Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 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."
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 discourse on the explanation of His statement: "And when Mūsā returned to his people, angry and grieved, he said: How evil is that with which you have replaced me after my departure! Did you wish to hasten the command of your Lord?"
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: And when Mūsā returned to his people from the Banū Isrāʾīl, he returned angry and grieved, because Allah had informed him that He had tested his people and that al-Sāmirī had led them astray. For this reason his return was in anger and grief.
* * *
The word "al-asaf" means the intensity of anger and the rage over it against the one who angered him, as in:
15124- ʿImrān ibn Bakkār al-Kulāʿī related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Salām ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥaḍramī related to us, saying: Shurayḥ ibn Yazīd related to me, saying: I heard Naṣr ibn ʿAlqama say: Abū al-Dardāʾ said: Allah's statement "angry and grieved (ghaḍbāna asifan)" — he said: "al-asaf" is a state beyond anger, more intense than it, and its explanation is in the Book of Allah: he went to his people angry, and he went grieved.
* * *
Others said something about it:
15125- Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "grieved (asifan)", he said: grieved in spirit (ḥazīnan).
15126- 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: "And when Mūsā returned to his people, angry and grieved (asifan)", he says: "asifan" means "grieved (ḥazīnan)". And he said concerning "al-Zukhruf": fa-lammā āsafūnā [Surah Al-Zukhruf: 55] (when they angered Us), he says: they angered Us. And "al-asaf" has two meanings: anger and grief.
15127- Naṣr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: Sulaymān ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: Mālik ibn Dīnār related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḥasan say concerning His statement: "And when Mūsā returned to his people, angry and grieved", he said: angry and grieved in spirit.
* * *
And His statement: "he said: How evil is that with which you have replaced me after my departure", he says: evil is the deed that you have done after my parting from you, and by which you have succeeded me with regard to my people whom I left among you, and with regard to my religion which your Lord imposed upon you. Of this one says: "khalafahu bi-khayr" (he succeeded him for good) and "khalafahu bi-sharr" (he succeeded him for evil), when someone succeeds another with regard to his family or people and those connected to him after his departure from them, whether for good or for evil.
* * *
And His statement: "Did you wish to hasten the command of your Lord?", he says: did you outrun the command of your Lord in your souls and deviate from it?
* * *
Of this one says: "ʿajila fulān hādhā al-amr" (so-and-so outran this command), when he outstripped it — and "ʿajila fulān fulānan", when he outstripped the other — "wa-lā taʿjalnī yā fulān" (do not hasten me, O so-and-so), [meaning] do not depart without me and do not leave me behind — and "aʿjaltuhu": I urged him on.
* * *
The discourse on the explanation of His statement: "And he threw down the tablets and seized the head of his brother, dragging him toward himself. He said: Son of my mother, the people deemed me weak and were about to kill me; so do not let the enemies rejoice over me, and do not place me among the wrongdoing people." (7:150)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: And Mūsā threw down the tablets.
* * *
Then the people of knowledge differed about the reason why he threw them down.
Some of them said: he threw them down out of anger toward his people who were worshipping the calf.
* Mention of who said that:
15128- Tamīm ibn al-Muntaṣir related to us, saying: Yazīd informed us, saying: al-Aṣbagh ibn Zayd informed us, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Ayyūb, saying: Saʿīd ibn Jubayr related to me, saying: Ibn ʿAbbās said: when Mūsā returned to his people, angry and grieved, he seized the head of his brother and dragged him toward himself, and he threw down the tablets out of anger.
15129- And 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, he said: when Mūsā returned to his people and was near them, he heard their voices, and he said: indeed, I hear the voices of a people frivolously at play. When he saw them and that they had devoted themselves to the calf, he threw down the tablets and broke them, and he seized the head of his brother and dragged him toward himself.
15130- Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, he said: Mūsā took the tablets, then Mūsā returned to his people, angry and grieved, and he said: yā qawmi a-lam yaʿidkum rabbukum waʿdan ḥasanan (O my people, did not your Lord make you a goodly promise), up to His statement: fa-kadhālika alqā al-Sāmirī [Surah Ṭā Hā: 86-87] (and thus did al-Sāmirī cast it), and Mūsā threw down the tablets and seized the head of his brother and dragged him toward himself — qāla yā bna umma lā taʾkhudh bi-liḥyatī wa-lā bi-raʾsī [Surah Ṭā Hā: 94] (he said: Son of my mother, do not seize me by my beard nor by my head).
