Surah Al-Qasas Ayat 9 in Arabic Text
English Translation
Here you can read various translations of verse 9
And the wife of Pharaoh said, “[He will be] a comfort of the eye for me and for you. Do not kill him; perhaps he may benefit us, or we may adopt him as a son.” And they perceived not.
The wife of Pharaoh said: “(Here is) joy of the eye, for me and for thee: slay him not. It may be that he will be use to us, or we may adopt him as a son.” And they perceived not (what they were doing)!
The wife of Pharaoh said: “Here is a delight of the eye to me and to you. Do not kill him. Maybe he will prove useful for us, or we may adopt him as a son.” They were unaware of the end of it all.
And the wife of Fir’aun (Pharaoh) said: “A comfort of the eye for me and for you. Kill him not, perhaps he may be of benefit to us, or we may adopt him as a son.” And they perceive not (the result of that).
And the wife of Pharaoh said: (He will be) a consolation for me and for thee. Kill him not. Peradventure he may be of use to us, or we may choose him for a son. And they perceived not.
And the wife of Firaawn said, “He is comfort (Literally: for the eye to get steady and settle down, to be refreshed) to the eye for me and for you. Do not kill him, (for) he may profit us, and we may take him to ourselves as a child.” And they were not aware.
and Pharaoh’s wife said, ‘Here is a joy to behold for me and for you! Do not kill him: he may be of use to us, or we may adopt him as a son.’ They did not realize what they were doing.
اور فرعون کی بیوی نے کہا یہ تو میری اور تیری آنکھوں کی ٹھنڈک ہے، اسے قتل نہ کرو، بہت ممکن ہے کہ یہ ہمیں کوئی فائده پہنچائے یا ہم اسے اپنا ہی بیٹا بنا لیں اور یہ لوگ شعور ہی نہ رکھتے تھے
Quran 28 Verse 9 Explanation
For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah Al-Qasas ayat 9, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir.
Ala-Maududi
(28:9) The wife of Pharaoh said: “Here is a delight of the eye to me and to you. Do not kill him. Maybe he will prove useful for us, or we may adopt him as a son.”[12] They were unaware of the end of it all.
12. What one understands from this is briefly so: When the ark or the basket was carried by the river to the place where Pharaoh’s palaces were situated, the servants of Pharaoh picked it up and took it before the king and the queen. It is just possible that the king and the queen were at that time strolling along the river bank and might have noticed the basket and ordered it to be picked up. When they saw a child in it, they could easily guess that it belonged to an Israelite family. For it came from the quarters inhabited by the Israelites, whose sons were being put to death in those days. It was understood that somebody had hidden the child for some time but when it could not be hidden any longer, it was cast to the river in the hope that it might be picked up and rescued from death. With this in view, the most obedient servants submitted that the king order the child to be killed forthwith, for it might prove dangerous for him. But the Pharaoh’s wife was a woman and might even be childless. Then it was a lovely child, as Allah has reminded Moses in Surah Ta-Ha: Ayat 39, thus: “I had cast on you love from Myself.” That is “I had made you such a lovely child that the beholders could not help but love you.” Therefore, the woman could not keep their feelings for him, and said to the king, “Do not kill him, but let us adopt him. When he grows up in our house as our son, he will not know that he was an Israelite: he will rather think he is one of Pharaoh’s own kinsfolk, and he will be useful for us as against the Israelites.”
According to the Bible and the Talmud, the woman who had counseled adoption of Moses was Pharaoh’s daughter, but according to the Quran his wife (imraat-u-Firaun). Obviously, the direct word of Allah is more reliable than the verbal traditions which were compiled centuries afterwards. Therefore, it is absolutely needless to translate imraat-u-Firaun as a woman of Pharaoh’s family against the Arabic idiom and usage only for the sake of seeking conformity with the Israelite traditions.
Ibn-Kathir
The tafsir of Surah Qasas verse 9 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Qasas ayat 7 which provides the complete commentary from verse 7 through 9.
Quick navigation links
