28/36-42 — Pharaoh's tower, and the word turned around
Wa qāla Firʿawnu yā ayyuha'l-malaʾu mā ʿalimtu lakum min ilāhin ghayrī fa-awqid lī yā Hāmānu ʿala'ṭ-ṭīni fa'jʿal lī ṣarḥan laʿallī aṭṭaliʿu ilā ilāhi Mūsā
"Pharaoh said: 'O chiefs! I know of no god for you other than myself. Hāmān! Kindle a fire for me over the clay (bake brick) and build me a tower; perhaps I may climb up to the god of Moses.'"
The same demand occurred at Ghāfir (al-Muʾmin) 40/36-37 as well, and was treated there. The two verses can be set side by side:
| Ghāfir 40/36 | al-Qaṣaṣ 28/38 | |
|---|---|---|
| The command | Ibni lī ṣarḥā | Awqid lī … ʿala'ṭ-ṭīni fa'jʿal lī ṣarḥā |
| The detail | None | The baking of the clay — the production of the building material |
| The ground | Laʿallī ablughu'l-asbāb | Laʿallī aṭṭaliʿu ilā ilāhi Mūsā |
In al-Qaṣaṣ the stage of production is named as well. I record this as an observation: the demand is set out in detail as a work of architecture — and what was recorded in Ghāfir (al-Muʾmin) becomes still sharper here: the claim is turned into a problem of engineering.
The construction of the sentence must be recorded: mā ʿalimtu — "I do not know". The claim is built not as a judgement about what exists but upon the speaker's own knowledge. The same structure was treated at Ghāfir (al-Muʾmin) 40/29: mā urīkum illā mā arā — "I show you only what I myself see."
| Verse | Expression | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Wa najʿalahum aʾimma | Those made weak — they are to be made leaders |
| 41 | Wa jaʿalnāhum aʾimmatan yadʿūna ila'n-nār | Pharaoh and those around him — leaders who call to the fire |
The same word, the same verbal pattern, two opposite directions. This is a repetition that can be verified within the sūra.
I record this as my own reading: the word imāma (leadership) states no value on its own. To be in front is a position; what is decisive is the place it calls to.