15131- Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, he said: when Mūsā came to his people and saw what they were doing in the worship of the calf, he threw the tablets from his hand, and then he seized the head of his brother and his beard, while saying: mā manaʿaka idh raʾaytahum ḍallū * a-lā tattabiʿani a-faʿaṣayta amrī [Surah Ṭā Hā: 92, 93] (what prevented you, when you saw them going astray, from following me? Did you disobey my command?).
* * *
Others said: Mūsā threw down the tablets only because of excellences he found in them for a people other than his own, and that weighed heavily upon him.
* Mention of who said that:
15132- Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, [concerning] His statement: akhadha al-alwāḥa (he took the tablets), he said: [Mūsā said:] Lord, indeed I find in the tablets a community that is the best community brought forth for mankind; they enjoin good and forbid evil — make them my community! He said: that is the community of Aḥmad! He said: Lord, indeed I find in the tablets a community that are the last — that is, the last in creation — the first to enter Paradise; Lord, make them my community! He said: that is the community of Aḥmad! He said: Lord, indeed I find in the tablets a community whose gospels are in their breasts and who recite them [by heart] — whereas those before them read their book only by looking at it, so that when they took it away they retained nothing and did not know it. Qatāda said: and indeed Allah has given you, O community, a [capacity for] memorization that He has given to no other community. He said: Lord, make them my community! He said: that is the community of Aḥmad! He said: Lord, indeed I find in the tablets a community that believes in the first Book and in the last Book, and that fights the excesses of misguidance, until they fight the one-eyed liar; make them my community! He said: that is the community of Aḥmad! He said: Lord, indeed I find in the tablets a community whose alms they eat in their bellies and are then rewarded for it — whereas among the communities before them, when someone gave alms and it was accepted from him, Allah would send down upon it a fire that consumed it; and if it was returned to him, it was left for the birds and wild beasts to eat. He said: and indeed Allah takes your alms (ṣadaqāt) from your wealthy for your poor. He said: Lord, make them my community! He said: that is the community of Aḥmad! He said: Lord, indeed I find in the tablets a community among whom, when one of them intended a good deed but did not perform it, a good deed was written down for him; and when he performed it, tenfold was written down for him, up to seven hundredfold; Lord, make them my community! He said: that is the community of Aḥmad! He said: Lord, indeed I find in the tablets a community among whom, when one of them intended an evil deed, it was not written down against him until he performed it; and when he performed it, a single evil deed was written against him; make them my community! He said: that is the community of Aḥmad! He said: Lord, indeed I find in the tablets a community who are those whose prayers are answered and for whom answer is given; make them my community! He said: that is the community of Aḥmad! He said: Lord, indeed I find in the tablets a community who are the intercessors and for whom intercession is made; make them my community! He said: that is the community of Aḥmad! He said: and it has been reported to us that the prophet of Allah, Mūsā — peace be upon him — cast away the tablets and said: O Allah, make me one of the community of Aḥmad! He said: and to the prophet of Allah, Mūsā — peace be upon him — two things were given that were given to no other prophet. Allah said: yā Mūsā innī iṣṭafaytuka ʿalā al-nāsi bi-risālātī wa-bi-kalāmī [Surah Al-Aʿrāf: 144] (O Mūsā, indeed I have chosen you above mankind with My messages and with My speech). He said: then the prophet of Allah was content. Then the second was given to him: wa-min qawmi Mūsā ummatun yahdūna bi-l-ḥaqqi wa-bihi yaʿdilūn [Surah Al-Aʿrāf: 159] (and among the people of Mūsā is a community that guides by the truth and acts justly thereby). He said: then the prophet of Allah — Allah's blessing and peace be upon him — was wholly content.
