Surah 20. Taha

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Verses [Section]: 1-24[1], 25-54 [2], 55-76 [3], 77-89 [4], 90-104 [5], 105-115 [6], 116-128 [7], 129-135 [8]

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Quran Text of Verse 90-104وَ لَقَدْAnd verilyقَالَ(had) saidلَهُمْto themهٰرُوْنُHarunمِنْbeforeقَبْلُbeforeیٰقَوْمِO my peopleاِنَّمَاOnlyفُتِنْتُمْyou are being testedبِهٖ ۚby itوَ اِنَّand indeedرَبَّكُمُyour Lordالرَّحْمٰنُ(is) the Most Graciousفَاتَّبِعُوْنِیْso follow meوَ اَطِیْعُوْۤاand obeyاَمْرِیْ my order قَالُوْاThey saidلَنْNeverنَّبْرَحَwe will ceaseعَلَیْهِbeing devoted to itعٰكِفِیْنَbeing devoted to itحَتّٰیuntilیَرْجِعَreturnsاِلَیْنَاto usمُوْسٰی Musa قَالَHe saidیٰهٰرُوْنُO Harun!مَاWhatمَنَعَكَprevented youاِذْwhenرَاَیْتَهُمْyou saw themضَلُّوْۤاۙgoing astray اَلَّاThat notتَتَّبِعَنِ ؕyou follow meاَفَعَصَیْتَThen have you disobeyedاَمْرِیْ my order قَالَHe saidیَبْنَؤُمَّO son of my motherلَا(Do) notتَاْخُذْseize (me)بِلِحْیَتِیْby my beardوَ لَاand notبِرَاْسِیْ ۚby my headاِنِّیْIndeed, Iخَشِیْتُ[I] fearedاَنْthatتَقُوْلَyou would sayفَرَّقْتَYou caused divisionبَیْنَbetweenبَنِیْۤ(the) Children of Israelاِسْرَآءِیْلَ(the) Children of Israelوَ لَمْand notتَرْقُبْyou respectقَوْلِیْ my word قَالَHe saidفَمَاThen whatخَطْبُكَ(is) your caseیٰسَامِرِیُّ O Samiri قَالَHe saidبَصُرْتُI perceivedبِمَاwhatلَمْnotیَبْصُرُوْاthey perceiveبِهٖin itفَقَبَضْتُso I tookقَبْضَةًa handfulمِّنْfromاَثَرِ(the) trackالرَّسُوْلِ(of) the Messengerفَنَبَذْتُهَاthen threw itوَ كَذٰلِكَand thusسَوَّلَتْsuggestedلِیْto meنَفْسِیْ my soul قَالَHe saidفَاذْهَبْThen goفَاِنَّAnd indeedلَكَfor youفِیinالْحَیٰوةِthe lifeاَنْthatتَقُوْلَyou will sayلَا(Do) notمِسَاسَ ۪touch."وَ اِنَّAnd indeedلَكَfor youمَوْعِدًا(is) an appointmentلَّنْneverتُخْلَفَهٗ ۚyou will fail to (keep) itوَ انْظُرْAnd lookاِلٰۤیatاِلٰهِكَyour godالَّذِیْthat whichظَلْتَyou have remainedعَلَیْهِto itعَاكِفًا ؕdevotedلَنُحَرِّقَنَّهٗSurely we will burn itثُمَّthenلَنَنْسِفَنَّهٗcertainly we will scatter itفِیinالْیَمِّthe seaنَسْفًا (in) particles اِنَّمَاۤOnlyاِلٰهُكُمُyour Godاللّٰهُ(is) Allahالَّذِیْthe Oneلَاۤ(there is) noاِلٰهَgodاِلَّاbutهُوَ ؕHeوَسِعَHe has encompassedكُلَّallشَیْءٍthingsعِلْمًا (in) knowledge 20. Taha Page 319كَذٰلِكَThusنَقُصُّWe relateعَلَیْكَto youمِنْfromاَنْۢبَآءِ(the) newsمَا(of) whatقَدْhas precededسَبَقَ ۚhas precededوَ قَدْAnd certainlyاٰتَیْنٰكَWe have given youمِنْfromلَّدُنَّاUsذِكْرًاۖۚa Reminder مَنْWhoeverاَعْرَضَturns awayعَنْهُfrom itفَاِنَّهٗthen indeed heیَحْمِلُwill bearیَوْمَ(on the) Dayالْقِیٰمَةِ(of) Resurrectionوِزْرًاۙa burden خٰلِدِیْنَAbiding foreverفِیْهِ ؕin itوَ سَآءَand evilلَهُمْfor themیَوْمَ(on the) Dayالْقِیٰمَةِ(of) the Resurrectionحِمْلًاۙ(as) a load یَّوْمَ(The) Dayیُنْفَخُwill be blownفِیinالصُّوْرِthe Trumpetوَ نَحْشُرُand We will gatherالْمُجْرِمِیْنَthe criminalsیَوْمَىِٕذٍthat Dayزُرْقًاۚۖblue-eyed یَّتَخَافَتُوْنَThey are murmuringبَیْنَهُمْamong themselvesاِنْNotلَّبِثْتُمْyou remainedاِلَّاexcept (for)عَشْرًا ten نَحْنُWeاَعْلَمُknow bestبِمَاwhatیَقُوْلُوْنَthey will sayاِذْwhenیَقُوْلُwill sayاَمْثَلُهُمْ(the) best of themطَرِیْقَةً(in) conductاِنْNotلَّبِثْتُمْyou remainedاِلَّاexcept (for)یَوْمًا۠a day

