His saying, exalted and glorious is He: "He said, 'What is your matter, O Samaritan?'" "He said, 'I perceived what they did not perceive, so I took a handful from the trace of the Messenger and I cast it aside. And thus my soul enticed me.'" "He said, 'Go, for you have in this life to say, 'No contact,' and indeed you have a promise that will not be broken. And look at your god to which you have remained devoted; we will surely burn it, then we will surely scatter it in the sea, scattering.'" (p-127) The meaning: Musa, peace be upon him, said addressing the Samaritan: 'What is your matter?' And his saying: 'What is your matter?' is like saying: 'What is your concern?' and 'What is your affair?' However, the term 'matter' implies a reprimand; because 'matter' is used in contexts of misfortune. It is as if he said: 'What is your misfortune?' and 'What is your omen?' and 'What is this matter that has come from you?' And 'the Samaritan' is said to be attributed to a tribe from Bani Israel, and it is said to be from a village called: Samira. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: It is known today in the land of Egypt, and it is said that his name is Musa ibn Dhafir. His saying, exalted and glorious is He: "I perceived," a group read "I perceived" with a dammah on the sad, meaning: my perception became in a certain form, as in 'I saw' and 'I looked.' And a group read: "I perceived" with a kasrah on the sad, and it is possible that he means by perception, and it is possible that he means by sight. This is because in the matter of the Samaritan, he exceeded the people in sight, which is the face of Jibril, peace be upon him, and his horse. And by perception, it is what he knew that when he cast the handful with the jewelry, he would get from that what he intended. The majority read: "they did not perceive" with a ya, meaning Bani Israel. And Hamzah and Al-Kisai read: "you will perceive" with a ta from above, meaning Musa, peace be upon him, with Bani Israel. The majority read: "a handful" with a dhad that has dots, meaning: I took it with my hand along with my fingers. And Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, Abdullah ibn Az-Zubair, and Ubayy ibn Ka'b, may Allah be pleased with them, and others read: "so I took a handful" with a sad that has no dots, meaning: I took it only with my fingers. And Al-Hasan read - with a difference from him - "a handful" with a dammah on the qaf. And "the Messenger" is Jibril, peace be upon him, and "the trace" is the dust beneath the hoof of his horse. (p-128) And the reason for the Samaritan's knowledge of Jibril, peace be upon him, and his distinguishing him is that it was narrated that the mother of the Samaritan gave birth to him in the year of the slaughter, and she cast him into a cave. Jibril, peace be upon him, would feed him there and protect him until he grew up and matured, and he distinguished him by that. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And this is weak.

And His saying: "So I cast it away" means: on the jewelry, and there was of it what you see. This is omitted from the wording, as the situation and the address necessitate it. Then he said: "And thus my soul enticed me," meaning: as it occurred and happened, my soul brought it close to me and made it a desire and a wish until I did it. And Musa, peace be upon him, would not kill the Children of Israel except in a limit or by revelation. So he punished him by striving against himself by distancing him and removing him from the people. And he commanded the Children of Israel to avoid him and his tribe, and not to eat with them or marry them, and so on. And he taught him with that, and he made it for him to say for the duration of his life: "No touching," meaning: no touching or harm. The majority read: "No touching" with a broken 'm' and an open 's', on the accusative for the declaration of innocence. It is a noun that inflects, and from it is the saying of Al-Nabighah:

He became like the Samaritan when Musa said to him: "No touching."

And from it is the saying of Ru'bah:

Until the Azd say: "No touching."

And its usage in this manner is frequent. And Abu Haywah read: "No touching" with an open 'm' and a broken 's', and it is deviated from the source like "fujjar" and similar. And Abu Ubaidah and others likened it to "nizal" and "dirak" and similar, and the similarity is correct in that they are deviated nouns. And it differs in that these have deviated from the command, while "touching" and "fujjar" have deviated from the source. And from this is the saying of the poet:

Tamim is like the group of the Samaritan.

And his saying:

Indeed, the Samaritan does not want touching.

And the majority read: "You will be replaced" with an open 'l', meaning: there will not be a replacement in it. Ibn Kathir and Abu Amr read: "You will not be replaced" with a broken 'l', meaning: you will not be able to deviate from it or turn away, so you will be removed from the time of punishment. And Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan read: "We will not be replaced" with a 'n', Abu Al-Fath said: the meaning is: we will not encounter him left behind.

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

And all of it means warning and threat.

Then he reproached him, peace be upon him, by saying: "And look at your god" the verse, meaning: look at your action and our change of it and we returned the matter in it to what is required. And a group read: "You remained" with an open 'z', on the omission of the single 'l'. And a group read: "You remained" with a broken 'z', on transferring the movement of the 'l' to the 'z' and then omitting it afterwards, similar to the saying of the poet:

Indeed, the noble ones among the mounts,

I feel it, so they are towards it a shaws.

He meant: I feel it, and the movement of the 's' was transferred to the 'h' and then omitted for ease. And in some narrations: Husayn. And a group read: "You remained," and "remained" means: he stayed doing the thing during the day, but it can also be used for the one who persists at night and day, like "tafiq." And "aakifan" means: remaining.

And a group read: "We will surely burn him" with a lightening of the letter 'ra' meaning: with fire. And Ali ibn Abi Talib, and Abdullah ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, read: "We will surely burn him" with the opening of the 'noon' and a light 'ra', meaning: we will surely cool him with a file. And Nafi' and others read: "We will surely burn him" with the 'noon' being pronounced with a 'dhamma' and the 'ra' being pronounced with a 'kasra' and stressed. This is a form of exaggeration that does not go beyond, and this reading can imply burning with fire, and it can imply with a file. In the Mushaf of Ubayy ibn Ka'b, and Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with them, it is written: "We will surely slaughter him, then we will surely burn him, then we will surely scatter him." This reading, along with the narration of those who reported that the calf became flesh and blood, indicates that there could be burning with fire. Otherwise, if it is a solid object made of gold, then it is merely burning with a file, unless it is melting, and scattering is metaphorically used for dispersing it in the sea as melted. A group read: "We will surely scatter him" with a 'kasra' on the 'seen'. And a group read: "We will surely scatter him" with a 'dhamma' on the 'seen'. And "scattering" means the dispersing of the wind of dust, and everything similar to it, like the sifting of flour, is also considered scattering. And "the sea" refers to water that has submerged from a sea or river, and everything that has submerged a person in water is a sea. And "scattering" is an affirmation with the source, and the 'lam' in His saying: "We will surely burn him" is the 'lam' of swearing.

And in this verse of the story, Musa, peace be upon him, reduced the calf until he turned it to dust, then he scattered it in the sea. Then he commanded the Children of Israel to drink from the water, and whoever drank from it while having love for the calf in his heart, it came out to him from the gold, a disgrace for him. And Makki, may Allah have mercy on him, reported (p-131) and attributed - that Musa, peace be upon him, was with the seventy during the conversation, and at that time the matter of the calf occurred. And indeed Allah, blessed and exalted is He, informed Musa of that, so he kept it from them, and he brought them until he heard the clamor of the Children of Israel around the calf, and then Musa informed them.

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

And this is the narration of the majority, contrary to it. Indeed, Musa hastened alone, and the matter of the calf occurred. Then Musa, peace be upon him, came and did with the calf what he did. Then after that, he went out with the seventy in the meaning of intercession for the sin of the Children of Israel, and to also inform them about the matter of the conversation. Thus, Musa, peace be upon him, had two movements, and Allah knows best.