سورة البقرة

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, said: O Children of Israel! Remember when the trial was turned away from your forebears, and by sending blessings upon Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and his pure family (peace be upon them), that trial was made light upon you; do you not know that if you were to see Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and believe in him, Allah's blessing upon you would be far greater and His favor toward you far more abundant than upon your ancestors?

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): When the generation of the Children of Israel grew numerous in Egypt, they oppressed and transgressed against the people and committed sins and disobedience; their righteous ones also joined with the wicked and did not enjoin good or forbid wrong. So Allah gave the Copts power over them, so that they weakened and subdued them, afflicted them with severe torment, and killed their sons.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): O people of Kufa! I called you, night and day, openly and secretly, to jihad against this hypocrite group, and I said to you, "Fight this group before they rise up to fight you, for any people who fight the enemy right beside their own homes will certainly be defeated and humiliated." But you dragged your feet [and busied yourselves with ease and comfort in your own homes, and through that] you were humiliated; my words weighed heavily upon you, and my command seemed difficult to you. So you cast my words behind your backs until the enemy raided you, [and because of their rebellion and corruption] indecent acts, corruption and wrongdoing appeared among you, and because of these deeds, your time became like the harsh time of those [afflicted] before you - those who committed oppression and rebellion, and the weak ones who were led astray [by accepting the words of tyrannical rulers] - and because of these deeds they came upon a harsh time, which Allah describes thus: یُذَبِّحُونَ أَبْناءَکُمْ وَ یَسْتَحْیُونَ نِساءَکُمْ وَ فی ذلِکُم بَلاءٌ مِنْ رَبِّکُمْ عَظیمٌ [They slaughtered your sons and spared your women, and in that was a great trial from your Lord].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): When the death of Yusuf, son of Yaqub (peace be upon him), drew near, he gathered the family of Yaqub (peace be upon him), who numbered eighty men, and said, "These Copts will soon prevail over you and make you taste the worst torment."

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): When the trial was turned away from your forebears [the Children of Israel], and [the intensity of their torment] was reduced.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah will save you from their hands through a man from the descendants of Lawi ibn Yaqub, named Musa ibn Imran (peace be upon him). He is a tall young man with curly hair and a wheat-brown complexion. So the men of the Children of Israel began naming their sons Imran, and every Imran named his son Musa.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): [The meaning of "the people of Pharaoh"] is the Copts.

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): Among the harsh torments of the Children of Israel was that Pharaoh forced them to build with clay, and since Pharaoh feared they would flee from work, he ordered them to be shackled; in that condition they used to carry bricks up ladders to the upper floors; sometimes one of them would fall and die, or become paralyzed, but the Pharaonic people paid no attention to their [bad] condition. Until Allah the Exalted revealed to Musa (peace be upon him): "Tell them to begin every task by sending blessings upon Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and his pure family (peace be upon them), so that the task may become light for them." So from then on they would do this, and that torment would be lightened for them. And also, Musa commanded everyone who had forgotten to send blessings upon Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and his family (peace be upon them), and had consequently fallen and become paralyzed, that if he was able to speak, he should send blessings upon Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and his family, and if he was unable to, someone else should send the blessing on his behalf, and he would confirm that blessing upon Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and his family (peace be upon them) by standing up or moving his hand; they did so, and then they were healed.

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): When it was told to Pharaoh that a boy would be born among the Children of Israel who would bring about his death and the collapse of his kingdom, he ordered the sons of the Children of Israel to be beheaded. A woman among the women of the Children of Israel bribed the midwives so they would not disclose news of her pregnancy, until her pregnancy came to term. Then she gave birth to her child in the desert, or in a cave in a mountain, or in a hidden place, and over [the head of] her newborn she sent blessings upon Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and his pure family (peace be upon them) ten times. So Allah sent an angel to raise the infant, and made milk flow from one of his fingers for the child to suckle, and soft food from another finger for him to eat. [This continued] until the Children of Israel grew in number. And of the Children of Israel, [the number of] those who survived and grew up was greater than those who were killed.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): When news reached Pharaoh that the Children of Israel believed "a man will be born among them at whose hands Pharaoh and his companions will be destroyed," he began killing the male infants of the Children of Israel and sparing the female infants.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The birth of Musa (peace be upon him) came about in this way: when Pharaoh learned that the collapse of his kingdom would come at his hands, he summoned the soothsayers. They told him, "This man will be from the tribe of the Children of Israel." Then Pharaoh ordered his officers to constantly rip open the wombs of the pregnant women of the Children of Israel, and in pursuit of this aim they killed more than twenty thousand children. Nevertheless, Allah protected Musa (peace be upon him) from being killed and from being found.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: A man in the mosque of Kufa went to Imam Ali (peace be upon him) and said, "O Amir al-Mu'minin! Tell me about Wednesday, the omen taken from it, and its heaviness, and which Wednesday it is." He said, "The last Wednesday of the month" - [and he continued the rest of his words] until he said, "On a Wednesday, Pharaoh gave the order to kill the sons [of the Children of Israel]."

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): [The Pharaonic people did not kill the women of the Children of Israel;] they kept them alive and took them as slave-girls. So the Children of Israel raised a cry of complaint to Musa (peace be upon him) and said, "The Pharaonic people are sleeping with our daughters and sisters." Allah commanded those girls that whenever they feared such a thing might happen to them, they should send blessings upon Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and his pure family (peace be upon them); and in this way Allah would occupy those men with some task, or a pain, or a chronic illness, or some kindness from among His kindnesses, thereby keeping them away from the girls. [In this way this affliction was kept away from them, and] no woman was ever slept with by them. Allah, by the blessing of the salutations that the women of the Children of Israel sent upon Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and his pure family (peace be upon them), would reduce the harm of those men from over them.

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, said: وَفِی ذَلِکُم [and in that] means, in this "deliverance" by which your Lord rescued you from their hands (the Copts) ...

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): [The meaning of بَلاءٌ (trial) in this verse] is a blessing.

Imam al-Askari (peace be upon him): [What is meant by عَظِیمٌ in this verse] is great.