And when it was eclipsed, the ignorant ones, who are like animals, do not see except the tangible things, he expressed their state by saying: "And he became" meaning: and he became. However, he expressed it in this way to contrast with yesterday, and to inform that what they saw of his state filled their hearts, so they had no concern other than it. "Those who wished" meaning: they desired with a great desire, with utmost longing, to be "in his place" meaning: to have his state and status in this world. "Yesterday" meaning: the recent past time, even if it was not the day that they were in before it. "They say, 'Woe to us!'" This word and the one that follows it is connected according to the consensus of the manuscripts. And from Al-Kisai, it is said that it is stopped at the 'ya' of 'wa', and from Abu Amr that it is stopped at the 'ka': 'Woe to'. Al-Razi said in the explanation of Al-Hajibiyyah: 'Woe' is for regret or for astonishment. Then he said: And according to Al-Khalil and Sibawayh, 'Woe' is for astonishment, combined with 'as if' which is for comparison. Al-Farra said: It is a word of astonishment to which the 'ka' of address is added, similar to 'Woe to you, O Antara, advance!' This is from his saying in his famous Mīmiyyah poem, one of the seven Mu'allaqat:

And indeed, it has healed my soul and cured its ailment, the saying of the knights: 'Woe to you, O Antara, advance!'

Meaning: 'Woe to you, and astonishment from you.' And 'that' is added to it, so the meaning is: 'Did you not see that?' Ibn Al-Jawzi transmitted this from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them. Al-Farra said: And when the meaning of 'Woe to' became 'Did you not see?', the 'ka' of address was not changed for the feminine, dual, and plural, but it remained in one state. Al-Jabari said in the explanation of Al-Shatibiyyah: 'Woe' is a sound said by the one who regrets and the one who is astonished. And 'Woe to you' originally is 'Woe to you', its 'lam' was omitted for ease due to its frequent occurrence; and the 'ka' is for address, and 'that' was opened for the implication of knowledge. And Qutrub said: For the estimation of the 'lam', and it arose from the combination meaning: 'We regretted our negligence, and our astonishment at our state, and we confirmed the opposite of our belief.' And it was written connected to indicate the combination. Al-Qazzaz said in his comprehensive diwan: 'Woe to' is a word by which a person alerts. And it was said: Its meaning is mercy, and 'Woe' means alerting and denial. Imam Abdul Haq said: 'Woe' is a word said in astonishment and correction. And it was said: 'Woe' is sorrow. And Qutrub said: 'Woe' is a word of lamentation.

And Sibawayh said in the chapter on what the news can be established after the five letters: I asked Al-Khalil about this verse, and he claimed that it is a separate statement from 'as if,' and the meaning is that the people became aware and spoke according to their knowledge, or they were alerted, and it was said to them: Does it not resemble that this is with you like this - and Allah, the Most High, knows best. As for the interpreters, they said: Did you not see that Allah, the meaning that gathers the sayings at that time: in astonishment or woe or regret for what we said in clarifying our mistake, and alerting to the error, or destruction for us, or denial against us, or sorrow for us, or lamentation for us, or correction for us, or mercy for us, or awareness from us, or alerting for us. Then they justified that by saying: that Allah, or it resembles that Allah, or did you not see, O listener and observer, that Allah. And Al-Razi said: A name given to the saying, meaning: astonishment, and its meaning is alerting; then it began as if 'Allah' means: the Most High King who has all authority. 'He extends provision' means: the complete provision 'to whom He wills,' whether he has what he uses to obtain provision or not.

And when the story was about Qarun, and he had in this world what has been mentioned, and the custom was that someone like him becomes arrogant and may lead to his deification, he said, alerting by bringing him down in the previous manner that he is among His servants, with no difference between him and the weakest of them in relation to His power: 'from His servants.'

And when it indicated that the extension is indeed from Him, he followed it with another saying as evidence of His lordship: 'And He restricts' means: He constricts for whom He wills, whether he is clever or not, He does not extend it to anyone for his honor with Him, nor does He constrict for anyone for his humiliation with Him, nor does the extension and contraction indicate humiliation or honor. And this is evidence that they thought the correctness of Qarun's statement that he was given it based on knowledge he had, and that they only wished for his knowledge which they believed would result in wealth in every situation.

And when it became clear to them from his situation that provision is indeed in the hand of Allah, they followed it with what indicated that they also believed that Allah is capable of what He wills without provision just as He is capable of provision from their saying: 'If it were not for the favor of Allah,' meaning: the Most Gracious King who possesses the attributes of perfection 'upon us' with His generosity, He did not give us what we wished for from existence in a similar situation 'we would have been swallowed up' like what He swallowed up 'Woe to him' means: in astonishment or regret for that, or it resembles that, or did you not see that, Al-Radhi said in the explanation of Al-Hajibiyyah: As if the addressee was claiming that they would succeed, so he said to them: Astonishment from you, and he was asked: Why do you astonish at him? He said: Because it is to the end of it, so he omitted the preposition with 'that' as is the norm.

