وَ وٰعَدْنَا And We appointed مُوْسٰی (for) Musa ثَلٰثِیْنَ thirty لَیْلَةً nights وَّ اَتْمَمْنٰهَا and We completed them بِعَشْرٍ with ten (more) فَتَمَّ so was completed مِیْقَاتُ (the) set term رَبِّهٖۤ (of) his Lord اَرْبَعِیْنَ (of) forty لَیْلَةً ۚ night(s) وَ قَالَ And said مُوْسٰی Musa لِاَخِیْهِ to his brother هٰرُوْنَ Harun اخْلُفْنِیْ Take my place فِیْ in قَوْمِیْ my people وَ اَصْلِحْ and do right وَ لَا and (do) not تَتَّبِعْ follow سَبِیْلَ (the) way الْمُفْسِدِیْنَ (of) the corrupters وَ لَمَّا And when جَآءَ came مُوْسٰی Musa لِمِیْقَاتِنَا to Our appointed place وَ كَلَّمَهٗ and spoke to him رَبُّهٗ ۙ his Lord قَالَ he said رَبِّ O my Lord اَرِنِیْۤ Show me اَنْظُرْ (that) I may look اِلَیْكَ ؕ at You قَالَ He said لَنْ Never تَرٰىنِیْ you (can) see Me وَ لٰكِنِ but انْظُرْ look اِلَی at الْجَبَلِ the mountain فَاِنِ [then] if اسْتَقَرَّ it remains مَكَانَهٗ in its place فَسَوْفَ then تَرٰىنِیْ ۚ you (will) see Me فَلَمَّا But when تَجَلّٰی revealed (His) Glory رَبُّهٗ his Lord لِلْجَبَلِ to the mountain جَعَلَهٗ He made it دَكًّا crumbled to dust وَّ خَرَّ and fell down مُوْسٰی Musa صَعِقًا ۚ unconscious فَلَمَّاۤ And when اَفَاقَ he recovered قَالَ he said سُبْحٰنَكَ Glory be to You تُبْتُ I turn (in repentance) اِلَیْكَ to you وَ اَنَا and I am اَوَّلُ (the) first الْمُؤْمِنِیْنَ (of) the believers 7. Al-A'raf Page 168 قَالَ He said یٰمُوْسٰۤی O Musa! اِنِّی Indeed I اصْطَفَیْتُكَ have chosen you عَلَی over النَّاسِ the people بِرِسٰلٰتِیْ with My Messages وَ بِكَلَامِیْ ۖؗ and with My words فَخُذْ So take مَاۤ what اٰتَیْتُكَ I have given you وَ كُنْ and be مِّنَ among الشّٰكِرِیْنَ the grateful وَ كَتَبْنَا And We ordained (laws) لَهٗ for him فِی in الْاَلْوَاحِ the tablets مِنْ of كُلِّ every شَیْءٍ thing مَّوْعِظَةً an instruction وَّ تَفْصِیْلًا and explanation لِّكُلِّ for every شَیْءٍ ۚ thing فَخُذْهَا So take them بِقُوَّةٍ with firmness وَّ اْمُرْ and order قَوْمَكَ your people یَاْخُذُوْا [to] take بِاَحْسَنِهَا ؕ (the) best of it سَاُورِیْكُمْ I will show you دَارَ (the) home الْفٰسِقِیْنَ (of) the defiantly disobedient سَاَصْرِفُ I will turn away عَنْ from اٰیٰتِیَ My Signs الَّذِیْنَ those who یَتَكَبَّرُوْنَ are arrogant فِی in الْاَرْضِ the earth بِغَیْرِ without الْحَقِّ ؕ [the] right وَ اِنْ and if یَّرَوْا they see كُلَّ every اٰیَةٍ sign لَّا not یُؤْمِنُوْا (will) they believe بِهَا ۚ in it وَ اِنْ And if یَّرَوْا they see سَبِیْلَ (the) way الرُّشْدِ (of) the righteousness لَا not یَتَّخِذُوْهُ (will) they take it سَبِیْلًا ۚ (as) a way وَ اِنْ but if یَّرَوْا they see سَبِیْلَ (the) way الْغَیِّ (of) [the] error یَتَّخِذُوْهُ they will take it سَبِیْلًا ؕ (as) a way ذٰلِكَ That بِاَنَّهُمْ (is) because they كَذَّبُوْا denied بِاٰیٰتِنَا Our Signs وَ كَانُوْا and they were عَنْهَا of them غٰفِلِیْنَ heedless وَ الَّذِیْنَ And those who كَذَّبُوْا denied بِاٰیٰتِنَا Our Signs وَ لِقَآءِ and (the) meeting الْاٰخِرَةِ (of) the Hereafter حَبِطَتْ worthless اَعْمَالُهُمْ ؕ (are) their deeds هَلْ Will یُجْزَوْنَ they be recompensed اِلَّا except مَا (for) what كَانُوْا they used to یَعْمَلُوْنَ۠ do
(7:142) And We appointed for Moses thirty nights, to which We added ten, whereby the term of forty nights set by his Lord was fulfilled.99 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.'100
(7:143) And when Moses came at Our appointment, and his Lord spoke to him, he said: 'O my Lord! Reveal Yourself to me, that I may look upon You!' He replied: 'Never can you see Me. However, behold this mount; if it remains firm in its place, only then you will be able to see Me.' And as soon as his Lord unveiled His glory to the mount, He crushed it into fine dust, and Moses fell down in a swoon. And when he recovered, he said: 'Glory be to You! To You I turn in repentance, and I am the foremost among those who believe.'
