28. Sūrat al-Qaṣaṣ

٢٨۔ سُورَةُ القَصَص

Qurʾān > Chapter 28 > Section 4
القرآن > كتاب ٢٨ > باب ٤

28.4 His arrival at Midian, acceptance of a ten year term of employment, and marriage.

٢٨۔٤ مقطع في سُورَةُ القَصَص

quran:28:22 –

And when he directed himself toward Madyan, he said, "Perhaps my Lord will guide me to the sound way."  

And when he turned his face towards Midian, in the direction thereof — and this ˹Midian˺ was the town of ˹the prophet˺ Shu‘ayb, eight day’s journeying from Egypt, ˹so˺ named after Midian son of Abraham; he ˹Moses˺ did not know the route to it — he said, ‘Perhaps my Lord will show me the right way’, that is to say, which route to follow, in other words, the simplest route to it. God thus sent forth to him an angel with a goat, which he ˹Moses˺ set off following towards it ˹the town˺.
القرآن:٢٨:٢٢ –

وَلَمَّا تَوَجَّهَ تِلْقَاءَ مَدْيَنَ قَالَ عَسَىٰ رَبِّي أَنْ يَهْدِيَنِي سَوَاءَ السَّبِيلِ  

{ولما توجه} قصد بوجهه {تلقاء مدين} جهتها وهي قرية شعيب مسيرة ثمانية أيام من مصر سميت بمدين بن إبراهيم ولم يكن يعرف طريقها {قال عسى ربي أن يهديني سواء السبيل} أي قصد الطريق الوسط إليها فأرسل الله ملكاً بيده عنزة فانطلق به إليها.
quran:28:23 –

And when he came to the well of Madyan, he found there a crowd of people watering ˹their flocks˺, and he found aside from them two women driving back ˹their flocks˺. He said, "What is your circumstance?" They said, "We do not water until the shepherds dispatch ˹their flocks˺; and our father is an old man."  

And when he arrived at the Water of Midian, ˹the name of˺ a well therein, he found a group of people there watering, their flocks, and he found, besides them, two women holding back their flock, from the water. He, Moses, said, to the two: ‘What is your business?’, that is, ‘What is the matter with you, that you are not watering?’ They said, ‘We do not water ˹our flock˺ until the shepherds have moved on (ri‘ā’u, ‘shepherds’, the plural of rā‘in) that is to say, until they have returned from the watering, for fear of being crushed ˹by the throng˺, after which we go to water (a variant reading ˹for yasdiru, ‘move on’˺ is the 4th form ˹subjunctive˺ yusdira, ‘to drive away’, meaning, until they ˹the shepherds˺ have driven their flocks away from the water’) and our father is a very old man’, unable to ˹come and˺ water.
القرآن:٢٨:٢٣ –

وَلَمَّا وَرَدَ مَاءَ مَدْيَنَ وَجَدَ عَلَيْهِ أُمَّةً مِنَ النَّاسِ يَسْقُونَ وَوَجَدَ مِنْ دُونِهِمُ امْرَأَتَيْنِ تَذُودَانِ ۖ قَالَ مَا خَطْبُكُمَا ۖ قَالَتَا لَا نَسْقِي حَتَّىٰ يُصْدِرَ الرِّعَاءُ ۖ وَأَبُونَا شَيْخٌ كَبِيرٌ  

{ولما ورد ماء مدين} بئر فيها أي وصل إليها {وجد عليه أُمَّة} جماعة {من الناس يسقون} مواشيهم {ووجد من دونهم} سواهم {امرأتين تذودان} تمنعان أغنامهما عن الماء {قال} موسى لهما {ما خطبكما} ما شأنكما لا تسقيان {قالتا لا نسقي حتى يصدر الرعاء} جمع راع أي يرجعون من سقيهم خوف الزحام فنسقي وفي قراءة يصدر من الرباعي أي يصرفوا مواشيهم عن الماء {وأبونا شيخ كبير} لا يقدر أن يسقي.
quran:28:24 –

So he watered ˹their flocks˺ for them; then he went back to the shade and said, "My Lord, indeed I am, for whatever good You would send down to me, in need."  

