Tafseer of Taa-Haa · Taa-Haa · 20:21
[Allah] said, "Seize it and fear not; We will return it to its former condition.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
As for His word قَالَ خُذْهَا وَلَا تَخَفْ ("He said: Take hold of it and do not fear"): Allah, exalted be His remembrance, says that Allah said to Mūsā: Take hold of the serpent — the pronoun referring to the serpent mentioned previously — وَلَا تَخَفْ ("and do not fear"), that is: do not fear this serpent. Allah says: سَنُعِيدُهَا سِيرَتَهَا الْأُولَى ("We shall return it to its former state"), that is: We shall return it to the original form it had before We turned it into a serpent, and We shall return it as a staff just as it was.
Of someone who used to practice a certain affair, then left it and abandoned it, and then took it up again, one says: "So-and-so returned to his former way of life (sīra)" — whether saying "ʿāda fulān sīratahu al-ūlā," or "ʿāda li-sīratihi al-ūlā," or "ʿāda ilā sīratihi al-ūlā."
With what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) are also in agreement.
Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — concerning His word سِيرَتَهَا الْأُولَى — he said: "To its former state."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — concerning سِيرَتَهَا الْأُولَى: he said: "Its form."
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Wahb ibn Munabbih — concerning سَنُعِيدُهَا سِيرَتَهَا الْأُولَى: "That is: We shall return it as a staff just as it was."
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda — concerning سَنُعِيدُهَا سِيرَتَهَا الْأُولَى: he said: "To its original form."
