Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:145
And We wrote for him on the tablets [something] of all things - instruction and explanation for all things, [saying], "Take them with determination and order your people to take the best of it. I will show you the home of the defiantly disobedient."
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 explanation of the saying of Allah: وَكَتَبْنَا لَهُ فِي الأَلْوَاحِ مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَوْعِظَةً وَتَفْصِيلا لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ (And We wrote for him upon the tablets concerning all things an admonition and an exposition of all things.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, exalted is His mention, says: And We wrote for Mūsā upon his tablets.
And the alif and lām were inserted into "the tablets" (al-alwāḥ) in place of the genitive annexation (iḍāfa), as the poet said: (4)
…and the intellectual faculties are not absent. (5)
And as He, exalted is His praise, said: فَإِنَّ الْجَنَّةَ هِيَ الْمَأْوَى (then Paradise will surely be the abode) [Sūrah al-Nāziʿāt: 41], that is to say: it is his abode. (6)
And His saying: "concerning all things," He says: of the admonition and the exhortation to the greatness of Allah and the glory of His sovereignty = "an admonition," for his people and for whoever was commanded to act according to what was written upon the tablets (7) = "and an exposition of all things," He says: and a clarification of all things of the command and the prohibition of Allah. (8)
And in such terms as what we have said concerning that, the exegetes have spoken.
Mention of those who said that:
15106 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid = or Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, and in the original of my book it stands: on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr = concerning the saying of Allah: "and an exposition of all things," he said: what was commanded to them and what was forbidden to them.
15107 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, in similar terms.
15108 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "And We wrote for him upon the tablets concerning all things an admonition and an exposition of all things," of the permitted and the forbidden.
15109 - Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Abū Saʿd related to us, saying: I heard Mujāhid say concerning His saying: "and an exposition of all things," he said: what was commanded to them and what was forbidden to them.
15110 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his saying: "And We wrote for him upon the tablets concerning all things an admonition and an exposition of all things," ʿAṭiyya said: (9) Ibn ʿAbbās informed me: that Mūsā ﷺ moved on in haste when death pressed upon him, (10) he said: this is because of Ādam! Allah had placed us in an abode wherein we would not die, but on account of the sin of Ādam He sent us down to here! Then Allah said to Mūsā: shall I send Ādam to you, that you may dispute with him? He said: yes! So when Allah sent Ādam, Mūsā interrogated him, and our father Ādam, upon both of them be peace, said: O Mūsā, you asked Allah to send me to you! Mūsā said: had you not been, we would not be here! Ādam said to him: did Allah not bring you, concerning all things, an admonition and an exposition? Do you not then know that no calamity befalls upon the earth or in your own selves except that it is in a Book before He brings it into being? (11) Mūsā said: yes indeed! Thereupon Ādam prevailed over him in the dispute, upon both of them be the peace of Allah. (12)
15111 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn Maʿqil: that he heard Wahb say concerning His saying: "And We wrote for him upon the tablets concerning all things an admonition and an exposition of all things," he said: He wrote for him: ascribe no partners to Me, neither from the dwellers of the heaven nor from the dwellers of the earth, for all of that is My creation. Do not swear falsely by My name, for whoever swears falsely by My name, him I shall not purify, and show honour to both your parents.
The explanation of the saying of Allah: فَخُذْهَا بِقُوَّةٍ (So take them with strength.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, exalted is His mention, says: And We said to Mūsā, when We wrote for him upon the tablets concerning all things an admonition and an exposition of all things: take the tablets with strength.
And He directed the statement to "the tablets," while what was meant was what is in them.
And the exegetes differed concerning the meaning of "strength" in this place.
Some of them said: its meaning is: with earnestness.
Mention of those who said that:
15112 - ʿAbd al-Karīm related to me, saying: Ibrāhīm ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna related to us, saying: Abū Saʿd said, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "So take them with strength," he said: with earnestness.
10113 - Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "So take them with strength," he said: with earnestness and exertion.
And others said: the meaning of that is: take them, then, with obedience to Allah.
Mention of those who said that:
15114 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Saʿd related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar informed us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas concerning His saying: "So take them with strength," he said: with obedience.
And we have already explained the meaning of that, with its proofs, and the disagreements of the exegetes concerning it, in "Sūrah al-Baqarah" at His saying: خُذُوا مَا آتَيْنَاكُمْ بِقُوَّةٍ (Take what We have given you with strength) [Sūrah al-Baqarah: 63], which dispenses us from repeating it in this place. (13)
The explanation of the saying of Allah: وَأْمُرْ قَوْمَكَ يَأْخُذُوا بِأَحْسَنِهَا (And command your people that they take the best of it.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, exalted is His mention, says: We said to Mūsā: "and command your people," the children of Israel = "that they take the best of it," He says: that they act according to the best of what they find in it, as:
15115 - Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "and command your people that they take the best of it," according to the best of what they find in it.
15116 - ʿAbd al-Karīm related to me, saying: Ibrāhīm related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, saying: Abū Saʿd related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "and command your people that they take the best of it," he said: Mūsā was commanded to take them more strictly than what his people were commanded.
And if someone were to say: and what is the meaning of His saying: "and command your people that they take the best of it" — was it among their customs to neglect a portion of the good that is in it?
