اِنَّ Indeed الَّذِیْنَ those who اتَّخَذُوا took الْعِجْلَ the calf سَیَنَالُهُمْ will reach them غَضَبٌ wrath مِّنْ from رَّبِّهِمْ their Lord وَ ذِلَّةٌ and humiliation فِی in الْحَیٰوةِ the life الدُّنْیَا ؕ (of) the world وَ كَذٰلِكَ And thus نَجْزِی We recompense الْمُفْتَرِیْنَ the ones who invent (falsehood) وَ الَّذِیْنَ And those who عَمِلُوا do السَّیِّاٰتِ the evil deeds ثُمَّ then تَابُوْا repented مِنْۢ from بَعْدِهَا after that وَ اٰمَنُوْۤا ؗ and believed اِنَّ indeed رَبَّكَ your Lord مِنْۢ from بَعْدِهَا after that لَغَفُوْرٌ (is) surely Oft-Forgiving رَّحِیْمٌ Most Merciful وَ لَمَّا And when سَكَتَ was calmed عَنْ from مُّوْسَی Musa الْغَضَبُ the anger اَخَذَ he took (up) الْاَلْوَاحَ ۖۚ the tablets وَ فِیْ and in نُسْخَتِهَا their inscription هُدًی (was) guidance وَّ رَحْمَةٌ and mercy لِّلَّذِیْنَ for those who هُمْ [they] لِرَبِّهِمْ of their Lord یَرْهَبُوْنَ (are) fearful وَ اخْتَارَ And chose مُوْسٰی Musa قَوْمَهٗ (from) his people سَبْعِیْنَ seventy رَجُلًا men لِّمِیْقَاتِنَا ۚ for Our appointment فَلَمَّاۤ Then when اَخَذَتْهُمُ seized them الرَّجْفَةُ the earthquake قَالَ he said رَبِّ O my Lord لَوْ If شِئْتَ you (had) willed اَهْلَكْتَهُمْ You (could) have destroyed them مِّنْ from قَبْلُ before وَ اِیَّایَ ؕ and me اَتُهْلِكُنَا Would You destroy us بِمَا for what فَعَلَ did السُّفَهَآءُ the foolish مِنَّا ۚ among us اِنْ Not هِیَ it (was) اِلَّا but فِتْنَتُكَ ؕ Your trial تُضِلُّ You let go astray بِهَا by it مَنْ whom تَشَآءُ You will وَ تَهْدِیْ and You guide مَنْ whom تَشَآءُ ؕ You will اَنْتَ You وَلِیُّنَا (are) our Protector فَاغْفِرْ so forgive لَنَا us وَ ارْحَمْنَا and have mercy upon us وَ اَنْتَ and You خَیْرُ (are) Best الْغٰفِرِیْنَ (of) Forgivers 7. Al-A'raf Page 170 وَ اكْتُبْ And ordain لَنَا for us فِیْ in هٰذِهِ this الدُّنْیَا [the] world حَسَنَةً good وَّ فِی and in الْاٰخِرَةِ the Hereafter اِنَّا Indeed, we هُدْنَاۤ we have turned اِلَیْكَ ؕ to You قَالَ He said عَذَابِیْۤ My punishment اُصِیْبُ I afflict بِهٖ with it مَنْ whom اَشَآءُ ۚ I will وَ رَحْمَتِیْ but My Mercy وَ سِعَتْ encompasses كُلَّ every شَیْءٍ ؕ thing فَسَاَكْتُبُهَا So I will ordain it لِلَّذِیْنَ for those who یَتَّقُوْنَ (are) righteous وَ یُؤْتُوْنَ and give الزَّكٰوةَ zakah وَ الَّذِیْنَ and those who هُمْ [they] بِاٰیٰتِنَا in Our Verses یُؤْمِنُوْنَۚ they believe اَلَّذِیْنَ Those who یَتَّبِعُوْنَ follow الرَّسُوْلَ the Messenger النَّبِیَّ the Prophet الْاُمِّیَّ the unlettered الَّذِیْ whom یَجِدُوْنَهٗ they find him مَكْتُوْبًا written عِنْدَهُمْ with them فِی in التَّوْرٰىةِ the Taurat وَ الْاِنْجِیْلِ ؗ and the Injeel یَاْمُرُهُمْ He commands them بِالْمَعْرُوْفِ to the right وَ یَنْهٰىهُمْ and forbids them عَنِ from الْمُنْكَرِ the wrong وَ یُحِلُّ and he makes lawful لَهُمُ for them الطَّیِّبٰتِ the pure things وَ یُحَرِّمُ and makes unlawful عَلَیْهِمُ for them الْخَبٰٓىِٕثَ the impure things وَ یَضَعُ and he relieves عَنْهُمْ from them اِصْرَهُمْ their burden وَ الْاَغْلٰلَ and the fetters الَّتِیْ which كَانَتْ were عَلَیْهِمْ ؕ upon them فَالَّذِیْنَ So those who اٰمَنُوْا believe بِهٖ in him وَ عَزَّرُوْهُ and honor him وَ نَصَرُوْهُ and help him وَ اتَّبَعُوا and follow النُّوْرَ the light الَّذِیْۤ which اُنْزِلَ has been sent down مَعَهٗۤ ۙ with him اُولٰٓىِٕكَ Those (are) هُمُ [they] الْمُفْلِحُوْنَ۠ the successful ones
(7:152) In reply they were told: 'Verily those who worshipped the calf will certainly incur indignation from their Lord, and will be abased in the life of this world. Thus do We reward those who fabricate lies.
