Ahsan Hanif – Quran Tafseer – Page 164 – The Miracles Of Prophet Musa
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The use of backwards language and misogyny is discussed in the modern world, as it is used to spread false and backwards language. The story of the Prophet universal source for Islam is highlighted, along with the importance of learning from the people who use it. The transcript describes the importance of trusting in Islam and the use of sticks to help people walk through mountains, as well as the use of signs and language to signal that the Prophet is a master sorcerer and willing to fight Muslims. The importance of gathering and using the messages of Islam is emphasized, along with the need for people to gather in cities to prepare for a festival.
AI: Summary ©
I seek refuge with Allah from Satan the
accursed.
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most
Merciful.
Welcome to another episode of our Tafsir page
by page and insha'Allah ta'ala today
we are on page 164 of the Quran
which is in the 9th juz Suratul A
'raf.
In the previous episode we mentioned those verses
which Allah gives to us almost like a
summary or a conclusion of the way that
people reacted and behaved when Allah sent messengers
and prophets to those nations.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says that
if only they had believed and had taqwa
of Allah azza wa jal then Allah would
have blessed them in this life and the
next and Allah would have opened up for
them the doors and the gates of the
heavens and the earth in terms of blessings
and bounties and grace and favors.
But because of their rejection then they were
punished by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And Allah azza wa jal says that no
one should feel secure from Allah's punishment.
No one should feel secure of it by
night or by day irrespective of what they
are doing or what they are engaged in.
And no one should feel secure that Allah
azza wa jal doesn't have a plan for
them if they turn away from Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala and they turn away from
the message that Allah azza wa jal sends
to them.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then addresses the
people who came after those past nations and
says that those people who come after them
should take lessons and heed from those who
preceded them.
They should be people who look and see
the signs of Allah azza wa jal in
those past nations.
And that is why it is commonly in
the Qur'an that Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala says, أَوَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَيَنظُرُوا كَيْفَ
كَانَ عَقِيبَةُ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ Will the people
not travel upon the earth and see the
end result of those who came before them.
So Allah azza wa jal encourages us to
travel for that purpose.
To see the signs of Allah azza wa
jal in the civilizations and the generations that
lived before us, the nations that have come
and gone.
Because we know now from history that there
were numerous nations that used to exist and
no longer exist.
And that is the same whether you go
to places like South America or you go
to Africa or you go to Asia or
you come to Europe.
The people that used to live and exist
there and we gave to them names like
the ancient Egyptians and the Greeks and the
Romans and the Vikings and all of these
different nations, they no longer exist.
So we should take heed from that.
The fact that they are no longer there,
what happened to them?
What happened to them in terms of their
Iman or their disbelief?
What happened to them?
Do they accept the message or not the
message?
Especially those stories that we have and we
know of within the book of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
And so the believer is the one who
takes lessons from those, from them and the
disbelievers or those people who are negligent of
this or those people who are heedless of
such lessons.
In today's episode we continue from verse 102
and this is now the story of the
Prophet Musa alayhi salatu wasalam.
And the Prophet Musa alayhi salam is one
of the greatest messengers of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala that he sent to humankind.
And the story of Musa alayhi salam is
the story that is most repeated in the
Quran.
It is mentioned most frequently in the book
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And Allah azzawajal more or less gives us
the whole life of Musa alayhi salam from
when he is a baby and a child
all the way up to more or less
the end of his life.
But it is not done in one place
like for example Surah Yusuf but rather it
is spread out throughout the Quran.
And that is because the story of Musa
alayhi salam and Bani Israel, his nation, very
closely mimics the story of our Prophet salallahu
alayhi wasalam and this nation, the nation of
Islam.
And there are many lessons that we can
benefit from, many lessons that we can take
and learn from.
And that is why Allah azzawajal mentions this
story in so much detail in so many
places in his book.
So Allah azzawajal says in verse 103, sorry
we begin from verse 103 and that is
the statement of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
A'udhu billahi min ash-shaytani r-rajeem
Thumma ba'athna min ba'dihim Musa bi-ayatina
ila fir'auna wa malaihi fa-dhalamu biha
fa-nzur kayfa kana aqibatul-mufsidin After these,
We sent Moses to Pharaoh and his leading
supporters with Our signs.