So he watered ˹their flock˺ for them, from another well nearby, by lifting a rock from on top of it, which only ten men could have lifted; then he retreated to the shade, of an acacia tree (samura), because of the extreme heat of the sun and he was hungry, and said, ‘My Lord, indeed I am in utter need of whatever good, ˹whatever˺ food, You send down to me’. The two women returned to their father quicker than usual and so he asked them why ˹it was so˺. They told him about the man who had watered ˹their flock˺ for them. So he said to one of them, ‘Summon him to ˹come to˺ me’.
القرآن:٢٨:٢٤ –

فَسَقَىٰ لَهُمَا ثُمَّ تَوَلَّىٰ إِلَى الظِّلِّ فَقَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّي لِمَا أَنْزَلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ  

{فسقى لهما} من بئر أخرى بقربهما رفع حجراً عنها لا يرفعه إلا عشرة أنفس {ثم تولى} انصرف {إلى الظل} لسمرة من شدة حر الشمس وهو جائع {فقال رب إني لما أنزلت إليَّ من خير} طعام {فقيرٌ} محتاج فرجعتا إلى أبيهما في زمن أقل مما كانتا ترجعان فيه فسألهما عن ذلك فأخبرتاه بمن سقي لهما فقال لإحداهما: ادعيه لي، قال تعالى:
quran:28:25 –

Then one of the two women came to him walking with shyness. She said, "Indeed, my father invites you that he may reward you for having watered for us." So when he came to him and related to him the story, he said, "Fear not. You have escaped from the wrongdoing people."  

God, exalted be He, says: Then one of the two women came to him, walking bashfully — in other words, covering her face with the sleeve of her shirt, being shy of him — and said, ‘My father invites you, that he may pay you a wage for watering ˹our flock˺ for us’. He accepted her invitation, while inwardly he disapproved of accepting any wage, for it was as though she sought to remunerate him and as though he were of those who would want it ˹which he was not˺. She walked in front of him but when the wind began to blow off her dress and reveal her legs, he said to her, ‘Walk behind me and show me the way’, which she did. Finally he came to her father, Shu‘ayb, peace be upon him, who was sitting with some supper in front of him. He said to him, ‘Sit and have some supper’. He ˹Moses˺ said, ‘I hope that this is not ˹some sort of˺ compensation for having watered ˹their flock˺ for them? For we are People of a House and do not demand compensation for good deeds’. He ˹Shu‘ayb˺ said, ‘No. It is ˹simply˺ a custom of mine and of my forefathers to be hospitable to guests and to offer them food’. Thus, he ˹Moses˺ ate and informed him of his predicament. God, exalted be He, says: So when he came to him and recounted to him the story (al-qasas is a verbal noun with the sense of al-maqsūs, ‘that which is recounted’), of his slaying of the Egyptian and their intention to slay him and his fear of Pharaoh, he ˹their father˺ said, ‘Do not be afraid. You have escaped from the evildoing people’, as Pharaoh had no authority over Midian.
القرآن:٢٨:٢٥ –

فَجَاءَتْهُ إِحْدَاهُمَا تَمْشِي عَلَى اسْتِحْيَاءٍ قَالَتْ إِنَّ أَبِي يَدْعُوكَ لِيَجْزِيَكَ أَجْرَ مَا سَقَيْتَ لَنَا ۚ فَلَمَّا جَاءَهُ وَقَصَّ عَلَيْهِ الْقَصَصَ قَالَ لَا تَخَفْ ۖ نَجَوْتَ مِنَ الْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ  

{فجاءته إحداهما تمشي على استحياء} أي واضعة كُمَّ درعها على وجهها حياء منه {قالت إن أبي يدعوك ليجزيك أجر ما سقيت لنا} فأجابها منكراً في نفسه أخذ الأجرة كأنها قصدت المكافأة إن كان ممن يريدها فمشت بين يديه فجعلت الريح تضرب ثوبها فتكشف ساقيها فقال لها: امشي خلفي ودليني على الطريق ففعلت إلى أن جاء أباها وهو شعيب عليه السلام وعنده عشاء فقال: اجلس فتعش قال: أخاف أن يكون عوضاً مما سقيت لهما وإنا أهل بيت لا نطلب على عمل خير عوضاً قال: لا، عادتي وعادة آبائي نقري الضيف ونطعم الطعام فأكل وأخبره بحاله قال تعالي {فلما جاءه وقص عليه القصص} مصدر بمعنى المقصوص من قتله القبطي وقصدهم قتله وخوفه من فرعون {قال لا تخف نجوت من القوم الظالمين} إذ لا سلطان لفرعون على مدين.
quran:28:26 –

One of the women said, "O my father, hire him. Indeed, the best one you can hire is the strong and the trustworthy."  