(7:153) As for those who do evil, and later repent and have faith, such shall find their Lord All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate after (they repent and believe)
(7:154) And when the anger of Moses was stilled, he took up the Tablets again, the text of which comprised guidance and mercy to those who fear their Lord.
(7:155) And out of his people Moses singled out seventy men for Our appointment. 109 Then, when violent shaking seized them, he addressed his Lord: 'Had You willed, O my Lord, You could have destroyed them and me long ago. Will You destroy us for what the fools amongst us did? That was nothing but a trial from You whereby You mislead whom You will and guide whom You will. 110 You alone are our guardian. Forgive us, then, and have mercy upon us. You are the best of those who forgive.
(7:156) And ordain for us what is good in this world and in the World to Come for to You have we turned.'He replied: 'I afflict whomsoever I wish with My chastisement. As for My mercy, it encompasses everything.111 will show mercy to those who abstain from evil, pay Zakat and have faith in Our signs.'
(7:157) [To-day this mercy is for] those who follow the ummi Prophet, 112 whom they find mentioned in the Torah and the Gospel with them.113 He enjoins upon them what is good and forbids them what is evil. He makes the clean things lawful to them and prohibits all corrupt things,114 and removes from them their burdens and the shackles that were upon them.115 So those who believe in him and assist him, and succour him and follow the Light which has been sent down with him, it is they who shall prosper.
109. Moses was summoned for the second time to Mount Sinai along with seventy chiefs of the nation in order that they might seek pardon for their calf-worship and renew their covenant with God. Reference to this event is not found in the Bible and Talmud. They simply mention that Moses was summoned to receive new tablets as replacements for the ones he had thrown down and broken. (Cf. Exodus 34.)
110. When a people are put to the test it is an occasion of crucial importance for it helps to distinguish the righteous from the wicked. Like a winnow, it separates out of the mass the useful from the useless. Hence in his wisdom God subjects people to tests. Those who successfully pass through them, owe their success to the support and guidance they receive from God. As for those who are unsuccessful, their failure is the result of their not receiving that support and guidance. This does not detract from the fact that men neither arbitrarily receive or are denied God's support and guidance. Both extending and withholding support and guidance follow a rule which is based on wisdom and justice. The fact, however, remains that man can succeed in the test to which he is put only if God supports and guides him.
111. It is false to assume that the general rule underlying God's governance of His realm is that of wrath which is occasionally tempered with mercy and benevolence. On the contrary, the general rule is that of mercy and benevolence and wrath is the exception which is aroused when man's transgression and rebellion exceed all reasonable limits.
112. The preceding verse concludes God's response to Moses' prayer. This was the appropriate moment to invite the Israelites to follow the Message preached by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him). The upshot of what is being said here is that people can even now attain God's mercy exactly as they could in the past. These conditions require that people should now follow the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him), since refusal to follow a Prophet after his advent amounts to gross disobedience to God. Those who do not commit themselves to follow the Prophet (peace be on him) cannot attain the essence of piety, no matter how hard they try to make a pretence of it by observing the minor details of religious rituals generally associated with piety.
Likewise, the Israelites had been told that paying Zakah was essential to win God's mercy. However, payment of Zakah is meaningless unless one supports the struggle to establish the hegemony of truth which was being carried on under the leadership of the Prophet (peace be on him). For unless one spends money to exalt the word of God, the very foundation of Zakah are lacking, even if a person spends huge amounts in the way of charity. They were also reminded that they had been told in the past that God's mercy was exclusively for those who believed in His Revelation. Now those who rejected the Revelation received by Muhammad (peace be on him) could never be considered believers in Revelation no matter how zealously they claim to believe in the Torah.
Reference to the Prophet (peace be on him) in this verse as umimi is significant as the Israelites branded all other nations as Gentiles (ummis). Steeped in racial prejudice, they did not consider members of other nations as their equals, let alone accept any person not belonging to them as a Prophet. The Qur'an also states the Jewish belief that they would not be taken to ask for whatever they might do to non-Jews. See (Al'Imran 3: 75). Employing the same term which they themselves had used, the Qur'an tells them that their destiny was linked with the ummi Prophet. By obeying him they would become deserving of God's mercy. As for disobedience to the Prophet (peace be on him). it would continue to arouse God's wrath which had been afflicted upon them for centuries.
113. Pointed and repeated reference to the coming of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) is made in the Bible. (See Deuteronomy 18: 19; Matthew 21: 33-46; John 1: 19-25; 14: 15-17, 25-30; 15: 25-26; 16: 7-15.)
114. The Prophet declares the pure things which they had forbidden as lawful, and the impure things which they had legitimized as unlawful.
115. The Israelites had fettered their lives by undue restrictions which had been placed on them by the legal hair-splitting of their jurists, the pietistic exaggerations of their spiritual leaders, the introduction of superstitions and self-contrived laws and regulations by, their masses. The Prophet, by relieving them of every unnecessary burden and releasing them from every unjustified restriction, in fact liberated their shackled lives.