Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “He said, ‘Will you exchange that which is inferior for that which is superior? Descend to Egypt, for you will have what you asked for.’”

? The meaning of *tastabdilun* is that you take a substitute. *Istabadalt al-shay'a bi al-shay'* means I took it in place of it. *Tastabdilun* means you take a substitute. And what are you taking? You are taking that which is inferior in exchange for that which is superior.
Now, regarding His saying: What is meant by “that which is inferior”? It is what they asked for, and its onions—five things. This is what is inferior, in exchange for the manna and the quail. Yes.
Regarding His saying: What is your opinion on the omission of the beginning of the relative clause here? Let us return to grammar and see if it is permissible or not.
The student: Is it permissible? Permissible? Frequently?

The Shaykh : Wrong. It is not permissible except rarely, because the relative clause is not long. It is a connected noun without *al-* and Ibn Malik says, “And you are absent,” and in *Kamil*—where are you absent? The verse has not left you.
And in this omission, any other than *ayy* follows, if a connection is lengthened, and if it is not lengthened, the omission is slight.
“Absent,” and this will appear to you, if Allah wills, as a test. We test you with hidden knowledge, like this.
And similarly: If I said “by that which is good,” this would be rare. And of course, this manipulation is not permissible in the Qur'an, no matter what the case, whether the description is long or not, but it is in other than the Qur'an. Yes.
Yes. What does its exchange indicate? It indicates foolishness and degradation. Like a person to whom you present a cup of milk, and he says, “By Allah, I am craving a cigarette.” This happens with people who smoke—may Allah grant us safety. You present to him a good, clean drink, and he says, “No, I am craving a cigarette.” So, the result is that these matters indicate that exchanging the inferior for the superior truly indicates the foolishness and degradation of a person. And just as this is the case with tangible things, it is also the case with abstract and rational matters. For a person to go and choose base things in morals, dealings, and other things, and leave what is better, this is wrong. Yes. If a person assumes he did not find anything other than this, and there is no possibility other than what he had, he is not to be blamed, or is he? He is not to be blamed if the thing is from what was permitted to him, even if it is inferior. But for there to be something higher than what you were on, and you ask for it and leave this, there is no doubt that this is from foolishness. For this reason, Lot (peace be upon him) said to his people: Yes. And Moses (peace and blessings be upon him) said to them: Meaning, this does not require them to call upon Allah. And it seems that Moses (peace and blessings be upon him) denied this to them and explained this to them. Yes. It is not fitting for Moses (peace and blessings be upon him) to call upon Allah for them with this supplication. As for the saying of some of the exegetes that he supplicated and it was said to him, “Say to them, ‘Descend to Egypt, for they will have what they asked for,’” this is not correct. Rather, how can he deny to them that they ask for that from him, and then he goes and calls upon Allah with it? This is impossible and far-fetched. The correct view is that Moses rebuked them for what they asked for and denied it to them, and said to them, “This matter you asked for is not a difficult matter; the whole world is full of it.” For this reason, he said: “Descend to Egypt.” Is Egypt the Nile or something else? He will nod his head indicating that it is Egypt of the Nile. Yes? But we say: No. For this reason, it is indefinite. And “Egypt of the Nile” is not indefinite; it does not decline. “Egypt of the Nile” does not decline, and it is not declined from it. Yes? But “Egypt” here is declined, meaning “Descend to any Egypt of the cities, and you will find it.” Meaning, this is not rare, but you go to any Egypt of the cities and you will find it. What is the reason for the lack of declension here in the word “Egypt”?
The student: The definite article.

The Shaykh : Yes, the definite article. Because this is indefinite. Meaning, this is indefinite, and the name of countries can be either proper or feminine, and this has... Yes, we may say it has femininity because Egypt is one of the cities, and we may not say it is feminine; it may also be masculine.