His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Indeed, these are destroyed in what they are in, and false is what they were doing." "He said, 'Shall I seek for you a god other than Allah, while He has preferred you over the worlds?'" "And when We saved you from the people of Pharaoh, they were inflicting upon you a terrible punishment, killing your sons and sparing your women. And in that was a great trial from your Lord."

Musa informed them about Allah, exalted and majestic is He, regarding the corruption of the state of those people, so that what they found good in their condition would be removed. He said: "Indeed, these" indicating those people, "are destroyed," meaning they are doomed, destroyed, and have a bad end. This was said by Al-Suddi and Ibn Zayd. And 'tabar' means destruction and other than good outcome. And a 'mutabar' vessel means a broken one, and its breaking is 'tibr.' Hence, 'tibr' of gold is because it is broken. And His saying: "what they are in" is a term that encompasses all of their state. And "false" means corrupt, disappearing, and vanishing.

And His saying, exalted is He: "He said, 'Shall I seek for you a god other than Allah?'" Allah, exalted is He, commanded Musa, peace be upon him, to stop them and to confront them with this statement. It is possible that the saying is from him spontaneously, peace be upon him. And "I seek for you" means I request for you, from 'baghaytu' the thing when I sought it. And "other than" is in the accusative case due to an implied verb; this is the apparent meaning. It is possible that it is in the accusative as a state, as if the meaning of the speech is: 'Did I seek for you a god other than Allah?' So it is in the place of the description. When it was brought forward, it was placed in the accusative as a state. And "the worlds" is a general term intended to specify the world of their time, for the Ummah of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, is better than them by consensus, and for His saying, exalted is He: "You are the best nation ever raised for mankind." [Aali 'Imran: 110] Except that it is intended by preference the abundance of prophets among them, for they were preferred in that over the worlds in general.

Then he enumerated for them in this verse the blessings for which they should not disbelieve in Him nor desire the worship of others. And a group read: "We saved you," and the majority of people read: "We saved you," and it has been mentioned before. It has been narrated from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, that "when We saved you" means: Allah saved you. And likewise, it is in the manuscripts of the people of Ash-Sham. And "they were inflicting upon you" means they were burdening you and imposing upon you. You say: 'Samahu khutat khisf,' and similar to this, and the negotiation of the sale looks to this, and that each one of the negotiators imposes upon his companion his will. Then the terrible punishment was explained by His saying: (They were killing and sparing). And "trial" in this context means testing and examination. And His saying: "that" refers to the terrible punishment, and it is possible that he is referring to the salvation, as if he said: 'And in your salvation is a trial for you and a test. Will there be among you fulfillment according to the blessing?'

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The first interpretation is clearer. And a group said: These verses were addressed by Musa to those who were present from the Children of Israel. And Al-Tabari said: Rather, this verse was addressed to those who were in the time of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, as a reprimand for what was done to their forefathers and what they faced. Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The first is clearer and more evident.