Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:154

"And when the anger subsided in Musa": This commences the explanation of the remainder of the narrative following the division of the people into those who persisted in their error and those who repented, and it provides a summary indication of the outcome for each group. That is: when the anger subsided from him due to his brother’s apology and the people’s repentance. This is explicit in that what was narrated regarding their remorse and the consequences thereof occurred after the arrival of Musa, peace be upon him. It has been said that the meaning is: when the intensity of his peace be upon him's anger was broken and his rage diminished solely due to his brother’s apology, not that his anger ceased entirely, for the people’s repentance was not yet sincere.

The origin of "sukuut" (silence) is the cessation of speech. In the expression, there is a kinayah metaphor where anger is likened to a person who forbids and commands, and silence is attributed to it by way of takhyeel (imaginative embellishment). Al-Sakkaki said: There is a taba'iyyah metaphor in it, where the stillness of anger and the departure of its intensity is likened to the stillness of one who commands and forbids, with "anger" acting as the corroborative clue. It is also said that "anger" is a kinayah metaphor for a speaking person, and "silence" is an explicit metaphor (tasrihiyyah) for the calming of its agitation and boiling; thus, the expression contains a kinayah metaphor with an explicit clue, not a takhyeel one. In any case, the expression contains an exaggeration and eloquence whose high status is manifest.

Al-Zajjaj said: The verbal noun of sakata (when related to anger) is sakatah, while the verbal noun of sakata (when related to a man) is sukuut. This implies that sakata (in the context of anger) is a distinct verb. It has been said—attributed to Ikrimah—that this is a case of qalb (transposition), and its estimation is: "And when Musa was silenced from anger." It is not hidden that silence would have been more befitting for this speaker, as there is no basis for what he mentioned.

Mu'awiyah ibn Qurrah read it as sakana (subsided/settled), and the meaning in that case is apparent. However, the reading of the majority is of a higher standing to any person of sound disposition and correct taste. It was also read as sukita (passive voice) with the shaddah for transitivization, and uskita (passive voice) as well, on the basis that the one who caused the silence was Allah the Exalted, his brother, or the repentant ones.

"He took the Tablets": Those which he had cast down.

"In their inscription": That is, in what was transcribed and written therein. Fu'lah is in the sense of maf'ul (passive participle), like khutbah. Al-naskh is writing, and the genitive construction is explanatory, or it is in the sense of "in." Al-Juba'i, Abu Muslim, and others went with this. It is said: the meaning of "inscribed" is what was copied therein from the Preserved Tablet (al-Lawh al-Mahfuz). It is also said that naskh here means transferring, and the meaning is: in what was transferred from the broken Tablets. It is narrated from Ibn Abbas and Amr ibn Dinar that when Musa, peace be upon him, cast down the Tablets and they broke as they did, he fasted for forty days, and then what was lost was returned to him on two tablets, containing exactly what was in the first; so it was as if it was copied from the first.

"Guidance": That is, a great clarification of the truth.

"And mercy": A magnificent one, by guiding to that which contains goodness and righteousness.

"For those who fear their Lord": That is, who fear the utmost fear. The first lam (in "li-rabbihim") is connected to a suppressed word that serves as an adjective to what precedes it, or it is the lam of purpose; meaning: guidance and mercy for their sake. The second is to strengthen the action of the delayed verb, as in His, the Exalted’s saying: "If you are able to interpret the vision." Or it is the lam of cause, and the object is suppressed; meaning: they fear [committing] sins for the sake of their Lord, not for show and reputation. The possibility of it being connected to a suppressed word—meaning they fear for the sake of their Lord—as Abu al-Baqa' suggested, is remote.