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the Beneficent and the Most Merciful
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Volume 1: Surah Baqarah, Verses 49-61
And
when We delivered you from Pharaoh's people, who subjected you to severe
torment, killing your sons and sparing your women, and in this there was a
great trial from your Lord (49). And when We parted the sea for you, so We
saved you and drowned the followers of Pharaoh while you watched by (50).
And when We appointed (a time of) forty nights with Mūsā, then you
took the calf (for a god) after him and you were unjust (51) ; then
We pardoned you after that so that you might give thanks (52). And when We
gave Mūsā the book and the distinction that you might walk aright (53).
And when Mūsā said to his people: "O my people! you have surely been
unjust to yourselves by taking the calf (for a god), therefore turn
to your Creator (penitently) and kill your people, that is best for
you with your Creator; so He turned to you (mercifully), for surely
He is the Oftreturning (with mercy), the Merciful" (54). And
when you said: "O Mūsā! we will not believe in you until we see Allāh
manifestly, " so the punishment overtook you while you looked on (55);
then We raised you up after your death that you may give thanks (56) . And
We made the clouds to give shade over you and We sent to you manna and
quails: Eat of good things that We have given you; and they did not do Us
any harm, but they did harm their own selves (57). And when We said:
"Enter this city, then eat from it a plenteous (food) wherever
you wish, and enter the gate making obeisance, and say, forgiveness, We
will forgive you your wrongs and give more to those who do good (to
others) (58). But those who were unjust changed it for a saying other
than that which had been spoken to them, so We sent upon those who
were unjust a pestilence from heaven, because they transgressed (59).
And when Mūsā prayed for drink for his people, We said: "Strike the rock
with your staff. " So there gushed from it twelve springs; each tribe knew
its drinking place: "Eat and drink of the provisions of Allāh and do not
act corruptly in the land, making mischief" (60). And when you said:
"O Mūsā! we cannot bear with one food, therefore pray to your Lord on our
behalf to bring forth for us out of what the earth grows, of its herbs and
its cucumbers and its garlic and its lentils and its onions. He said:
"Will you exchange that which is better for that which is worse? Enter a
city, so you will have what you ask for. " And abasement and humiliation
were brought down upon them and they returned with Allāh's wrath; this was
so because they disbelieved in the signs of Allāh and killed the prophets
unjustly; this was so because they disobeyed and exceeded the limits
(61).
* * * *
*
COMMENTARY
QUR’ĀN: and sparing your
women:
They left your women alive in order
that they (i.e. the women) might serve them. "al-Istihyā "' means
to wish someone to remain alive. The word may also mean: They behaved
indecently with the women until they (i.e. the women) lost their
modesty."Yasūmūnakum" . translated here as "they subjected
you to", literally means, they imposed upon you.
QUR’ĀN: And when We parted
the sea for you:
al-Farq . is opposite of
al-jam' .; the words mean to separate and to gather, respectively.
The same is the case of al-fasl . vis-a-vis "al-wasl" .. To
separate the sea means to part its water. "Bikum" ., translated
here as "for you", may also mean, "soon on your entering the
sea".
QUR’ĀN : And when We
appointed (a time of) forty days with Mūsā:
The same event has been
described in Chapter 7 in these words: And We appointed with Mūsā a
time of thirty nights and completed them with ten (more), so the
appointed time of his Lord was complete, forty nights (7 :142) . This
verse mentions the total duration of the two promises together, as a
tradition says.
QUR’ĀN : therefore turn to
your Creator (penitently):
al-Bāri’ . is one of the
beautiful names of Allāh, as Allāh says: He is Allāh, the Creator, the
Maker, the Fashioner; His are the most beautiful names. . . (59:24).
This name has been used three times in the Qur’ān: twice in the verse
under discussion and once in Chapter 59, quoted just above. Perhaps Allāh
used this name here because it was most suitable in the context of the
event described. While it is nearer in meaning to al-Khāliq (= the
Creator) and al-Mūjid (= the Inventor), it is derived from
bara'a, yabra'u, bar'an (= he separated, he separates, to
separate). Allāh thus separates His creation from inexistence, or He
separates man from the earth. This name in this context conveys the
following idea: No doubt it is very hard to repent by killing your own
people. But Allāh, Who now orders you to destroy yourselves by killing, is
the same God who had created you. He was pleased to create you when it was
good for you; and now He has decreed that you should kill your own people,
and this order too is good for you. How can He decide anything for you
except that which is good, and He is your Maker and Creator. The phrase,
"your Creator", points to a special relation which they have with Him, and
it emphasizes the fact that the given command is not for revenge; it is
based on divine love, in order to purify them.
