بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
وَإِذۡ فَرَقۡنَا بِكُمُ ٱلۡبَحۡرَ فَأَنجَيۡنَٰكُمۡ وَأَغۡرَقۡنَآ ءَالَ فِرۡعَوۡنَ وَأَنتُمۡ تَنظُرُونَ ٥٠
And (remember) when We separated the sea for you and saved you and drowned Fir’aun’s (Pharaoh) people while you were looking (at them). (Al-Baqarah 2:50)Muqātil ibn Sulaymān said: The waters parted to the right and left like two mountains facing each other, and in them were openings through which each tribe looked to the other. (Zād al-Masīr fī ‘ilm al-Tafsīr 1/351 of Ibn al-Jawzī)
Ibn ‘Abbās narrated: Allāh revealed to Mūsā to ‘take away My servants by night, you will be pursued.’ So Mūsā walked with the Children of Israel at night, and Pharaoh followed them with one million in number on horseback, except for females, and Mūsā had six hundred thousand in number. When Pharaoh saw them, he said: “Indeed, these are a small group. And indeed, they have done what has enraged us. But we are host all assembled, amply fore-warned.” [Al-Shu’arā’: 54-56].
So Mūsā walked with the Children of Israel until they came upon the sea, so they turned around and saw that there were a group of riding beasts (Pharaohs army). And they said: “O Mūsā, we have been harmed before you came to us and after you have come to us.” [Al-A’rāf:129], this sea is before us, and the Pharaoh and those with him are getting closer to us! So he said, “Perhaps your Lord will destroy your enemy and grant you succession in the land and see how you will act .” [Al-A’rāf:129].
Then Allāh revealed to Mūsā: “Strike the sea with your staff..” [Al-Shu’arā’:63], and He revealed to the sea, “listen to Mūsā and obey if he strikes you.” Then the sea began to tremble – meaning tremor – and Mūsā did not know which side to strike the sea from. Then Yūshā said to Mūsā: ‘What were you commanded with?’ He said: ‘I was ordered to strike the sea.’ He said: ‘So strike it!.’
So Mūsā struck the sea with his staff, and it split, and there were twelve paths in it, each path was like a great mountain (beside them). Each tribe had a path to take. When they started on their path, they said to each other: ‘Why do we not see our companions?’ So they said to Mūsā: ‘Where are our companions that we do not see?’ He said: ‘Walk, for they are on a path similar to yours.’ They said: ‘We will not be satisfied until we see them.’ Mūsā said: ‘Oh Allāh, help and aid me with their evil character.’
Then Allāh revealed to him: ‘Do like this with your staff’. Ibrāhīm [narrator] gestured with his hand (in a circular manner) to direct it to the sea. Mūsā gestured with his staff on the walls (of the sea) like so, and there were openings in it so they could see one another.
So they walked until they emerged from the sea. When the last of Mūsās people passed, Pharaoh and his companions entered the sea, And it was said to Mūsā: ‘Leave the sea alone’ – as it is – [Ibn Kathīr said: as Mūsā wanted to strike the sea again so it would return to its original state to block the way of Pharaoh and his people] and Pharaoh and his people entered the sea, and when the last of Pharaoh’s people entered, and the last of Mūsās people passed, the sea closed in on Pharaoh and his people, and they drowned.
(Jāmi’ al-Bayān ‘an Tawīl al-Qurān of al-Tabarī 2/485. Qisās al-Anbīyā of Ibn Kathīr)
fawaaids.com 