But they rejected them.
So see the fate of those who used
to spread corruption.
Thumma ba'athna min ba'dihim Allah azzawajal says
and then We sent after them.
Meaning after all of these prophets that we
mentioned before, Nuh and Hud and Salih and
Lut and Shu'ayb alaihimu s-salatu wa
s-salam.
After all of that had taken place, Allah
azzawajal said that then We sent Musa alaihi
salam with Our signs to Pharaoh and his
mala.
Pharaoh and his nobility, Pharaoh and his closest
advisors, Pharaohs and the leadership of those people
of Pharaoh.
And so the Egyptians had Pharaoh as their
ultimate leader.
And Pharaoh as all of the leaders do,
he has his entourage, he has his advisors,
he has his ministers, he has the people
that are closest to him.
And Allah azzawajal names some of them in
the Quran for example Haman and Qarun.
And so Allah azzawajal tells us who they
are in certain places in the Quran.
But Allah azzawajal is saying that these are
the people that Musa alaihi salam was sent
to.
Fa-dhalamu biha.
But they rejected the signs of Allah.
And they rejected Musa alaihi salatu wa salam
just as those previous nations before also did.
Fa-ndhur kayfa kana aqibatul mufsidin.
But see the fate of those who used
to spread corruption.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then continues in
verse 104.
Wa qala Musa ya fir'aunu inni rasulun
min rabbil alamin.
Allah azzawajal now tells us about the story
of Musa alaihi salam and Pharaoh.
Now as we said Musa alaihi salam his
story is mentioned in the Quran more or
less from the beginning to the end.
So in certain places in the Quran for
example in Suratul Qasas we're told much about
his birth and his childhood and his upbringing
and early years.
So we're told for example of what happens
at the time of his birth and childhood.
We're told about how he goes and is
brought up in the household of Pharaoh in
the palace of Pharaoh.
We're told about what happens as a result
of which he exiles himself from Egypt and
he goes to a different land.
We're told how he settles there and gets
married there.
And we're told how then he's returning back
to Egypt when Allah azzawajal anoints him as
a prophet and a messenger.
All of that background is found in the
Quran but it is not mentioned here.
Here Allah azzawajal is concentrating on one thing
and that is because Suratul A'raf as
we can see is a surah that speaks
about the Tawheed of Allah azzawajal and the
way people responded to the Tawheed of Allah
azzawajal as is manifest in these surahs.
And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala often
in the Quran he will relay to us
a part of the story that is most
pertinent to the subject and the theme matter
of that surah.
So Allah azzawajal does not just give us
everything in one place because the Quran is
not a storybook, it's not a biography, it's
not a book of history in the conventional
sense that we understand it and so the
Quran is unique in the way that it
formats and formulates these things in the order
of the Quran, in the theme of the
Quran, in the way that it goes from
one topic to another, the Quran is unique.
And so Allah azzawajal doesn't give to us
the whole of the story of Musa a
.s. just because it's the first time that
his story is being mentioned.
That background you will find elsewhere in the
Quran and that is why the student of
the Quran and the student of knowledge, he
brings all of that together and then he
understands it in its correct order, meaning in
a chronological order for to help him or
herself to orientate themselves with regards to that
story.
But in terms of how it relates to
Suratul A'raf, the here and now, the
principle, the message that Allah wants us to
understand from this Surah, we don't need that
background necessarily here.
What we need to know is this aspect
that Allah azzawajal is going to focus straight
in and that is now that Musa a
.s. has been appointed as Allah's messenger alongside
his brother Harun a.s. and the both
of them are being told now go to
Pharaoh and speak to him and invite him
to the path of Allah azzawajal and Pharaoh
is a despot, he's a tyrant, he's an
oppressor but you must go and you must
invite him to the message of Allah azzawajal
and that is what Musa a.s. does
and that is what Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala says, وَقَالَ مُوسَىٰ يَا فِرْعُونَ So Musa
came to him and he said, O Pharaoh,
إِنِّي رَسُولٌ مِنْ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ I am a
messenger from the Lord of the worlds.