QUR’ĀN: that is best for
you with your Creator:
This and the preceding verses (that
enumerate their transgressions and sins) are addressed to the whole Jewish
nation, although the sins were committed by only some groups of them and
not by all. Obviously it is because they were very much united as a
nation; if one did a thing, others were pleased with it. It was because of
this feeling of their national unity that one group's action is attributed
to the whole nation. Otherwise, not all the Israelites had killed the
prophets, nor had all of them indulged in the calf-worship, or committed
other sins mentioned herein. It proves that the order, "kill your people",
actually meant, kill some of your people, i.e., the calf-worshippers. It
may also be inferred from the words, "you have surely been unjust to
yourselves by taking the calf for worship", and the words, "that is best
for you with your Creator" (which apparently is the final part of the
speech of Mūsā).
The words, "so He turned to you
(mercifully)", prove that their repentance was accepted. Tradition says
that their repentance was accepted and sin forgiven when only a few
of them had been killed. This forgiveness before the order was fully
complied with shows that the command was given as a trial. The case is
somewhat similar to the dream of Ibrāhīm (a.s.) and his being told to
sacrifice Ismā’ī1; before he could reach the ultimate stage, he was told,
O Ibrāhīm! You have indeed made the vision come true (37 :104 -105)
. Likewise, Mūsā (a.s.) told his people "turn to your Creator (penitently)
and kill your people, that is best for you with your Creator", and Allāh
confirmed the order, yet He took the killing of some as equal to the
execution of all, and informed them that their repentance was accepted,
"so He turned to you (mercifully)".
QUR’ĀN: a pestilence from heaven:
"ar-Rijz" (= punishment)
.
QUR’ĀN: do not act corruptly:
"Lā ta'thaw" . is derived
from al-`ayth and al-`athy . it means the biggest chaos and
mischief.
QUR’ĀN: and its cucumbers and its
garlic:
"al-Khiyar" . is cucumber;
"al-fum" . is garlic or wheat.
QUR’ĀN: and they returned with
Allāh's wrath:
"Bā'ū" (= they
returned).
QUR’ĀN: this was so because they
disbelieved:
It gives the reason of preceding
statement; and the next sentence, "this was so because they disobeyed and
exceeded the limits" is the reason of that reason. Their disobedience and
perennial excesses caused them to reject the signs of Allāh and kill the
prophets. Allāh says in another verse: Then evil was the end of those
who did evil, because they rejected the signs of Allāh and used to mock
them (30:10). How was the disbelief caused by disobedience? One of the
coming traditions explains it.
TRADITIONS
Abū Ja'far (a.s.) said about the
words of Allāh: and when We appointed (a time of) forty nights
with Mūsā: "It was thirty nights in the (divine) knowledge and
measure, then something else happened (to show that it was not the
final decree) and Allāh added ten more; and in this way the appointed time
of his Lord, the first and the last, was completed forty days."
(al-`Ayyāshī )
The author says: This tradition supports what we have
mentioned earlier that the forty was the total of the two appointed
times.
`Alī (a.s.) said about the words of
Allāh: and when Mūsā said to his people: "0 my people! you have surely
been unjust to yourselves. . . ": "They asked Mūsā: `How should we
repent?' He said: `Some of you should kill the others.' Thereupon, they
took the knives and everyone started killing (the others), even his
brother, father and son, without caring, by God! whom he killed. (It
continued) till seventy thousand of them were killed. Then Allāh revealed
to Mūsā: `Tell them to stay their hands;' and he who was killed was
forgiven and he who remained, his repentance was accepted. " (ad-Durru
'l-manthūr)
The Imām said: "Mūsā (a.s.) went to
the appointed place and time, and then came back to his people; and they
had started worshipping the calf; then he told them: ‘0 my
people! you have surely been unjust to yourselves by taking the calf
(for worship), therefore turn to your Creator (penitently)
and kill your people, that is best for you with your Creator.' They
asked him: `How should we kill our people?' Mūsā said to them: `Tomorrow
everyone of you should come to Baytu '1-Maqdis with a knife or a piece of iron or a
sword; when I ascend the pulpit of the Children of Israel you should all
keep your faces hidden, so that nobody should recognize the other at his
side; then you should kill each other.' Thus seventy thousand of those who
had worshipped the calf assembled in Baytu '1-Maqdis. When Musa finished
praying with them and ascended the pulpit, they started killing each
other. (This continued) until Jibrīl came down and said: `Now tell them, O
Mūsā! to stop killing (each other), because Allāh has accepted their
repentance.' And (by that time) ten thousand of them had been killed. And
Allāh revealed: that is best for you with your Creator; so He turned to
you (mercifully), for surely His is Oftreturning (with
mercy), the Merciful. "(at-Tafsīr, al-Qummi)
The author says: According to this tradition, the
sentence, "that is best for you with your Creator", was said by Mūsā
(a.s.) and was also used in the divine speech. In this way, Allāh
confirmed the word of Mūsā (a.s.), and made it clear that what had
actually happened - the execution of ten thousand calf-worshippers -
was all that was intended from the very beginning; and that the order of
Musa was carried out in full, and not partially. According to what appears
from the wording of Mūsā (a.s.) , it was best for them if all of them were
killed; but only some of them got killed, not all. By repeating the same
words, Allāh made it clear that what Mūsā (a.s.) had meant from the words,
"the best for you", was not the execution of all.
