His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And We caused to inherit the people who were oppressed the eastern parts of the earth and the western parts of it, which We had blessed in it. And the good word of your Lord was fulfilled upon the Children of Israel because of what they endured. And We destroyed what Pharaoh and his people were producing and what they were erecting." And We crossed with the Children of Israel the sea, and they came upon a people who were devoted to their idols. They said, 'O Moses, make for us a god just as they have gods.' He said, 'Indeed, you are a people behaving ignorantly.'"

His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "the people who were oppressed" is a metaphor for the Children of Israel due to Pharaoh's enslavement of them and his dominance over them. And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "the eastern parts of the earth and the western parts of it" Al-Hasan, Qatadah, and others said: He means the land of Ash-Sham. Abu Ja'far An-Nahhas said: "It was said that it refers to the land of Egypt, and this is the saying of Al-Hasan in the book of An-Naqqash." A group said: He means the entire land.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This can be understood either as a metaphor because He granted them many lands, or literally in that He granted them their descendants, which is Solomon, son of David, peace be upon them. However, what fits the meaning of the verse and has been narrated in it is that He granted the sons of the oppressed their own eastern parts of the earth and western parts of it, especially by describing the land as that which He had blessed in it. No land possesses this description and is distinguished by it more than others except the land of Ash-Sham due to its water, trees, blessings, and benefits.

At-Tabari reported from an unnamed narrator - and Az-Zahrawi mentioned that it was Al-Farra' - that "the eastern parts of the earth and the western parts of it" is in the accusative case as an adverbial phrase, meaning: they were oppressed in the eastern parts of the earth and the western parts of it. And that His saying, blessed and exalted is He: "which We had blessed in it" is an object of "We caused to inherit" and At-Tabari weakened this interpretation. Likewise, this is a saying that does not align well. And "which" in this context is in the genitive case as an adjective for the earth, and it may also be in the accusative case as an adjective for "the eastern parts" and "the western parts."

And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And the good word of your Lord was fulfilled" means what had preceded for them in His knowledge and words in eternity regarding their salvation from their enemy and their victory over him. This was said by Mujahid. Al-Mahdawi said: It is His saying: "And We intend to bestow favor upon those who were oppressed in the land" [Al-Qasas: 5]. It was also said that it is His saying: "Perhaps your Lord will destroy your enemy" [Al-A'raf: 129]. It has been narrated from Abu Amr: "Words."

And "they were erecting" Ibn Abbas and Mujahid said: Its meaning is: they were building. And he erected the house: he roofed it. And "the 'arsh'" is the building and the structure. Al-Hasan said: It refers to vineyards and similar things. Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Abu Amr, Hamzah, Al-Kisai, and Hafs from Asim read it with a kasrah on the ra'. The others, Ibn 'Amir, and Asim in what has been narrated from him, Al-Hasan, Abu Rajaa, and Mujahid read it with a dammah. And this is two dialects. Ibn Abi 'Ablah read: "they were erecting" and "they were devoting themselves" with a dammah on both and a fatha on the 'ayn and a shaddah on the ra' and the kaf being broken.

And I saw that Al-Hasan Al-Basri argued with His saying, the Most High: "And the word of your Lord has been fulfilled" to the end of the verse, that it should not be interpreted regarding the evil kings. Rather, it should be that patience is to be shown towards them, for Allah, glorified and exalted is He, will destroy them. And I saw that another said: When people face adversity with something similar, Allah turns them towards it. If they face it with patience and waiting for relief, Allah will bring relief. This saying was also narrated from Al-Hasan.

And the majority of the people read: "And We passed through", while Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan read: "And We allowed to pass". This was mentioned by Abu Hatim and Al-Mahdawi. The meaning is: We cut through it with them and we made them pass. And this verse is the beginning of news about them. Al-Naqqash said: They passed through the sea on the day of Ashura, and Moses was given the Torah on the day of the next sacrifice. Between the two events is eleven months. It was narrated that their cutting was from one bank of the sea to the opposite bank of the first, and it was narrated that it was a cutting from the bank to another place in it.

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

So it could be that this was by revelation from Allah and a command for His command to be executed against Pharaoh and his people, and this is the apparent meaning. Or it could be according to Moses' endeavor to escape by being between two positions or obstacles. And it was noted in the book of Al-Naqqash that it is the Nile of Egypt.

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

And this is an error that is not supported by narration, nor can the wording bear it except by forced interpretation. It is rather the sea of Al-Qulzum. And the people referred to in the verse are the Arabs. It was said: They are the Canaanites. And Qatadah and Abu Amr Al-Jawni said: They are a people from Lakhm and Judham. And the people in the speech refers specifically to men, and from this is the saying of Zuhair:

And I do not know, and I will think I know, ∗∗∗ Are they a people of Al-Hisn or women?

And from this is His saying, the Exalted: "Let not a people ridicule a people" [Al-Hujurat: 11], "and let not women ridicule women" [Al-Hujurat: 11].

And Nafi, Ibn Kathir, Abu Amr, Asim, and Ibn Amer read: "They are devoted" with a damma on the kaf. And Hamzah, Al-Kisai, and Abu Amr in the narration of Abdul Warith from him read: "They are devoted" with a kasra. And these are two dialects. And 'Ikuuf' means to remain with a person regarding something, and to be devoted to it. From this is 'I'tikaf' in the mosques. And from this is the saying of the poet:

........................ ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ The devotion of the Nabita, they play the fanzaja.

And the idols in this verse were said to be a cow in reality. And Ibn Jurayj said: They were images of a cow made of stones and sticks and similar things, and that was the first trial of the calf.

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

The apparent meaning of the statement of the Children of Israel to Musa: "Make for us a god just as they have gods" is that they admired what they saw of the gods of those people. They wanted that to be part of the Shari'ah of Musa and in the totality of what brings them closer to Allah. Otherwise, it is unlikely that they would say to Musa: 'Make for us an idol that we may dedicate to worship and disbelieve in your Lord.' Musa, peace be upon him, made it clear to them that this was ignorance on their part when they asked for something forbidden in which there is [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: shirk] in worship. From this, it leads to dedicating idols to worship and disbelief in Allah, the Exalted and Majestic. Based on what I have said, the similarity occurs which the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, narrated in the story of Abu Waqqas al-Laythi during the Battle of Hunayn when they passed by a large green lote tree: 'Make for us, O Messenger of Allah, a [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: dhat anwat] just as they have [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: dhat anwat].' The [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: dhat anwat] was a place for some of the polytheists where they would hang their weapons, and there was a day they would gather there. Abu Waqqas and others wanted the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, to legislate that in Islam. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, saw that it was a means to the worship of that [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: sarha], so he rejected it and said: 'Allah is the Greatest! You have said, by Allah, just as the Children of Israel said: "Make for us a god just as they have gods"; you will certainly follow the ways of those before you.'

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

Abu Waqqas did not intend by his statement corruption. Some people said that this was disbelief from the Children of Israel, and the term 'god' implies that. This is possible, but what I mentioned first is more correct in my view, and Allah, the Exalted, knows best.