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Translation of Verse 90-104

(20:90) Certainly Aaron had said to them even before (the return of Moses): "My people, you were fallen into error because of the calf. Surely your Lord is Most Compassionate; so follow me and obey my command."

(20:91) But they answered: "By no means shall we cease to worship it until Moses returns to us."⁶⁹

(20:92) (After rebuking his people) Moses turned to Aaron and said: "Aaron! What prevented you, when you saw them going astray,

(20:93) from following my way? Have you disobeyed my command?"⁷⁰

(20:94) Aaron answered: "Son of my mother! Do not seize me with my beard, nor by (the hair of) my head.⁷¹ I feared that on returning you might say: 'You sowed discord among the Children of Israel, and did not pay heed to my words.'"⁷²

(20:95) Moses said: "What, then, is your case, O Samiri?"

(20:96) He answered: "I saw what the people did not see. So I took a handful of dust from the trail of the Messenger, and I flung it (into the fire). Thus did my mind prompt me."⁷³

(20:97) Moses said: "Be gone, then. All your life you shall cry: 'Untouchable.'⁷⁴ There awaits a term for your reckoning that you cannot fail to keep. Now look at your god that you devotedly adored: We shall burn it and scatter its remains in the sea.

(20:98) Your God is none else than Allah, beside Whom there is no god. His knowledge embraces everything."

(20:99) (O Muhammad),⁷⁵ thus do We recount to you the events of the past, and We have bestowed upon you from Ourself an admonition.⁷⁶

(20:100) He who turns away from it will surely bear a heavy burden on the Day of Resurrection,

(20:101) and will abide under this burden for ever. Grievous shall be the burden on the Day of Resurrection,⁷⁷

(20:102) the Day when the Trumpet shall be sounded⁷⁸ and We shall muster the sinners, their eyes turned blue with terror.⁷⁹

(20:103) They shall whisper among themselves: "You stayed on the earth barely ten days."⁸⁰

(20:104) We know well⁸¹ what they will say to one another: We also know that even the most cautious in his estimate will say: "You lived in the world no more than a day."⁸²

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Commentary

69. Unlike the Qur'an which stresses that Aaron had no share in deifying the calf, the Bible affirms that it was indeed he who committed the cardinal sin of fashioning and deifying the calf: 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 up 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 a 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!’ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made proclamation and said, ‘Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord’ (Exodus;32: 1-5).

It is possible that this false report gained currency among the Israelites because the Samiri’s proper name may have been Aaron; if that was the case then at some later date it could have led to confusion resulting in his being mistaken for Aaron, the Prophet. Christian missionaries and Orientalists of today, however, insist that this provides positive evidence of an erroneous statement in the Qur’an. This though is all rather odd, for Christians painted a bad image of the Prophet Aaron, an image of one who had deified the calf.

Ironically enough, the Qur’anic narrative absolves him of this and it is faulted for that very reason! This is the state of their obduracy. Such people fail to realize that their view is contradicted by the Bible itself. For after the event, according to the Bible: Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said: ‘Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me.’ And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. And he said to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Put every man his sword on his side, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses; and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. And Moses said, ‘Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, that he may bestow a blessing upon you this day.’ On the morrow Moses said to the people, ‘You have sinned a great sin. And now I will-go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.’ So Moses returned to the Lord and said, ‘Alas, this people have sinned a great sin; they have made for themselves gods of gold. But now, if thou wilt forgive their sin— and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou has written.’ But the Lord said to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. But now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you; behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.’ And the Lord sent a plague upon the people, because they made the calf which Aaron made (Exodus 32: 26-35).

