﴾51﴿ He said, “Then what of the former generations?”[81]
[81] That is, Pharaoh said: “What about the previous generations before us, whose people did not believe in your Lord and worshipped others besides Him? If what you claim were true, it would not have been unknown to the earlier generations, nor would they have neglected it” (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī).
Ibn ʿĀshūr explains that Pharaoh’s approach in questioning Moses (عليه السلام) about the fate of past generations was not a sincere inquiry but a cunning and calculated tactic. Pharaoh’s intention can be understood in two ways:
1. Creating a Logical Dilemma:
Pharaoh sought to corner Moses into making a problematic statement. If Moses were to say that the past generations are being punished, it would provoke the descendants and stir resentment against Moses. Conversely, if Moses were to say they are not being punished, Pharaoh could use this to argue that the beliefs and practices of those generations must have been correct, thereby justifying his own adherence to their religion. This would effectively challenge Moses’ claim that guidance and truth lie solely with Allah.
2. Discrediting the Message:
Pharaoh attempted to portray Moses’ message as an anomaly by suggesting that if previous generations did not believe or follow the same path, it must therefore be false. This is a typical psychological strategy used by those in positions of power to resist change, appealing to tradition and the supposed authority of long-standing practices.
This method of argument is not unique to Pharaoh; it is a classical rhetorical strategy where the focus is deliberately shifted from the core argument to a tangential issue. By invoking the past generations, Pharaoh cleverly evades the essence of Moses’ message—the call to monotheism and the rejection of false deities. Instead of directly confronting Moses’ invitation to worship Allah alone, Pharaoh seeks to cast doubt by raising questions rooted in historical continuity and ancestral legitimacy.
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API specs
Endpoints:
Sura translation
GET / https://quranenc.com/api/v1/translation/sura/{translation_key}/{sura_number} description: get the specified translation (by its translation_key) for the speicified sura (by its number)
Parameters: translation_key: (the key of the currently selected translation) sura_number: [1-114] (Sura number in the mosshaf which should be between 1 and 114)
Returns:
json object containing array of objects, each object contains the "sura", "aya", "translation" and "footnotes".
GET / https://quranenc.com/api/v1/translation/aya/{translation_key}/{sura_number}/{aya_number} description: get the specified translation (by its translation_key) for the speicified aya (by its number sura_number and aya_number)
Parameters: translation_key: (the key of the currently selected translation) sura_number: [1-114] (Sura number in the mosshaf which should be between 1 and 114) aya_number: [1-...] (Aya number in the sura)
Returns:
json object containing the "sura", "aya", "translation" and "footnotes".