Al-A‘raf: 155
"And Moses chose his people..."
This is a continuation of the explanation of the states of the Children of Israel. Some have said: It is a commencement of the explanation of how the call for repentance was issued and how it occurred.
"Chose" (ikhtara) takes two objects, the second of which is governed by the preposition min (from), which has been omitted here, linking the verb directly to the noun. The original [structure] is ikhtara min qawmihi (he chose from his people). Similar to this is the statement of Al-Farazdaq:
"Who is it that the men have chosen for generosity and liberality when the violent winds blow?"
And his other statement:
"I said to him: Choose for her a fat young she-camel and a stout female one, the most excellent of your female camels in the pasture."
His saying, Exalted is He, "seventy men" is the first object of ikhtara according to the preferred view, and it was delayed from the second [object] for reasons mentioned repeatedly. It has been said: It is an apposition of substitution (badal) of a part from the whole, but the majority rejected this on the basis that the thing replaced is in the intention of being discarded, and the ikhtiyar (choosing) requires the existence of a chooser and a chosen one; by discarding [the original object], the second [object] falls away. Abu al-Baqa’ permitted this, albeit with weakness, and the estimation would be "seventy of them." It is also said: It is an explanatory apposition (‘atf bayan).
"For Our appointed time" (limiqatina): Abu ‘Ali, Abu Muslim, and others from the Sunni and Shi’a exegetes went [to the opinion] that it is the first miqat (appointed time), which is the miqat of speech. They said: He (peace be upon him) chose for that [occasion] from the twelve tribes, six from each tribe, until they totaled seventy-two. Then he (peace be upon him) said: "Let two men excuse themselves from among you." They were stingy [to do so], so he said: "Whoever remains from among you shall have the like of the reward of one who goes out." So Kalub and Yusha‘ (Joshua) remained. It is narrated that he did not find [among them] except sixty elders, so Allah, the Exalted, revealed that he should choose ten from the youths. He chose them, and they became [like] elders. It is said they were those beyond twenty years of age and did not exceed forty, so ignorance and childhood had departed from them. Moses (peace be upon him) commanded them to fast, purify themselves, and purify their garments, then he went out with them to Mount Sinai. When he drew near to the mountain, a pillar of cloud descended upon it until it covered the whole mountain. Moses drew near and entered it and said to the people: "Draw near." They drew near until, when they entered the cloud, they fell prostrate. They heard Him, Exalted is He, speaking to Moses, commanding him and forbidding him: "Do this, and do not do that." Then the cloud cleared, and they turned to him and requested to see [Him]. He admonished them, and what happened [subsequently] happened.
Others—and this is what is narrated from Al-Hasan—held that it is a different [occasion] than the first miqat. They said: Allah, the Exalted, commanded Moses (peace be upon him) to come to Him with a group of the Children of Israel to apologize to Him for the worship of the Calf. So he chose those whom he chose. When they arrived at the Mount, they said what they said. This is also narrated from Al-Suddi. From Ibn Ishaq, it is [narrated] that he (peace be upon him) only chose them to repent to Allah, the Exalted, and to ask Him for repentance on behalf of those they left behind from their people. Al-Tayyibi favored this, claiming that the first [opinion] contradicts the order of the verses and the statements of the exegetes.
As for the first [point regarding the order of the verses]: The Imam said: He, the Exalted, mentioned the story of the miqat of speech and the request for sight, then followed it with the story of the Calf and what is connected to it. The apparent state is that this story is different from the preceding one, for it is not consistent with eloquence to mention part of a story, then move to another, then return to the first; this is a confusion from which His speech, the Exalted, is protected. Furthermore, in the first [account], it is mentioned that Moses (peace be upon him) fell down senseless, and in the second, his saying after the rajfa (convulsion/seizure): "If You had willed, You could have destroyed them." Also, if the rajfa were due to the request for sight, it would have been said: "Will You destroy us for what the foolish among us have said?" Al-Tayyibi added to this that He, the Exalted, when He mentioned their being struck by the thunderbolt, He did not mention the fainting of Moses (peace be upon him), and vice versa, which indicates they are distinct.