﴿No one will succeed﴾ meaning: he will not attain his desire. ﴿The disbelievers﴾ meaning: those who are entrenched in disbelief of Allah's blessing. This is known by interpreting the meaning of what they said regarding it, whether he stops at 'Woe' or 'Woe to you' or not.

MENTION OF THE EXPLANATION OF THIS STORY:

Al-Baghawi said: The scholars of reports said: Qarun was the most knowledgeable of the Children of Israel after Musa, blessings and peace be upon him, and he was the best reader of the Torah and the richest among them. So he became arrogant and tyrannical. The first of his tyranny and disobedience was when Allah, glorified and exalted is He, revealed to Musa, blessings and peace be upon him, to hang four threads on their garments, with a green thread at each end that resembles the sky, to remind them of Me when they look at the sky and to know that My words are sent down from it. Musa said: O my Lord! Will You not command them to make all their garments green? For the Children of Israel will belittle these threads. Allah said to him: O Musa! The small matter of Mine is not small. If they do not obey Me in the small matter, they will not obey Me in the great matter. So Musa called them, meaning he informed them, and they did it, but Qarun became arrogant. This was the beginning of his disobedience, tyranny, and oppression. When Musa crossed the sea with the Children of Israel, he appointed the priesthood for Harun, blessings and peace be upon him, which is the leadership of the altar. The Children of Israel would bring their offerings to Harun and place them on the altar, and fire would descend from the sky and consume it. Qarun said: O Musa! You have the message, and Harun has the priesthood, and I am not in anything, while I read the Torah. I cannot bear this. Musa, blessings and peace be upon him, said to him: I did not place it upon Harun, but Allah placed it upon him. Qarun said: By Allah, I will not believe you until I see its evidence. So Musa gathered the staffs of the leaders, tied them together, and placed them in his chamber where he worshiped Allah, and they spent the night guarding it. In the morning, Harun's staff had sprouted green leaves, and it was made of almond wood. Qarun said: By Allah, this is no more amazing than what you do with magic. He mentioned matters by which he was boasting and that he accused Musa, blessings and peace be upon him, of a great thing. At that time, Allah became angry for Musa, blessings and peace be upon him, and caused the earth to swallow him.

What I saw in the Torah in the fourth book is as follows: And the Lord spoke to Musa and said to him: Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them: Make threads on the corners of your garments in your generations. And the threads that you make on the corners of your garments shall be of blue silk, and these threads shall remind you of the commandments of Allah so that you may do them and not go astray by what is in your hearts, nor follow your desires, but remember all My commandments and do them, that you may be holy to Allah, your Lord. I am Allah, your Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt; you shall have no other god but Me. I am Allah, your Lord.

And after these matters, Qorah - which is the name of Qarun in Hebrew - son of Yasar, son of Qahat, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, son of Peleth, son of Reuben the rebellious, stood before Musa. And from the Children of Israel, their number was two hundred and fifty men from the leaders of the congregation, mentioned and known by their names as heroes. These all gathered to Musa and Harun and said to them: It is not enough for you that the entire congregation is pure and that you are both leaders over it until you want to exalt yourselves over the entire congregation - meaning: Harun is to be the priest, that is, the one in charge of the offering and the judge over the service of the Tabernacle. So Musa heard that and fell prostrate on his face. He spoke to Qorah and all his congregation and said to them: The Lord will appear and clarify to whom the priesthood and leadership belong in the morning, and whoever is pure, let him draw near to Him. And whoever the Lord chooses, let him draw near. Then he commanded them to bring an offering. Then he said: O sons of Levi! Is it not enough for you that Allah has chosen you from all the congregation of the Children of Israel and brought you near to Him to do the work in the house of the Lord? And He brought you and all your brothers with you, except that you also want the priesthood. So for this reason, you and all your congregation should gather before the Lord tomorrow. As for Harun, who is he that you have begun to fall upon him and complain against him? And Musa sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said: We will not come up to you. Is it not enough for us that you have brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey to kill us in this wilderness until you exalt yourselves over us and boast? As for what you promised us that you would bring us into the land that flows with milk and honey, you have not done, and you have not given us the inheritances of the fields and vineyards. If our eyes were blinded, we would not come up to you. So this was very distressing to Musa, and he said before the Lord: Do not accept their offerings, O Lord, for I have not wronged a man among them nor have I harmed anyone of them. Then he said to Qorah: Gather you and your companions before the Lord, and Harun with you, tomorrow. And let each of you take his censer. And Musa and Harun stood before the Tabernacle and Qorah gathered all the congregation. And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation. And the Lord spoke to Musa and Harun and said to them: Separate yourselves from this congregation, for I will destroy it in one hour. So they fell on their faces and said: O Allah, You are the God of the spirits of all flesh. Does one man sin and Your anger descend upon the entire congregation? And the Lord spoke to Musa and said to him: Speak to the entire congregation and say to them: Separate yourselves from the tents of Dathan and Abiram and Qorah. Separate yourselves from the tents of these wicked ones, and do not come near anything of theirs, lest you be punished. And Musa said: By this, you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and I have not done them of my own accord. If these die like the death of all men or if they suffer the same fate as all men, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up and all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you will know that these have provoked the Lord.