This leaves the question of why Aaron was spared unanswered. Had he initiated this evil, he would not have been exonerated. Nor would the Levites have said to Moses: ‘God has commanded to put to the sword all who were guilty of calf-worship, why should anyone be spared. What kind of justice is it? You commanded us to slay our brothers, companions and neighbors, but you refrained from slaying your brother Aaron even though he is the chief culprit.’ Contrary to what one would have expected, Moses returned to the Lord, saying: ‘Alas, this people have sinned a great sin; they have made for themselves gods of gold. But now, if thou wilt forgive their sin -- and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.’ But the Lord said to” Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book’ (Exodus 32: 31-3). Now, it is common knowledge that Aaron’s name was not blotted out. On the contrary, the highest positions — the duties of the sanctuary and priesthood — were conferred upon his house (See Numbers 18: 1-7).

Does this evidence from the Bible not contradict the statements made elsewhere on the subject in the Bible itself, and does it not also corroborate what the Qur’an has said in this regard?

70. ‘Command’ here refers to Moses’ directive to Aaron when he delegated the leadership of the Israelites to Aaron in his absence as he headed to the Mount. According to the Qur’an: ‘And Moses said to Aaron, his brother: ‘Take my place among my people, act righteously, and do not follow the path of those who create mischief’ (al-A‘raf 7: 142).

71. In translating the above verse we have made allowance for the higher status of Moses as God’s Messenger. We have also taker. into consideration the fact that although Aaron was Moses’ elder brother, nevertheless Moses had a higher status among the Prophets than him.

72. Aaron’s reply does not mean that the maintenance of unity in the ranks of the people was of greater importance than their adherence to the truth. Nor that unity, even if it had been brought about by common acceptance of polytheism, is preferable to national disunity even if it is caused by distinguishing between truth and falsehood. If anyone interprets this verse in this sense, it would be nothing short of distorting the Qur’anic message. For a better understanding of the point made by Aaron the following verse should be read ‘in conjunction with it: ‘My mother’s son, the people overpowered me and almost killed me. So let not my enemies gloat over me, and do not number me among the wrong-doing folk’ (al-A ‘raf 7: 150).

On-reading both verses together, the picture that emerges is one whereby Aaron tried his best to prevent his people from falling into calf-worship, but they reacted with great hostility towards him and were even intent on his death. Fearing that civil strife might break out before. Moses returned, Aaron remained silent. He did so lest Moses rebuked him, complaining as to why he had not waited for him; if he was not in a position to control things, why had he let things escalate to the extent that it was totally out of his hands? The last part of this verse, (al-A ‘raf7: 150), also seems to suggest that Moses and Aaron had a number of enemies in the ranks of the Israelites.

73. In interpreting this verse. commentators on the Qur’an fall into two distinct groups each resorting to far-fetched ideas in their attempts to understand it. According to one group, which comprises the majority of the traditional commentators on the Qur’an, the correct interpretation of the verse is that as the Samiri saw Gabriel passing, he picked up a handful of dust from the earth which bore Gabriel’s footprint. As this miraculous dust was poured over the image of .ne calf, it began to low as if it were alive. (See the comments on verse 96 in the Commentaries of al-Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir, and al-Alusi — Ed.) This interpretation, however, is not borne out by what the Qur’an itself says on the subject. For the Qur’an simply mentions the explanation offered by the Samiri when he was subjected to stern questioning from Moses. It is beyond us as to how and why these commentators took it to be the Qur’an’s own view.

The other group understands the Samiri’s statement quite differently. It takes the view that the Samiri observed a flaw in the Prophet Moses (peace be on him) or in his message, a flaw which had not been discerned by others. He, therefore, followed in Moses’ footsteps up to a certain stage but, thereafter, he abandoned that course. This interpretation was first approvingly quoted by Abi Muslim al-Isfahani. Later, it was adopted by Fakhr al-Din al-Razi. (See al-RazI’s comments on verse 96 in his Commentary — Ed.) At the present time, commentators on the Qur’an with a modernistic orientation are generally inclined to prefer it.

