Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:155-157

{And Moses chose his people} meaning: from his people. The preposition is omitted, making the verb transitive, as in the verse: And among us is he who was chosen for generosity.

It is said: He chose them from twelve tribes, six from each tribe, until they totaled seventy-two. He said: "Let two men stay behind." They disputed, so he said: "Whoever stays behind shall have the same reward as he who goes out." Thus, Caleb and Joshua stayed. It is also narrated that only sixty elders were found, so God revealed to him to choose ten from the youth; he chose them, and they became elders. It is said they were those over twenty and not exceeding forty, having shed ignorance and youth. Moses commanded them to fast, purify themselves, and clean their garments, then he went out with them to Mount Sinai for the appointed time of his Lord. His Lord had commanded him to come with seventy of the Children of Israel. When Moses approached the mountain, a pillar of cloud descended upon it, covering the entire mountain. Moses approached and entered it, saying to the people: "Draw near." They drew near, and when they entered the cloud, they fell prostrate. They heard Him speaking to Moses, commanding and forbidding him: "Do this, and do not do that." Then the cloud lifted, and they came to him and demanded to see God. He exhorted them, rebuked them, and disapproved of them, but they said: "O Moses, we will not believe you until we see God clearly." He said: "My Lord, show me [Yourself] that I may look at You," intending that they should hear the rejection and rebuke from His side. He was answered with "You will not see Me," and the mountain shook with them, and they fell unconscious.

When the shaking occurred, Moses said: {My Lord, if You had willed, You could have destroyed them before, and me [as well]}. This is a wish for destruction before seeing the consequences of their demand for vision, like one who regrets a matter when he sees the evil outcome: "If God had willed, He would have destroyed me before this." {Would You destroy us for what the foolish among us have done?} meaning: would You destroy us all—himself and them—because he only requested the vision to rebuke the foolish, and they had requested it out of folly and ignorance. {It is not but Your trial} meaning: Your test and affliction when You spoke to me and they heard Your speech, and they inferred from the speech the possibility of vision—a corrupt inference—until they were tempted and went astray. {You send astray whom You will and guide whom You will.} You send astray by the trial those who are ignorant and not firm in their knowledge of You, and You guide those who know You and are firm in the established word. He attributed this to God’s sending astray and guiding because, since His trial was the cause of their going astray or being guided, it is as if He sent them astray or guided them by it, speaking broadly.

{You are our Protector} our Master who manages our affairs. {And ordain for us} establish for us and decree {in this world [that which is] good} well-being, a good life, and success in obedience, {and in the Hereafter} Paradise. {We have turned back to You} we have repented to You. Hada to Him means he returned and repented. Al-Hud is the plural of Ha'id, which is the repentant one.

{My punishment—I afflict with it whom I will} meaning: those whom it is necessary in wisdom to punish, where there is no room for pardon because it would be a corruption. As for {My mercy}, its state and description is that it is vast, reaching everything; there is no Muslim or disbeliever, obedient or disobedient, who is not fluctuating in My bounty.

{I will ordain it}—this mercy—specifically for those among you, O Children of Israel, who will be in the end times from the nation of Muhammad (peace be upon him), those who believe in all Our signs and books and do not disbelieve in any of them. {Those who follow the Messenger} to whom We reveal a book specific to him, which is the Quran, {the unlettered Prophet} the possessor of miracles, {whom they find}—those who follow him from the Children of Israel find his description {written in their Torah and the Gospel. He enjoins upon them what is right}—what was forbidden to them of good things, such as fats and others, or what is good in the law and judgment, such as slaughtered animals over which God’s name is mentioned, and what is free from ill-gotten gain. {And forbids them the evil}—what is considered foul, such as blood, carrion, swine flesh, and what was dedicated to other than God, or what is foul in judgment, such as usury, bribery, and other foul earnings.

{The burden} is the weight that binds its owner, meaning it restrains him from movement due to its heaviness; it is a metaphor for the weight and difficulty of their obligations, such as the requirement of killing oneself for the validity of repentance. Likewise, the {shackles} are a metaphor for the arduous things in their laws, such as the necessity of executing retaliation for intentional or accidental killing without the option of blood money, the cutting off of limbs that committed the sin, cutting away the place of impurity from skin or clothing, burning the spoils of war, the prohibition of veins in meat, and the prohibition of the Sabbath.

{And support him} and defend him so that no enemy can overcome him. {And the light} is the Quran. If you ask: What is the meaning of {which was sent down with him} when it was sent down with Gabriel? I say: It means it was sent down with his prophethood, for his being made a prophet was accompanied by the Quran and supported by it. It is also possible that it relates to "follow," meaning: follow the Quran sent down along with following the Prophet and acting upon his Sunnah and what he commanded and forbade.

If you ask: How does this answer apply to the statement and prayer of Moses (peace be upon him)? I say: When he prayed for himself and the Children of Israel, he was answered with a response that contains a rebuke to the Children of Israel for deeming it permissible to see God and for their disbelief in the great signs of God that He performed at the hand of Moses. He alluded to this in the words: {And those who believe in Our signs}. The intention was that hearing the descriptions of those who believe in the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) and what he brought—like Abdullah ibn Salam and others from the People of the Book—would be a kindness to them, an encouragement to sincere faith and righteous deeds, and a hope that they might be gathered with them, so that God’s mercy, which encompasses all things, would not be separated from them and their descendants.