and were a criminal people.
Transliteration
Thumma ba'athna min ba'dihim Musa wa-Harun ila Fir'awn wa-mala'ihi bi-ayatina fa-stakbaru wa-kanu qawman mujrimin
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah describes how Allah sent Musa (Moses) and Harun (Aaron) to Pharaoh and his chiefs with clear signs (miracles), yet they responded with arrogance and rejection. According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, despite witnessing the manifest proofs of Allah's oneness, Pharaoh and his court chose pride over submission, demonstrating that miracles alone do not guarantee belief when hearts are sealed by arrogance. Their criminal nature (qawm mujrimin) made them resistant to divine guidance, illustrating the Quranic principle that signs benefit only those who are willing to accept them.
Revelation Context
This ayah is part of Surah Yunus's Meccan section, which repeatedly references the story of Musa and Fir'awn as a historical precedent and warning to the Quraysh during the early Meccan period. The surah uses this narrative to comfort the Prophet Muhammad and the believers facing rejection, assuring them that rejection of messengers is an ancient pattern, and that Allah's plan ultimately prevails.
Related Hadiths
Sahih Bukhari (3415): The Prophet Muhammad mentioned that Musa performed nine miracles before Pharaoh and his people, yet they rejected him. This hadith directly illustrates the theme of this ayah—that clear signs do not benefit those determined in disbelief.
Themes
Key Lesson
Arrogance and heedlessness are greater barriers to faith than lack of evidence; Allah's signs are abundant, but their benefit depends on the sincerity and humility of those who witness them. For modern readers, this teaches that material success and worldly power do not exempt one from accountability, and that spiritual blindness stems from deliberate rejection rather than genuine doubt.
Related Ayahs
وَيَقُولُونَ مَتَىٰ هَـٰذَا ٱلْوَعْدُ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـٰدِقِينَ
And they say, "When is [the fulfillment of] this promise, if you should be truthful?"
وَلَقَدْ بَوَّأْنَا بَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ مُبَوَّأَ صِدْقٍ وَرَزَقْنَـٰهُم مِّنَ ٱلطَّيِّبَـٰتِ فَمَا ٱخْتَلَفُوا۟ حَتَّىٰ جَآءَهُمُ ٱلْعِلْمُ ۚ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ يَقْضِى بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ فِيمَا كَانُوا۟ فِيهِ يَخْتَلِفُونَ
And We had certainly settled the Children of Israel in an agreeable settlement and provided them with good things. And they did not differ until [after] knowledge had come to them. Indeed, your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that over which they used to differ.
وَمِنْهُم مَّن يَسْتَمِعُونَ إِلَيْكَ ۚ أَفَأَنتَ تُسْمِعُ ٱلصُّمَّ وَلَوْ كَانُوا۟ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ
And among them are those who listen to you. But can you cause the deaf to hear [i.e., benefit from this hearing], although they will not use reason?
۞ وَلَوْ يُعَجِّلُ ٱللَّهُ لِلنَّاسِ ٱلشَّرَّ ٱسْتِعْجَالَهُم بِٱلْخَيْرِ لَقُضِىَ إِلَيْهِمْ أَجَلُهُمْ ۖ فَنَذَرُ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَرْجُونَ لِقَآءَنَا فِى طُغْيَـٰنِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ
And if Allāh was to hasten for the people the evil [they invoke] as He hastens for them the good, their term would have been ended for them. But We leave the ones who do not expect the meeting with Us, in their transgression, wandering blindly.