Surah Al-A'raf 7:142-147 - Quran Translation Commentary

142. And we promised thirty nights for Moosa, and completed it by adding ten nights,²⁰⁶ thus the term appointed by his Lord was complete in forty nights. And Moosa said to his brother Haroon: “Deputise for me among my people,²⁰⁷ and work for reform, and do not follow the path of mischief makers.²⁰⁸

143. And when Moosa came at the appointed time and his Lord spoke to him,²⁰⁹ he entreated: “O my Lord! Show (yourself) to me so that I may look upon you.”²¹⁰ He (Allah) said: “you will never be able to see Me;²¹¹ but look towards the mountain; if it remains firm upon its base, then only can you see Me.” So when his Lord manifested His glory on the monutain, He crushed it to fine dust; and Moosa fell down unconscious.²¹² when he came to senses, he said: “Glory be to you! I turn to You repentant,²¹³ and I am the first of believers.”²¹⁴

144. He (Allah) said: “O Moosa! I have chosen you above the people by granting you My messages and by speaking to you. So take whatever²¹⁵ I am giving you and be thankful.”

145. And we inscribed for him upon the tablets²¹⁶ all kinds of moral lessons and the detailed²¹⁷ instructions of all things, (and said): “So hold them firmly, and enjoin your people to follow their better meaning. ²¹⁸ Soon shall I show you the home of the transgressors.”²¹⁹

146. I will turn away from my signs those who are arrogant unjustifiably in the earth, and even if they see all kinds of signs they do not believe, and if they see the path of guidance they do not take it, and if they see the path of error, they adopt it. That is because they belied our signs and they ignored them.

147. And those who belied our signs and the meeting of the Hereafter, their deeds are vain. what else can be their recompense, except what they deserved according to their deeds?

Commentary

206. prophet Moosa was called on the Mount Sinai by Allah for thirty days and nights, so that he may be honoured by directly speaking with him, as is clear from the verse that follows. Subsequently further ten days were added to this period of solitude. In other words this was a blessing from Allah for prophet Moosa, for the favour of his Lord’s direct speaking with him amounted to enriching prophet Moosa with. blessings and auspiciousness. Therefore, the increase in the period of solitude was a matter of good fortune for him. This event has been mentioned in the Torah also:

“And Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.” (Exodus 24 : 18) .

207. prophet Moosa appointed his brother Haroon, who was also a prophet, as his deputy during his absence to lead Bani Israil.

208. These instructions were given by prophet Moosa to prophet Haroon, but actually the real addressees of these instructions were Bani Israil, for Haroon was a prophet and how could he be expected to be corrupt and follow the mischief makers ! However, there was every danger of Bani Israil falling a prey to all sorts of temptations and act wickedly.

And we inscribed for him upon the tablets all kinds of moral lessons and the detailed instructions of all things, (and said): “So hold them firmly, and enjoin your people to follow their better meaning. Soon shall I show you the home of the transgressors.” (Al-Quran)

209. For explanation, please refer to Note No.274, Surah An-Nisa.

210. The uncomparable taste of talking with God, created in his heart an irrepressible desire to see Him; and in the frenzy of his desire, he manifested it before God. In the Torah it is described as under:

“Moses said, ‘I pray thee, show me thy glory.” (Exodus 33 : 18)

211. Because the mortal eyes of man cannot bear to see the glorious beauty of God. In the Torah it is mentioned:

“But, he said, ‘You cannot see my face; for man shall not see me and live.’’ (Exodus 33 : 20)

212. It shows that the solid, hard and strong thing as the mountain is, even that is unable to withstand the sight of God, then what to speak of the soft and weak creature like man.

In view of this reality, neither the exercises of the Sufis nor the Yoga ‘asanas’ of the yogis can cause for anybody to see God with his physical eyes. Instead of wasting his time in trying to see God himself, man should be content with seeing His signs, and to recognise Him through them and to believe in Him.

213. As soon as prophet Moosa realized that his request to see God with his physical eyes was not proper, he expressed his repentance to God.

214. That is: Let anyone believe or not believe in God, but I am the first to believe in Him. On this occasion prophet Moosa renewed his faith.

215. Means the Torah.

216. In the Bible it is mentioned that these were two tablets and were made of stone. On both the sides of these tablets, the commandments were inscribed. But Quran has used the word ‘alwah’ which is used for more than two tablets. Therefore. these tablets would have been at least three in number.

217. It means that only ten commandments were not inscribed on these tablets. but that apart from the moral lessons the basic instructions about religion and shariah were also inscribed on them.

218. That is: They should not take up merely the words, nor should they follow those meanings of the words of multiple-meanings which have no bearing with the context and which may not be in consonance with the divine words. Inspite of this warning. the Bani Israil committed the same folly about which a fear was expressed. that is, they gave the divine words the meanings which were not intended. In this way they reduced the wise words to the level of fanciful rhyming, with the result that the source from which they should have received guidance, they could only get misguidance. Clear examples of such attempts can be seen in the existing translations of the Torah. There is a warning in this for the followers of Quran that they should give only that meaning to the words and that sense to the verse of the Quran which are best and in consonance with the whole Quran. If this principle is fully kept in view, then many differences of opinions in the commentaries of Quran will be solved.

219. By the house of the transgressors is meant the destination of the evil persons and their final fate, as is clear from the following verse.