So when Musa completed his saying, the earth opened from beneath them. It gaped wide and swallowed them, along with their tents and all their livestock. They descended into the Hellfire alive. Then the earth became level above them. All the Children of Israel fled when they heard their voices and saw what had been done to them. They said: 'Perhaps the earth will swallow us too.' A fire ignited from the Lord and burned the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense. The group of the Children of Israel complained after that day against Musa and Harun, saying to them: 'You have killed the group of the people of the Lord.' They approached the Tabernacle of Meeting and saw that the cloud had covered the Tabernacle and the glory of the Lord appeared. Musa and Harun came and stood in the Tabernacle of Meeting. The Lord spoke to Musa and Harun, saying to them: 'Step away from this group, for I am destroying them in one hour.' They fell down, prostrating on their faces. Musa said to Harun: 'Take a censer in your hand and put fire and incense in it, and hurry to the group and seek forgiveness for them, for the anger of the Lord has descended upon the entire group.' The sudden death began among the people. Harun took as Musa had commanded him and brought it to the group. He saw that death had begun among the people. He offered incense to the Lord and sought forgiveness for the people, standing between the dead and the living. The sudden death ceased from the people. The number of those who died suddenly was fourteen thousand seven hundred men, excluding those who were swallowed. Harun returned to Musa at the Tabernacle of Meeting, and the Lord spoke to Musa, saying to him: 'Speak to the Children of Israel and take from them a staff, one from each tribe, and write the name of each man on his staff. Write the name of Harun on the staff of the tribe of Levi, and place it in the Tabernacle of Meeting before the Ark of the Testimony, so that I may bring forth to you there. The man whom I love, his staff will blossom. I will deliver you from the grumbling of the Children of Israel.' Then Musa entered and placed the Testimony, and he saw that the staff of Harun had blossomed and produced buds and flowers and yielded almonds. Musa brought out all the staffs and they looked at them. The Lord said to Musa: 'Return the staff of Harun to the place of the Testimony and keep it as a sign for the children of the rebellious, so that their grumbling against Me may cease and they may not die. And let no one else perform the work of the Tabernacle of Meeting except the Levites. As for the Children of Israel - that is, the rest of them - let them not approach the Tabernacle of Meeting, lest they be punished and die.' Then he mentioned the death of Harun, peace be upon him, in the mountain's gorge and the appointment of Eliezer, his son, in his place regarding the priesthood - the end.

And it is similar to what Allah did for our Prophet Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, in the incident of the trunk, and the Prophet's, blessings and peace be upon him, choice for it to be returned to the best state it was in while it was alive or to be placed in Paradise. It chose to be in Paradise. Likewise is the matter of Suraqa ibn Malik ibn Jusham, where he followed the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, on the way of migration to bring him back, and the hooves of his horse sank until it fell to its belly three times. However, the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, being the Prophet of mercy, did not execute the judgment, so that was enough to stop his evil. He embraced Islam after that in the year of the conquest, and the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, gave him the glad tidings that he would wear the bracelets of Kisra, and so it was. And worse than the sinking that causes the sunk one to disappear, and more severe and disgraceful is the story of the one who apostated and was crushed and buried, and the earth expelled him. Al-Bayhaqi narrated in the end of Al-Dalail from Anas ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: There was a man among us from Banu Najjar who had recited Al-Baqarah and Aal 'Imran, and he used to write for the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him. He fled until he joined the people of the Book. They elevated him and admired him, but it was not long before Allah broke his neck, and they dug for him and buried him. The earth expelled him onto its surface. Then they returned and dug for him and buried him, and the earth expelled him onto its surface again. They left him abandoned. He said: It was narrated by Muslim in the Sahih, and from Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, likewise about a Christian man whom the earth expelled three times, then they left him. And it was narrated by Al-Bukhari in the Sahih.