Tafseer of Taa-Haa · Taa-Haa · 20:87
They said, "We did not break our promise to you by our will, but we were made to carry burdens from the ornaments of the people [of Pharaoh], so we threw them [into the fire], and thus did the Samiri throw."
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.
And His words فَرَجَعَ مُوسَى إِلَى قَوْمِهِ — that is to say: Mūsā returned to his people from among the Children of Israel after the forty nights had elapsed — غَضْبَانَ أَسِفًا — wrathful toward his people, grieved on account of the disbelief which they had committed against Allah after his absence.
As Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: My father related to me, he said: My uncle related to me, he said: My father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His words غَضْبَانَ أَسِفًا : he says: grieved. And he said concerning [the words from sūrat] al-Zukhruf: فَلَمَّا آسَفُونَا — he says: they made us wrathful. The word al-asaf has two meanings: wrath and grief.
Mūsā related to me, he said: ʿAmr related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: غَضْبَانَ أَسِفًا — he says: grieved.
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words وَلَمَّا رَجَعَ مُوسَى إِلَى قَوْمِهِ غَضْبَانَ أَسِفًا : that is to say: grieved on account of what his people had done after his absence.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us — and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His words أَسِفًا : he said: grieved.
Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
And His words قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ أَلَمْ يَعِدْكُمْ رَبُّكُمْ وَعْدًا حَسَنًا — that is to say: Did your Lord not promise you that He is Most Forgiving toward whoever repents, believes, and does good works and then follows the guidance, and did He not promise you the right side of the mount al-Ṭūr, and send down upon you the manna and the quails? That was the fair promise of Allah to the Children of Israel, concerning which Mūsā said to them: Did your Lord not promise you it?
And His words أَفَطَالَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْعَهْدُ أَمْ أَرَدْتُمْ أَنْ يَحِلَّ عَلَيْكُمْ غَضَبٌ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ — that is to say: Has the covenant with me, and the fair favors which Allah has shown you, and His benefactions toward you become long for you — or did you wish that wrath from your Lord should descend upon you? He says: or did you wish that wrath from your Lord should become incumbent upon you, so that you would deserve it through the worship of the calf and your disbelief against Allah, and thereby break my promise? And the breaking of his promise consisted in their remaining seated by the calf, ceasing the march after Mūsā toward the appointed gathering which Allah had promised them, and saying to Hārūn — when he forbade them from worshipping the calf and called upon them to go with him in the path of Mūsā: لَنْ نَبْرَحَ عَلَيْهِ عَاكِفِينَ حَتَّى يَرْجِعَ إِلَيْنَا مُوسَى .
