28.38. Waqala firAAawnu ya ayyuhaalmalao ma AAalimtu lakum min ilahin ghayriifaawqid lii ya hamanu AAala alttiinifaidschAAal liisarhan laAAallii attaliAAuila ilahi muusa wa-innii laadhunnuhumina alkadhibiina
28.38. And Pharaoh said: O chiefs! I know not that ye have a god other than me, so kindle for me (a fire), O Haman, to bake the mud; and set up for me a lofty tower in order that I may survey the god of Moses; and lo! I deem him of the liars. (Pickthall)
28.38. Und Pharao sagte: "lhr, die Würdenträger, ich kenne für euch keinen anderen Gott als mich, also mache mir ein Feuer, Haman, über Lehm, und mache mir ein hohes Schloß, vielleicht steige ich hinauf zum Gott des Musa, bestimmt halte ich ihn für einen von den Lügnern." (Ahmad v. Denffer)
28.38. Und Fir´aun sagte: "O ihr führende Schar, keinen anderen Gott weiß ich für euch als mich (selbst). So entfache mir, o Haman, einen Brand auf Lehm, und mache mir einen Hochbau, auf daß ich zum Gott Musas emporsteige. Ich glaube fürwahr, daß er zu den Lügnern gehört." (Bubenheim)
28.38. Pharao sprach: "Ihr Notabeln! Ich weiss für euch keinen Gott außer mir. O Hâmân! Mache mir mit Feuer aus Lehm Backsteine und baue mir einen hohen Turm, damit ich Moses§ Herrn sehen kann, obwohl ich ihn für einen Lügner halte!" (Azhar)
28.38. Und Pharao sagte: „Ihr Entscheidungsträger! Ich wusste für euch von keinem anderen Gott außer mir! Also Haman behandle meinetwegen die Erde mit Feuer und lasse für mich einen Turm errichten! Vielleicht schaue ich dann auf Musas Gott, und ich halte ihn zweifelsohne für einen von den Lügnern.“ (Zaidan)
28.38. Pharao sagte: "Ihr Vornehmen (mala')! Ich weiß euch keinen anderen Gott als mich (selber). Haamaan! Erhitze mir Lehm (und brenn ihn zu Ziegeln) und mach mir (daraus) ein (hochragendes) Schloß (sarh)! Vielleicht kann ich dann zum Gott Moses emporsteigen (attali`u). Ich bin aber der Meinung, daß er ein Lügner ist." (Paret)
28.38. Und Pharao sagte: "O ihr Vornehmen, ich kenne keinen anderen Gott für euch außer mir; so brenne mir, o Haman, (Ziegel aus) Ton und mache mir einen Turm, damit ich den Gott Moses' erblicken kann, obgleich ich ihn gewiß für einen Lügner erachte." (Rasul)
Tafsir von Maududi für die Ayaat 38 bis 38
And Pharaoh said, "O chiefs, I do not know of any other god of yours than myself. ( 52 ) Burn for me bricks of clay, O Haman, and build me a high tower so that I may climb it to see the God of Moses for I consider him to be an utter liar. " ( 53 )
Desc No: 52 By this Pharaoh did not, and could not, mean that he was the creator of his people and the earth and the heavens, for such a thing be uttered only by a madman. Likewise; he also did not mean that they had no other deity besides him for the Egyptians worshipped many gods, and the Pharaoh himself had been made the incarnation of the sungod. The Qur'an testifies that the Pharaoh himself worshipped many gods: "The chiefs of Pharaoh's people said, `Will you leave Moses and his followers free to spread disorder in the land, and to discard you and your deities'?" (A1-A`raf: 127) Therefore, inevitably, the Pharaoh had not used the word "god" here for himself as a creator and deity, but as an absolute and supreme sovereign. What he meant was this: "I am the owner of this land of Egypt: I alone will rule here: My law will be the law of the land; I alone shall be accepted as the fountainhead of all commands and prohibitions here. None else is entitled to give commands in this country. Who is this Moses, who has appeared as the delegate of the Lord of the universe and is conveying orders to me as though he is the ruler and I am his subordinate?" That is why he addressed his courtiers, thus: "O people: Is not the kingdom of Egypt mine? And are not these canals flowing beneath me?" (Az-Zukhruf: 51) And that is why he said to Moses again and again, "Have you come to turn us away from the faith of our forefathers so that you too may dominate over the land?" (Yunus: 78) "O Moses, have you come to drive us out of our land by the power of your sorcery?" (Ta Ha: 57) "I fear he will change your religion, or cause mischief to appear in the land." (Al-Mu'min: 26) If the matter is considered from this angle it will become evident that the position of Pharaoh was no different from the position of those states which claim political and legal sovereignty independent of Divine Law brought by the Prophets. Whether they accept a king as the fountainhead of law and commands and prohibitions, or the will of the nation, in any case as long as they stick to the position that the country will be ruled by their law and not by the Law of Allah and His Messengers, there will be no fundamental difference between their position and that of Pharaoh. It is, however, a different thing that the ignorant people curse Pharaoh but approve these as lawful. A person who understands reality will look for the spirit and sense and not merely for words and terminology. Pharaoh had used the word "god" for himself but these stales use the term "sovereignty" in the same sense. (For further explanation, see E.N. 21 of Ta'Ha.
Desc No: 53 This was the same kind of mentality as the Russian communists of today are displaying. They launch Sputniks and Lunics and tell the world that these balls have not found God anywhere above. That stupid man of yore wanted to see God from the top of a tower. This shows that the extent of the imagination of the straying people during the past 3,500 years has remained where it was. They have not advanced even an inch. It is not known who told them that the Being Whom the God-worshippers acknowledge as the Lord of the universe resided some where above according to their belief. And if they do not see Him a few thousand feet or a few lakh miles above the earth's surface in this limitless universe, it will be a proof that He exists nowhere. The Qur'an does not specify whether Pharaoh actually got such a tower built and tried to see God from the top of it, but it only relates what he said. Apparently, he did not commit the folly. He only meant to befool the people. This also is not clear whether Pharaoh was, in actual fact, a disbeliever in the Being of the Lord of the universe, or talked atheism only due to stubbornness. In this regard his sayings point to the same mental confusion which one finds in the statements of the Russian Communists. Sometimes he wanted to climb into the sky and come back to tell the world that he had nowhere seen the God of Moses, and sometimes he would say, "Why were not bracelets of gold sent down on him, or a company of angels as attendants?" (Az-Zukhruf: 53) These things are not much different from what a former Prime Minister of Russia, Khrushchev, said. He sometimes rejected God and sometimes invoked Him and swore by Him. We are of the opinion that after the passage of the period of the Prophet Joseph and his successors when Egypt was dominated by the Coptic nationalism and a political revolution took place in the country owing to the racial and nationalistic prejudice, the new leaders, in their nationalistic enthusiasm, revolted against the God also towards Whom the Prophet Joseph and his followers, the Israelites and the Egyptian Muslims, had been calling the people. They thought that if they believed in God, they would never be able to shed the influence and impact of the civilization brought about by the Prophet Joseph. For if that civilization remained, they would never be able to consolidate, their political influence. For them belief in God and Muslim sovereignty were inseparable and inter-dependent. Therefore, to get rid of the one it was necessary to reject the other, although they could not root out belief in One God from the depths of their hearts.
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