I am the messenger from the Lord of
the worlds and so now he is calling
him to Allah azzawajal and that is why
the prophets of Allah were men of strength
and courage and extreme bravery, that he would
go to someone who was known to be
one of the worst despots ever seen in
history and is able to stand before him
alone even though Pharaoh has all of his
wealth and his armies and all of his
advisors.
He owns a kingdom that he has at
his disposal and Musa a.s. and his
brother are just two simple men, don't have
wealth, don't have an army, the people that
are theirs, Ben Israel are people in bondage
and slavery so they can't really help or
do anything, they're already being severely persecuted but
the two of them stand before Pharaoh and
they say to them, we are the messengers
of our Lord, the Lord of all that
exists.
In verse 105 Allah azzawajal then tells us
that he continued and said, حَقِقٌ عَلَىٰ أَلَّا
أَقُولَ عَلَىٰ اللَّهِ إِلَّا الْحَقَّ قَدَ جِئْتُكُم مِّ
بَيِّنَةٍ مِّنْ رَبِّكُمْ فَأَرْسِلْ مَعِيَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلٍ Duty
bound we are to say nothing about Allah
but the truth and I have brought to
you a clear sign from your Lord so
let the children of Israel go with me.
So Musa a.s. had a dual purpose,
his first purpose is to call Pharaoh and
his people to Allah azzawajal, invite them to
the message of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
to the tawhid of Allah azzawajal because they
are upon shirk, Pharaoh believed and his people
believed in other gods and they used to
believe that the Pharaoh is one of the
manifestations of their gods that he is God
upon earth and that's why he used to
claim divinity for himself as Allah azzawajal mentions
in a couple of places in the Quran
and his second purpose, the purpose of Musa
and Harun a.s. is to give freedom
to the people of Bani Israel who have
for now generations been in bondage and slavery
and they are people who already believe in
Allah, they already believe in the prophets of
Allah and they are expecting a messenger to
come from Allah azzawajal who will deliver them
from this bondage and this slavery by the
permission of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so
for them it is not necessarily an issue
of iman or kufr even though as we
know they will have a number of challenges
that Allah azzawajal will relate to us in
the Quran but Allah azzawajal tells them that
this is what we want from you, we
want you to believe in Allah or Pharaoh,
we want you to stop oppressing those people
because it is oppression what you are doing
to them and it is evil what you
are doing to them and I have brought
to you signs from your Lord, signs that
if you see and you are sincere you
will see them and you will realize that
this is from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
and you will realize that this is a
message from your Lord and as we know
already and it is mentioned or we don't
know already rather in terms of this story
but it is mentioned also in the Quran
that Allah azzawajal bin Musa alayhi salam is
anointed a messenger on the mountain of At
-Tur and he is holding the staff that
he would use to walk with like as
a walking stick or an aid to help
him walk but at the same time because
he is going through mountains and rocks and
so on and so people often use sticks
to help them walk in those areas but
also at the same time he was a
shepherd so he would use it for his
flock also so it was a multi-purpose
stick that he had and Allah azzawajal gives
to it a nobler purpose and that is
that Allah azzawajal turns it into a serpent
by his command and that is a sign
from the signs of Allah azzawajal and so
here Musa alayhi salam is saying that I
have only come with the truth from your
Lord, I don't have anything else to say
to you, I don't want your money or
your position or your kingdom or anything else
I only want you to know the truth
from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and I
have brought to you a sign so that
you will know my truthfulness, that you will
know that I am not just a charlatan,
that I am not just someone who is
a fake, not just someone who is making
a claim for the sake of the dunya
but I have come with the message from
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Allah azzawajal then continues in verse 106 قال
إن كنت جئت بآية فأتي بها إن كنت
من الصادقين He said produce this sign that
you have brought if you are telling the
truth.