Then it is said: no, but in it there was a command and a prohibition, and Allah commanded them to act according to what He had commanded them to do, and to refrain from what He had forbidden them. For acting according to what is commanded is better than acting according to what is forbidden.
The explanation of the saying of Allah: سَأُرِيكُمْ دَارَ الْفَاسِقِينَ (145) (I shall show you the dwelling of the wicked. (145))
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, exalted is His mention, says to Mūsā, when He wrote upon the tablets concerning all things: take them with earnestness in acting according to what is in them and with exertion, and command your people to take the best of what is in them, and forbid them the neglect of it and the neglect of acting according to what is in it and the ascribing of partners to Me (shirk). For whoever of them or of others ascribes partners to Me, verily, I shall show him in the hereafter, when he returns to Me, "the dwelling of the wicked" (al-fāsiqīn), and that is the Fire of Allah which He has prepared for His enemies. (14)
And He only said: "I shall show you the dwelling of the wicked," just as the speaker says to the one whom he addresses: "I shall show you tomorrow what the condition comes to of whoever contradicts my command!", by way of threat and warning to whoever disobeys Him and contradicts His command. (15)
And the exegetes differed concerning the meaning of that.
Some of them said something similar to what we have said concerning it.
Mention of those who said that:
15117 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning His saying: "I shall show you the dwelling of the wicked," he said: their destination in the hereafter.
15118 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
15119 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Muslim related to us, saying: Mubārak related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His saying: "I shall show you the dwelling of the wicked," he said: Hell (jahannam).
And others said: the meaning of that is: I shall bring you into the land of al-Shām, and show you the dwellings of the unbelievers who are its inhabitants, namely the tyrants and the Amalekites.
Mention of those who said that:
15120 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "I shall show you the dwelling of the wicked," their dwellings.
15121 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: "the dwelling of the wicked," he said: their dwellings.
And others said: the meaning of that is: I shall show you the dwelling of the people of Pharaoh, and that is Egypt.
Mention of those who said that:
[here the manuscript shows a lacuna the size of five lines; in the margin of the manuscript it stands in red ink: "missing, thus the original". (16)]
Abū Jaʿfar said: And we have only preferred the opinion which we preferred in the explanation of that, because what precedes His saying, exalted is His praise: "I shall show you the dwelling of the wicked," is a command from Allah to Mūsā and his people to act according to what is in the Torah. And what is most fitting to the wisdom of Allah, exalted is He, is that He conclude that with the threat against whoever neglected it and was remiss in acting for Allah and deviated from His way, rather than with a report about something concerning which the report has already been cut off, or about something concerning which no mention has been made.
Footnotes: (4) It is al-Nābigha al-Dhubyānī. (5) The verse has already occurred earlier with its location and explanation 5: 160, note 3, where the location was not mentioned, so let that be noted. The verse reads, with its reading just now: They have a nature which fate has bestowed upon none among mankind other than them, so that their intellectual faculties are not absent. (6) See what has gone before 5: 160, 161. (7) See the explanation of "the admonition (al-mawʿiẓa)" earlier in the linguistic registers (w-ʿ-ẓ). (8) See the explanation of "the exposition (al-tafṣīl)" earlier p. 68, note 5, and the references there. (9) It is "ʿAṭiyya al-ʿAwfī," and he is the great-grandfather of "Muḥammad ibn Saʿd." See the explanation of this isnād in number 305. (10) In the printed edition, and in al-Durr al-Manthūr 3: 21: "that Mūsā ﷺ, when death pressed upon him." The word which I have written has dropped out: "inṣalata"; and it stands in the manuscript thus: "al-ṭayyib" without diacritical points, and I have found for it no word-form which corresponds to its script and which is closer in meaning than "inṣalata". One says: "inṣalata fī al-amr," when someone moves unhindered and swiftly. One says: "inṣalata yaʿdū" when someone hastens, and "al-munṣalit" is the swift of all things. And al-Bukhārī related in his Ṣaḥīḥ, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, he said: The angel of death was sent to Mūsā, peace be upon him. When he came to him, the latter struck him, whereupon he returned to his Lord, mighty and exalted, and said: You sent me to a servant who does not wish to die — the report. It was thus as though this came from him when he loathed and hated death, and he hastened when he saw him, and said what he said. This is what I have seen, and above every possessor of knowledge is an All-Knowing. And see the reports concerning the death of Mūsā, peace be upon him, in al-Bidāya wa-l-Nihāya 1: 316-319. (11) This is an allusion to the verse of Sūrah al-Ḥadīd: 22. (12) The report 15110 - this is a report with a very weak isnād, as has already gone before in the explanation of its isnād under number 305. And the dispute between Ādam and Mūsā, upon both of them be peace, the report concerning it is related by al-Bukhārī and Muslim and the rest of the books of the Sunan; see the excellent chapter which Ibn Kathīr composed concerning it in al-Bidāya wa-l-Nihāya 1: 81-85. And one says: "khāṣamahu fa-khaṣamahu," that is to say: he prevailed over him in the dispute. And that is the adducing of arguments. (13) See what has gone before 2: 160, 161. (14) See the explanation of "wickedness (al-fisq)" earlier, p. 11, note 1, and the references there. (15) In the printed edition: "by way of menace" and I have adopted what stands in the manuscript, and that is entirely the correct one. (16) Thus a void in the manuscript the size of five lines, and in the margin of the manuscript in red ink: "missing, thus the original".