15133- Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: when Mūsā took the tablets, he said: O Lord, indeed I find in the tablets a community that is the best of communities; they enjoin good and forbid evil — make them my community! He said: that is the community of Aḥmad! He said: O Lord, indeed I find in the tablets a community that are the last, the first on the Day of Resurrection — make them my community! He said: that is the community of Aḥmad. Then he mentioned something similar to the report of Bishr ibn Muʿādh — except that in his report he said: and Mūsā — peace be upon him — threw down the tablets and said: O Allah, make me one of the community of Muḥammad — Allah's blessing be upon them both.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the closest to correctness among the statements about this is that the reason for Mūsā's throwing down the tablets arose from his anger toward his people because of their worship of the calf, since Allah — exalted is His praise — has reported about that in His Book, where He said: "And when Mūsā returned to his people, angry and grieved, he said: How evil is that with which you have replaced me after my departure! Did you wish to hasten the command of your Lord? And he threw down the tablets and seized the head of his brother, dragging him toward himself."
* * *
And it has been reported that Allah, when He wrote the Tawrāt for Mūsā — peace be upon him — in the tablets, brought him near to Himself until he heard the scratching of the pen.
* Mention of who said that:
15134- Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Abī ʿUmāra, on the authority of ʿAlī — peace be upon him — he said: Allah wrote the tablets for Mūsā — peace be upon him — while he heard the scratching of the pens in the tablets.
15135- ... he said: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, he said: He brought him near until he heard the scratching of the pens.
* * *
And it has been said: indeed, the Tawrāt consisted of seven sevenths, and when Mūsā threw down the tablets, they broke, and six sevenths of it were taken away. And among what was taken away was "the exposition of all things", concerning which Allah said: wa-katabnā lahu fī al-alwāḥi min kulli shayʾin mawʿiẓatan wa-tafṣīlan li-kulli shayʾ (and We wrote for him on the tablets, of all things, an admonition and an exposition of all things). And the guidance and the mercy remained in the remaining seventh, and that is what Allah said concerning: akhadha al-alwāḥa wa-fī nuskhatihā hudan wa-raḥmatun li-lladhīna hum li-rabbihim yarhabūn [Surah Al-Aʿrāf: 154] (he took the tablets, and in the copy of them was guidance and mercy for those who fear their Lord).
* * *
And the Tawrāt was, according to what has been reported, seventy camel-loads; one would read one portion of it in a year, as in:
15136- Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Khālid al-Makfūf related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, on the authority of Abī Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, he said: the Tawrāt was sent down and it was seventy camel-loads; one would read one portion of it in a year; only four persons read it [in full]: Mūsā ibn ʿImrān, ʿĪsā, ʿUzayr and Yūshaʿ ibn Nūn — Allah's blessings be upon them.
* * *
And they differed about "the tablets (al-alwāḥ)".
Some of them said: they were of green emerald (zumurrud).
* * *
And some of them said: they were of ruby (yāqūt).
* * *
And some of them said: they were of hailstone (barad).
* * *
* Mention of the report of what we have mentioned of that.
15137- Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Dawraqī related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj ibn Muḥammad related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: Yaʿlā ibn Muslim informed me, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: Mūsā threw down the tablets and they broke, and they were taken away except for a sixth of them. Ibn Jurayj said: and he informed me that the tablets were of chrysolite (zabarjad) and emerald from Paradise.
15138- And Mūsā ibn Sahl al-Ramlī, and ʿAlī ibn Dāwūd, and ʿAbd Allah ibn Aḥmad ibn Shabbawayh, and Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Tirmidhī related to me, they said: Ādam al-ʿAsqalānī informed us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abī al-ʿĀliya, he said: the tablets of Mūsā — peace be upon him — were of hailstone (barad).
15139- Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of Abī al-Junayd, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn Abī al-Mughīra, he said: I asked Saʿīd ibn Jubayr about the tablets, of what material they were? He said: they were of ruby, with writing of gold; the Most Merciful wrote them with His hand, and the inhabitants of the heavens heard the scratching of the pen as He wrote them.
15140- Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Qāsim related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Waḍḍāḥ, on the authority of Khuṣayf, on the authority of Mujāhid or Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, he said: the tablets were of emerald; and when Mūsā threw down the tablets, the guidance and the mercy remained, and the exposition disappeared.
15141- He said: al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ashjaʿī related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Muslim, on the authority of Khuṣayf, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: the tablets were of green emerald.
