Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:67

There was a wealthy old man among the Children of Israel who was killed by his nephews so they could inherit his wealth. They cast his body at the gate of a city, then came demanding blood money. God commanded them to slaughter a cow and strike the corpse with a part of it, so that he might come to life and inform them of his killer.

"They said, 'Do you take us in mockery?'" Meaning: Do you treat us as a place of mockery, or as people of mockery, or as those being mocked, or as mockery itself, due to the excess of their derision?

"From the ignorant" Because mockery in such a situation is a form of ignorance and foolishness.

• Huzuan (mockery) is read with two dammahs, and huz'an with a sukun on the zay, similar to kufu'an and kuf'an.
• Hafs read huzuan with two dammahs and a waw, as well as kufuan; they are from the same root.

"Ask your Lord for us, what is it?" In the reading of Abdullah: "Ask your Lord for us, what is its state and description?" They were astonished that a dead cow could be used to strike a dead man to bring him to life, so they asked for the description of that cow, which was of a strange nature, outside the norm of cows.

• Al-Farid is the aged cow.
• Al-Bakr is the young one.
• Al-'Awan is the middle-aged one.

"Between that" If you ask: "Between" requires two or more things, so how is it permissible to use it here? I say: It is in the sense of two things, as it refers to the Farid (aged) and the Bakr (young) mentioned. If you ask: How is it permissible to use a masculine demonstrative pronoun (dhalika) for two feminine nouns? I say: It is permissible by interpreting it as "what was mentioned" or "what preceded" for the sake of brevity, just as they use "did" (fa'ala) as a substitute for many verbs mentioned before it.

"What you are commanded" Meaning: What you are commanded to do. It is a verbal noun used for the object, like saying "the Amir's striking" (meaning the one struck).

"Bright yellow" (faqiu) This is the most intense and pure form of yellow. It is used for emphasis, like saying "intense black" or "pure white."

"Its color pleases the beholders" If you ask: Why is faqiu (bright) here, when it should be a predicate for the color? I say: It is not a predicate for the color; rather, it is an emphasis for "yellow" (safra'), but the word "color" is raised by it as if it were the subject. There is no difference between saying "a bright yellow cow" and "a cow whose color is bright." If you ask: Why not just say "a bright yellow cow"? What is the benefit of mentioning "color"? I say: The benefit is emphasis, as if to say "its yellowness is intensely yellow."

• Wahb said: When you look at it, it seems as if the sun's rays are coming out of its skin.
• Ali (may God be pleased with him) said: Whoever wears yellow sandals, his anxiety will decrease, due to the verse: "It pleases the beholders."

"Black" Some say it is borrowed from the description of camels, as their blackness is often tinged with yellow.

"What is it?" This is a repetition of the question regarding its state and description, seeking further clarification. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "If they had taken the nearest cow and slaughtered it, it would have sufficed them, but they made it difficult, so God made it difficult for them." Excessive inquiry is a sign of ill-omen.

"The cows have become confused to us" Meaning: The cows described with middle-age and yellowness are many, so it became confusing to us which one to slaughter.

"Not trained" This describes the cow: a cow not trained for plowing or irrigation. The first "not" is for negation, and the second is added to emphasize the first.

"Sound" (musallamah) God kept it sound from defects, or it was exempted from work, or its color was pure, with no other colors mixed in.

"No blemish in it" No spot of another color; it is entirely yellow, even its horns and hooves.

"You have brought the truth" Meaning: You have brought the true description of the cow, and there is no longer any ambiguity.

"So they slaughtered it, though they were near to not doing so" This expresses the weariness of their excessive inquiry and their procrastination. It is said they almost did not slaughter it due to the high price, or fear of the scandal of the killer being revealed. It is narrated that a righteous man among the Children of Israel had a calf which he entrusted to God for his son. It grew to be the best cow, and they bought it from the orphan and his mother for its weight in gold.

"And when you killed a person and disputed over it" The group was addressed because the killing existed among them. Faddara'tum means you differed and argued, or you pushed the blame onto one another.

"And God will bring to light what you were hiding" He will inevitably reveal what you concealed regarding the murder.

"Strike him with part of it" The pronoun refers either to the "person" (the victim) or the "slain man." It is said they struck him with its tongue, thigh, or the bone near the ear. He rose by God's permission, bleeding, and said, "So-and-so and so-and-so killed me," then fell dead again.

"Thus does God bring the dead to life" This is either an address to those who witnessed the resurrection, or to the disbelievers in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

If you ask: Why was it not brought to life immediately, without the condition of slaughtering the cow? I say: There are wisdoms and benefits in causes and conditions, such as the act of sacrifice, the performance of duties, the reward, the lesson in not being excessive in questioning, and the benefit to the orphan. It also shows that one who seeks to draw near to his Lord should be meticulous in his choice of offering, selecting the best in age, color, and freedom from defects, and being willing to pay a high price for it.