83 Preface فَما آمَنَ لِموسىٰ إِلّا ذُرِّيَّةٌ مِن قَومِهِ عَلىٰ خَوفٍ مِن فِرعَونَ وَمَلَئِهِم أَن يَفتِنَهُم ۚ وَإِنَّ فِرعَونَ لَعالٍ فِي الأَرضِ وَإِنَّهُ لَمِنَ المُسرِفينَYusuf AliBut none believed in Moses except some children of his People,1 because of the fear of Pharaoh and his chiefs, lest they should persecute them; and certainly Pharaoh was mighty on the earth and one who transgressed all bounds.The pronoun “his” in “his People” is taken by some Commentators to refer to Pharaoh. The majority of Pharaoh’s people refused to believe at the time, but the sorcerers believed (7:120-122), and so did Pharaoh’s wife (66:11), and ultimately Pharaoh himself, though too late (10:90). If we took “his” to refer to Moses, it would mean that the Israelites were hardhearted and grumbled (7:129) even when they were being delivered from Egypt, and only a few of them had any real faith in God’s providence and the working of His Law, and they feared Pharaoh even more than they feared God.