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
أَكَانَ لِلنَّاسِ عَجَبًا أَنْ أَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَىٰ رَجُلٍ مِّنْهُمْ أَنْ أَنذِرِ ٱلنَّاسَ وَبَشِّرِ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ أَنَّ لَهُمْ قَدَمَ صِدْقٍ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ ۗ قَالَ ٱلْكَـٰفِرُونَ إِنَّ هَـٰذَا لَسَـٰحِرٌ مُّبِينٌ
Have the people been amazed that We revealed [revelation] to a man from among them, [saying], "Warn mankind and give good tidings to those who believe that they will have a [firm] precedence of honor with their Lord"? [But] the disbelievers say, "Indeed, this is an obvious magician."
قُلْ هَلْ مِن شُرَكَآئِكُم مَّن يَبْدَؤُا۟ ٱلْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُۥ ۚ قُلِ ٱللَّهُ يَبْدَؤُا۟ ٱلْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُۥ ۖ فَأَنَّىٰ تُؤْفَكُونَ
Say, "Are there of your 'partners' any who begins creation and then repeats it?" Say, "Allāh begins creation and then repeats it, so how are you deluded?"
وَلَا تَدْعُ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ مَا لَا يَنفَعُكَ وَلَا يَضُرُّكَ ۖ فَإِن فَعَلْتَ فَإِنَّكَ إِذًا مِّنَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ
And do not invoke besides Allāh that which neither benefits you nor harms you, for if you did, then indeed you would be of the wrongdoers.'"
أَلَآ إِنَّ لِلَّهِ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۗ أَلَآ إِنَّ وَعْدَ ٱللَّهِ حَقٌّ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
Unquestionably, to Allāh belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth. Unquestionably, the promise of Allāh is truth, but most of them do not know.