So Pharaoh is now intrigued, he is interested
because remember as Allah azzawajal tells us elsewhere
in the Quran that Musa alayhi salam arrives
in Egypt and he says to Allah azzawajal
that I feared that they would kill me
because the reason I ran away from Egypt,
I fled from Egypt was because I killed
that Egyptian man, unintentionally yes but I killed
him and I knew that as a result
they would kill me.
So I fled from them because they are
an evil people.
Now if I go back they will take
me for the same issue and they will
execute me and they will kill me and
Allah azzawajal says don't fear, don't fear oh
Musa, I am with you and with your
brother Harun, I will protect you, you are
under my divine protection and care and that
is why Musa alayhi salam leaves and he
goes back to Egypt and he goes and
confronts Pharaoh.
So there is this issue that is already
in the room or already in the presence
of Musa alayhi salam and Pharaoh will mention
this, he will say you did what you
did before, we know what you are like,
we know what you did already and Musa
will say that was a mistake and I
turned back to my Lord and I repented,
I didn't intend to kill the man, I
was trying to stop an altercation between him
and another person and accidentally he died as
a result, it wasn't intentional.
So Musa alayhi salam is expecting this from
Pharaoh but Pharaoh is a tyrant and a
despot but now when he comes, Musa alayhi
salam with this claim and he says that
I have a sign and I can prove
it to you, Pharaoh is intrigued.
So he says to him produce the sign,
let us see, let us see what you
are, what you have if you are telling
the truth and remember that Pharaoh knows Musa,
Musa alayhi salam grew up in his household,
Musa alayhi salam took him as his son
as is mentioned elsewhere in the Quran that
the wife of Pharaoh, that the wife of
Pharaoh Asiyah who as we know becomes a
believer alayhi salatu wa salam, she is a
mu'mina, a believer in Allah azawajal and from
the righteous women that are praised within our
religion, Asiyah says to her husband Pharaoh let
us take this baby when Musa alayhi salam
came to them first time, let us take
him perhaps we will treat him like a
son and he will benefit us and grow
us and grow up to benefit us in
a number of ways.
So Pharaoh knows Musa and now Musa alayhi
salam is saying that I have a sign,
so he says to him bring the sign,
in verse 107, so Musa threw down his
staff and lo and behold there was a
snake clear to all and that is the
sign that Allah azawajal gives to him from
the signs that Musa was given to Pharaoh
from the nine signs that Allah mentions elsewhere
in the Quran, one of them is the
staff that turns into a serpent and that
is because it is said that the people
of Pharaoh were into their sorcery, they were
into their magic and they like to see
these magical displays or these displays of sorcery.
The second sign that he was given is
mentioned then in verse 108, وَنَزَعَ يَدَهُ فَإِذَا
هِيَ بَيْضَاءُ لِلنَّاظِرِينَ and then he pulled out
his hand and lo and behold it was
white for all to see, meaning that there
was no harm in it, that the snake
and the serpent of touching it, it wasn't
harmed in any way but rather it was
clear and it was white and it was
bright illuminated for all to see and these
were two signs that Musa a.s. showed
to Pharaoh that he would be able to
see them as signs from Allah azawajal, that
even if he dismissed the first one then
he wasn't able to easily dismiss the second
one and Musa a.s. is showing him
signs from Allah azawajal and as we've said
before that the people of noble hearts and
pure hearts can see the smallest sign and
it is enough for them to accept Islam
whereas those people who in their hearts it
is full of arrogance and disbelief and rejection
even the greatest signs of Allah will not
sway them, even the greatest signs of Allah
they will rationalize to be something else just
as Pharaoh will do the same here as
Allah the mentioned subhanahu ta'ala in verse
109 قَالَ الْمَلَأُ مِن قَوْمِ فِرْعَوْنَ إِنَّ هَذَا
لَسَاحِرٌ عَلِيمٌ The leaders amongst Pharaoh's people said
this man is a learned sorcerer, how do
they justify this, how do they rationalize what
they just saw, do they say these are
signs from Allah no one can do this,
let us understand this, let us accept this,
let us learn about this, no, they say
in their own rationale oh that's clearly sorcery,
that is just magic, this man's come and
yes we'll give it to him, he's a
skilled magician, he knows what he's doing, he's
learned, he's clearly someone who's very proficient, very
expert in what he's doing but he's still
just a magician and he's only coming to
manipulate you, he's only coming to take you
away from the religion of your forefathers and
the religion of your ancestors, just as the
Quraysh said when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam came with the Quran and he came
with those signs that Allah Azawajal gave to
him they were like that's amazing, yes that
