His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿And when We parted the sea for you, and saved you, and drowned the people of Pharaoh while you were looking on﴾ ﴿And when We appointed for Musa forty nights, then you took the calf after him, and you were wrongdoers﴾ ﴿Then We forgave you after that so that you might be grateful﴾ ﴿And when We gave Musa the Book and the criterion so that you might be guided﴾

"We parted" means: We made it a separation. Al-Zuhri read: "We separated" with emphasis on the letter 'r'. The meaning of "for you" (p-209) is: because of you. It is said: When they were in between the separation at the time of their crossing, it is as if there was a separation for them. It is also said: Its meaning is for you, and the 'ba' is a substitute for the 'lam', and this is weak.

And "the sea" is the sea of Qulzum. The sea was not parted in width from bank to bank, but rather it was parted from one place to another in one bank. This parting was near the place of salvation, and it does not occur in righteousness except in many days due to mountains and obstacles that hinder. Al-Amiri mentioned that the place of their exit from the sea was near the land of Palestine, which was their route.

It is said: The sea parted in width, and the sea separated into twelve paths, one path for each tribe. When they entered it, each group said: Our companions have drowned, and they panicked. Musa said: O Allah, help me against their evil character. So Allah revealed to him to strike the sea with your staff. He struck it, and there were openings in the water like arches, and they saw each other and crossed. And Jibril (blessings and peace be upon him) was in their rear, urging the Children of Israel and saying to the people of Pharaoh: Wait until the last of you catches up with the first of you. When Pharaoh reached the sea, he intended to enter, but his horse panicked. Jibril confronted him with a push, and the horse followed it. The people of Pharaoh entered, and Mikail urged them. When only Mikail remained in their rear on the bank alone, the sea closed upon them, and they drowned.

And "you were looking on" is said to mean: with your eyes, due to the closeness of some of them to each other. It is said: Its meaning is with your insight for reflection, because they were preoccupied from standing and looking with their eyes. It is said: The people of Pharaoh floated on the water, and they looked at them. It is said: The meaning is that you are in a state of one who looks if he were to look, as you say: This matter is from you in sight and hearing, meaning in a state that you see and hear if you wish.

Al-Tabari, may Allah have mercy on him, said: In the Quran's report through the tongue of Muhammad (blessings and peace be upon him) of these unseen matters that were not known to the Arabs, nor occurred except in the hidden knowledge of the Children of Israel, is clear evidence among the Children of Israel, and it stands as proof of the prophethood of Muhammad (blessings and peace be upon him). The majority read: "We appointed", and Abu Amr read: "We promised", and Abu Ubaid preferred it, saying: The appointment can only be from humans.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this is not correct because Musa's acceptance of Allah's promise and his commitment and anticipation resembles an appointment.

'Musa' is a foreign name that does not decline due to its foreignness and definition. The Copts, as it is narrated, say for water: 'Mu,' and for trees: 'Sa.' So when 'Musa' was found in the chest by water and trees, he was named (Musa).

Ibn Ishaq said: He is Musa ibn Imran ibn Yashhur ibn Qahith ibn Lawi ibn Yaqub ibn Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al-Khalil.

And 'Forty' is in the accusative as the second object, and it is not permissible to place it in the accusative as an adverb in this context. It is narrated that it was the month of Dhul-Qi'dah and ten days of Dhul-Hijjah. And he specified the nights in mention without the days, as the night is prior to the day in rank, and thus the date occurred with it.

Al-Naqqash said: In that is an indication of the connection to fasting. Because if he had mentioned the days, it could have been assumed that he was breaking his fast at night. So when he specified the nights, the strength of the speech necessitated that he, peace be upon him, continued for forty nights with their days.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: My father, may Allah be pleased with him, told me: I heard the ascetic scholar and preacher Abu al-Fadl al-Jawhari, may Allah have mercy on him, admonishing the people with this meaning in seclusion, with Allah, and drawing near to Him in prayer and similar acts. He said: Where is the state of Musa in closeness to Allah, and the connection of eighty from the time of his saying - when he set out to Al-Khidr - to his servant on a certain day: 'Bring us our lunch'?

And all the interpreters agree that the forty is a complete period. Some of the Basri scholars said: He promised him the head of the forty nights, and this is weak. And his saying: 'Then you took' was read by most of the seven with idgham, and Ibn Kathir and Asim in the narration of Hafs read it with the dhāl being pronounced. And then for the delay, and to indicate that the taking was after the appointment. And 'took' is in the form of ifta'al from 'taking.' Abu Ali said: It is from 'takhadha' not from 'akhadha.' And Al-Mumazzaq recited:

And I have taken my leg to a side, planting it like the foot of the quail that is struck.

And 'the calf' is in the accusative with 'you took,' and the second object is omitted: you took the calf as a god. And 'took' may transit to one object, as in His saying, the Exalted: 'Oh, I wish I had taken with the Messenger a way' [Al-Furqan: 27], and it may transit to two objects, one of which is the other in meaning, as in His saying, the Exalted: 'They took their oaths as a shield' [Al-Mujadila: 16], and like this verse and others. And the pronoun in 'after him' returns to Musa, and it is said: to his departure for the speech, as the appointment necessitates it, and it is said: to the promise.

