Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:58

"And when We said, 'Enter this village...'"

The Village: It is Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem). It is also said to be Jericho, one of the villages of the Levant. They were commanded to enter it after their wandering in the wilderness.

The Gate: The gate of the village. It is also said to be the gate of the dome toward which they used to pray while they had not yet entered Bayt al-Maqdis during the lifetime of Moses, peace be upon him.

"And enter the gate bowing [prostrating]..." They were commanded to prostrate upon reaching the gate as an act of gratitude to God and humility. It is also said that "prostration" here means to bow and lower themselves while entering, so that their entry would be with humility and submissiveness. Another view is that the gate was lowered for them so they would bow their heads, but they refused to bow and entered crawling on their buttocks.

"Hittah" (Relief/Forgiveness): A noun form (fi'lah) derived from hatt (to drop/remove), like jalsah (a sitting) or rakbah (a kneeling). It is the predicate of an omitted subject, meaning: "Our request is Hittah" or "Your command is Hittah."

The original grammatical state is the accusative (nasb), meaning: "Remove (hutt) our sins from us, a removal (hittah)." It was put in the nominative (raf') to convey the meaning of permanence, similar to the saying: "A beautiful patience (sabrun jamil)," where the original was "Be patient with a beautiful patience (isbir sabran)." Ibn Abi 'Ablah read it in the accusative, following the original form. It is also said the meaning is: "Our command is Hittah," meaning that we should settle and reside in this village.

If you ask: "Is it permissible to put Hittah in the accusative for those who read it as an object of 'Say' (qulu), meaning 'Say this word'?" I say: It is not far-fetched. However, the better view is that it is in the accusative due to an implied verb, and the position of that implied verb is governed by "Say."

It is read as yughfar lakum (He will forgive you) and tughfar lakum (It will be forgiven for you), both in the passive voice.

"And We will increase the doers of good." Meaning: Whoever among you was a doer of good, that word was a cause for the increase of his reward; and whoever was a doer of evil, it was for him a means of repentance and forgiveness.

"But those who wronged changed..." Meaning: They placed in the stead of Hittah...

"...a word..." ...other than it.

This means they were commanded to say a word signifying repentance and seeking forgiveness, but they opposed it with a word that did not carry the meaning they were commanded to convey, and they did not comply with God's command. The intent is not that they were commanded to use that specific word "Hittah" and brought another; for if they had brought another word that independently carried the same meaning as what they were commanded, they would not have been held accountable. For example, if they had said instead of Hittah, "We seek Your forgiveness and repent to You," or "O God, pardon us," and the like.

It is said they said Hintah (wheat) instead of Hittah. It is also said they said in Nabataean, "Hatta samqatha," meaning "red wheat," mocking what was said to them and turning away from seeking what is with God toward seeking the worldly desires they craved.

The repetition of "those who wronged" serves to further condemn their actions and signals that the sending down of the Rijz (punishment) upon them was due to their wrongdoing.

It is mentioned in Surah al-A'raf: "So We sent upon them..." (al-A'raf: 133), with the implied object being al-Rijz, which is the punishment. It is also read with a damma on the ra (rujz). It is reported that twenty-four thousand of them died in one hour from the plague; others say seventy thousand.

"And when Moses prayed for water for his people, We said, 'Strike with your staff the stone,' and there gushed forth from it twelve springs, and every people knew its drinking place. 'Eat and drink from the provision of God, and do not commit abuse on the earth, spreading corruption.'"