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Qaṣaṣ an-Nabiyyīn · Part 3 (Mūsā) · Section 2, Chapter 1
مُؤْمِنُ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ
Muʾmin Āl Firʿawn
The Believer of Pharaoh's House
Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī al-Nadwī·قَصَصُ النَّبِيِّينَ لِلْأَطْفَالِ·Part 3, Book pp. 79–83
A new section begins. Section 1 closed with Pharaoh resolving to kill Mūsā. Here the book opens its second section — and its chapter numbers start again at 1. As Pharaoh moves to carry out the killing, a man of his own household, who had kept his faith secret for years, stands up in open court and argues for Mūsā's life. His speech — preserved almost entirely in Sūrat Ghāfir — is one of the great pieces of moral courage in the Qurʾan: he reasons, he warns of the fate of vanished nations, he describes the Day of Resurrection, and he reminds them how they treated Yūsuf.
📄 Source, text & editorial notes

Source

Section 2, Chapter 1 (مُؤْمِنُ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ) of Qaṣaṣ an-Nabiyyīn lil-Atfāl, Part 3 (the life of Mūsā ﷺ), by Sayyid Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī al-Ḥasanī al-Nadwī. The chapter runs across book pages 79–83.

About the numbering

Part 3 is built in two sections. Section 1 ran to Chapter 26 (ending with Safāhat Firʿawn); at book page 79 the author begins Section 2 and restarts the chapter numbers at 1. That is why this chapter is “Section 2, Chapter 1” rather than Chapter 27. The book marks the new section with the Basmala, which opens this reader as line 1.

Qurʾanic verses

The man's speech is quoted largely from Sūrat Ghāfir (40) — the sūra also known as al-Muʾmin, “The Believer,” after this very man — with further verses from ʿAbasa, az-Zukhruf and al-Muʾminūn describing the Day of Resurrection. Every verse is shown in full Uthmani rasm, set apart in a green-bordered card with its sūra and āya reference, and always shown fully vocalised; the vowel buttons apply only to al-Nadwī's own prose.

How this reader is designed

Al-Nadwī's prose is shown without harakat by default, so you can test your own reading and iʿrāb. Each line has a Vowels button — hover to preview, click to lock it on — and a Show Vowels button (top right) reveals every line at once. Tap any line to open its English translation, a short vocabulary list keyed to root, and a plain-English language note. English translations of the verses are the editor's own, rendered to follow the well-established meaning.

0 of 0 lines expanded Tap a line for translation, vocabulary & a language note; tap Vowels on a line — or “Show Vowels” — to reveal the harakat. Qurʾanic verses stay fully vocalised.

مُلاحَظاتٌ نَحوِيَّة· Grammar Notes

مَا / لَمْ / لَنْ / لَا· the four ways to say “not”
مَا عَرَفْتُمُوهُ … وَلَمْ تَقْدِرُوهُ قَدْرَهُ … لَنْ يَأْتِيَ مِثْلُهُ … لَا تَغْتَرُّوا— Lines 27, 31, 10 — “you did not recognise him … you did not value him … no one like him will ever come … do not be deceived”

The idea. English changes “not” very little; Arabic picks a different word for each job, and this chapter uses all of them:

  • مَا + past verb = “did not …” — مَا عَرَفْتُمُوهُ, “you did not recognise him.”
  • لَمْ + clipped present = also “did not …” (past meaning, present-shaped verb) — لَمْ تَقْدِرُوهُ, “you did not value him.”
  • لَا + present = “does not / do not …” — and as a command, “don't!”: لَا تَغْتَرُّوا, “do not be deceived.”
  • لَنْ + present = “will never …” — لَنْ يَأْتِيَ مِثْلُهُ, “no one like him will ever come.”

Line 27 is a gift for learners: al-Nadwī puts مَا and لَمْ side by side in one sentence, both meaning “you did not.”

