'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' He, the Exalted, said: ﴿And Allah gives His kingdom to whom He wills. And Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 247] ﴿And their prophet said to them, 'Indeed, the sign of his kingship is that the Ark will come to you﴾. When their prophet, peace be upon him, knew of their obstinacy and their argumentation in the proofs, he completed his words with the decisive statement that there is no objection to it, which is his saying: ﴿And Allah gives His kingdom to whom He wills﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 247]. The apparent meaning is that it is from the words of the prophet to them. Some of the interpreters have gone to the view that it is from the words of Allah, the Exalted, to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. The first view is more apparent. The kingship of this world is attributed to Allah, the Exalted, as a possession belonging to the Owner. And

Qatadah and Al-Rabi' said: Rather, this Ark was something that Musa left with Yusha' ibn Nun. Yusha' placed it in the wilderness, and ages passed until the time of Talut came. The matter of the Ark was well-known among them in the legacy of Musa. So Allah made bringing it a sign for the kingship of Talut. Allah sent angels who carried it to the Children of Israel. It is narrated that they saw the Ark in the air coming until it descended among them. It was narrated that the angels came with it, carrying it until they placed it in the house of Talut. At that time, the Children of Israel rallied around Talut.

And Wahb ibn Munabbih said: The size of the Ark was about three cubits in two arms. Zayd ibn Thabit read: "the Tabut" which is his language, and the people are on his reading with the 'ta'.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And many narrators have reported stories about the Ark and the manner of its carrying, with which I have not seen a valid basis due to the weakness of its chain.

His saying, exalted is He:

﴿In it is tranquility from your Lord and a remnant of what the family of Musa and the family of Harun left; the angels carry it. Indeed, in that is a sign for you if you are believers.﴾

Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, said: The tranquility is a gentle breeze that has a face like the face of a human. It was narrated from him that he said: It is a breeze that is shy, and it has two heads. Mujahid said: The tranquility has a head like the head of a cat, and it has two wings and a tail. He said: The tranquility and the sparrow and Jibril came with Ibrahim from Sham. And Wahb ibn Munabbih narrated from some scholars of the Children of Israel: The tranquility is the head of a dead cat; when it cried in the Ark with the cry of a cat, they were certain of victory. Ibn Abbas said: The tranquility is a basin of gold from Paradise, in which the hearts of the prophets were washed, and this was said by Al-Suddi. Wahb ibn Munabbih said: The tranquility is a spirit from Allah that speaks; when they disagreed about something, it informed them with clarity about what they wanted.

And Ata ibn Abi Rabah said: The tranquility is what they recognize from the signs, so they find peace in it. Al-Rabi' ibn Anas said: ﴿Tranquility from your Lord﴾ means: mercy from your Lord. Qatadah said: ﴿Tranquility from your Lord﴾ means: dignity for you from your Lord.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And it is correct that the Ark contained valuable things from the remnants of the prophets and their traces, so the souls found peace in that, and they felt comfort and reverence. It is well-known that Allah supports the truth and the noble matters with Him, and the tranquility in this: is a noun derived from peace, as it is said: he determined a determination, and he severed a severance.

The interpreters differed regarding the remnant - what is it? Ibn Abbas said: It is the staff of Musa and the fragments of the tablets. Al-Rabi' said: It is the staff of Musa and matters from the Torah. Ikrimah said: It is the Torah, the staff, and the fragments of the tablets.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And the meaning of this is what has been narrated that when Musa came to his people with the tablets, he found them worshipping the calf. He threw down the tablets in anger, and they broke. He took from what remained intact and gathered the fragments of what had broken and placed them in the chest. Abu Salih said: The remnants are the staff of Musa and the staff of Harun, and two tablets from the Torah, and the manna. And Atiyyah ibn Sa'd said: It is the staff of Musa, and the staff of Harun, and their garments, and the fragments of the tablets.

Al-Thawri said: Some people say: The remnants are a measure of manna and the fragments of the tablets, and some of them say: The staff and the sandals. And Al-Dahhak said: The remnants are: Jihad and fighting the enemies.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The matter regarding that in the chest is either that it is written in it, or that the very act of bringing it is like the command regarding that. And the abandonment was attributed to the family of Musa and Harun, as the matter was included from one people to another, and all of them are the family of Musa and Harun. The family of a man is his relatives and his followers. Ibn Abbas, Al-Suddi, and Ibn Zayd said: The carrying by the angels is their bringing of the chest without anything else carrying it until they placed it before the Children of Israel while they were looking at it between the heavens and the earth. And Wahb ibn Munabbih and Al-Thawri - from some of their elders - said: Their carrying of it is their bringing of the two bulls or the two heifers that dragged the calf. Then Allah, the Exalted, affirmed that the coming of the chest is a sign for them if they are among those who believe and see with the eye of truth.