* * *
And some of them claimed that the tablets were two tablets. If the one who said that spoke correctly, then it was said: wa-katabnā lahu fī al-alwāḥ (and We wrote for him on the tablets), while they were two tablets, just as it was said: fa-in kāna lahu ikhwatun [Surah Al-Nisāʾ: 11] (and if he has brothers), while they are two brothers.
* * *
As for His statement: "and he seized the head of his brother, dragging him toward himself", that was part of the deed of the prophet of Allah — Allah's blessing and peace be upon him — because of his rancor toward his brother Hārūn, since the latter had failed to follow him and had remained with the Banū Isrāʾīl in the place where he had left them, as the Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, said, reporting about Mūsā's words to him: mā manaʿaka idh raʾaytahum ḍallū * a-lā tattabiʿani a-faʿaṣayta amrī [Surah Ṭā Hā: 92, 93] (what prevented you, when you saw them going astray, from following me? Did you disobey my command?), when Hārūn informed him of his excuse and he accepted it; and that is his statement to Mūsā: lā taʾkhudh bi-liḥyatī wa-lā bi-raʾsī innī khashītu an taqūla farraqta bayna banī Isrāʾīla wa-lam tarqub qawlī [Surah Ṭā Hā: 94] (do not seize me by my beard nor by my head; indeed, I feared that you would say: you have caused division among the Banū Isrāʾīl and did not heed my word). And he said: "Son of my mother, the people deemed me weak and were about to kill me; so do not let the enemies rejoice over me", the verse.
* * *
And the reciters differed about the recitation of His statement: "Son of my mother (yā bna umma)".
Most of the reciters of Medina and some of the people of Basra recited it: (yā bna umma) with fatḥa on the "mīm" of "al-umm".
* * *
And most of the reciters of Kufa recited it: (yā bna ummi) with kasra on the "mīm" of al-umm.
* * *
And the linguists differed about the fatḥa of it and the kasra of it, while they all agree that they are two dialectal forms current among the Arabs.
Some of the grammarians of Basra said: it was said with the fatḥa, on the ground that they are two nouns made into a single noun, just as it was said: "yā bna ʿamma" (O son of [my] uncle); and he said: this is an exception upon which no analogy is drawn.
And he said: whoever recites it as "yā bna ummi", that is according to the dialect of those who say: "hādhā ghulāmi qad jāʾa" (this boy of mine has come), making it into a single noun whose ending is with a kasra, like his statement: "khāzi bāz".
* * *
And some of the grammarians of Kufa said: one said "yā bna umma" and "yā bna ʿamma", and one pronounced it in the accusative (naṣb) just as the inflected word is in some cases put in the accusative, as one says: "yā ḥasratā" (O what regret), "yā waylatā" (O woe is me). He said: it is as if they said: "yā ummāh" (O mother) and "yā ʿammāh" (O uncle), but they did not say that with "akh" (brother), and had one said that, it would have been correct. He said: and as for those who placed it in the genitive (khafḍ), that is because it occurred frequently in their speech until they dropped the "yāʾ". He said: and the Arabs scarcely drop the "yāʾ", except in the noun that is called and which the caller attaches to himself, except in their expressions "yā bna ummi" and "yā bna ʿammi", and that is because those two are used frequently in their speech; and when something comes that is not [so frequently] used, they retain the "yāʾ" and say: "yā bna abī" (O son of my father), "yā bna ukhtī, wa-akhī" (O son of my sister, and my brother), "yā bna khālatī" (O son of my maternal aunt) and "yā bna khālī" (O son of my maternal uncle).
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct view about this is that one says: when the "mīm" of "ibn umm" is read with fatḥa, then by it the lamentation (al-nudba) is intended: "yā bna ummāh" (O son of my mother!), and likewise with "ibn ʿamm". And when it is read with kasra, then by it the annexation (al-iḍāfa) is intended, and then the "yāʾ" is dropped which is the pronoun of the noun of the one who reports about himself. And it is as if some of those who denied the comparison of that kasra — when it is read with kasra — to the kasra of the "zāy" of "khāzi bāz" [were correct], because in "khāz bāz" the second part is recognized only by the first, and the first only by the second, so that it became like the [meaningless] sounds.
