Tafseer of Taa-Haa · Taa-Haa · 20:90
And Aaron had already told them before [the return of Moses], "O my people, you are only being tested by it, and indeed, your Lord is the Most Merciful, so follow me and obey my order."
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.
The exposition of the exegesis of the word of Allah the Exalted: أَفَلا يَرَوْنَ أَلا يَرْجِعُ إِلَيْهِمْ قَوْلا وَلا يَمْلِكُ لَهُمْ ضَرًّا وَلا نَفْعًا (verse 89)
Allah the Exalted, may His remembrance be exalted, hereby rebukes the worshippers of the calf and those who said to them: هَذَا إِلَهُكُمْ وَإِلَهُ مُوسَى فَنَسِيَ — and He reproached them for that and put their reason to shame because of what they did and what they committed thereby: do they then not see that the calf — which they claimed was their godhead and the godhead of Moses — does not speak to them, and that, were they to speak to it, it would return them no answer, and that it is not able to bring them harm or benefit? How can that which has these characteristics be a godhead?
As Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us — he said: 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: أَلا يَرْجِعُ إِلَيْهِمْ قَوْلا — the calf.
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: أَفَلا يَرَوْنَ أَلا يَرْجِعُ إِلَيْهِمْ قَوْلا — he said: the calf.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: Allah said أَفَلا يَرَوْنَ أَلا يَرْجِعُ إِلَيْهِمْ — that calf which they had chosen for themselves as a godhead — قَوْلا وَلا يَمْلِكُ لَهُمْ ضَرًّا وَلا نَفْعًا .