The Quran

Preface

فَلَمّا أَن أَرادَ أَن يَبطِشَ بِالَّذي هُوَ عَدُوٌّ لَهُما قالَ يا موسىٰ أَتُريدُ أَن تَقتُلَني كَما قَتَلتَ نَفسًا بِالأَمسِ ۖ إِن تُريدُ إِلّا أَن تَكونَ جَبّارًا فِي الأَرضِ وَما تُريدُ أَن تَكونَ مِنَ المُصلِحينَ

Yusuf Ali

Then, when he decided to lay hold of the man who was¹ an enemy to both of them, that man said: “O Moses! Is it thy intention to slay me as thou slewest a man yesterday? Thy intention is none other than to become a powerful violent man in the land, and not to be one who sets things right!”²

When Moses considered further that the Egyptian was unjust and that the Egyptian was an enemy to Israel generally (including both Moses and the man assaulted), he was going to intervene again, when he received a double warning, one from the Egyptian who was fighting, and the other from some man (Israelite or Egyptian) who was friendly to him, as explained below. We may suppose that after the first day’s fight, there had been a great deal of talk in the bazaars, both among Israelites and Egyptians. Probably the Israelites were elated at finding a champion-perhaps more elated than they should have been, and in a provocative mood, which deserved Moses’ rebuke. Probably the Egyptians had discussed who this new champion was, and had already appraised the Palace, to which Moses had not dared to return.
The Egyptian saw the tactical advantage of his position. In effect he said: 'We have found out all about you. You live in the Palace, and yet you come clandestinely and kill our Egyptians. Are you going to do the same with me? You are nothing but a bully! And you talk of setting things right! That is what you should do if you were true to your salt!'