Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:145

"And We wrote for him in the Tablets..."

Regarding the number, substance, and length of the Tablets, it is said there were ten, or seven, or two. It is said they were made of emerald brought by Gabriel (peace be upon him), or of green chrysolite and red ruby. It is also said that God commanded Moses to cut them from a solid rock which He softened for him, so he cut it with his hand and split it with his fingers. Al-Hasan said they were made of wood sent down from heaven containing the Torah, and their length was ten cubits.

The phrase "of all things" is in the accusative case as the object of "We wrote." "An admonition" and "a detailed explanation" are substitutes for it. The meaning is: We wrote for him everything the Children of Israel needed for their religion, including admonitions and the details of the laws. It is said the Torah was sent down as seventy camel-loads, and a portion of it would take a year to read; only four people read it: Moses, Joshua, Ezra, and Jesus (peace be upon them).

Muqatil said: It was written on the Tablets: "I am God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Do not associate anything with Me, do not commit highway robbery, do not swear by My name falsely—for whoever swears by My name falsely, I will not purify him—do not kill, do not commit adultery, and do not be undutiful to parents."

"Take them": We said to him, "Take them," as a conjunction to "We wrote," or it may be a substitute for "Take what I have given you" (144). The pronoun in "take them" refers to the Tablets, or to "all things" (as it implies things/messages), or to the Torah.

"With firmness": With the diligence and resolve of the messengers of strong will.

"Let them take the best of it": It contains what is good and what is better, such as retribution versus forgiveness, or retaliation versus patience. He commanded them to exert themselves in adopting what is most virtuous and correct, as in: "And follow the best of what was revealed to you from your Lord" (Az-Zumar: 55). It is said: take what is obligatory or recommended, as it is better than what is merely permissible. It may also mean: take what you were commanded to do, rather than what you were forbidden from.

"I will show you the home of the defiantly disobedient": Meaning the home of Pharaoh and his people, which is Egypt, and how it became desolate and destroyed due to their disobedience, so that you may take heed and not disobey as they did, lest you be punished as they were. It is also said to mean the dwellings of ‘Ad, Thamud, and the generations God destroyed for their disobedience, which you pass by on your travels. Others say it refers to Hellfire.

"I will turn away from My signs": By sealing the hearts of the arrogant and abandoning them, so they do not reflect upon them or take heed, due to their negligence and preoccupation with their desires. Al-Fudayl ibn ‘Iyad narrated from the Messenger of God (peace be upon him): "When my nation magnifies the world, the awe of Islam is stripped from it, and when they abandon commanding the good and forbidding the evil, the blessing of revelation is forbidden to them."

It is also said: I will turn them away from invalidating them, even if they strive as Pharaoh strove to invalidate the sign of Moses by gathering magicians, yet God refused but to exalt the truth and debase falsehood.

"Without right": This has two meanings:

1. It is a state (hal) meaning they act arrogantly while being in the wrong, for arrogance with right belongs to God alone.
2. It is a connection to the verb "arrogance," meaning they are arrogant regarding that which is not right and that which they are upon in their religion.

"And among them are those who listen to you": From the signs revealed to them, "yet they do not believe in it."

"The way of right conduct": There are variations in the reading (al-rushd, al-rashad, etc.). How foolish is the one who travels the desert: if he sees a straight path, he turns away from it, but if he sees a rugged, destructive path, he takes it. One who does this in his religion is even more foolish.

"That": In the nominative or accusative case, meaning: that turning away is due to their denial, or God turned them away because of it.

"And the meeting of the Hereafter": This may be the addition of a verbal noun to its object (their meeting the Hereafter) or to the adverbial context (the meeting of what God promised in the Hereafter).