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Ayah
Word by Word
وَلَقَدۡ
And verily
قَالَ
(had) said
لَهُمۡ
to them
هَٰرُونُ
Harun
مِن
before
قَبۡلُ
before
يَٰقَوۡمِ
O my people
إِنَّمَا
Only
فُتِنتُم
you are being tested
بِهِۦۖ
by it
وَإِنَّ
and indeed
رَبَّكُمُ
your Lord
ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنُ
(is) the Most Gracious
فَٱتَّبِعُونِي
so follow me
وَأَطِيعُوٓاْ
and obey
أَمۡرِي
my order
وَلَقَدۡ
And verily
قَالَ
(had) said
لَهُمۡ
to them
هَٰرُونُ
Harun
مِن
before
قَبۡلُ
before
يَٰقَوۡمِ
O my people
إِنَّمَا
Only
فُتِنتُم
you are being tested
بِهِۦۖ
by it
وَإِنَّ
and indeed
رَبَّكُمُ
your Lord
ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنُ
(is) the Most Gracious
فَٱتَّبِعُونِي
so follow me
وَأَطِيعُوٓاْ
and obey
أَمۡرِي
my order
Translation
Aaron had already, before this said to them: "O my people! ye are being tested in this: for verily your Lord is (Allah) Most Gracious; so follow me and obey my command."
Tafsir
And Aaron had certainly said to them beforehand, that is, before the return of Moses, 'O my people, you are only being tested thereby! But truly your Lord is the Compassionate One, so follow me, in worship of Him, and obey my command', therein.
Harun prohibits them from worship of Calf and the Persistence of the Children of Israel in doing so
Allah tells,
وَلَقَدۡ قَالَ لَهُمۡ هَارُونُ مِن قَبۡلُ يَا قَوۡمِ إِنَّمَا فُتِنتُم بِهِ وَإِنَّ رَبَّكُمُ الرَّحۡمَنُ
And Harun indeed had said to them beforehand:O my people! You are being tried in this, and verily, your Lord is (Allah) the Most Gracious,
Allah, the Exalted, informs of Harun's attempt to prohibit them from worshipping the calf and his telling them that this was only a test for them.
He told them that their Lord was the Most Beneficent, Who created everything and decreed for everything its just measure. He is the Owner of the Mighty Throne, the One Who does whatever He wants.
فَاتَّبِعُونِي وَأَطِيعُوا أَمۡرِي
so follow me and obey my order.
Meaning, Follow me in that which I am commanding you with and leave that which I forbid you from.
قَالُوا لَن نَّبۡرَحَ عَلَيۡهِ عَاكِفِينَ حَتَّى يَرۡجِعَ إِلَيۡنَا مُوسَى
They said:We will not stop worshipping it, until Musa returns to us.
meaning, We will not cease in our worship of this calf until we hear what Musa has to say about it.
So they opposed Harun in this matter and they fought against him, nearly killing him
What happened between Musa and Harun after Musa returned
Allah informs of what happened when Musa returned to his people and ﷺ the great matter that had taken place among them. With this he became filled with anger and he threw down the Divine Tablets that he had in his hand. Then, he grabbed his brother Harun by his head and pulled him towards himself. We expounded upon this previously in Surah Al-A`raf, where we mentioned the Hadith,
لَيۡسَ الۡخَبَرُ كَالۡمُعَايَنَة
Information is not the same as observation.
Allah tells,
قَالَ يَا هَارُونُ
(Musa) said:O Harun!
Then, he began to blame his brother, Harun, by saying,
مَا مَنَعَكَ إِذۡ رَأَيۡتَهُمۡ ضَلُّوا
أَلاَّ تَتَّبِعَنِ
What prevented you when you ﷺ them going astray; that you followed me not!
meaning,
You should have informed me of this matter as soon as it happened.
أَفَعَصَيۡتَ أَمۡرِي
Have you then disobeyed my order!
In that which I entrusted to you,
referring to Musa's statement,
اخۡلُفۡنِى فِى قَوۡمِى وَأَصۡلِحۡ وَلَا تَتَّبِعۡ سَبِيلَ الۡمُفۡسِدِينَ
Replace me among my people, act in the right way and follow not the way of the mischief-makers. (7:142
قَالَ يَبۡنَوُُمَّ
He (Harun) said:O son of my mother!
This mentioning of the mother was Harun's attempt to soften Musa's anger, because he was Musa's biological brother and they had the same parents. The mentioning of the mother here is more delicate and profound in bringing about gentleness and mildness. This is why he said,
يَبۡنَوُُمَّ لَا تَأۡخُذۡ بِلِحۡيَتِي وَلَا بِرَأۡسِي
O son of my mother! Seize (me) not by my beard, nor by my head!
This was Harun's excuse to Musa for being delayed from coming to him and informing him of the great mishap that took place.
He said,
إِنِّي خَشِيتُ
Verily, I feared,
meaning, I was afraid to come after you and inform you of this, because I thought you might accuse me of leaving them alone and causing division between them.
أَن تَقُولَ فَرَّقۡتَ بَيۡنَ بَنِي إِسۡرَايِيلَ
lest you should say:`You have caused a division among the Children of Israel,
وَلَمۡ تَرۡقُبۡ قَوۡلِي
and you have not respected my word!
This means, And you did not take care of what I commanded you to do when I left you in charge of them.
Ibn Abbas said,
Harun was respectful and obedient to Musa.
How As-Samiri made the Calf
Allah tells,
قَالَ فَمَا خَطۡبُكَ يَا سَامِرِيُّ
(Musa) said:And what is the matter with you. O Samiri!
