Surah Az Zukhruf Tafseer

Fir`awn's Address to His People and how Allah punished Him

Allah informs that;

وَنَادَى فِرْعَوْنُ فِي قَوْمِهِ قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ

And Fir`awn proclaimed among his people (saying):"O my people!

Allah tells us how Fir`awn stubbornly persisted in his rebellion and disbelief. He assembled his people and addressed them in a vainglorious fashion, boasting of his dominion over Egypt.

أَلَيْسَ لِي مُلْكُ مِصْرَ

وَهَذِهِ الاَْنْهَارُ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِي

Is not mine the dominion of Egypt, and these rivers flowing underneath me?

Qatadah said, "They had gardens and rivers of flowing water."

أَفَلَ تُبْصِرُونَ

See you not then?

means, `do you not see my position of might and power' -- implying that Musa and his followers were poor and weak.

This is like the Ayah:

فَحَشَرَ فَنَادَى

فَقَالَ أَنَاْ رَبُّكُمُ الاٌّعْلَى

فَأَخَذَهُ اللَّهُ نَكَالَ الاٌّخِرَةِ وَالاٍّوْلَى

Then he gathered (his people) and cried aloud, saying:"I am your lord, most high."

So Allah seized him with punishment for his last and first transgression. (79:23-25)