The same at-Tafsīr says about
the words of Allāh: and We made the clouds to give shade over you:
"When Mūsā crossed the sea with the Israelites, they landed at a
desert. They said: ‘O Mūsā! you have really destroyed and killed us, by
bringing us from an inhabited land to a desert where there is , either any
shadow or tree nor even water.' At daytime a cloud appeared over them to
protect them from the sun; and at right, manna came down to them, settling
on leaves, trees and stones, and they ate it; and at dinner time roasted
birds fell on their dinner-spread, and when they finished eating and
drinking, the birds (became alive and) flew away. And Mūsā had a stone
which he used to place in the midst of the station (of the caravan),
striking it with his walking-stick and, lo! twelve springs gushed from it,
as Allāh described, every spring going to the station of a particular
tribe - and they were twelve tribes." (ibid.)
Abu l-Hasan al-Mādī (a.s.) said
about the words of Allāh: and they did not do Us any harm but they did
harm their own selves: "Surely Allāh is too powerful and too
unassailable to be harmed or to ascribe any harm to Himself. But He has
joined us to Himself and took any injustice done to us as an injustice
done to Him, and treated our love as His love; then He revealed it in a
(verse of the) Qur’ān to His Prophet, and said: and they did not do Us
any harm, but they did harm their own selves. The narrator says: "I
said, `This is the revelation?' He said, `Yes."' (al- Kāfi
)
The author says: Nearly the same thing has been
narrated from al-Baqir (a.s.).
". . . too unassailable to be harmed
": It is the explanation of the Qur’ānic expression, "they did not do Us
any harm"; the next sentence, "or to ascribe any harm to Himself", rejects
also the opposite proposition. Allāh can neither be harmed nor does He do
any injustice Himself. Why did the narrator ask the question, "This
is the revelation?" Obviously, for a negative sentence to be plausible
there should be a real or hypothetic possibility of a positive connection
between the subject and its predicate. We do not say, "This wall does not
see". Why? Because wall has no possible connection with seeing. Now, Allāh
can have no possible connection at all with injustice or oppression.
Therefore, the sentence, "they did not do Us any harm", would seem a
superfluous and implausible assertion, because there was no need for
saying that Allāh could not be harmed nor did He harm anyone - unless it
was meant to convey some fine point to the listeners. And that point is
this: Great persons often speak on behalf of their servants and
dependants; likewise, Allāh in this verse is speaking on behalf of
Muhammad and his progeny (peace be on them all), joining them to Himself
in this declaration.
as-Sādiq (a.s.) recited the verse:
this was so because they disbelieved in the signs of Allāh and killed
the prophets unjustly; this was so because they disobeyed and exceeded the
limits, and then said: "By God, they did not hit them with their
hands, nor did they kill them with their swords; but they heard their
talks and announced it (to their enemies); so the prophets were caught on
that charge and killed; this was the killing, the exceeding the limit and
the disobedience." (al-`Ayyāshī)
The author says: A similar tradition from the same
Imām is found in al-Kāfi. Apparently, the Imam inferred it from the
words, "this was so because they disobeyed . . ." Needless to say that
murder, and especially of the prophets, and rejection of the signs of
Allāh cannot be termed as mere disobedience. It should be the other way
round. But if we take the disobedience to mean disclosing the secrets then
it would be perfectly right to say that they killed the prophets, because
they (disobeyed them and) did not keep their secrets and thus delivered
them into the hands of their enemies who killed them.
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