Watch out. لَنْ is about the future, and it is emphatic — “will never,” not merely “will not.” That is exactly why the Qurʾan quotes their لَن يَبْعَثَ ٱللَّهُ (“Allah will never send…”, line 32) back at them: it was not a guess, it was a flat denial.
الفِعْلُ وحَرْفُ الجَرّ· verbs that need a particular preposition
أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ … لَا تَغْتَرُّوا بِمُلْكِكُمْ … تَتَعَرَّضُونَ لِمُوسَى— Lines 15, 10, 5 — “I fear FOR you … don't be deceived BY your kingdom … you set upon Mūsā”

The idea. In Arabic a verb often comes glued to one particular preposition, and changing it changes the meaning. This chapter is full of useful pairs:

  • خَافَ عَلَى = to fear for someone (their safety) — أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ, “I fear for you.” Compare خَافَ مِنْ = to be afraid of something.
  • اِغْتَرَّ بِـ = to be taken in by — لَا تَغْتَرُّوا بِمُلْكِكُمْ.
  • تَعَرَّضَ لِـ = to set upon / interfere with — تَتَعَرَّضُونَ لِمُوسَى.
  • وَقَعَ بِـ = to fall upon, attack (line 8); تَأَسَّفَ عَلَى = to grieve over (line 26).

The difference between “I fear for you” and “I am afraid of you” is one small word — and here it is the whole tone of the man's speech.

Watch out. Don't assume the English preposition carries over. “Believe in” is آمَنَ بِـ (line 6), not فِي; “search for” is بَحَثَ عَنْ, not لِـ. Learn each verb together with its preposition, as one item.

أَسْئِلَة· Comprehension Questions

مَنِ الرَّجُلُ الَّذي قامَ يُدافِعُ عن مُوسَى، وما كانَ حالُهُ؟Who was the man who stood up to defend Mūsā, and what was his situation?

الإجابَةُ النَّموذَجِيَّة

هو رَجُلٌ مِن آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ نَفْسِهِ، أي مِن أَهْلِ بَيْتِهِ وحاشِيَتِهِ، وكانَ يَكْتُمُ إيمانَهُ ولا يُظْهِرُهُ. فلمَّا أرادَ فِرْعَوْنُ أن يَقْتُلَ مُوسَى قامَ وتَكَلَّمَ عَلانِيَةً يُدافِعُ عنه، ويَصِفُهُ النَّصُّ بأنَّهُ «الرَّجُلُ الرَّشيدُ».

الشَّواهِد: السَّطران ٢ و٤

ما الحُجَّةُ الَّتي قَدَّمَها الرَّجُلُ الرَّشيدُ ليُقْنِعَ قَوْمَهُ بِتَرْكِ مُوسَى؟What argument did the right-minded man give to persuade his people to leave Mūsā alone?

الإجابَةُ النَّموذَجِيَّة

قَدَّمَ حُجَّةً ذاتَ شِقَّيْنِ: إن كانَ مُوسَى كاذِبًا فَعَلَيْهِ كَذِبُهُ ولا يَضُرُّكُم شَيْءٌ، فاتْرُكوهُ وشَأْنَهُ؛ وإن كانَ صادِقًا أصابَكُم بَعْضُ ما يَعِدُكُم بِهِ. فالسَّلامَةُ في تَرْكِهِ على كُلِّ حالٍ. ثُمَّ حَذَّرَهُم أن يَغْتَرّوا بِمُلْكِهِم وقُوَّتِهِم وجُنودِهِم.

الشَّواهِد: السُّطور ٦–١١

بِمَ ذَكَّرَهُم في شَأْنِ يُوسُفَ عليه السَّلام، وما وَجْهُ الشَّبَهِ بَيْنَهُ وبَيْنَ مُوسَى؟What did he remind them about Yūsuf, and how does it parallel Mūsā?

