And when He reminded them of the blessing of saving their bodies, He followed it by reminding them of something greater than it; as it was for the preservation of the religions and the safeguarding of the essence of faith by what He appointed for them from the legislation in the Torah. He said, marveling at their condition, as He was in bestowing upon them the legislation that guides them from misguidance and the special status of their Prophet with increased closeness through supplication. They were taking a god other than Him, in which there is no benefit at all, and no heart or mind is pleased to worship it. He added this to His previous amazement at them in His saying: "And We brought the Children of Israel across the sea" [Al-A'raf: 138] "And We appointed for Musa thirty"; meaning: the supplication of thirty "nights"; meaning: after them "And We completed it"; meaning: the appointment "with ten"; meaning: ten nights. This is because when thirty nights had passed, which is the month of Dhul-Qi'dah according to what has been said, and Musa, peace be upon him, had fasted them by night and day, he sensed a bad breath from his mouth and used a miswak. Allah informed him that he had spoiled the scent of his mouth and commanded him to fast for another ten days, which are the ten of Dhul-Hijjah, to make up for what he had spoiled of that. This is because Musa, peace be upon him, had promised the Children of Israel - while he was in Egypt - that if Allah, glorified and exalted is He, destroyed their enemy, he would bring them a book from Him in which there is clarification of what they should do and what they should avoid. So when Allah destroyed their enemy, Musa, peace be upon him, asked for the book, and He commanded him to fast for thirty days and then commanded him with the ten.

And when it was possible for the thirty to be the end, and to be detailed into twenty then ten, this possibility was removed by his saying: "So the appointed time of his Lord was fulfilled" (p-75), meaning: that which He had decreed in eternity for him to converse with Him afterward - with the conjunction "forty." And since the ten is not explicit in the nights, he said: "a night," thus it is negated that they could be hours, for he expressed it with the appointed time because it is what was decreed in it for actions of deeds. As for time, it is the duration of a thing, whether it is decreed or not. He expressed it with "the Lord" as an indication of His kindness towards him, His compassion for him, and His mercy upon him. The appointed time is the forty - this was said by Al-Farisi in Al-Hujjah. He estimated the standing of forty by "counted this number," as you say: the people completed twenty, meaning: counted this number. And Allah, glorified is He, summarized the forty in Al-Baqarah because the intent of this context is to remind them of the great blessings and the kindness and honor shown to them, so that this would encourage their return to faith and make it easier for them to turn away from disbelief by the evidence of what preceded their story from His saying: "O mankind, worship your Lord" [Al-Baqarah: 21] "How can you disbelieve in Allah" [Al-Baqarah: 28] and what surrounded it at the beginning and the end from His saying: "O Children of Israel, remember My favor which I bestowed upon you" - the two verses that begin and end with it. And here he detailed the forty into thirty and ten; because the intent of this context - as previously mentioned - is to clarify their disbelief and their return to their disgrace and their plotting, and that their asking for miracles did not benefit them, nor did the abundance of blessings and signs suffice them, just as that was in the stories of the past nations and the previous centuries of those mentioned in this context as evidence - as previously mentioned - that the corruptor is more than the reformer (p-76) and other than that from what He summarized in His saying: "And We did not send in any city a prophet except that We seized its people" [Al-A'raf: 94] to the end of it. And as a consolation for this noble prophet and a warning for his people for what befell them of painful punishment, and the distinction between the two contexts is subtle except for those of insight, and Allah knows best. So the intent of detailing the forty here is to clarify that the delay of Musa, peace be upon him, from what they knew of the appointed time was only for ten days, during which they committed this crime that is the greatest of crimes. And He, glorified and exalted is He, indicated their great audacity and their stubbornness in foolishness by His saying, adding to "And We appointed" [Al-Baqarah: 51] "And Musa said," meaning: when We appointed him, "to his brother," then he clarified it explicitly by mentioning his name and said: "Harun, be my successor among my people," meaning: be my representative among them, doing what I used to do. And he confirmed the assignment with what he finds for him by saying: "in my people," and indicated his encouragement to strive by saying: "And set things right," meaning: be upon what you are upon of establishing reform.

And when he knew that he ﷺ was free from evil, except that he had gentleness, he said: "And do not follow" meaning: do not burden yourself with what you were not created to follow by following "the path of the corruptors" meaning: for their reform and out of fear of driving them away. So they deviated from the path as Musa عليه السلام discerned in them. They did not mention a consequence, so they neither feared the might of the one who punished those who used to inflict upon them the worst of torment, nor did they listen to their brother in righteousness, nor did they wait for ten days. So they were neither more restrained in their minds nor more resolute in committing sins.