Musa said to As-Samiri, What caused you to do what you did What presented such an idea to you causing you to do this!
Muhammad bin Ishaq reported from Ibn Abbas that he said,
As-Samiri was a man from the people of Bajarma, a people who worshipped cows. He still had the love of cow worshipping in his soul. However, he acted as though he had accepted Islam with the Children of Israel. His name was Musa bin Zafar.
Qatadah said,
He was from the village of Samarra.
قَالَ بَصُرۡتُ بِمَا لَمۡ يَبۡصُرُوا بِهِ
(Samiri) said:I ﷺ what they ﷺ not.
This means, I ﷺ Jibril when he came to destroy Fir`awn.
فَقَبَضۡتُ قَبۡضَةً مِّنۡ أَثَرِ الرَّسُولِ
so I took a handful (Qabdah) from the print of the messenger,
This means from the hoof print of his (Jibril's) horse.
This is what is well-known with many of the scholars of Tafsir, rather most of them.
Mujahid said,
فَقَبَضۡتُ قَبۡضَةً مِّنۡ أَثَرِ الرَّسُولِ
(so I took a handful (Qabdah) from the print of the messenger),
From under the hoof of Jibril's horse.
He also said,
The word Qabdah means a palmful, and it is also that which is grasped by the tips of the fingers.
Mujahid said,
As-Samiri threw what was in his hand onto the jewelry of the Children of Israel and it became molded into the body of a calf, which made a light moaning sound. The wind that blew into it was the cause of its sound.
Thus, he said,
فَنَبَذۡتُهَا
and I threw it.
This means, I threw it along with those who were throwing (jewelry).
وَكَذَلِكَ سَوَّلَتۡ لِي نَفۡسِي
Thus my inner self suggested to me.
This means that his soul considered it something good and it was pleasing to his self.
The Punishment of As-Samiri and the burning of the Calf Thereupon,
Allah informs that
قَالَ فَاذۡهَبۡ فَإِنَّ لَكَ فِي الۡحَيَاةِ أَن تَقُولَ لَاا مِسَاسَ
(Musa) said:Then go away! And verily, your (punishment) in this life will be that you will say:`Touch me not.'
This means, Just as you took and touched what was not your right to take and touch of the messenger's foot print, such is your punishment in this life, that you will say, `Do not touch (me).'
This means, You will not touch the people and they will not touch you.
وَإِنَّ لَكَ مَوۡعِدًا
and verily, you have a promise,
This means on the Day of Resurrection.
لَّنۡ تُخۡلَفَهُ
that will not fail.
you will have no way to escape it.
Qatadah said,
أَن تَقُولَ لَا مِسَاسَ
(that you will say:`Touch me not'),
This is referring to a punishment for them and their remnants (i.e. those who have their disease) today still say `Do not touch.'
Concerning Allah's statement,
وَإِنَّ لَكَ مَوۡعِدًا لَّنۡ تُخۡلَفَهُ
and verily, you have a promise that will not fail,
Al-Hasan, Qatadah and Abu Nahik said,
You will not be absent from it.
وَانظُرۡ إِلَى إِلَهِكَ
And look at your god,
that which you worshipped,
الَّذِي ظَلۡتَ عَلَيۡهِ عَاكِفًا
to which you have been devoted.
that which you established worship of, which was the calf.
لَّنُحَرِّقَنَّهُ ثُمَّ لَنَنسِفَنَّهُ فِي الۡيَمِّ نَسۡفًا
We will certainly burn it, and scatter its particles in the sea.
إِنَّمَا إِلَهُكُمُ اللَّهُ الَّذِي لَا إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ وَسِعَ كُلَّ شَيۡءٍ عِلۡمًا
Your God is only Allah, there is no God but Him. He has full knowledge of all things.
Musa was saying to them, This is not your god. Your God is only Allah, the One Whom there is no true God except Him. Worship is not befitting to anyone except Him. For everything is in need of Him and everything is His servant.
Concerning the statement,
وَسِعَ كُلَّ شَيۡءٍ عِلۡمًا
He has full knowledge of all things.
The word `Ilm (knowledge) is in the accusative case for distinction. It means that He is the All-Knower of everything.
أَحَاطَ بِكُلِّ شَىۡءٍ عِلۡمَا
(Allah) surrounds all things in (His) knowledge. (65:12)
And He says,
وَأَحۡصَى كُلَّ شَىۡءٍ عَدَداً
And (He) keeps count of all things. (72:28)
Therefore,
لَا يَعۡزُبُ عَنۡهُ مِثۡقَالُ ذَرَّةٍ
Not even the weight of a speck of dust escapes His knowledge. (34:3)
He also says,
وَمَا تَسۡقُطُ مِن وَرَقَةٍ إِلاَّحَبَّةٍ فِى ظُلُمَـتِ الاٌّرۡضِ وَلَا رَطۡبٍ وَلَا يَابِسٍ إِلاَّ فِى كِتَـبٍ مُّبِينٍ
Not a leaf falls, but He knows it. There is not a grain in the darkness of the earth nor anything fresh or dry, but is written in a Clear Record. (6:59)
And He says,
وَمَا مِن دَابَّةٍ فِي الاٌّرۡضِ إِلاَّ عَلَى اللَّهِ رِزۡقُهَا وَيَعۡلَمُ مُسۡتَقَرَّهَا وَمُسۡتَوۡدَعَهَا كُلٌّ فِى كِتَابٍ مُّبِينٍ
And no moving creature is there on earth but its provision is due from Allah. And He knows its dwelling place and its deposit. All is in a Clear Book. (11:6)
The Ayat that mention this are numerous.
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