As for the second [point regarding the exegetes]: It is what was narrated from Al-Suddi which we mentioned just now. The author of al-Kashf rebutted what was mentioned in the preference, [stating] that the fair view is that the entirety is one story concerning what happened to the Children of Israel after their salvation: the fulfillment of the promise of giving the Book, the setting of its miqat, the worship of the Calf, and the request for sight were all in those days and in that matter; thus, one part is linked to the other. The preference for this style remains, and it is clear, for the first is in the matter of showing favor to them and preferring them—how could it not be, when "We appointed a time" is joined to "We saved you," and it has been clarified that it is an explanation of the preference? The follow-up of the account of the sight is an aside to distinguish between the two requests [in our view], and to silence [the Mu‘tazila]. The second [part] is in the matter of their crime after that thorough beneficence, by taking the Calf, and [this] deviation and separation are requirements of the structure.
He further rebutted what was mentioned therein [by stating] that the saying of Al-Suddi alone is not fit to be a refutation, especially since it contradicts what the Reviver of the Sunnah (Al-Baghawi) transmitted regarding His saying, Exalted is He: "If You had willed, You could have destroyed them [before]"; that they were obedient ministers to him, so their loss was severe upon him, so He had mercy on them and replaced their loss. And where is "We will not believe you" from obedience and good ministration? He said: Then the apparent [meaning] of His saying, Exalted is He: "So they said, 'Show us Allah openly,' so the sa‘iqa (thunderbolt/seizure) took them for their wrongdoing. Then they took the Calf" is that the taking of the Calf is later than their statement, which is contrary to what is narrated from Al-Suddi. Carrying [the interpretation] to a delay in rank requires evidence—how could it be otherwise when it does not negate the delay in time? So there must be proof to assign it to that.
Moreover, the exegetes admitted in Surah Taha that he chose seventy for the miqat of speech; they mentioned it in His saying, Exalted is He: "And what made you hasten from your people, O Moses?" As for the excuse offered by Al-Tayyibi that the choosing of the seventy was [on] two occasions, and there is no report that they were with him during the speech and the request for sight, it is apparent to the fair-minded that it is invalid. [End quote].
Al-Qutb mentioned, in weakening what was narrated from Al-Suddi, that the going out to apologize—if it were after they killed themselves and the repentance was accepted—then there is no meaning for the apology. And if it were before their killing, then it is strange that an apology’s fruit is the killing of selves. Then he said: There is no doubt that one story is repeated in the Qur’an, with some of it mentioned in one surah and other parts in another; this is only for the repeated consideration of those who reflect on something of that story. If it is permissible to mention a story in multiple surahs, with each surah having a part of it, then why is it not permissible for that to occur in places within a single surah, due to the repetition of the consideration? [End quote]. This is apparent in preferring the view of the former [scholars].
I say: The view that this miqat is the first miqat is not devoid of merit, and a group [of scholars] has stated it, as we have indicated. Our discussion in Al-Baqarah is clear on that. However, the fair view is that the apparent structure here requires that it is other than that. What the author of al-Kashf mentioned does not necessitate that it is apparent to the contrary. The majority of exegetes have gone to the view of it being distinct. ‘Abd ibn Humayd extracted from the path of Abu Sa‘d, from Mujahid, that Moses (peace be upon him) went out with the seventy of his people, calling upon Allah, the Exalted, and asking Him to remove the affliction from them. It was not answered for them, so Moses knew that they had committed from the sin what their people had committed. Abu Sa‘d said: Muhammad ibn Ka‘b al-Qurazi narrated to me that it was not answered for them because they did not forbid them from the evil, even if they did not command them to [do] good.
‘Abd ibn Humayd extracted from Al-Fadl ibn ‘Isa, the nephew of Al-Raqashi, that the Children of Israel said one day to Moses (peace be upon him): "Are you not the son of our uncle and one of us, and you claim that you spoke to the Lord of Might? We will not believe you until we see Allah openly." When they refused but that, Allah, the Exalted, revealed to Moses to choose seventy men from his people. He chose seventy of the best, then said to them: "Go out." When they went forth, there came to them what they had no power to withstand... the report. This is apparent in that this miqat is not the first. Yes, it contradicts what is narrated from Al-Suddi, but both agree on the view of it being distinct. Al-Hasan also agrees with Al-Suddi on that, so he is not alone in that, as the author of al-Kashf imagined. What he mentioned about the contradiction of Al-Suddi’s statement to what was transmitted by the Reviver of the Sunnah is in the realm of prevention. And his saying: "We will not believe you," etc., its answer appears from what we mentioned in Al-Baqarah regarding these verses, from the possibilities. The view that the choosing was twice is not far-fetched, and some of them have stated it.