(7:144) He said: 'O Moses! I have indeed preferred you to all others by virtue of the Message I have entrusted to you and by virtue of My speaking to you. Hold fast therefore, to whatever I have granted you, and give thanks.'
(7:145) And We ordained for Moses in the Tablets all manner of admonition, and instruction concerning all things,101 and said to him: Hold to these, with all your strength. and bid your people to follow them in accord with their best understanding.102 I shall soon show you the habitation of the wicked. 103
(7:146) I shall turn away from My signs those who, without any right, behaved haughtily in the earth,104 even if they may, witness each and every, sign, they shall not believe therein. And even if they see the right path, they shall still not follow it; but if they see the path of error. they shall choose it for their path. This is because they rejected Our signs as false and were heedless to them.
(7:147) Vain are the deeds of those who reject Our signs as false and to the meeting of the Hereafter. 105 Shall they be recompensed, except according to their deeds?'
99. After the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt which marks, on the one hand, the end of the constraints of slavery and on the other, the beginning of their life as an independent nation, Moses was summoned by God to Mount Sinai in order that he might receive the Law for Israel. He was initially summoned for a period of forty days so that he might single-mindedly devote himself to worshipping, fasting, meditation and reflection and thus develop the ability to receive the revelation which was to put a very heavy burden upon him.
In compliance with God's command, Moses left the Israelites at the place now known as the Wadi al-Shaykh which lies between Nabi Salih and Mount Sinai. The place where the Israelites had camped is presently called
Maydan al-Rahah. At one end of the valley is a hillock where, according to local tradition, the Prophet Salih pitched his tent after his migration from the land of Thamud. A mosque built as a monument to the Prophet Salih still adorns the landscape. Mount Harun is located at the other end of the valley where, again, according to local tradition, the Prophet Harun (Aaron) stayed after his exasperation with the Israelites because of their cow-worship. The top of the towering Mount Sinai, standing 7,359 feet high, is mostly enveloped by clouds. The cave to which Moses retired for forty days to devote himself to worship and meditation is situated at the top of the mountain, and still attracts many pilgrims. Close to the cave are a mosque and a church. Moreover, a monastery built in the Justinian period stands even today at the foot of the mountain. (See Tafhim al-Qur'an, (al-Naml 27: nn. 9-10).
100. Although Aaron was senior to Moses in age by three years, he was placed under the direction of the Prophet Moses and was required to assist him in connection with his mission, As explained elsewhere in the Qur'an, Aaron was not assigned independent prophethood; he was rather appointed a Prophet by God in response to Moses' prayer that he be appointed as his assistant. See (Ta Ha 20: 29-31 - Ed.)
101. The Bible categorically mentions that the tablets were of stone. The act of writing on these tablets is attributed in both the Qur'an and the Bible, to God. Nonetheless, it is not possible to ascertain whether the actual act of writing was as performed by God exercising His power directly, or by God in the sense of His assignment of the task to some angel or to Moses (cf. Exodus 31: 18, 32: 15-16; and Deuteronomyi, 5: 6-22).
102 The Israelites were asked to hold fast to the Law to follow it in its plain meaning, a meaning which can he grasped by an ordinary man of sound heart and good intent with the help of his common sense. This stipulation was added in order to discourage the chicanery and hair-splitting to which lawyers resort in order to accommodate the crooked aims of the people. The warning was necessary to emphasize that holding fast to the Law was not to be equated with following the chicanery of the lawyers.
103. The Israelites were told that on their way they would come across the ruins of earlier nations who had refused to turn to God and who had persisted in their evil way's. Observing those ruins would he instructive insofar as they eloquently spoke of the tragic end that meets those who indulge in such iniquity .
104. It is God's law that evil-doers do not and cannot take any lesson from the otherwise instructive events which they observe. The arrogance mentioned here refers to man's delusion that he is on a higher plane than God's creatures and servants. It is this which prompts him to disregard God's command and to adopt an attitude which suggests that he neither considers himself God's servant, nor God his Lord. Such egotism has no basis in fact; it is sheer vanity. For as long as man live on God's earth, what can justify his living as a servant of anyone other than the Lord of the universe? It is for this reason that the Qur'an declares this arrogance to be 'without any right'.
105. That the acts of such persons are vain and fruitless is evident from the fact that the acceptance of man's acts by God is subject to two conditions. First, one's acts should conform to the Law laid down by God. Second, man should be prompted by the desire to achieve success in the Hereafter rather than merely in this world. If these conditions are not fulfilled, a person's acts will be of no consequence. He who performs an act in defiance of God's guidance, is guilty of rebellion and is undeserving of God's reward. He who acts only to obtain worldly success, is neither entitled to nor should expect any reward from God in the Hereafter. If someone uses another person's land contrary to his wish, what else can he expect from him than punishment? The same holds true for he who deliberately uses someone's land, knowing well that he is not entitled to any produce after the restoration of that land to its owner. There is no justification for him to expect any share of the produce of that land.