Quran Universe
40:36

وَقَالَ فِرۡعَوۡنُ يَٰهَٰمَٰنُ ٱبۡنِ لِي صَرۡحٗا لَّعَلِّيٓ أَبۡلُغُ ٱلۡأَسۡبَٰبَ

Waqala firAAawnu ya hamanu ibni lee sarhan laAAallee ablughu alasbaba

And Pharaoh said, "O Haman, construct for me a tower that I might reach the ways -

Word by word
  1. وَقَالَAnd said
  2. فِرۡعَوۡنُFiraun
  3. يَٰهَٰمَٰنُO Haman
  4. ٱبۡنِConstruct
  5. لِيfor me
  6. صَرۡحٗاa tower
  7. لَّعَلِّيٓthat I may
  8. أَبۡلُغُreach
  9. ٱلۡأَسۡبَٰبَthe ways
Ghafir · 40:36Makkah

Build me a tower, said Pharaoh, to mock the Lord of Musa.

A building project as a public stunt

Pharaoh's order
Pharaohto his minister
orders
a tall towerof baked clay bricks
to reach
the waysthe gates of the heavens
What the tower was
a real searchhe wanted to know
mockery and showto fool his people

Ibn Kathir describes the arrogant, hostile defiance of Pharaoh: he ordered Haman to build a tall fortress of baked clay bricks, as 28:38 says. Sa'id bin Jubayr said the ways meant the gates of the heavens.

Sometimes you make a big show of asking questions about faith, not to find answers, but to look clever in front of others. A tower built for an audience. Sincere questions sound different.

Mocking a belief loudly is a way of testing it.

A question asked to mock is a tower built for the crowd, not a search for truth.

Try this

Write down one real question you have about faith, and ask it sincerely to someone who knows.

Related28:38
Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

How Fir`awn mocked the Lord of Musa

Allah tells us of the arrogant and hostile defiance of Fir`awn and his rejection of Musa, when he commanded his minister Haman to build him a tower, i.e., a tall, high, strong fortress. He built it of bricks made from baked clay, as Allah says:

فَأَوْقِدْ لِى يَهَـمَـنُ عَلَى الطِّينِ فَاجْعَل لِّى صَرْحاً

(So kindle for me (a fire), O Haman, to bake (bricks out of) clay, and set up for me a lofty tower) (28:38).

لَّعَـلِّى أَبْلُغُ الاٌّسْبَـبَ - أَسْبَـبَ السَّمَـوَتِ

(that I may arrive at the ways -- the ways of the heavens,) Sa`id bin Jubayr and Abu Salih said, "The gates of the heavens." Or it was said, the ways of the heavens.

فَأَطَّلِعَ إِلَى إِلَـهِ مُوسَى وَإِنِّى لاّظُنُّهُ كَـذِباً

(and I may look upon the God of Musa, but verily, I think him to be a liar.) Because of his disbelief and defiance, he did not believe that Allah had sent Musa to him. Allah says:

وَكَـذَلِكَ زُيِّنَ لِفِرْعَوْنَ سُوءُ عَمَلِهِ وَصُدَّ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ

(Thus it was made fair seeming, in Fir`awn's eyes, the evil of his deeds, and he was hindered from the path;) means, this act of his building the tower, by means of which he wanted to deceive his people and make them think that he could prove that Musa was lying. Allah says:

وَمَا كَـيْدُ فِرْعَوْنَ إِلاَّ فِى تَبَابٍ

(and the plot of Fir`awn led to nothing but loss and destruction.) Ibn `Abbas and Mujahid said, "Meaning nothing but ruin."