Tafsir of Ta-Ha 20:90

His saying, the Exalted, "And Aaron had already said to them before..." along with what follows, is a sworn sentence confirming the previous denial and denunciation by clarifying their insolence and recalcitrance against the Messenger, subsequent to clarifying their obstinacy regarding the dictates of intellect. That is: By Allah, Aaron indeed advised them and alerted them to the reality of the matter before Moses, peace be upon him, returned to them and addressed them with the aforementioned statements.

Al-Wahidi inclined toward the view that the genitive of "before" refers to what has been mentioned [the return of Moses]. It is also said: It means "before the saying of the Samiri: 'This is your god and the god of Moses.'" It is as if he, peace be upon him, perceived their temptation the moment he saw it when it emerged from the pit, so he hastened to warn them. The author of al-Kashf chose this, following his teacher, and said: It is more eloquent and indicative of rebuking them for turning away from the evidence of both intellect and hearing in [the phrase] "Do they not see?" Some have chosen the first view, claiming that the answer supports it, and discussion on that will follow, God willing.

Al-Tayyibi permitted two possibilities for this sentence:

1. That it is conjoined to His saying, "Do they not see?" He said: The preference for the present tense there [in yarawn] is an indication of bringing that heinous state to the listener's mind and invoking condemnation upon them.
2. That it is in the position of a state (hal) of the subject of "they see," establishing the aspect of denial. That is: "Do they not see," while Aaron had already alerted them before that to the reality of the matter and said to them: "O my people, you are only being tested by it." That is, you have been cast into tribulation by the Calf, or you have been led astray—based on directing the restriction derived from the word innama (only) in most of its usages toward the action itself in comparison to its opposite, which the people claim, rather than toward its stated condition in comparison to another condition. The meaning is: "Only tribulation has been done to you, not guidance to the truth," not in the sense of: "You are only tested by the Calf and not by anything else."

His saying, the Exalted, "And indeed, your Lord is the Most Merciful," with the hamza of inna broken, is conjoined to "You are only tested..." and serves as guidance for them toward the truth after restraining them from falsehood. He addressed the title of Lordship and Mercy to show concern for winning them over to the truth; in this is a reminder of their deliverance from a Pharaoh of an era that did not have a Calf. Likewise, as it is said, it is an alert that whenever they repent, He will accept them. Defining both parts [the subject and predicate] serves to denote restriction, meaning: And indeed, your Lord who is worthy of worship is the Most Merciful, and no one else.

Al-Hasan, Isa, Abu Amr, and in one narration, read "that your Lord" with the hamza opened. This is interpreted as the masdar (infinitive) constructed from it being the predicate of an omitted subject; i.e., "The matter is that your Lord is the Most Merciful," and the sentence is conjoined to what preceded. Abu Hatim said: The estimation is "And because your Lord..." and he made the prepositional phrase related to "Follow me." A group read "that [only] you are tested, and that your Lord..." with both hamzas opened, interpreted according to the dialect of Sulaym, where they open the hamza of inna after a statement absolutely.

The fa (so) in His saying, the Exalted, "So follow me and obey my order," is for the sequence of what follows upon what precedes it from the content of the two sentences. That is: If the matter is as such, then follow me and obey my order in remaining steadfast upon the religion.

Ibn Atiyyah said: That is, follow me to the Mount to which Allah the Exalted promised you. There is a critique here, in that he, peace be upon him, was not intending to go to the Mount, nor was he commanded to do so, and Allah the Exalted did not promise those tempted ones that they themselves should go there. It is said—and it is not devoid of merit—that it means: Follow me in remaining steadfast upon the truth and obey this order of mine, and refrain from exposing yourselves to the worship of that which you have known its affair, or restrain yourselves from believing in its divinity and worshipping it.