And it has been related from Yūnus al-Jarmī that he treated "umm" as feminine and "ʿamm" as feminine, and he said: it is made into a single noun only together with the masculine "ibn". They said: and as for the good dialect and the correct analogy, that is the dialect of the one who says: "yā bna ummī" (O son of my mother), with retention of the "yāʾ", as Abū Zubayd said:
O son of my mother, and O splinter of my soul, you have left me for a hard time.
And as another said:
O son of my mother! Would that I had stood by you when you called upon Tamīm while you remained unanswered.
And these retained the "yāʾ" only with "al-umm" because she is not the one called; for the one called is only "al-ibn" (the son), not she. And the Arabs drop the "yāʾ" of the one called only when they attach him to themselves, not when they attach him to another, as we have explained.
* * *
And it has been said: indeed, Hārūn said to Mūsā — peace be upon him — only "son of my mother" and not "son of my father", although they were of one father and one mother, in order to stir up compassion in him toward himself through the kinship of the mother.
* * *
And His statement: "indeed, the people deemed me weak and were about to kill me", by it he means the people who had devoted themselves to the worship of the calf and said: "this is our god and the god of Mūsā", and who opposed Hārūn. And their deeming him weak was: their failing to obey him and follow his command — "and were about to kill me", he says: they drew near to it but did not do it.
* * *
And the reciters differed about the recitation of His statement: "fa-lā tushmit" (so do not let rejoice).
The reciters of the [great] cities recited it: (fa-lā tushmit biya al-aʿdāʾa), with ḍamma on the "tāʾ" of "tushmit" and kasra on the "mīm" of it, from their expression: "ashmata fulān fulānan bi-fulān" (so-and-so made so-and-so rejoice over so-and-so), when he made him rejoice in him with something that is unpleasant to the one over whom one rejoices.
* * *
And it has been related from Mujāhid that he recited it: (fa-lā tashmit biya al-aʿdāʾu).
15142- ʿAbd al-Karīm related that to me, saying: Ibrāhīm ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, saying: Ḥumayd ibn Qays said: Mujāhid recited: (fa-lā tashmit biya al-aʿdāʾu).
15143- Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿUyayna, on the authority of Ḥumayd, he said: Mujāhid recited: (fa-lā tashmit biya al-aʿdāʾu).
15144- It was related to me, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Ziyād al-Farrāʾ, he said: Sufyān ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Mujāhid, that he said: (lā tushmit).
* * *
And al-Farrāʾ said: al-Kisāʾī said: I do not know, but perhaps they meant: "fa-lā tashmat biya al-aʿdāʾu" (so do not let the enemies rejoice over me); and if that is correct, then it has similar cases. The Arabs say: "farightu" and "faraghtu" (I finished); whoever says "faraghtu" says: "anā afrughu", and whoever says "farightu" says: "anā afraghu"; and likewise "rakintu" and "rakantu" (I inclined), and "shamilahum amrun" and "shamalahum" (a matter encompassed them) in much of speech. He said: and "al-aʿdāʾ" is in the nominative (rafʿ), because the action is theirs, according to the one who says "tashmat" or "tashmit".
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the recitation which I do not permit reciting with any other, is the recitation of the one who recites: (fa-lā tushmit), with ḍamma on the first "tāʾ" and kasra on the "mīm", from "ashmattu bihi ʿaduwwahu ushmituhu bihi" (I made his enemy rejoice over him), and with naṣb on "al-aʿdāʾ", because of the consensus of the authoritative reciters of the [great] cities about it, and the anomaly of what diverges from it in recitation; and that suffices as testimony against what diverges from it. This, in addition to the denial by the general people of knowledge of the Arabic language of: "shamata fulān fulānan bi-fulān", and "shamata fulān bi-fulān yashmit bihi"; for what is known in their speech, when they report about someone's malicious joy over his enemy, is only: "shamita bihi" with kasra on the "mīm", "yashmat bihi" with fatḥa on it in the future tense.
* * *
And as for His statement: "and do not place me among the wrongdoing people", that is the statement of Hārūn to his brother Mūsā. He says: do not place me, in your rancor toward me and your punishment of me — while I have not opposed your command — in the position of the one who disobeyed you and opposed your command and worshipped the calf after your departure, and so wronged himself and worshipped another than Him to whom worship is due, while I did not assist them in any of that, as in:
15145- 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: "and do not place me among the wrongdoing people", he said: the people of the calf.
15146- 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, something similar.
