He said, "Indeed, he says, 'It is this cow that you have prolonged your stubbornness regarding.' It is a cow that is not subdued, meaning it does not have the quality of being easily controlled, which is a good quality of submission. Al-Harali said then he described the subdued cow by saying, 'It stirs the earth,' meaning it brings forth its stirring through plowing at every time of stirring. Al-Harali said: It is the revealing of something from the soil, as if it brings forth the soil from the contents of dryness. Since being subdued is an essential description, he expressed its description by negating it with an exaggerated term, meaning it is not a necessary description for it, not that there is absolutely no subduing from it. For if it were like that, it would be wild and could not be controlled at all. And since its description cannot be completed by negating subduing except by negating watering from it, and this is a matter that is renewed, it is not an essential quality like subduing. He expressed it with an action and accompanied it without conjunction to the description nor to 'it stirs' so that the meaning would not be corrupted. He said, describing the cow, 'And it does not water the crops,' meaning its watering does not renew the watering of the crops at every time. It is permissible that the affirmation of 'no' in it is an indication of the omission of it before 'it stirs,' so that the two negated actions would be an explanation in the manner of resuming to the subdued cow. He omitted 'no' before 'it stirs' so that it would not be thought that there is a description for the subdued cow, which would corrupt the meaning. The intended meaning is that it has not been subdued by plowing or watering, and it is known from the ability to purchase it and receive it for slaughter that it is not in the utmost refusal as the description of being subdued indicates. All of this is for the sake of the gathering of good things in the middle. 'It is free from defects,' meaning it has no marks that contradict its color, but it is entirely yellow, even its horn and hoof. They said, 'Now,' meaning at this point in time that is the separating point between the past and the future, 'You have brought the truth,' meaning the established, clear, and evident matter from the description of the cow. So they obtained it, 'and they slaughtered it,' meaning it resulted from all that preceded that they slaughtered it. 'And they were close to doing it,' meaning they almost did it before this final review. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: If they had slaughtered a cow, it would not have sufficed them, but they were strict in questioning, so Allah made it strict upon them. This means that they were tasked with the easier, but they made it strict, so it was abrogated by the more difficult, which is evidence of the permissibility of abrogation before the action. Or it may be said that since the Sabbath was obligatory upon them, they were tested with strictness in it by their proposing it and their questioning it after their refusal of the Friday, as will be explained, if Allah wills, at His saying.

'Indeed, the Sabbath was made obligatory upon those who differed concerning it.' [An-Nahl: 124] It is most appropriate to follow this with the story of the cow, which He only made difficult for them due to their obstinacy regarding it and their refusal to slaughter any cow that was made easy for them. It can be said that since among the things they took lightly was the Sabbath, the hastening to kill countless souls that were prohibited to them from the fish, and in the story of the cow, the obstinacy and delay in killing a single soul they were commanded to do was followed by this. Among the finest connections is that in both verses regarding the monkeys and the cow, there is a change in the state of the human by mixing with the flesh of certain mute animals. In the first, he is made mute after speaking with the flesh of the fish, and in the second, he is made to speak after being mute by death with the flesh of the cow. Perhaps the specification of the flesh of the cow in this matter is to awaken them from their slumber and to alert them from their heedlessness regarding the great power of Allah, the Most High, to remove from their hearts the astonishment at the lowing of the calf they worshipped. Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Harali said: In this, there is a connection between their states in taking the calf and in their seeking it. In all of this, there is a correspondence between their natures and the nature of the cow, which is created for toil and working the land, which comes with labor, humiliation, and dealing with what is of this world, delving into it. In it is the breath of their demand for what the earth produces, which is the effect of the planting - meaning that which they exchanged the prohibition with, which is a grain in a hair. It is as if by this they are earthly and terrestrial, not rising above the spiritual and lofty matters. For indeed, the nature of every soul corresponds to what it inclines towards and is preoccupied with from the types of animals. 'He made for you from among yourselves spouses and from the animals pairs.' [Ash-Shura: 11] - this has ended. And when the story was divided into two parts, it was an indication of the two blessings: the blessing of pardon for refraining from the matter and the blessing of clarification for the killer with the miraculous command, and an indication that they have in this two reprimands: one for the misconduct in throwing with mockery and refraining from compliance, and the second for killing the soul and what follows it. If it had been arranged according to their existence, that would not have occurred, and the more appropriate part for the story of the Sabbath was presented; the other followed it. (p-474) And al-Harali said: The news of the saying of Moses, blessings and peace be upon him, was presented before mentioning their dispute regarding the slain, beginning with the noblest of the two intentions of the meaning of legislation, which is based on the actions of transgression and the words of the adversaries. This has ended.