His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "They said, 'Call upon your Lord to make clear to us what it is.' He said, 'He says, 'It is a cow which is neither old nor a virgin, but of an intermediate age.' So do what you are commanded.'" "They said, 'Call upon your Lord to make clear to us what its color is.' He said, 'He says, 'It is a cow that is yellow, bright in color, pleasing to the observers.'" "They said, 'Call upon your Lord to make clear to us what it is. The cows have become confusing to us, and we, if Allah wills, will be guided.'" This is obstinacy from them and a lack of obedience. If they had complied with the command and selected a cow and slaughtered it, they would have fulfilled what they were commanded. But they made it difficult, so Allah made it difficult for them. This was said by Ibn Abbas, Abu al-Aliyah, and others. The language of Banu Amir is to say 'call' with a kasrah on the 'ain, and 'what' is an interrogative raised by the beginning, and 'it' is its news. 'Old' is raised as an attribute for the cow according to the view of Al-Akhfash, or on an implied beginning news whose estimation is 'it is not old.' The 'old' is the aged one that does not give birth, as said by Ibn Abbas, Qatadah, Mujahid, and others. They say 'it has become old' with a fatha on the 'ain in the past tense, and it is said: 'it has become old' with a dammah on the 'ain. It is said for everything that has come and its duration has lengthened: 'old.' The poet said: 'O Lord of the one who has enmity against me, old with periods like the periods of the menstruating woman.' The virgin among cows is one that has not given birth from a young age. Ibn Qutaybah narrated that it is one that has given birth to one offspring. The virgin among women is one that has not been touched by a man, and the virgin among children is the first one, and among necessities, it is the first. The 'intermediate' is one that has given birth once after another, as said by Mujahid, Al-Akhfash, and it was narrated by the people of language. From it is the saying of the Arabs: 'The intermediate does not teach the wine.' And a war is intermediate: it has been fought in it twice and not more. 'Intermediate' is raised on an implied beginning news, whose estimation is 'it is intermediate.' Its plural is 'intermediates' with a sukoon on the waw, and 'intermediates' has been heard with a harakah with a dammah. 'Between' in its sense can be added to two, and it has been added here to 'that,' as 'that' refers to the generalities. Thus, according to Sibawayh, it is in the position of what has been mentioned, so it is a reference to a singular in its sense. Two have been mentioned, so 'between' also came in its sense. And His saying: "So do what you are commanded" is a renewal of the command, and a confirmation, and a warning against leaving obstinacy, which they left. And 'what' is raised by the beginning, and 'its color' is its news. Ibn Zayd and the majority of people said regarding His saying: 'bright,' that it was entirely bright. Makki, may Allah have mercy on him, said about some of them: 'Even the horn and the hoof.' Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan and Said ibn Jubair said: 'It was bright in the horn and the hoof only.' Al-Hasan also said: 'Bright' means black, and this is rare and is not used metaphorically except for camels. And with it, the saying of Al-A'sha Maymun ibn Qays was interpreted: 'Those are my horses from him, and those are my mounts; they are yellow, their offspring are like raisins.'

And 'the yellow' is a description specific to the yellow color, just as 'the red' is specified with 'bright', 'the black' with 'intense', 'the white' with 'pure', and 'the green' with 'fresh'. And 'its color' is the subject of 'intense', and 'it pleases the viewers'. Wahb ibn Munabbih said: It was as if the rays of the sun were coming from its skin. Its meaning is that it amazes the viewers. For this reason, Ibn Abbas and others said: 'The yellow pleases the soul.' Ibn Abbas encouraged wearing yellow sandals, as reported by Al-Naqqash. It was also reported that Ibn al-Zubayr and Yahya ibn Abi Kathir prohibited wearing black sandals because they are burdensome. Abu Al-‘Aliyah and Al-Suddi said: 'It pleases the viewers' means in its fatness and in its entire appearance. After all this, they asked him what it was, a question of those who are perplexed, having sensed the dislike of sin. 'Al-Baqar' is the plural of 'al-Baqara', and it is also pluralized as 'baqir'. With it, Ibn Yamur and Ikrimah read, and it is pluralized as 'baqir' and 'bayqur', and I do not know that it was read with these forms.

The seven reciters read 'tashabaha' as a past verb, while Al-Hasan and Al-A'raj read 'tashabahu' with a strengthened 'sh' and a damm on the 'h'; its origin is 'tatashabahu', and this is the reading of Yahya ibn Yamur, who merged it. It was also read as 'tushabahu' with a softened 'sh' by omitting the second 't'. Ibn Mas'ud read 'yushabahu' with a 'y' and merging the 't'. Al-Mahdi reported from Al-Mu'ayti that he read 'tashabbaha' with a strengthened 'sh' and 'b' without an 'a'. Abu Amr Al-Dani reported the reading of 'mutashabbih' as a noun of the doer from 'tashabbaha', and it was also reported as 'yatashabahu'.

In their exception in this last question, there is a sign of repentance and a desire to comply with the matter. It was narrated from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: 'If it were not for what they excepted, they would never have been guided to it.' The pronoun in 'Indeed we' is the name of 'inna', and 'muhtadun' is the news, and the 'lam' is for emphasis. The exception is an interruption that was presented before mentioning guidance, showing concern for it.