Ash-Shu‘arā’ 26:15

The issue

Allah addresses Moses and Aaron in this verse. There are two problems in the Arabic grammar of the verse. First, the word ma‘kum is translated “with you” by Palmer. To be grammatically correct in the Arabic dual form (al-muthanna), this word should have been ma‘kumā. (This plural form is used when there are three or more addresses.)

The second problem is corrected in some English translations (including Palmer). The word “apostles” is singular in Arabic: “We are an apostle of the lord of the worlds.” Islamic commentator al-Rāzī explains that the presence of the word “apostle” in the singular can be attributed to one of the following possibilities:

The word “apostle” means “message,” leading to the meaning, “I possess a message.”

Since Moses and Aaron agreed on one law, the Torah, and were brothers, they appear as if they were one apostle.

Every person is a messenger.

The singular form indicates that the addressee is Moses, with the word innā (translated “we”) as being similar to the verse saying, “we sent down.” Al-Rāzī holds little regard for this last opinion.

Though al-Rāzī provides four opinions about the confusing part in verse 16, he offers the reader little help in making a conclusive decision and posits no reason for the mix-up in the text regarding the dual and plural forms and between the dual and the singular forms.