Al-Qur'an Surah Az-Zukhruf Verse 52

Mufti Taqi Usmani

Or (do you not see that) I am much better than this one (Mūsā) who is worthless and can hardly express himself?

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Am I not better than this nobody who can hardly express himself?[[ Moses used to have a speech impediment. But when he became a prophet he prayed to Allah to help him speak clearly, and his prayer was answered (see {20:25}-36). ]]

Ruwwad Translation Center

Or am I not better than this contemptible one who can hardly express himself?

A. J. Arberry

Or am I better than this man, who is contemptible and scarcely makes things clear?

Abdul Haleem

Am I not better than this contemptible wretch who can scarcely express himself?

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Aye! I am better than this one who is depicable, and well- nigh cannot make himself plain.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

"Am I not better than this (Moses), who is a contemptible wretch and can scarcely express himself clearly?

Abul Ala Maududi

Am I better or this contemptible man who is scarcely able to express himself?

Ahmed Ali

Am I (not) better than him who is contemptible, and cannot even express himself clearly?

Ahmed Raza Khan

“Or that I am better than him, for he is lowly – and he does not seem to talk plainly.”

Ali Quli Qarai

Am I not better than this wretch who cannot even speak clearly?

Ali Ünal

"And, am I not better than this man, who is despicable and can scarcely express himself clearly?

Amatul Rahman Omar

Nay, I am better than this (- Moses) who is a miserable wretch and can hardly express (himself) distinctly.

English Literal

Or I am better than that which He is (Moses) humiliated and nor, is (he) about to clarify/show/explain.

Faridul Haque

“Or that I am better than him, for he is lowly - and he does not seem to talk plainly.”

Hamid S. Aziz

"Nay! I am surely better than this fellow, who is a contemptible wretch, and who can hardly speak distinctly (or plainly):

Hilali & Khan

"Am I not better than this one [Musa (Moses)], who is Mahin [has no honour nor any respect, and is weak and despicable] and can scarcely express himself clearly?

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And Pharaoh proclaimed amongst his people, saying: O my people, is not the kingdom of Egypt mine and these rivers flowing beneath me? Do you not see?

Mohammad Habib Shakir

Nay! I am better than this fellow, who is contemptible, and who can hardly speak distinctly:

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

I am surely better than this fellow, who is despicable and can hardly make (his meaning) plain!

Muhammad Sarwar

Am I not better than this lowly man who can barely express himself?

Qaribullah & Darwish

Am I not better than this contemptible (man), who can scarcely make things clear (because of the impediment of his speech)?

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

"Am I not better than this one (Musa) who is despicable and can scarcely express himself clearly"

Wahiduddin Khan

Am I not better than this contemptible man who can hardly make his meaning clear:

Talal Itani

Am I not better than this miserable wretch, who can barely express himself?

Tafsir jalalayn

Or, do you perceive, in which case, am I not better than this one, namely, Moses, who is contemptible, feeble and lowly, and who can scarcely speak clearly?, [who can scarcely] articulate his speech, because of his lisp -- which was the result of his [accidentally] placing a hot coal in his mouth when he was a child.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

أَمْ أَنَا خَيْرٌ مِّنْ هَذَا الَّذِي هُوَ مَهِينٌ

Am I not better than this one who is despicable?

As-Suddi said,

"He was saying, `indeed I am better than this one, who is despicable'."

Some of the grammarians of Basrah said that Fir`awn -- may the curse of Allah be upon him -- was saying that he was better than Musa, peace be upon him. But this is an obvious lie, may continued curses be upon him until the Day of Resurrection.

By describing Musa as despicable he meant -- as Sufyan said -- insignificant.

Qatadah and As-Suddi said, "He meant, weak."

Ibn Jarir said, "He meant, he had no power, authority or wealth."

وَلَا يَكَادُ يُبِينُ



and can scarcely express himself clearly.

means, he cannot speak clearly, he stammers and cannot speak well.

Fir`awn's description of Musa as "despicable" is a lie; rather it is he who was despicable and insignificant, lacking in physical, moral and religious terms, and it is Musa who was noble, truthful, righteous and upright.

وَلَا يَكَادُ يُبِينُ
(and can scarcely express himself clearly).

This was also a lie. Although something happened to Musa's tongue when he was a child, when it was burnt by a coal. He asked Allah to loosen the knot from his tongue (i.e., to correct his speech defect) so that they could understand what he said, and Allah had answered his prayer and said;

قَدْ أُوتِيتَ سُوْلَكَ يمُوسَى

You are granted your request, O Musa, (20;36).

It may be the case that some problem remained which he had not asked to be relieved of, as Al-Hasan Al-Basri suggested, and that he had asked only to be relieved of that which stood in the way of his conveying the Message. A person cannot be blamed for physical matters over which he has no control. Even though Fir`awn had the intelligence to understand that, he wanted to confuse and mislead his people, who were ignorant and stupid. So he said