Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:161

{And when it was said to them}: Remember when it was said to them. The "town" is Jerusalem.

If you ask: How does the phrasing here differ from that in Sūrat al-Baqarah? I say: There is no harm in the difference between the two phrasings as long as there is no contradiction. There is no contradiction between His saying, "Dwell in this town and eat from it," and His saying, "Eat," because if they dwell in the town, their dwelling becomes the cause for eating from it; thus, they have combined both dwelling and eating in existence. It is the same whether they put the "Hittah" (the request for forgiveness) before entering the gate or after it; they are combining both in their realization.

The omission of the word "abundantly" (raghadan) does not contradict its inclusion elsewhere. His saying, {We will forgive you your sins, and We will increase the doers of good}, is a promise of two things: forgiveness and an increase. The omission of the wāw (conjunction) does not impair this, for it is a new sentence (isti'nāf) structured upon the assumption of a questioner asking: "And what is after the forgiveness?" It was said to him: "We will increase the doers of good."

Likewise, the addition of {from among them} is an addition for clarification. "We sent" and "We sent down," and "they do wrong" and "they transgress," are all from the same valley (i.e., they carry the same meaning).

It has been recited: {yughfar lakum} (may your sins be forgiven), {wa tughfar lakum} (and may your sins be forgiven), {khatī'ātukum} (your sins - plural), and {khatī'atukum} (your sin - singular), all in the passive voice.

{And ask them about the town that was by the sea—when they transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath, when their fish came to them on the day of their Sabbath, appearing openly, and on the day they had no Sabbath, they did not come to them. Thus did We test them because they were defiantly disobedient.}

{And when a community among them said, "Why do you advise a people whom Allah is [about] to destroy or to punish with a severe punishment?" they said, "To be absolved before your Lord and perhaps they may become righteous."}

{And when they forgot that by which they had been reminded, We saved those who had forbidden evil and seized those who wronged with a wretched punishment, because they were defiantly disobedient.}

{So when they were insolent about that which they had been forbidden, We said to them, "Be apes, despised."}