7. Sūrat al-Aʾrāf

٧۔ سُورَةُ الأعرَاف

7.27 The Israelites started worshipping the calf even after witnessing their miraculous deliverance.

٧۔٢٧ مقطع في سُورَةُ الأعرَاف

quran:7:148

And the people of Moses made, after ˹his departure˺, from their ornaments a calf - an image having a lowing sound. Did they not see that it could neither speak to them nor guide them to a way? They took it ˹for worship˺, and they were wrongdoers.  

And the people of Moses, after him, that is, after he had departed for the communion ˹with God˺, made of their ornaments, which they had borrowed from Pharaoh’s folk on the pretext of a wedding celebration, and which remained in their possession, a calf, which the Samaritan had fashioned for them therefrom; a ˹mere˺ living body (jasadan is a substitution ˹for ‘ijlan, ‘a calf’˺), of flesh and blood, which lowed, that is, ˹which˺ made audible sounds ˹like a cow˺: it ˹the calf˺ was transformed in this way when the dust, which he ˹the Samaritan˺ had collected from ˹where˺ the hoof of Gabriel’s steed ˹had trodden˺, was placed in its mouth, for it has the effect of ˹giving˺ life to that in which it is placed (the second direct object of the verb ittakhadha, ‘˹they˺ made’, has been omitted, but it would be ilāhan, ‘˹as˺ a god’). Did they not see that it spoke not to them, nor guided them to any way?, so how can it be taken as a god? Yet they took it as such, a god, and were evildoers, for taking it so.
القرآن:٧:١٤٨

وَاتَّخَذَ قَوْمُ مُوسَىٰ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ مِنْ حُلِيِّهِمْ عِجْلًا جَسَدًا لَهُ خُوَارٌ ۚ أَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّهُ لَا يُكَلِّمُهُمْ وَلَا يَهْدِيهِمْ سَبِيلًا ۘ اتَّخَذُوهُ وَكَانُوا ظَالِمِينَ  

{واتخذ قوم موسى من بعده} أي بعد ذهابه إلى المناجاة {من حُليِّهم} الذي استعاروه من قوم فرعون بعلَّة عرس فبقي عندهم {عجلا} صاغه لهم منه السامري {جسدا} بدل لحما ودما {له خُوارٌ} أي صوت يسمع، انقلب كذلك بوضع التراب الذي أخذه من حافر فرس جبريل في فمه فإن أثره الحياة فيما يوضع فيه، ومفعول اتخذ الثاني محذوف أي إلها {ألم يروا أنه لا يكلِّمهم ولا يهديهم سبيلا} فكيف يُتَّخذ إلها {اتخذوه} إلها {وكانوا ظالمين} باتخاذه.
quran:7:149

And when regret overcame them and they saw that they had gone astray, they said, "If our Lord does not have mercy upon us and forgive us, we will surely be among the losers."  

And when they became at a loss, that is, ˹when˺ they became remorseful for having worshipped it, and saw, ˹and˺ realised, that they had gone astray, thereby, and this was after Moses’s return ˹from the communion˺, they said, ‘Unless our Lord is merciful to us and forgives us (read both ˹verbs˺ either in the third person singular or in the second person singular), verily we shall be among the losers’.
القرآن:٧:١٤٩

وَلَمَّا سُقِطَ فِي أَيْدِيهِمْ وَرَأَوْا أَنَّهُمْ قَدْ ضَلُّوا قَالُوا لَئِنْ لَمْ يَرْحَمْنَا رَبُّنَا وَيَغْفِرْ لَنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ  

{ولما سُقط في أيديهم} أي ندموا على عبادته {ورأوْا} علموا {أنهم قد ضلوا} بها وذلك بعد رجوع موسى {وقالوا لئن لم يرحْمنا ربنا ويغفرْ لنا} بالياء والتاء فيهما {لنكونن من الخاسرين}.
quran:7:150

And when Moses returned to his people, angry and grieved, he said, "How wretched is that by which you have replaced me after ˹my departure˺. Were you impatient over the matter of your Lord?" And he threw down the tablets and seized his brother by ˹the hair of˺ his head, pulling him toward him. ˹Aaron˺ said, "O son of my mother, indeed the people oppressed me and were about to kill me, so let not the enemies rejoice over me and do not place me among the wrongdoing people."  

