Surah Al-A'raf 7:148-151 - Quran Translation Commentary

(7:148) And in Musa's absence his people made from their jewelry²¹⁶ a calf a mere body that had a lowing sound.²¹⁷ Did they not notice that it did not speak to them²¹⁸ nor could lead them to a path? Yet they took it (for worship): they were transgressors.²¹⁹

(7:149) When they felt ashamed²²⁰ and realized that they had erred they cried out, ‘If our Lord does not show us mercy and forgive us, surely, we shall be of the losers.'

(7:150) When Musa returned to his people angry and sorrowful, he said, ‘You have been poor successors after me. Did you (try to) outstrip Your Lord's commandment?'²²¹ He cast down the Tablets²²² and seizing his brother by his head,²²³ dragged him toward himself. He protested, ‘Son of my mother.²²⁴ My people overpowered me, and were close to murdering me.²²⁵ Give not my enemies (a chance) to gloat over me, nor count me among the transgressing people.'²²⁶

(7:151) He said, ‘My Lord! Forgive me and my brother; and admit us into Your grace. Surely, you are the most Merciful of those who show mercy.'²²⁷

Commentary

216. It is reported that the Israelites borrowed jewelry from the Egyptians a night prior to their exodus from Egypt. Samiri, who molded the calf, gathered that gold and while melting it added a handful of dust that he had scooped out from the spot at which Jibril's horse had set its foot on the land. The molded calf acquired a lowing sound on account of that handful of dust (Razi).

217. See note 131 of surah al Baqarah of this work for explanation.

Sufi commentator Thanwi adds: This implies that one should not be over impressed by supernatural acts.

218. That is, the fact that it had a lowing sound should not have led the Israelites to believe in its supernatural qualities, because they could have noticed that it was not capable of speaking to them, especially when, later, they would have learned from the seventy men testifying that their Lord had spoken to Musa. But, as Ibn Kathir quotes the hadith of Ahmad and Abu Da'ud:

حُبُّكَ الشَّىْءَ يُعْمِى وَيُصِمُّ

"Your love of a thing blinds and deafens you." (But it is perhaps the words of Abu Darda’: Arna’ut). Further, the fact that it had a lowing sound, might have led them to believe that the calf was transformed into a living one.

That does not seem to be plausible, since, transformation of that sort would shake down the strongest in faith. However achieved, it was perhaps a mechanical device, learnt from the technologically fairly advanced Egyptians, placed in the hollow of the stomach, and covered with ornamental cloth, which would have done the trick (Au.).

Asad adds: "The golden calf of the Israelites was obviously a result of centuries old Egyptian influences. The Egyptians worshipped at Memphis the sacred bull, Apis, which they believed to be an incarnation of the god Ptah. A new Apis was supposed always to be born at the moment when the old one died, while the soul of the latter was believed to pass into Osiris in the Realm of the Dead, to be henceforth worshipped as Osiris Apis (the "Serapis" of the Greco Egyptian period)."

219. That is, they had no basis in reason or revelation to worship the calf, rather, were merely imitating the Egyptians whose deity it was (Rashid Rida).

220. The translation is based on Ibn Jarir's understanding.

221. Perhaps Musa meant to say, ‘Have you tried to work out the Law by yourself through other than God, instead of waiting for Revelations from Allah?’ (Au.)

222. The Prophet (saws) has said in a hadith recorded by Ibn Abi Hatim:

لَيْسَ الْخَبَرُ كَالْمُعَايَنَةِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ أَخْبَرَ مُوسَى بِمَا صَنَعَ قَوْمُهُ فِي الْعِجْلِ فَلَمْ يُلْقِ الْأَلْوَاحَ فَلَمَّا عَايَنَ مَا صَنَعُوا أَلْقَى الْأَلْوَاحَ فَانْكَسَرَتْ

"Seeing is not the same as hearing. Musa was informed by his Lord about what his people had committed (behind him), but he did not cast the Tablets. But when he saw it with his own eyes, he cast them down and they broke" (Razi, Ibn Kathir).

The report is treated as Sahih by Shu`ayb Arna’ut (Au.).

The casting of the Tablets requires some clarification. One could imagine that Musa threw them down. But such an action is unbecoming of a Messenger as great as Musa, on whom be peace. Probably, when he saw what had happened behind him, he flew into a rage in the face of a crime of that nature. He hurriedly placed down the Tablets, but not as ceremoniously as they deserved, turned to Harun (to vent his anger), and began to pull him by his hair. His action of not disposing the Tablets in a manner deserving of an article demanding the greatest of care in handling, has been, (in keeping with the slightest error committed by Prophets counted as serious) as "casting down" (Alusi, slightly reworded).

The Qur'an has other instances of the use of the word "cast" but not in the sense of throwing. It tells us that Allah (swt) ordered Musa's mother (28:7):

فَإِذَا خِفْتِ عَلَيْهِ فَأَلْقِيهِ فِي الْيَمِّ [القصص : 7]

"When you fear for him, cast him into the river" (Thanwi).

Obviously, if she had done that, the infant would have been drowned. She would have laid him in water with the greatest of care (Au.).

223. That is, he pulled him toward himself by his hair and beard as stated elsewhere in the Qur'an (20: 94) Alusi.

224. Although pre Islamic poetry has examples of this kind of usage, Ibn Jarir explains that Harun employed the term "Ibn Ummi" instead of "Ibn Abi" out of tenderness.

There are other examples in contemporary Arabic language. For instance, during an argument an Arab might say to another, "Ya ibn al Halal" (O legitimate one) to cool him down and not by way of any insinuation (Au.).

But Majid has a better explanation: "The phrase also makes it clear that Aaron and Moses were brothers both on their father's and their mother's side and not half brothers or step brothers."

225. Majid writes: "According the Jewish sources, when Hur stepped in to rebuke the Israelites for their blasphemy, ‘he was at once put to death, and Aaron was threatened with the same fate' (JE. III. p. 509)."

226. Rashid Rida points out, that there are many reasons why the Qur'an is a guardian (muhaymin, ref. 5: 47) over the older revelations. One of them is that it offers corrections to what has been introduced into them by the humans. The Tawrah puts the blame on Harun (asws) for worship of the calf. It says in Exodus: ‘When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, "Up, make us gods, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." And Aaron said to them, "Take off the rings of gold which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." So all the people took off the rings of gold which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold at their hand, and fashioned it with graving tool, and made a molten calf; and they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt' (32: 1 4).

227. In these words Musa sought forgiveness for whatever he had done in his anger (Shabbir).