One of the two women, the one that had been sent ˹by her father˺, either the elder or the younger, said, ‘O my father, hire him, employ him in return for a wage, that he may tend our flock instead of us. Surely the best ˹man˺ you can hire is the strong, the trustworthy man’, in other words, hire him on account of his strength and trustworthiness. He ˹Shu‘ayb˺ asked her about him and she told him, as mentioned above, how he had lifted the rock off the well and that he had said to her, ‘Walk behind me’, in addition to his lowering his head when he realised that she was coming towards him, refusing to lift it ˹until she left˺. He ˹Shu‘ayb˺ therefore was keen to have him marry ˹one of his daughters˺.
القرآن:٢٨:٢٦ –

قَالَتْ إِحْدَاهُمَا يَا أَبَتِ اسْتَأْجِرْهُ ۖ إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَنِ اسْتَأْجَرْتَ الْقَوِيُّ الْأَمِينُ  

{قالت إحداهما} وهي المرسَلة الكبرى أو الصغرى {يا أبت استأجره} اتخذه أجيراً يرعى غنمنا بدلنا {إن خير من استأجرت القوي الأمين} أي استأجره لقوته وأمانته فسألها عنه فأخبرته بما تقدم من رفعه حجر البئر ومن قوله لها: إمشي خلفي وزيادة أنها لما جاءته وعلم بها صوب رأسه فلم يرفعه فرغب في إنكاحه.
quran:28:27 –

He said, "Indeed, I wish to wed you one of these, my two daughters, on ˹the condition˺ that you serve me for eight years; but if you complete ten, it will be ˹as a favor˺ from you. And I do not wish to put you in difficulty. You will find me, if Allah wills, from among the righteous."  

He said, ‘I desire to marry you to one of these two daughters of mine, either the elder or the younger one, on condition that you hire yourself to me, that you are employed by me to tend my flock, for eight years. And if you complete ten, that is, the tending of ten years, that, completion, shall be of your own accord. I do not want to be hard on you, by making it ˹the marriage˺ conditional on ten ˹years service˺. God willing — ˹expressed˺ to seek ˹God’s˺ blessing — you shall find me to be one of the righteous’, of those who fulfil their covenants.
القرآن:٢٨:٢٧ –

قَالَ إِنِّي أُرِيدُ أَنْ أُنْكِحَكَ إِحْدَى ابْنَتَيَّ هَاتَيْنِ عَلَىٰ أَنْ تَأْجُرَنِي ثَمَانِيَ حِجَجٍ ۖ فَإِنْ أَتْمَمْتَ عَشْرًا فَمِنْ عِنْدِكَ ۖ وَمَا أُرِيدُ أَنْ أَشُقَّ عَلَيْكَ ۚ سَتَجِدُنِي إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ  

{قال إني أريد أن أُنكحك إحدى ابنتيَّ هاتين} وهي الكبرى أو الصغرى {على أن تأجرني} تكون أجيراً لي في رعي غنمي {ثماني حجج} أي سنين {فإن أتممت عشراً} أي رعي عشر سنين {فمن عندك} التمام {وما أريد أن أشق عليك} باشتراط العشر {ستجدني إن شاء الله} للتبرك {من الصالحين} الوافين بالعهد.
quran:28:28 –

˹Moses˺ said, "That is ˹established˺ between me and you. Whichever of the two terms I complete - there is no injustice to me, and Allah, over what we say, is Witness."  

He, Moses, said, ‘That, which you have said, is ˹settled then˺ between me and you. Whichever of the two terms, the eight or the ten (the mā ˹in ayyamā, ‘whichever of the two’˺ is extra), in other words, the tending thereof, I complete, there shall be no injustice ˹done˺ to me, by demanding ˹of me˺ to do more ˹tending˺. And God is Guardian, Keeper or Witness, over what we, you and I, say’. The contract was agreed in this way. Shu‘ayb bid his daughter to give Moses a staff with which to beat off predatory beasts from his sheep — the staffs of the prophets were in his keeping. It was Adam’s staff, made from the myrtle of Paradise, that fell into her hands and so Moses took it, with Shu‘ayb’s knowledge.
القرآن:٢٨:٢٨ –

قَالَ ذَٰلِكَ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكَ ۖ أَيَّمَا الْأَجَلَيْنِ قَضَيْتُ فَلَا عُدْوَانَ عَلَيَّ ۖ وَاللَّهُ عَلَىٰ مَا نَقُولُ وَكِيلٌ  

{قال} موسى {ذلك} الذي قلته {بيني وبينك أيما الأجلين} الثماني أو العشر وما زائدة أي رعيه {قضيت} به أي فرغت منه {فلا عدوان عليَّ} بطلب الزيادة عليه {والله على ما نقول} أنا وأنت {وكيل} حفيظ أو شهيد فتم العقد بذلك وأمر شعيب ابنته أن تعطي موسى عصا يدفع بها السباع عن غنمه وكانت عصيُّ الأنبياء عنده فوقع في يدها عصا آدم من آس الجنة فأخذها موسى بعلم شعيب.