(p-212) And the story of this verse is that when Musa (blessings and peace be upon him) took the Children of Israel out of Egypt, he said to them: 'Indeed, Allah, glorified and exalted is He, will save you from the people of Pharaoh, and will grant you their jewelry and belongings which He commanded them to borrow.' It has been narrated that they borrowed it by their own counsel. So Allah granted them that after their departure. Musa said to them, on behalf of Allah, glorified and exalted is He: 'He will send down to me a book in which there is lawful and unlawful, and guidance for you.' When they crossed the sea, they demanded from Musa what he had told them regarding the book. He went out to meet his Lord alone, and he had informed them of the forty nights. They counted twenty days with twenty nights, then they said: 'These are forty from the duration of time, and we have missed the appointment.' Their stubbornness and disagreement became apparent. And the Samaritan was a man from the Children of Israel named Musa ibn Dhufar. It was said that he was not from the Children of Israel, but was a stranger among them. He had recognized Jibril (peace be upon him) when they crossed the sea. A group said: 'He denied his form, so he recognized that he was an angel.' Another group said: 'The mother of the Samaritan gave birth to him in the year of the slaughter, and she placed him in a cave and sealed it. Jibril (blessings and peace be upon him) would feed him with his own fingers, and he would find in one finger milk, in another honey, and in another ghee. When he saw him at the time of crossing the sea, he recognized him and took a handful of dirt from under the hoof of his horse and it was instilled in his heart that he would not throw it onto anything and say to it: 'Be!' except that it would be. When Musa went out for his appointment, Harun said to the Children of Israel: 'Indeed, that jewelry and belongings which you borrowed from the Egyptians is not lawful for you. So bring it forth until the fire consumes it, which was the custom to descend upon the offerings.' It was said: 'Rather, he kindled a fire for them and commanded them to throw all of that into it, so they began to throw it.' It was said: 'Rather, he commanded them to place it in a pit without fire until Musa comes.' The Samaritan came and threw the handful and said: 'Be a calf.' And it was said: 'Indeed, the Samaritan was originally from a people who worshipped the cow, and he was impressed by that. It was said: 'Rather, the Children of Israel had passed with Musa by a people who worshipped the cow, so they said: 'O Musa, make for us a god as they have gods.' The Samaritan understood this and knew that from that direction they would be tempted. So the Children of Israel were tempted by the calf, and a group among them worshipped it. Harun distanced himself from them with those who followed him. When Musa returned from his appointment, he became angry as his story will come in its places in the Qur'an, if Allah wills. Then Allah revealed to him that He would not accept repentance from the Children of Israel until they killed themselves, and the Children of Israel did that. It has been narrated that they donned their weapons, both those who worshipped and those who did not worship, and Allah cast darkness upon them, so some of them killed one another, with a father killing his son and a brother killing his brother. When the killing became rampant among them and reached seventy thousand, Allah forgave them and made those who died among them martyrs, and He accepted the repentance of the remainder. So that is His saying: 'Then We forgave you.'

Some of the commentators said: Those who worshipped the calf stood in a row, and those who did not worship it entered upon them with weapons and killed them. A group said: Those who worshipped sat in the courtyards, and Yusha' ibn Nun came out calling: Cursed is he who settles his abode and made those who did not worship kill them, while Musa was in the midst of that, praying for his people and wishing for their forgiveness. The punishment was only upon those who did not worship, by killing themselves according to one of the sayings, or by killing their relatives according to other sayings, because they did not change the wrong when they worshipped the calf; they merely separated themselves. It was obligatory upon them to fight those who worshipped it.

﴿And you are wrongdoers﴾ is a subject and a predicate in the position of the state, and the interpretation of wrongdoing has already been mentioned.

And forgiveness is the covering of the effect, and the removal of the initial state of sin or otherwise. Forgiveness is not used in the meaning of pardon except in the case of sin. And He forgave them, the Mighty and Majestic, meaning: those who remained among them who were not killed. And "perhaps you" is an expression of hope for them regarding their right and an expectation from them, not regarding the right of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, for He knew what would happen from them.

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿And when We gave Musa﴾, the verse, "when" is a conjunction to what has been mentioned of the blessings, and "the Book" is the Torah by consensus of the interpreters. There is a difference regarding "the Criterion" here. Al-Zajjaj and others said: It is the Torah, repeating the meaning for the difference in wording, and because it added the meaning of the distinction between truth and falsehood, and the term "the Book" does not convey that. Others said: The Book is the Torah, and "the Criterion" refers to all the verses that were given to Musa, blessings and peace be upon him, because they distinguished between truth and falsehood. Others said: "the Criterion" is the victory that distinguished between their state and the state of the family of Pharaoh by salvation and drowning. Ibn Zayd said: "the Criterion" is the parting of the sea for him, until it became a separation. Al-Farra' and Qutrub said: The meaning of this verse is: We gave Musa the Book, and Muhammad the Criterion.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is weak.

﴿And perhaps you will be guided﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 150] is an expression of hope and expectation similar to the first.