Al-Baqarah: 61
"And when you said, 'O Moses...'"
They were farmers, so they yearned for their roots. They grew weary of the blessings they were in, and their souls craved misery.
"Upon one food"
They meant the manna and salwa (quail) with which they were provided in the wilderness.
If you ask: "They were two foods, so why did they say 'one food'?"
I say: By "one," they meant that which does not vary or change. If a man has many dishes on his table every day and never changes them, it is said, "So-and-so eats only one food." The intent of "oneness" here is the negation of variety and change.
It is also possible they meant that the two were of a single category, as both were foods of luxury and indulgence. We are a farming people, accustomed to agriculture, so we desire only what we are used to—the varied things we are accustomed to, such as grains, vegetables, and the like.
"Bring forth for us"
Meaning: Produce for us and make available.
"Vegetables" (al-baql): What the earth produces of greens. It refers to the choice vegetables people eat, such as mint, celery, leeks, and their likes.
Note: It is recited as qiththa'iha (cucumbers) with a damma.
"Fum" (al-fum): Wheat. From this comes the expression "Fumu lana" (bake for us). Others say it means garlic. Ibn Mas'ud’s reading, "thummiha" (its garlic), supports this, and it is more consistent with lentils and onions.
"That which is lower" (adna)
Meaning: That which is closer in rank and inferior in quality. "Nearness" (dunuw) and "closeness" (qurb) are used to express a low status. One says, "He is of low station" (dani al-mahall) or "close in rank," just as "distance" is used for the opposite, as in "He is of distant station" or "distant ambition," meaning high and elevated.
Zuhayr al-Furqabi read it as adna' with a hamza, derived from dana'a (baseness).
"Go down to a city" (misran)
It is also recited as ihbitu with a damma, meaning descend into it from the wilderness. It is said, "He descended into the valley" if he entered it, and "he descended from it" if he left it. The lands of the wilderness are between Jerusalem and Qinnasrin, measuring twelve by eight farsakhs.
It is possible that Misr (Egypt) is intended as a proper noun. It is diptote (non-triptote) despite having two causes—definiteness and feminine gender—because of the quiescence of its middle letter, like the names "Nuh" and "Lut" (which have the causes of foreignness and definiteness). If "a city" (misran) is intended, it has only one cause. In the codex of Abdullah, and in a reading by al-A'mash, it is read as ihbitu misra without tanwin, like the verse "Enter Egypt" (udkhulu misra). Some say it is Misrayim, which was then Arabized.
"And humiliation was struck upon them"
Meaning: Humiliation was made to surround them and encompass them, so they are within it just as one is within a dome that has been "struck" (erected) over him. Or, it was affixed to them until it clung to them like a permanent strike, just as mud is struck against a wall and sticks to it. Thus, the Jews are submissive, humiliated, and people of poverty and destitution—either in reality or because they feign poverty for fear that the jizya (tribute) might be doubled upon them.
"And they returned with wrath from Allah"
From the expression "So-and-so returned with such-and-such" (ba'a bi-) when he is deserving of being killed for it, due to equality and retribution. Meaning: They became deserving of His wrath.
"That is..."
A reference to what preceded: the striking of humiliation, poverty, and the deserving of wrath. That is, this is because of their disbelief and their killing of the prophets. The Jews killed—may they be cursed—Isaiah, Zechariah, Yahya, and others.
If you ask: "Killing prophets can only be 'without right,' so what is the benefit of mentioning it?"
I say: It means they killed them without any right according to their own standards, for the prophets had neither killed anyone nor caused corruption in the land that would justify their execution. They only counseled them and called them to what was beneficial, yet they killed them. If they were questioned and acted justly toward themselves, they would not find any reason that would justify killing them by their own standards.
Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) read it as yaqtuluna (they keep killing) with a tashdid.
"That is..."
A repetition for emphasis.
"Because they disobeyed"
Due to their committing various types of sins and their transgression of Allah’s limits in everything, alongside their disbelief in Allah’s signs and their killing of the prophets. It is also said this refers to their transgression regarding the Sabbath.
It is possible that this refers to the disbelief and the killing of the prophets, meaning that this occurred because of their disobedience and transgression, for they persisted in both and went to extremes until their hearts hardened, leading them to dare to deny the signs and kill the prophets. Or, it refers to that disbelief and killing, along with the fact that they disobeyed.
