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
ثُمَّ نُنَجِّى رُسُلَنَا وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ حَقًّا عَلَيْنَا نُنجِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ
Then We will save Our messengers and those who have believed. Thus, it is an obligation upon Us that We save the believers.
وَمَا تَكُونُ فِى شَأْنٍ وَمَا تَتْلُوا۟ مِنْهُ مِن قُرْءَانٍ وَلَا تَعْمَلُونَ مِنْ عَمَلٍ إِلَّا كُنَّا عَلَيْكُمْ شُهُودًا إِذْ تُفِيضُونَ فِيهِ ۚ وَمَا يَعْزُبُ عَن رَّبِّكَ مِن مِّثْقَالِ ذَرَّةٍ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَلَا فِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَلَآ أَصْغَرَ مِن ذَٰلِكَ وَلَآ أَكْبَرَ إِلَّا فِى كِتَـٰبٍ مُّبِينٍ
And, [O Muḥammad], you are not [engaged] in any matter and do not recite any of the Qur’ān and you [people] do not do any deed except that We are witness over you when you are involved in it. And not absent from your Lord is any [part] of an atom's weight within the earth or within the heaven or [anything] smaller than that or greater but that it is in a clear register.
وَقَالَ فِرْعَوْنُ ٱئْتُونِى بِكُلِّ سَـٰحِرٍ عَلِيمٍ
And Pharaoh said, "Bring to me every learned magician."
وَنَجِّنَا بِرَحْمَتِكَ مِنَ ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ
And save us by Your mercy from the disbelieving people."