truly is eloquent what you're saying is amazing
but it's not really true you're just you
took it from someone else or you're a
sorcerer or you're mad or you're a poet
or whatever it may be even though beforehand
they knew that he wasn't any of those
things just as Pharaoh knows as Musa grew
up he never practiced sorcery, wasn't a magician,
didn't have any interest, didn't have anything and
this kind of thing is isn't something that
you just learn for in five years or
ten years this is a lifetime's pursuit to
be at the highest of your level, the
people who excel in any discipline are those
who dedicate their whole life to it not
just a few years here and there, the
people who whether it's sports or whether it's
engineering or whether it's medicine or whatever it
may be are those who dedicate their lives
to this and he knows that Musa didn't
dedicate his life to this so he knows
deep down but he's not going to accept
it, this is a man who is a
learned sorcerer they say and why has he
come in verse 110 Allah Azzawajal tells us
يُرِيدُ أَن يُغْرِجَكُم مِنْ أَرْضِكُم فَمَاذَا تَأْمُورُونَ he
means to drive you out of your land
so Pharaoh said what do you suggest so
they say that he's only come here because
he wants you to drive out our land
or he wants you to drive he wants
you he wants to drive you out of
his land or out of your land and
he wants to take over he's come for
some worldly pursuit he's come to benefit in
some way of the dunya he's come so
that he can be powerful and he can
be a leader he can be in this
position and so therefore tell him to also
Pharaoh rather asks his people so then what
do you suggest what do we do with
him now because there's both this sign and
that's going to play on the minds of
people they're going to think about this they're
going to have some element of doubt how
can we deal with this man in a
way that will humiliate him before we punish
him as well so they say as Allah
tells us in verse 111 قَالُوا أَرْجِهْ وَأَخَاهُ
وَأَرْسِلْ فِي الْمَدَاءِنِ حَاشِرِينَ they said delay him
and his brother for a while and send
messengers to all the cities so they said
wait tell him to wait keep him let
him wait and we will show and prove
that he is someone who is a liar
however we do this we will send out
callers and messengers to all of the cities
المدائن is the plural of the word مدينة
مدينة means city because pharaoh has a kingdom
he has an empire it's not just Egypt
or Cairo it is a whole empire and
he's saying send out messengers to all of
my cities now in those days they would
have to go by fast horse and that
would even though it is fast will still
take a number of days why does he
want them to go as Allah would tell
us in verse 112 يَأْتُوكَ بِكُلِّ سَاحِلٍ عَلِيمٍ
to summon every learned sorcerer to you so
send out these messengers on fast horse tell
them to go to the very distant corners
of my kingdom all of the cities that
they come across and to say to the
most learned magicians there come the Pharaoh has
need of you and let them all gather
together and we will show this man what
true sorcery is we will show him who
are the experts who are the learned proficient
sorcerers when it comes to these types of
issues and so look at the extent that
he is willing to go in order to
fight and object to and oppose the Tawheed
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and that
is something that you will find in all
of these stories even in the time of
the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam look at the
extent that they're willing to go to in
order to fight the Muslims the harm they're
willing to do the propaganda they're willing to
use the the persecution and violence that they're
willing to employ in order to stop people
from believing in the religion of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala so imagine this now Pharaoh
is saying you have to wait we will
keep you here and we will hold you
until we are ready to deal with you
that's going to take time because I will
send out heralds and messengers to my vast
kingdom different cities find all of these amazing
sorcerers that I have tell them to come
here that will take time for the messengers
to go for the call to be made
for those people to prepare for them then
to travel and come to me and then
they will have to gather because some of
them are closer by some of them are
further away all of them have to come
and when they come we will have it
and that is why Allah is mentioned also
in the Quran for example in Surah Taha
that Musa a.s says or he's asked
give to us an appointment a day that
we can use and he says make it
the day of your festival there was sufficient
time for those people to come and it's
a deadline for them to work towards and
so that's something which is mentioned elsewhere in
the Quran but it is not mentioned here
in Surah Al-A'raf and so the
the sorcerers arrived as Allah Azawajal mentions then
in verse 113 وَجَاءَ السَّحَارَةُ فِي رَعَوْنَ قَالُوا