These commentators, however, forget that the Qur’an was neither revealed in an obscure language nor was it couched in enigmas and riddles. On the "contrary, it was revealed in plain and clear Arabic so that an ordinary speaker of that language might be able to comprehend it using standard Arabic literary idiom. Now, no Arab who considers the words used by the Samiri would be convinced that they mean what these commentators claim them to mean. As for the method adopted by some of these commentators in this connection, they would take note of the various meanings of a word in its different usages, select one of these as the correct meaning and then arbitrarily insist upon this even if it occurred in a passage where an average Arabic-speaker would understand it to signify something totally different. Such an attitude does not attest to the linguistic competence of these scholars. If anything, their efforts can be termed as exercises in linguistic jugglery. It is not difficult to gauge how these modern Qur’anic commentators would react if others were to interpret their writings in the same manner as they interpreted the Qur’an. How would they feel if someone picked up a dictionary of their language, and arbitrarily chose one of the many possible meanings of the words they used in their writings, and interpreted all their writings accordingly? Perhaps just a few instances of such an arbitrary exercise would outrage them. People are wont to resort to far-fetched interpretations of the Qur’an when they feel convinced, in their heart of hearts, that the straightforward meaning of a verse is not good enough for them; or when they find that there is evidence of some lack of circumspection, they then feel like resorting. to linguistic jugglery to offset that.

If the reader can free himself from this kind of thinking and consider the verse in its correct context, he will readily grasp that the Samiri was a mischievous person who deliberately and craftily contrived a nefarious plan.

He made the golden calf and further made it low like a calf with the result that the ignorant and gullible Israelites were misled into accepting erroneous beliefs. But that was not all. He also had the temerity to invent a story to conceal his actions and narrated the same to Moses. He claimed that he saw what others could not see. He also claimed that he was able to achieve his wondrous feat with the help of a handful of dust from the footprint of the ‘Messenger’. The term ‘Messenger’ could refer to Gabriel, which is how the earlier commentators have understood the word. It could, however, also have been used by the Samiri to denote Moses, which demonstrates just how crafty he was. For such a statement, suggesting that even Moses’ footprint could produce miracles, was designed to flatter the Prophet (peace be on him). The Samiri may well have thought that if he could win Moses over by recourse to such flattery, the latter might begin to trust him, using his services in his effort to impress upon people how great he was, and how great the miracles were that he could perform.

The Qur’an mentions the whole affair as being the Samiri’s version made up by him in order to hoodwink others, rather than as the Qur’anic version of the event. Hence there is no reason to believe that these verses contain anything that does not reflect well on the Qur’an; it does not require the efforts of scholars to explain it away with their bizarre interpretations. It is also important to remember that in the very next verse Moses reproaches the Samiri in the most vehement of terms. This clearly indicates that Moses did not accept the Samiri’s version even for a moment.

74. Not only was the Samiri branded as an outcast prohibited from maintaining any social relations, he was also directed to constantly announce his outcast status so that everyone knew that he could not be touched — in the same way that everyone avoided contact with lepers. It is significant that the Bible lays down the following stringent code for people to stay away from lepers: The leper who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry, ‘Unclean, unclean’. He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean; he shall dwell alone in a habitation outside the camp (Leviticus 13: 45-6).

This leads one to think that God perhaps afflicted the Samiri with leprosy by way of punishment. It is also possible that God wanted people to abhor and shun he who was afflicted with moral leprosy, treating it as no less contemptible than physical leprosy. Hence, the Samiri was directed to warn all and sundry that he suffered from a serious moral disease which had defiled him and rendered him unworthy of all contact.

75. Thus concludes the story of Moses. Thereafter, the surah reverts to the main subject with which it opened. Before proceeding further, however, it is useful to cast another glance at the verses at the beginning of this surah, those which precede the story of the Prophet Moses (peace be on him). This will help the reader appreciate the surah’s main theme and help him understand the reason why Moses’ story is narrated at such length.

76. This refers to the Qur’an and reiterates the remark made in the surah’s opening verse. That is that it was not revealed in order to cause hardship to the Prophet (peace be on him) but was rather revealed to serve as a reminder, a good counsel, and an admonition for anyone who fears God.

77. The first point to be emphasized here is that anyone who turns away from the Qur’an and refuses to be guided by it, hurts none but himself. Such a person will not be able to hurt the Prophet (peace be on him), let alone God Who had raised him. A person’s turning away from the Qur’an amounts to acting with enmity towards his own self.

The other point made in this verse is that anyone who receives the message of the Qur’an and yet still refuses to believe in it, will not escape punishment in the Hereafter. The words used here have a universal connotation; they are not specifically addressed to any particular community, country or period of time.

Since the Qur’an will always be available for the guidance of mankind, the people whom it reaches will have the option either to accept it or reject it; either to follow it or decline to do so. Those who accept it will enjoy its good results which are described later (see verse 112 below). As for those who reject it, they will be subjected to the grievous end described in the present verse.