What Al-Qutb mentioned regarding the oscillation in going out to apologize—the apparent meaning of some narrations from Al-Suddi requires the determination of the first part of it. For Ibn Abi Hatim extracted from him that he said: Moses set out to his Lord and spoke to Him. When He spoke to him, He said: "And what made you hasten from your people, O Moses?" Moses answered Him with what he answered Him, so He, the Exalted, said: "We have tempted your people [after you]," the verse. Moses returned to his people angry and sorrowful. Allah, the Exalted, refused to accept their repentance except by the condition they disliked, so they did it. Then Allah, the Exalted, commanded Moses (peace be upon him) to come to Him with people from the Children of Israel to apologize for the worship of the Calf. So He appointed for them an appointed time, and Moses chose seventy men, etc. It is, as you see, apparent in what we said.
As for the saying that there is no meaning for apologizing after they killed themselves and repentance was sent down, it was answered that the meaning may be the seeking of increased pleasure and the bringing down of more mercy. It is also possible that they were commanded to do that to emphasize the sign of the greatness of the crime and [to serve as] an addition to it, indicating that it reached a point in evil that the killing of selves did not suffice for its pardon; rather, there must be, in addition to that, the apology. It is also possible to say that it was before they killed themselves. The secret of why they were commanded to do it is that they also learned the greatness of the crime to the fullest extent by its non-acceptance. And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.
"So when the rajfa (trembling/seizure) took them": That is, the sa‘iqa (thunderbolt) or the trembling of the mountain, and they were struck by it. The majority are [of the view] that they all died, then Allah, the Exalted, brought them back to life. It is said: They fainted, then regained consciousness. That is because they said: "We will not believe you until we see Allah openly," according to some narrations; or to confirm for those who said that among their people the increased greatness of the Exalted [One], according to others; or merely for discipline, according to the report of Al-Qurazi. The apparent [meaning] is that their saying "We will not believe you," etc., issued from them in that place, not after returning, as was said, and which we transmitted in Al-Baqarah.
In that case, the view that this miqat is the first miqat is distant, because in it is the request of Moses (peace be upon him) for sight after the speech of Allah, the Exalted, to him, without separation, as is apparent. So this request would be after it, and it is far-fetched that they would request that after seeing what happened to Moses (peace be upon him). What Ibn Abi al-Dunya, Ibn Jarir, and others extracted from ‘Ali—may Allah honor his face—that he said: "When the end of Aaron arrived, Allah revealed to Moses (peace be upon him) to go, you and Aaron and his son, to a cave in the mountain, for We are capturing his soul. They all set out and entered the cave, and there was a couch. Moses lay down upon it, then rose from it and said, 'How beautiful this place is, O Aaron!' So Aaron lay down upon it, and his soul was captured. Moses and his nephew returned to the Children of Israel, sorrowful. They said to him: 'Where is Aaron?' He said: 'He died.' They said: 'Rather, you killed him; you knew that we loved him.' He said to them: 'Woe to you! Would I kill my brother, and I had asked Allah to make him a minister? If I had wanted to kill him, would his son let me?' They said: 'Yes, you killed him out of envy.' He said: 'Then choose seventy men.' He set out with them, and two men fell ill on the way, so he drew a line for them. He, the son of Aaron, and the Children of Israel continued until they reached Aaron. He said: 'O Aaron, who killed you?' He said: 'No one killed me, but I died.' They said: 'What you disobey [in], O Moses! Call upon your Lord to make us prophets.' So the rajfa took them, and they were struck down, and the two men who were left behind were struck down. Moses (peace be upon him) stood calling upon his Lord, so Allah brought them to life, and they returned to their people as prophets."
This hardly seems correct, in my view, due to the abundance of traditions to the contrary and the rejection of the apparent meanings of the verses by it.
"He said, 'My Lord, if You had willed, You could have destroyed them before'": [This is] an exhibition of the previous forgiveness to elicit the subsequent forgiveness. Meaning: You were capable of destroying them before this by inciting Pharaoh to destroy them and by drowning them in the sea and others, yet You had mercy upon them and did not destroy them; so have mercy upon them now as You had mercy upon them before, in accordance with the requirements of Your generosity. And he only said: "And me" out of his submission and humility. It is said: He intended by his saying "before" [the time] when they neglected [the command] regarding the prohibition of the worship of the Calf and did not separate from its worshiper when they witnessed their persistence in it; that is, if You had willed to destroy them for their sins at that time, and me also when I requested the sight from You. It is said: [It refers to] when [he] killed the Coptic [and] You would have destroyed us. It is said: It is a wish from him (peace be upon him) for the destruction of all, because of his love not to see what he sees of their opposition to him, for example, or because of another reason—and there is wavering in this.
