Surah al-A`raf (The Elevated Places) 7 : 133

Explanatory Note

At this juncture, the supreme power of God intervenes: “So We plagued them with floods, and locusts, and lice, and frogs, and blood: clear signs all.” (Verse 133) All these clear signs were meant as a test and a warning. Their import was very clear, and all of them gave the same message, with each subsequent one endorsing what had gone beforehand. These clear signs were shown to them separately, but the sūrah mentions them altogether here.

God gave them that year plentiful harvests which gave them fruits and crops as they had never known before. They said: “We now have all that we ever wished for.” God then plagued them with the locusts which started ruining their meadows. When they saw what the locusts were doing to their meadows, they realized that they would also ruin all their harvest. Therefore, they appealed to Moses to pray to his Lord to lift the plague of locusts and promised that they would believe in him and let the Children of Israel go with him. He prayed to his Lord and the locusts went away. Nevertheless, Pharaoh’s people refused to believe in him or to release the Children of Israel.
 
Thus, they had their harvest safe, and stored all their crops at their homes and storehouses. When they completed their work, they were very pleased with themselves. God then sent on them lice. A person would take out ten full sacks of his grains to the mill, but he would not get even one sack of flour. Once again, they rushed to Moses, imploring him to pray to his Lord to lift this plague. They again promised to believe in him and to release the Children of Israel. Once more, he prayed to his Lord and He lifted their hardship, but they nevertheless rejected his message and refused to release the Children of Israel.
 
Moses was sitting with Pharaoh when he heard the sound of a frog. He said to Pharaoh: “You and your people will soon suffer from this.” Pharaoh said: “What harm could this one do?” They hardly reached the evening when the frogs were all over them. A man would be up to his neck in frogs. If he opened his mouth to speak, frogs would jump into it. They again appealed to Moses to pray to his Lord to make the frogs go away. They again promised solemnly to believe in him and to release the Children of Israel. When that plague was lifted, they reverted to their hardened attitude.
 
Now, God plagued them with blood. Every time they collected water from any river or any well, and indeed all the water they had in their containers, it turned into blood. They complained to Pharaoh and said that they had nothing to drink. He suggested that Moses had cast a spell on them. They said: “How could he have done that, when we find every drop of water that has been in our containers has turned into blood?” Again, they rushed to Moses and implored him to pray to his Lord, making the same solemn promises. He prayed as they had requested, and God answered his prayer and lifted the plague of blood off them. Nevertheless, they continued to refuse to believe in Moses and would not release the Children of Israel.
 
God knows best which of these stories corresponded to fact, and in what form each one of these signs was given. Any differences that might have occurred would not affect the message of these verses. God sent these signs by His own will, at a time He had determined, in order to test a particular people according to His law which punishes the rejecters so that they may turn to Him.