78. Here mention is made of the Trumpet which will be sounded before the Day of Resurrection; an instrument similar to today’ s bugle which is sounded in order to assemble or discharge soldiers or to issue directions to them. In order to explain things relating to the universe, God has recourse to more or less the very same words which are employed by-human beings in connection with the order of things in human life. The purpose behind using these words and phrases is to enable people to have an approximate grasp of reality. Words and expressions used in the Qur’4n should not, however, be taken to mean that the things involved in God’s order of the universe are exactly the same as in human life nor that they can be generally understood by those words and expressions in current parlance. From the earliest times, whenever people have wanted to make an important public announcement or to summon people to a gathering, they have resorted to the blowing of trumpets or bugles or to some such device. God tells us that a similar instrument will be blown on the Last Day. The first blowing of the Trumpet will cause everyone to die whereas the second blowing of the Trumpet will bring about the resurrection of all.

Consequently, people will rush along from all parts of the earth and will gather together in the Grand Assembly. For further details, see al-Naml 27, n. 106.

79. The word used here — zurq — is a plural form of azraq. (See al-Mu‘jam al-Wasit, q.v., vol. 1, p. 39.) Some people interpret this to mean that out of terror all human beings will turn a bluish white. Because of fear, their blood would dry up and it would seem as if no blood is left in their veins, making them look very pale. Other scholars are of the opinion that the horror will turn their eyes a bluish white; the sense of horror will seize them, causing their eyes to petrify. For, when anyone’s eyes lose their luster, their eyelids tend to become whiter.

80. This may also mean: ‘[since death until now] you have hardly spent ten days’. The Qur’an frequently states that on the Day of Resurrection people will believe that the span of their worldly life was very short. Likewise, they will believe that the time between their death and the Last Day was extremely short: Allah will ask: ‘What number of years did you stay on earth?’ They will say: ‘We stayed a day or part of a day. But ask those who keep account’ (al-Mu’ minun 23: 112-13).

At another place it is said: On the Day when the Hour of Reckoning will take place the transgressors will swear that they remained no more than an hour; thus were they used to being deluded! But those endued with knowledge and faith will say: ‘Indeed you remained in this state, according to God’s decree, till the Day of Resurrection; and this is that Day of Resurrection; but you were not aware’ (al-Rum 30: 55-6).

What these verses seek to emphasize is that man will believe that the time he spent both in the world and in barzakh (the intermediary stage between one’s death and the Last Day) was very short. When people will come face to face with the Hereafter, they will realize, to their utmost dismay, that they had made no preparations for the Next Life. They will look back at their life in the world.

and will have a strong sense of regret and remorse on account of the fact that they ruined their everlasting life in the Hereafter for the sake of a short-term worldly life. They will consider the time span between their death and the Last Day to be very short for they excluded the Life to Come from the range of possibilities. In fact, they never took the Qur’anic account of the Hereafter seriously. They lived in this world with false notions and they breathed their last holding on to these. So when they will suddenly rise from their state of death and will find themselves trudging along at the sound of the Trumpet in the world of the Hereafter, panic will seize them. In that state of panic, they will try to form an estimate of the time that elapsed from their becoming unconscious in some hospital or when their ship was sunk on the sea, etc. They will be unable to appreciate that they were now dead and face to face with the Next Life, a life which they had once laughed away as both absurd and preposterous. Hence, they will remain under the illusion that they had simply lain unconscious for a few hours or a few days after which they had woken up.

They will think that they have reached some place where, because of some ‘huge accident, everyone is rushing in one and the same direction. It is not unlikely that when the people of our own time wake up in the Hereafter they will mistake the sound of the Trumpet for an air-raid siren.

81. This parenthetical statement is aimed at dispelling any doubt that might.

arise in the minds of some of the addressees of this discourse. For people ‘are wont to wonder how the Qur’an was narrating a conversation that will take place on the Day of Reckoning.

82. This is another parenthetical statement, one in response to a query put forth by someone in the audience. It would appear that when this surah was being recited as a revealed discourse before a group of people, someone might mockingly have quipped: ‘This is what will happen on the Last Day! Everyone will be rushing along on a levelled plain. One wonders where all these vast mountains will disappear to!’ In order to grasp the context of this question, the reader should bear in mind the locale —- Makka where these verses were first recited. Makka resembles an aqueduct, surrounded by high mountains. It is likely that the inquirer might have referred to these very mountains — those around Makka — when he posed his query. The response from on High was that the mountains would be razed to the ground and would be reduced to tiny particles of sand, which would then be blown about in the-manner that dust is blown about. The earth would then be flattened and all its ups and downs removed. It would appear as a levelled floor without any curvature or depression.