"Will You destroy us for what the foolish among us have done?": [It is a question] of defiance and poor manners, or [it is a reference to] the worship of the Calf. The hamza is either for denying that destruction could occur, relying on the kindness of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, as Ibn al-Anbari said; or for asking for compassion, as Al-Mubarrad said—meaning: Do not destroy us. Whatever it may be, it is from the speech of Moses (peace be upon him) like what preceded it. The saying of some that it was the saying of some of them [the seventy] is not apparent, and there is no call for it. The saying that the motive is the vexation in it, which is not appropriate for the station of prophethood, its flaw is not hidden. Perhaps the intent of the one who says that is that this saying of Moses (peace be upon him) resembles the saying of one of the seventy; so it is as if he said it on their tongue, because they are the ones who were struck by what they were struck by, unlike him. So understand.
"It is but Your trial": A resumption confirming what is before it, and an apology for what occurred from them. In (It is not) is the negative [particle], and it is for the trial known from the context; meaning: The trial is nothing but Your trial, Your affliction and testing, since You let them hear Your speech, so they coveted to see You and followed analogy in a place where it does not belong; or [since] You created a lowing in the Calf, so they swerved because of it. Ibn Abi Hatim extracted from Rashid ibn Sa‘d that when Allah, the Exalted, said to Moses (peace be upon him), "Your people have taken a calf, a body that has a lowing," he said: "My Lord, who put the spirit into it?" He said: "I." He said: "Then You led them astray, my Lord." He said: "O Chief of the Prophets, O Father of the Wise, I saw that [desire] in their hearts, so I facilitated it for them." Perhaps this is an indication of the eternal potentiality (al-isti‘dad al-azali) which is not created.
It is said: The pronoun refers to the rajfa (seizure); that is, it is nothing but Your intensification of the worship and the burden of duty upon us by the patience [required] for what You sent down upon us. This is narrated from Al-Rabi‘, Ibn Jubayr, and Abu al-‘Aliyah. It is said: The pronoun is for the issue of the request for sight, even if it is not mentioned.
"You send astray by it whom You will, and guide whom You will": A resumption clarifying the ruling of the trial. It is said: [It is] a state [of being] from the possessor of the pronoun or the noun; meaning: You lead astray by it whom You will to be led astray by exceeding the limit, or by following phantasms, or by something like that, and You guide whom You will [its] guidance, so his faith is strengthened by it. It is said: The meaning is: You strike with this rajfa whom You will, and turn it away from whom You will. It is said: You lead astray by abandoning the patience on Your trial and abandoning contentment with it—whomever You will—from attaining Your reward and entering Your Garden; and You guide—by contentment with it and patience upon it—whomever You will. It is as you see.
"You are our Protector, so forgive us": That is, You are the One who attends to our worldly and otherworldly affairs, not anyone else. "And have mercy upon us": by the outpouring of the effects of worldly and otherworldly mercy upon us. The fa (so) is for ordering the supplication upon what preceded it of [His] protection, because it is the state of one who manages affairs and attends to them to push away harm and bring benefit. He put the request for forgiveness before the request for mercy because the emptying [of sins] is more important than the adorning [with virtues]. The asking of forgiveness for his own self (peace be upon him) within the request of it for those whom he asked it for is among the things that have no harm, even if [a specific sin] did not issue from him like what issued from them, as is not hidden. The saying that his undertaking (peace be upon him) to say "It is but Your trial" is a great audacity, so he asked Allah, the Exalted, for His forgiveness and overlooking it, is [something that] the [literal] drift of the text rejects among those of good taste. I do not think that Allah, the Exalted, counted that as a sin from him for which he would ask forgiveness, and in his previous calling there is what supports that.
"And You are the best of the forgivers": For every forgiver other than You only forgives for a psychological purpose, such as the love of praise and pushing away harm, while You forgive not for the sake of an equivalent or a purpose, but out of pure grace and generosity. The sentence is an appending parenthetical, confirming what preceded, and the specification of forgiveness by mention is because it is the most important.
Some interpreted what was mentioned as the forgiveness of the evil deed and replacing it with a good deed, so that it would be an appendage, not [just] "forgive and have mercy" together.