And when Moses returned to his people, angry, because of them, and bitterly grieved, he said, to them: ‘Evil is that, that is, evil is the ˹manner of˺ succession, which you have followed in my place, after I had gone, this idolatry of yours. Would you hasten on the judgement of your Lord?’ And he cast down the Tablets, the Tablets of the Torah, angry for the sake of his Lord, and they were broken into pieces, and he seized his brother by the head, that is, by the hair, with his right hand, and ˹seized him˺ by the beard, with his left hand, dragging him toward him, in anger. He said, ‘O, son of my mother! (read either ibna ummi or ibna umma, by which he meant ˹the standard form of saying ‘my mother’˺ ummī: the mention of her is more affectionate ˹in appealing˺ to his heart), Truly the people judged me weak and they were close to killing me. Do not make my enemies gloat over my misfortune, to rejoice thereat, by your humiliating me, and do not count me among the folk who have done evil’, by worshipping the calf, in ˹your˺ reproach ˹of them˺.
القرآن:٧:١٥٠

وَلَمَّا رَجَعَ مُوسَىٰ إِلَىٰ قَوْمِهِ غَضْبَانَ أَسِفًا قَالَ بِئْسَمَا خَلَفْتُمُونِي مِنْ بَعْدِي ۖ أَعَجِلْتُمْ أَمْرَ رَبِّكُمْ ۖ وَأَلْقَى الْأَلْوَاحَ وَأَخَذَ بِرَأْسِ أَخِيهِ يَجُرُّهُ إِلَيْهِ ۚ قَالَ ابْنَ أُمَّ إِنَّ الْقَوْمَ اسْتَضْعَفُونِي وَكَادُوا يَقْتُلُونَنِي فَلَا تُشْمِتْ بِيَ الْأَعْدَاءَ وَلَا تَجْعَلْنِي مَعَ الْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ  

{ولما رجع موسى إلى قومه غضبان} من جهتهم {أسفا} شديد الحزن {قال} {بئسما} أي بئس خلافة {خلفتموني} ها {من بعدي} خلافتكم هذه حيث أشركتم {أعجلتم أمر ربكم وألقى الألواح} ألواح التوراة غضبا لربه فتكسرت {وأخذ برأس أخيه} أي شعره بيمينه ولحيته بشماله {يجره إليه} غضبا {قال} يا {ابْنَ أُمِّ} بكسر الميم وفتحها، أراد أمي وذكرها أعطف لقبله {إن القوم استضعفوني وكادوا} قاربوا {يقتلونني فلا تُشْمت} تُفرح {بي الأعداء} بإهانتك إياي {ولا تجعلني مع القوم الظالمين} بعبادة العجل في المؤاخذة.
quran:7:151

˹Moses˺ said, "My Lord, forgive me and my brother and admit us into Your mercy, for You are the most merciful of the merciful."  

He said, ‘My Lord, forgive me, what I have done to my brother, and my brother, he includes him in the supplication in order to reconcile him and to fend off any gloating over his misfortune, and admit us into Your mercy, for You are the Most Merciful of the merciful’.
القرآن:٧:١٥١

قَالَ رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي وَلِأَخِي وَأَدْخِلْنَا فِي رَحْمَتِكَ ۖ وَأَنْتَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ  

{قال رب اغفر لي} ما صنعت بأخي {ولأخي} أشركه في الدعاء إرضاءً له ودفعا للشماتة به {وأدخلنا في رحمتك وأنت أرحم الراحمين} قال تعالى.