As already mentioned in the introduction to Surah An Naml, according to Ibn Abbas and Jabir bin Zaid, Surahs Ash-Shu\`araa', An-Naml and Al- Qasas were sent down one after the other. The language, style and theme show that the period of the revelation of these three Surahs are nearly the same. Another reason for their close resemblance is that the different parts of the Prophet Moses stories as mentioned in these surahs together make up a complete picture. In Surah Ash Shu\`araa', excusing himself for not accepting the office of Prophethood the Prophet Moses submits, "The people of Pharaoh have the charge of a crime against me; therefore, I fear that they will put me to death." Then, when lie goes before Pharaoh, the latter says, "Did we not bring you up as a child in our house? You lived quite a few years of your life among us, and then you did what you did." Nothing more of this has been mentioned there, but in this Surah the other details have been supplied. Similarly, in Surah An-Naml the story starts abruptly from the time when the Prophet Moses was journeying with his family and suddenly saw a fire at a distance. In that Surah nothing has been said about the nature of his journey, or the place he was coming from, or his destination, but this Surah supplies all the necessary details. Thus, the three Surahs read combined complete the story of the Prophet Moses (Allah's peace be upon him).
