ﲅ ﲆ ﲇ ﲈ ﲉ ﲊ ﲋ ﲌ ﲍ ﲎ ﲏ ﲐ ﲑ ﲒ ﲓ ﲔ ﲕ ﲖ ﲗ
[Aaron] said, "O son of my mother, do not seize [me] by my beard or by my head. Indeed, I feared that you would say, 'You caused division among the Children of Israel, and you did not observe [or await] my word.' "
Tafsir
Verse range: 20:94
"He said, 'O son of my mother...'"
It is read: bi-liḥyatī (by my beard) with a fatḥa on the lām, which is the dialect of the people of the Hijaz.
Moses—peace be upon him—was a man of intense temperament, naturally inclined toward sharpness, harshness, and rigidity in all matters. He was fiercely angry for the sake of God and His religion. When he saw his people worshipping a calf instead of God, after they had witnessed such great signs, he could not restrain himself. Overcome by immense shock, he cast down the Tablets of the Torah, out of anger for God, indignation, and zeal.
He treated his brother and successor over his people with harshness, approaching him like an open enemy, grabbing the hair of his head—for he had a thick head of hair—and the hair of his beard, dragging him toward himself.
[Aaron’s response implies]: "Had I fought some of them with others, they would have scattered and perished. I waited for you to be the one to intervene personally and rectify the situation with your own judgment. I feared your reproach for neglecting what you had entrusted to me regarding gathering the scattered and preserving the masses. Yet, I had no choice but to observe your command and act according to its requirements."
"[Moses] said, 'And what is your case, O Samiri? He said, 'I perceived what they did not perceive, so I took a handful [of dust] from the track of the messenger and threw it, and thus my soul prompted me.'"
