وَفِرعَونَ ذِي الأَوتادِ
And Pharaoh, the owner of the stakes.
EXPOSITION
Pharaoh is described in exactly the same manner in the Quran at 38:12. Several suggestions have been made as to the reason Pharaoh has been described as the owner of the stakes, the more plausible among which are mentioned here.
One suggestion is that he had many soldiers and battalions who did his bidding and strengthened his power and reign. This was the understanding of Ibn Abbas who understood the phrase dhī al-awtād to mean dhī al-junūd – possessor of soldiers who lived in tents and marquees which they set up wherever they camped.
Another suggestion is that he is so described because he used the stakes to punish and torture those who angered him, whereby he would pierce or ram their hands and feet with stakes and leave them to die thus. This was the opinion of Mujāhid. Ṭabrisī reports that Ibn Masʿūd said that Pharaoh killed his wife by ramming her hands and feet with stakes and then placed a big millstone on her back, positioning her in such a way that she faced the full glare of the sun, leaving her to die thus. So she raised her face towards the sky and prayed to God, saying, build for me a house near You in paradise (66:11), and God comforted her with a house in paradise, which she witnessed. Suyūṭī reports a graphic description from Suddī about the manner in which Pharaoh killed his adversaries. He explained that when Pharaoh wanted to kill a person he would bind him to four stakes on a rock, then he would let fall on him a rock from above which would smash him while he would be looking at him, having had tied his hands to stakes.
Tabatabai favoured the interpretation that identifies the stakes as instruments of Pharaoh’s torture on the basis of the traditions and also on the basis of 20:71, which describes what Pharaoh threatened the sorcerers with if they believed in the message of Prophet Moses (a). Indeed, 7:124, 26:49, and 20:71 describe a specific type of punishment that Pharaoh threatened to inflict on his sorcerers when they affirmed faith in Prophet Moses (a) and his teachings. This comprised of the cutting off of alternate hands and feet and crucifixion.
Finally, it is suggested that he is described in such a manner metaphorically to indicate strength and firm hold on power. Indeed, one of the meanings ascribed to the word awtād, being the plural of watad, is to be firmly established.
It is possible that all these meanings apply simultaneously, however Ṭabarī writes that the most correct identification in his opinion is that awtād refers to stakes or pegs which are driven in or fixed, whether made of wood or iron, for this is the more well-known meaning of the term. Indeed, the word awtād is defined as pegs, pins, stakes, tent pegs, and to fix firmly. Ṭabarī concludes that the more sound opinion is that Pharaoh is described as such because he used to torture people by means of stakes.
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- Muhammad ibn Abī ʿUmayr reports from Abān al-Aḥmar, who said: ‘I asked Abū ʿAbd-Allāh [al-Ṣādiq] (a) the meaning of God’s speech: And Pharaoh, the owner of the stakes, why was he named the owner of the stakes? He replied: “Because when he punished a man he would lay him out on the ground with his face on the ground. Then he would stretch out his arms and feet and ram them with four stakes into the ground. Or perhaps he would stretch him out on a flat piece of wood and then he would hammer his arms and feet with four stakes and then leave him in that state [of excruciating pain] to die. Hence, that is why God, the mighty and exalted, referred to him as the ‘Pharaoh of the stakes’.”’
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
Some of the less plausible yet nevertheless intriguing explanations suggested or recorded by the exegetes for the term awtād in relation to Pharaoh will now be mentioned. Qummī has suggested that stakes refers to those which the Pharaoh intended to use to ascend to the heavens. 28:38 and 40:36-37 speak of a lofty building which the Pharaoh asked Hāmān to build for him so that he may ascend it and witness the God of Prophet Moses (a).
Rāzī reports that Qatādah narrated from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr who narrated from Ibn Abbas that awtād referred to a stadium or a playground/play court in which Pharaoh’s people entertained him, while Suyūṭī reports that Qatādah himself is attributed to have understood the term dhī al-awtād to mean ‘one possessing buildings’. Ṭabarī mentions this interpretation for the term awtād in his commentary but then dismisses it in favour of its identification as instruments of torture.
Suyūṭī reports an explanation attributed to Saʿīd ibn Jubayr for this verse. He is reported to have explained that Pharaoh was called dhī al-awtād because daises or rostrums would be built for him on which he would slaughter people. Hence, this suggestion coincides with the suggestion made previously that the term awtād refers to Pharaoh’s instruments of torture.
[1] Tibyan, 10/343, Tabrisi, 10/739.
[2] Tabrisi.J, 6/487; Razi, 31/154.
[3] Razi, 31/154; Ibn Abbas, p. 753; Tabrisi.J, 6/487; Irshād al-Adhhān, 1/599.
[4] Tibyan, 10/343; Tabrisi, 10/739.
[5] Razi, 31/154; al-Balāgh fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān bil-Qurʾān, p. 593.
[6] Suyuti, 6/348.
[7] Mizan, 20/281.
[8] Razi, 31/154.
[9] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 1009.
[10] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 1009.
[11] Tabari, 30/114.
[12] Burhan, 5/651-652; Nur, 5/572.
[13] Qummi, 2/420.
[14] Razi, 31/154.
[15] Suyuti, 6/348.
[16] Suyuti, 6/348.
[17] Tabari, 30/114.