وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِۦ يَٰقَوْمِ ٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَةَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ جَعَلَ فِيكُمْ أَنۢبِيَآءَ وَجَعَلَكُم مُّلُوكًا وَءَاتَىٰكُم مَّا لَمْ يُؤْتِ أَحَدًا مِّنَ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ · يَٰقَوْمِ ٱدْخُلُوا۟ ٱلْأَرْضَ ٱلْمُقَدَّسَةَ ٱلَّتِى كَتَبَ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ وَلَا تَرْتَدُّوا۟ عَلَىٰٓ أَدْبَارِكُمْ فَتَنقَلِبُوا۟ خَٰسِرِينَ
Wa idh qāla Mūsā li-qawmihī yā qawmi'dhkurū niʿmata'llāhi ʿalaykum idh jaʿala fīkum anbiyāʾa wa jaʿalakum mulūkan wa ātākum mā lam yuʾti aḥadan mina'l-ʿālamīn · Yā qawmi'dkhulu'l-arḍa'l-muqaddasata'llatī kataba'llāhu lakum wa lā tartaddū ʿalā adbārikum fa-tanqalibū khāsirīn
"And when Moses (Mūsā) said to his people: O my people! Remember God's favour upon you: He raised up prophets among you, and made you your own masters, and gave you what He had given to no one in all the worlds. O my people! Enter the holy land God has written for you, and do not turn back on your heels, or you will turn about as losers."
The sūra had spoken at verses 12-14 of the undertakings taken. Now a concrete scene is recounted in which those undertakings are tested. The narrative stands as an instance of the sūra's theme of the contract: a command is given, a promise is recalled, and the answer is refusal.
A qualification: the event recounted in this section will not be used for any inference about any present political question. To draw a conclusion about the present day from the mention of land in the text would be to make the verse do work it does not do. This commentary takes no side in present-day politics, and this section keeps that qualification.
| View | What mulūk means |
|---|---|
| First | Rulers — masters of their own affairs, under no one else's command |
| Second | People who own their own house, wife and servant; that is, having come out of slavery |
| Third | People living in plenty and ease |
I do not impose a preference. The second view fits the context — their earlier condition; I add this as an observation.
The root م-ل-ك: to have the power of disposal over something. It was treated in detail at al-Mulk 67/1; I rely on that treatment.
The root ق-د-س: cleanness, purity; and being set apart. Taqdīs — to purify, to set apart. For the concrete sense of the word the lexicographers also record a link with "bucket" (qads — a water vessel); I do not give this link as certain.
The main idea the word carries is "being set apart": a thing's being taken out of general use and assigned to a particular purpose. The root was treated at al-Ḥashr 59/23 (al-Quddūs) and at Ṭāhā 20/12 (al-wādi'l-muqaddasi Ṭuwā); I rely on that treatment.
ٱلَّتِى كَتَبَ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ — "which He has written for you". The root ك-ت-ب was treated at al-Baqara 2/2: its primary sense is to bring together, to sew; and in the pattern kutiba ʿalaykum it conveys obligation. I rely on that treatment.
And the preposition here is not ʿalaykum but lakum. In the use in al-Baqara the obligation was written "upon you"; here it is written "for you". The difference of preposition settles whether what is written is a burden or a right. I record this as an observation about the word order.
لَا تَرْتَدُّوا۟ عَلَىٰٓ أَدْبَارِكُمْ — the root ر-د-د: to turn back, to send back. In Form VIII, irtidād — to turn back. This root will come again at verse 54 of the sūra (man yartadda minkum ʿan dīnih) and will be treated there.
The construction is concrete: "do not turn back upon your backs". That is, to withdraw, to turn one's face away. The same construction (irtaddū ʿalā adbārihim) was treated at Muḥammad 47/25.