The town is Bayt al-Maqdis. It is said to be Areeha from the villages of the Levant. They were commanded to enter it after the wandering. The door is the door of the town. It is said to be the door of the dome to which they used to pray, while they had not entered Bayt al-Maqdis during the lifetime of Musa, blessings and peace be upon him. They were commanded to prostrate upon reaching the door, in gratitude to Allah and in humility.

It is said that 'prostration' means they should bow and lower themselves as they enter, so that their entry would be with reverence and humility. It is said:

The door was lowered for them so that they would lower their heads, but they did not lower them. They entered crawling on their thighs. 'Hitta' is an act of lowering, like sitting and kneeling. It is a news of a deleted subject, meaning our matter is 'Hitta', and your command is 'Hitta'.

The original meaning is: 'Remove from us our sins, Hitta.' It was raised to give the meaning of stability, like His saying: 'Beautiful patience, for both of us are tested.'

He says: My camel complained to me of its fatigue from the long night journey. And 'patience' is a noun that stands in place of its verb, meaning 'be patient, O camel, with beautiful patience,' and in it is a shift from the third person to address. Or the estimation is: I said to it, 'Be patient with patience,' for each of us is afflicted with trial. Or tested and examined whether it can endure the hardships of travel or not. It is narrated: 'Beautiful patience,' meaning it is more appropriate for us, omitting the news. Or our command is patience, in which case it is one of the places where the subject must be omitted because the news substitutes for the verb. And beautiful patience is that which has no complaint to the creation.

The original is 'patience,' meaning: 'be patient with patience.' Ibn Abi 'Abla read it in the accusative as the original. It is said that its meaning is:

Our command is 'Hitta,' meaning that we should settle in this town. If you say: Is it permissible to read 'Hitta' in the accusative in the reading of those who read it as 'Say,' meaning: 'Say this word'? I say: It is not far off. It is better to read it in the accusative by implying its verb, and its place is established by saying 'Say.' And it is read (yughfar lakum) in the passive form with the ya and ta. 'And We will increase the good-doers,' meaning whoever is good among you, that word was a cause for an increase in his reward. And whoever is sinful, it was for him repentance and forgiveness. Then those who wronged replaced 'Hitta' with another saying. This means they were commanded to say something that means repentance and seeking forgiveness, but they opposed it with a saying that does not mean what they were commanded with, and they did not comply with Allah's command. The aim is not that they were commanded with a specific word, which is the word 'Hitta,' and they came with another word. Because if they had come with another word that is independent in meaning from what they were commanded, they would not have been held accountable for it.

As if they said instead of 'Hitta': 'We seek Your forgiveness and we repent to You.' Or 'O Allah, pardon us,' and similar to that. It is said:

They said instead of 'Hitta': 'Hinta.' And it is said: They said in Nabataean: 'Hatta Samqatha,' meaning red wheat, mocking what was said to them, and turning away from seeking what is with Allah to seeking what they desire of worldly aims. And in the repetition of 'those who wronged' is an increase in the condemnation of their matter. And it indicates that the punishment was sent down upon them for their wrongdoing. It has come in Surah Al-A'raf: 'So We sent down upon them,' in the implied form. And the punishment is the torment. It is read with the ra being pronounced. It is narrated that twenty-four thousand of them died in one hour from the plague. It is said seventy thousand.