الإجابَةُ النَّموذَجِيَّة

ذَكَّرَهُم أنَّ اللهَ وَهَبَهُم نِعْمَةً هي يُوسُفُ النَّبِيُّ، فما عَرَفوا فَضْلَهُ ولا قَدَروهُ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِ، بل ظَلّوا في شَكٍّ مِمَّا جاءَ بِهِ. فلمَّا ماتَ أفْرَطوا في مَدْحِهِ وقالوا: لن يَبْعَثَ اللهُ مِن بَعْدِهِ رَسولًا. ووَجْهُ الشَّبَهِ أنَّهُم يَصْنَعونَ بِمُوسَى مِثْلَ ذلكَ: يَشُكّونَ فيهِ اليَوْمَ، وسَيَنْدَمونَ غَدًا.

الشَّواهِد: السُّطور ٢٦–٣٣

تَذَوُّقٌ بَلاغِيّ· A Note on the Writing

How do you argue with a tyrant and survive the sentence? Look closely at how the man builds his speech. He never says “you are wrong.” Instead:

He grants their position first — لَكُمُ ٱلْمُلْكُ ٱلْيَوْمَ, “yours is the kingdom today.” He says “us,” not “you” — فَمَن يَنصُرُنَا, “who will help us?” He understates the threat — بَعْضُ ٱلَّذِى يَعِدُكُمْ, only “some of what he promises.” And he calls them يَٰقَوْمِ, “O my people,” three times over.

Why would a man in his position choose every one of those moves? What would have happened to the speech — and to him — if he had simply said “Mūsā is right and Pharaoh is a liar”?

📝 Some thoughts (open after you've had your own)
  • By keeping himself inside the group (“us,” “my people”), he makes the warning sound like loyalty rather than treason — so they listen instead of seizing him.
  • Granting “yours is the kingdom today” costs him nothing and buys their attention — while that one word today quietly does all the damage.
  • Understatement is stronger than exaggeration here: if even some of the threat is true, they are finished. He lets them finish the thought themselves.
  • His argument is built so that either way the safe course is to leave Mūsā alone — it doesn't require them to believe anything first.
💬سُؤالٌ لِلنِّقاش· Discussion

This man had hidden his faith for years — and then chose the most dangerous possible moment to speak, in Pharaoh's own court, about Pharaoh's own decision.

What do you think makes a person finally speak up after staying silent for so long? Try two or three short Arabic sentences — for example beginning: إنَّ الرَّجُلَ الرَّشيدَ سَكَتَ طَويلًا، ولكِنَّهُ …

👩‍🏫 Teacher / Self-study notes

Level & aim

Intermediate. This chapter is more argument than narrative, so the sentences are longer than in Section 1 and the Qurʾanic share is higher (13 of the 33 lines). It rewards slow reading: the man's case is built step by step, and each step has its own grammar.

How to use the vowel buttons

Each prose line opens without harakat. Read it first from the bare skeleton, predicting the endings aloud — then hover or tap that line's Vowels button to check yourself (or press Show Vowels to reveal them all). The Qurʾanic verses stay vocalised throughout.

Grammar focus

Two things are worth collecting from this chapter: the four negatives (mā, lam, lā, lan) — line 27 has two of them in one sentence — and verbs with their prepositions (khāfa ʿalā, ightarra bi-, taʿarraḍa li-, waqaʿa bi-). Both have grammar notes above.

A point of reverence

Sūrat Ghāfir (40) is also called Sūrat al-Muʾmin — “The Believer” — named after this man. Encourage the learner to recite the quoted verses aloud in full tajwīd and to notice how much of the chapter is Qurʾan: al-Nadwī's prose mostly frames and explains it.

Where this sits in the book

This opens Section 2 of Part 3, so the chapter numbering restarts at 1. It follows Section 1's last chapter, Safāhat Firʿawn (Chapter 26). Section 2 goes on to the Exodus, the drowning of Pharaoh, and the wandering of Banū Isrāʾīl.