Qaṣaṣ an-Nabiyyīn — Stories of the Prophets · Reader index

About this reader. Al-Nadwī's Qaṣaṣ an-Nabiyyīn lil-Atfāl runs to five parts, telling the stories of the prophets from Ibrāhīm to the Sīrah of the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ. We are building it out one part at a time. Part 3 — the life of Mūsā — is the first available, and is being released chapter by chapter, beginning with the dramatic centre of the story: the contest between Mūsā and Pharaoh's magicians.

The remaining parts are listed below and will open as they are completed. Check back for new additions.

Coming soon — the life of Ibrāhīm (Abraham) ﷺ.

Coming soon.

Section 1 · Chapter 24 Between Truth and Falsehood بَيْنَ الحَقِّ والباطِلِ The contest in the arena. Pharaoh's magicians cast their ropes and staffs, and the crowd panics at the writhing illusion — then Mūsā throws his staff and it swallows everything they faked. The masters of the craft, recognising what no sorcery could do, fall in prostration and believe. Twenty-nine reading lines of al-Nadwī's vivid prose interwoven with verses from five sūras (ash-Shuʿarāʾ, Ṭā-Hā, Yūnus, al-Aʿrāf), each in full Uthmani rasm, with line-by-line translation, vocabulary, language notes, two grammar notes, and comprehension questions.
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Section 1 · Chapter 25 Pharaoh's Threat وَعِيدُ فِرْعَوْنَ Humiliated before the crowd, Pharaoh rounds on the new believers and fires “three arrows”: that Mūsā is their ringleader, that their faith is a plot to seize the city, and — the last, poisoned arrow — a death-threat of mutilation and crucifixion. They take it all on the shield of faith and patience: “No harm — to our Lord we are returning.” Twenty-one reading lines, with verses from Ṭā-Hā, al-Aʿrāf and ash-Shuʿarāʾ in full Uthmani rasm, line-by-line translation, vocabulary, language notes, two grammar notes, and comprehension questions.
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Section 1 · Chapter 26 · ends Section 1 Pharaoh's Folly سَفَاهَةُ فِرْعَوْنَ The close of Section 1. Sleepless and humiliated, Pharaoh answers Mūsā not with reason but with blasphemy — claiming to be Egypt's only god and ordering his minister Hāmān to bake bricks and raise a tower so he can “climb up to the God of Mūsā.” The plan collapses into absurdity — he cannot reach the clouds, let alone the sky — and, cornered, he resolves to kill Mūsā. Twenty-seven reading lines, with verses from al-Aʿrāf, az-Zukhruf, al-Qaṣaṣ, Ṭā-Hā and Ghāfir in full Uthmani rasm, line-by-line translation, vocabulary, clear language notes, two grammar notes, and comprehension questions.
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Section 2 · Chapter 1 · begins Section 2 The Believer of Pharaoh's House مُؤْمِنُ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ Section 2 opens — and the chapter numbers restart at 1. As Pharaoh moves to kill Mūsā, a man of his own household who had hidden his faith for years stands up in open court and argues for Mūsā's life: reason first, then the fate of vanished nations, then the terror of the Day of Resurrection, and finally the memory of how they treated Yūsuf. Thirty-three reading lines, with the speech quoted largely from Sūrat Ghāfir — the sūra also called “The Believer” after this very man — in full Uthmani rasm, with line-by-line translation, vocabulary, clear language notes, two grammar notes, and comprehension questions.
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More chapters coming soon — Part 3 runs to 46 chapters in all: 26 in Section 1 (the birth of Mūsā through the magicians' contest) and 20 in Section 2 (the Exodus, the drowning of Pharaoh, and the wandering of Banū Isrāʾīl).

Coming soon.

Coming soon — the life of the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ.