And when He, glorified and exalted is He, finished mentioning the promise with the appointed time intended by the striving of the Prophet Moses, peace be upon him, in what guides them to the path of Allah, and mentioned their striving in what led them astray from the way by taking the calf. The conclusion of that was what appeared from Moses, peace be upon him, of compassion for his brother, then for all, by taking the tablets after finishing what was required of anger for Allah. He returned the words to mention something he did in the appointed time, intended by it their protection in the path of Allah by transferring them - by his participation in their hearing of the words of Allah - from the knowledge of certainty to the eye of certainty, rather to the truth of certainty, out of compassion for them and mercy for them. So that their informing about what they saw would support what he informs them of, and that would be a reason for their preservation from what they fell into of the worship of the calf. Despite that, they committed disobedience by seeking what is not appropriate for them from the vision in a manner of obstinacy. So he said: "And he chose" meaning: he exerted effort in taking the choice, "Moses for his people" then he replaced his words from them: "seventy men" indicating that those other than them are not counted, and the name of the people in the meaning he intended does not apply to them. This is similar to what the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said in what was narrated by the two Shaykhs from Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with them: "People are like a hundred camels; you hardly find among them a single rider." Then he mentioned the reason for the choice and said: "For our appointed time" meaning: he chose only those whom he saw suitable for what we want of our greatness at the time we specified for it, and he brought them near to the address in the mountain, he and Aaron, peace be upon them, and he appointed Joshua ibn Nun, peace be upon him, over the Children of Israel, all of that by the command of Allah to him. And in this saying is a conjunction to his saying: "And We appointed a time for Moses of thirty nights" [Al-A'raf: 142] so the appointed time is the first one and it is the apparent Torah as has been clarified in Al-Baqarah. It may be a conjunction to his saying: "And the people of Moses took" [Al-A'raf: 148] or to his saying: "He took the tablets" [Al-A'raf: 154] and at that time this appointed time would be different from the first appointed time, and it is supported by what has been reported that Aaron, peace be upon him, was with them. It seems that when they heard the words of Allah, some of them sought the vision, making it a condition for their faith, so they said: "We will not believe in you until we see Allah openly" [Al-Baqarah: 55] as the twelve scouts did when he sent them to assess the conditions of the tyrants, and most of them broke their promise, so they were seized by a quake and died. Moses, peace be upon him, feared that the Children of Israel would accuse him of their death as if they were one soul. "So when the quake seized them" meaning: the seizing of overpowering and dominance, "the quake" meaning: that which was caused by the thunderbolt that preceded in Al-Baqarah, so their hearts trembled and it killed them. And from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, that these are different from the seventy who said: "Show us Allah openly, so the thunderbolt seized them" [An-Nisa: 153] and that those were before these. The apparent reason for the quake was what they saw when they heard the words from the majesty of Allah and the greatness of His awe from the cloud that enveloped the mountain, and the mist, and the flashes of lightning, and the sounds of the trumpets, and other than that, to the extent that the quake - which is a rumbling - almost separated their limbs from one another. "He said" meaning: Moses, seeking favor from his Lord, glorified and exalted is He, "O my Lord" meaning: O You who are gracious to me, "If You will, You could destroy them" meaning: You could annihilate them.

And when their destruction was not encompassing of the past, He included the neighbor and said: "Before and me" meaning: Your power over me and over them before we approach this sacred presence, while we are in the presence of our people, is like Your power over us when You honor us with it. And You have cast upon us the cloak of Your pardon and bestowed upon us Your blessing while we are outside of the presence, so You did not destroy us. Your grace upon us while we are in the presence of the sacred and the carpet of closeness and intimacy is more deserving.

Then when the situation necessitated that it be said: Did you not see what they dared to do? It was as if he said: Only a group of foolish ones among them said that. He indicated this by his words of entreaty: "Will You destroy us?" And from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, that their trembling was due to the fact that they did not prevent the worship of the calf even though they were not pleased with that. And it is as if Musa, blessings and peace be upon him, expressed this statement necessitating the destruction of all because he allowed that just as He destroyed these, He might destroy others for another shortcoming because of that, like the lack of striving, for example, until destruction encompasses them: "Because of what the foolish among us did." It is as if he, blessings and peace be upon him, was pleased that if pardon did not encompass them, it would specifically include those who did not commit the act and pardon those who fell short by silence. And according to the possibility that the appointed time was not the first, it could be after their taking of the calf as previously mentioned from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them. So Musa, blessings and peace be upon him, feared that their destruction would be a trial for the Children of Israel and a cause for their disbelief, just as his delay from them by an increase of ten days upon the thirty in the first appointed time was a cause for their taking of the calf. And at that time, it could be intended by the act of the foolish the taking of the calf, and this is supported by the expression of the act without the saying, and it has been previously reported from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them.

And when his saying might imply his approval of the destruction of the sinners, he asked indirectly about the pardon for all: "It is not except Your trial" meaning: the trial that the foolish caused. "Except Your trial" meaning: Your testing and examination. "You lead astray whom You will" meaning: You manifest in the world of witness whom Your misguidance was known to You in the world of the unseen. "And guide whom You will" meaning: You manifest what is in Your knowledge of that.

And when he established that all is in His hand, he resumed his question about Him doing what is best for them and said: "You are" [meaning: alone] "our protector" meaning: We believe that no one can do what is good for us except You, and You have no benefit in either of the two matters nor harm, rather all is equal in relation to You. And we are upon insight that Your actions are not motivated by interests, and Your pardon for us benefits us, while Your vengeance against us harms us. And we, in Your presence, have cut off to You and have set down the burden of our neediness before You.

And when it was established that He is the One who does what He wills and that there is no protector for them other than Him, and since it is the nature of the protector to bring benefit and to avert harm, His saying, beginning with the aversion of harm: "So forgive us" means: erase our sins, "and have mercy on us" means: raise us up; and when the decree was: for You are the best of the merciful, He added to it His saying: "and You are the best of the forgivers". This means: because others may overlook sin for praise or reward or to avert a despicable trait, which is the trait of malice and the like, and You are exalted above that.