Then he caused to be the reason for his informing him, glorified and exalted is He, by his saying: "So Moses returned"; that is, when his Lord informed him of that, "to his people"; that is, those who have great strength in what they attempt. "Angry and grieved"; that is, in great sorrow or anger. And he began his saying: "He said" to his people when he returned to them, seeking their compassion: "O my people"; and he denied them by his saying: "Did not your Lord promise you"; the One whose kindness towards you has been long, "a good promise"; that is, that He would send down to you a preserving Book, and He would expiate your sins, and He would aid you against your enemies - and other than that from His honors.

And when it has become customary that the length of time nullifies resolves and changes covenants, as Abu al-Ala Ahmad ibn Sulaiman al-Ma'arri said in this verse:

I will not forget you if time prolongs for us, and how many a beloved has had his covenant prolonged and forgotten.

And when blessings and peace be upon him was recently among them, he denied the length of the covenant by his saying, beginning with [what he intends to say: Did your Lord leave His promises to you and cut off His kindness from you -]: "Has the covenant been prolonged upon you?"; that is, [the time of] His kindness towards you, so you changed from what I parted from you upon, as the people of vices experience dissolution in resolves due to weak minds and lack of contemplation. "Or did you intend" by the breaking with the proximity of the covenant and the mention of the pact, "that anger" should befall you from your Lord; that is, the One who has been kind to you? And neither of the two matters has occurred; as for the first, it is clear, and as for the second, it cannot be thought of anyone's intention. The result is that he says: Indeed, you have done what no rational person would do. "So you broke"; that is, the consequence of your action is that you broke "my promise" in honoring Allah and coming to the place that He designated for His words to me and the sending down of His Book upon me, as a kindness to you and an acceptance towards you. And it is as if he added the promise to himself out of respect for Allah, the Exalted, or that when the breaking of the confirmed and specified promise, which there is no doubt about, is due to what He has established with clear signs and clarified with evident proofs, it can only be due to forgetfulness from the length of time or obstinacy with ill intent. And it was among the most eloquent of intents and clearest of arguments to compel the adversary by questioning to acknowledge the intended meaning. He asked them about the specification of one of the two matters while the length of the covenant cannot be claimed. He said in meaning: Has the covenant been prolonged upon you by an increase of ten days so you forgot, and there is no blame upon you in the breaking? Or did you intend that anger should befall you, so you opposed? Thus, the verse is from the interweaving: mentioning the length of the covenant, which necessitates forgetfulness, first serves as evidence for the negation of obstinacy second, and mentioning the occurrence of anger second serves as evidence for the negation of blame first. The secret of that is that mentioning the cause, which is the length of the covenant, is more indicative of the forgetfulness, which is the consequence, and the establishment of anger is more severe than the establishment of its cause, which is obstinacy.