ٱلنِّسَاء : ١٥٣

  • يَسۡـَٔلُكَ Ask you
  • أَهۡلُ (the) People
  • ٱلۡكِتَٰبِ (of) the Book
  • أَن that
  • تُنَزِّلَ you bring down
  • عَلَيۡهِمۡ to them
  • كِتَٰبٗا a book
  • مِّنَ from
  • ٱلسَّمَآءِۚ the heaven
  • فَقَدۡ Then indeed
  • سَأَلُواْ they (had) asked
  • مُوسَىٰٓ Musa
  • أَكۡبَرَ greater
  • مِن than
  • ذَٰلِكَ that
  • فَقَالُوٓاْ for they said
  • أَرِنَا Show us
  • ٱللَّهَ Allah
  • جَهۡرَةٗ manifestly
  • فَأَخَذَتۡهُمُ so struck them
  • ٱلصَّـٰعِقَةُ the thunderbolt
  • بِظُلۡمِهِمۡۚ for their wrongdoing
  • ثُمَّ Then
  • ٱتَّخَذُواْ they took
  • ٱلۡعِجۡلَ the calf (for worship)
  • مِنۢ from
  • بَعۡدِ after
  • مَا [what]
  • جَآءَتۡهُمُ came to them
  • ٱلۡبَيِّنَٰتُ the clear proofs
  • فَعَفَوۡنَا then We forgave them
  • عَن for
  • ذَٰلِكَۚ that
  • وَءَاتَيۡنَا And We gave
  • مُوسَىٰ Musa
  • سُلۡطَٰنٗا an authority
  • مُّبِينٗا clear
The People of the Scripture ask you to bring down to them a book from the heaven. But they had asked of Moses [even] greater than that and said, "Show us Allāh outright," so the thunderbolt struck them for their wrongdoing. Then they took the calf [for worship] after clear evidences had come to them, and We pardoned that. And We gave Moses a clear authority.
The People of the Scripture, the Jews, will ask of you, O Muhammad may peace and salutation be upon him, to cause a Book to be revealed to them from the sky, all at once, as was revealed to Moses, merely to harass [you]. If you consider this shocking, then [know that], they, their forefathers, asked Moses for something greater than that, for they said, 'Show us God openly', before our eyes; so the thunderbolt, death, seized them, as punishment for them, for their evildoing, when they harassed him [Moses] with this demand. They then took to themselves the [golden] calf, for a god, after clear proofs, the miracles testifying to God's Oneness, had come to them; yet We pardoned that, and did not annihilate them; and We bestowed upon Moses clear authority, evident and manifest sway over them, for when he commanded them to slay themselves in repentance, they obeyed him.