إِنَّ لَنَا لَأَجْرًا إِن كُنَّا نَحْنُ الْغَالِبِينَ the
sorcerers came to Pharaoh and they said shall
we be rewarded if we win so these
sorcerers now gather and they unite and they
come to Pharaoh and they come because they
know as always is the case in these
types of kingdoms and in these types of
of systems of governance that the person who
is at the top of that chain the
king the pharaoh the emperor he's someone is
extremely wealthy can do as he pleases give
to you what he pleases and so these
people have come because they're not believers at
that time the sorcerers they've come for the
dunya they've come to curry favor to take
wealth to take benefit from their leader so
they come and they say if we win
in this duel because it's clearly a big
issue to you oh pharaoh you've gathered us
all from the different corners of your empire
and you brought us here if it was
a small issue you would have just gone
to the ones locally to you or the
ones close by you've gathered us all here
and you've appointed this time clearly this man
who's your opponent Musa a.s he's someone
that you have a very big deal to
a very very big issue to deal with
and so what do we get will we
will be rewarded if we win we overcome
him in this duel that you're about to
set up and so pharaoh responds as allah
mentioned in verse 114 and he replied yes
and you will join my inner court you
will be from those that i bring close
to you and this is from the eloquence
of the quran that allah says rather than
him listing out the many benefits that they
will receive the many rewards that they will
gain you'll get money and i'll give you
a palace and i'll give you wealth and
i'll give you servants as well he says
to them you'll be very close to me
and those people who are closest to the
people of power and wealth and richness will
undoubtedly benefit from that they will be given
that and they will benefit from it and
that proximity often is a is a sign
of their influence and their and their and
their position and their status within the empire
within that setup and so people always try
and that's why often you will find people
of leadership there are always people around them
who are trying to find that influence trying
to curry favor trying to become close to
them because that influence gives them a great
deal of leeway in terms of these other
things that they will benefit from in terms
of the dunya and so he says to
them yes you will be from the muqarrabin
you'll be from amongst those who are close
to me and as you draw close to
me then so you will benefit from the
many other things as well and so then
allah azza wa jal will now go into
the story of what takes place when they
duel and the duel will be mentioned here
inshallah or we will mention in the next
episode in more detail because it is a
passage that goes into slightly more detail but
here i want to mention a couple of
points and that is that in this story
we see how allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is number one focusing on this element of
tawheed and shirk this is the point of
the story being mentioned in this context the
wider context of surat al-araf and the
stories that we've already mentioned of these prophets
and messengers of allah that was sent to
the various nations pharaoh too is receiving a
sign receiving a messenger receiving guidance from allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala but how does he
choose to respond he chooses to respond with
arrogance with oppression with the threat of violence
and punishment and not only that but he
goes to extreme lengths in order to combat
this just as the people of the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam did during his lifetime the
quraish and the arabs the extreme lengths that
they went to in order to combat and
oppose the muslims and islam pharaoh is doing
the same and he's willing to spend from
his wealth and this is also one of
the things that you find across the different
nations including our prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam and
the quraish those people often willing to spend
from their wealth their influence their power they're
willing to dedicate their resources in order to
fight islam so likewise the believers they have
to also be willing to dedicate their time
and their effort and the resources that allah
azawajal has put at their disposal in order
to spread the religion of islam and so
allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us here
that musa alaihi salam has come to pharaoh
has called him to allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala pharaoh has rejected this so musa alaihi
salam has showed him the signs of allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala and pharaoh has responded
by gathering all of these sorcerers together in
order for them to combat what musa alaihi
salam will bring and this is where inshallah
we will pick up the story in the
next episode you