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Surah 2. Al-Baqara

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2:41
وَءَامِنُوا۟ بِمَآ أَنزَلْتُ مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا مَعَكُمْ وَلَا تَكُونُوٓا۟ أَوَّلَ كَافِرٍۭ بِهِۦ ۖ وَلَا تَشْتَرُوا۟ بِـَٔايَـٰتِى ثَمَنًا قَلِيلًا وَإِيَّـٰىَ فَٱتَّقُونِ Wa a minoo bim a anzaltu mu s addiqan lim a maAAakum wal a takoonoo awwala k a firin bihi wal a tashtaroo bi a y a tee thamanan qaleelan waiyy a ya fa i ttaqoon i
Believe in that which I have [now] bestowed from on high, confirming the truth already in your possession, and be not foremost among those who deny its truth; and do not barter away My messages for a trifling gain;32 and of Me, of Me be conscious!
  - Mohammad Asad

A reference to the persistent Jewish belief that they alone among all nations have been graced by divine revelation. The "trifling gain" is their conviction that they are "God's chosen people" - a claim which the Qur'an consistently refutes.

Believe in My revelations, which are confirming your scriptures; do not be the first one to deny My revelations, and do not sell them for a petty price, fear Me and Me alone.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Believe in My revelations which confirm your Scriptures. Do not be the first to deny them or trade them for a fleeting gain.1 And be mindful of Me.
  - Mustafa Khattab

 Trading Allah’s revelations for a fleeting gain is a recurring theme in the first few sûrahs of the Quran. This refers to the practice of some Jewish authorities in Medina who contradicted certain rulings in the Torah by giving people lenient opinions only to please them in exchange for money.

And believe in that which I reveal, confirming that which ye possess already (of the Scripture), and be not first to disbelieve therein, and part not with My revelations for a trifling price, and keep your duty unto Me.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
And believe in what I reveal confirming the revelation which is with you and be not the first to reject faith therein nor sell My Signs for a small price: and fear Me and Me alone. 59
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

You receive revelations before: now comes one confirming it: its first appeal should be to you: are you to be the first to reject it? And reject it for what? God's Signs are worth more than all your paltry considerations. And the standard of duty and righteousness is to be taken from God, and not from priests and customs.

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2:42
وَلَا تَلْبِسُوا۟ ٱلْحَقَّ بِٱلْبَـٰطِلِ وَتَكْتُمُوا۟ ٱلْحَقَّ وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ Wal a talbisoo al h aqqa bi a lb at ili wataktumoo al h aqqa waantum taAAlamoon a
And do not overlay the truth with falsehood, and do not knowingly suppress the truth;33
  - Mohammad Asad

By "overlaying the truth with falsehood" is meant the corrupting of the Biblical text, of which the Qur'an frequently accuses the Jews (and which has since been established by objective textual criticism), while the "suppression of the truth" refers to their disregard or deliberately false interpretation of the words of Moses in the Biblical passage, "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken" (Deuteronomy xviii, 15), and the words attributed to God Himself, "I will raise them up a prophet from among thy brethren, like unto thee, and will put My words in his mouth" (Deuteronomy xviii, 18). The "brethren" of the children of Israel are obviously the Arabs, and particularly the musta'ribah ("Arabianized") group among them, which traces its descent to Ishmael and Abraham: and since it is to this group that the Arabian Prophet's own tribe, the Quraysh, belonged, the above Biblical passages must be taken as referring to his advent.

Do not mix the Truth with falsehood, or knowingly conceal the truth.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Do not mix truth with falsehood or hide the truth knowingly.
  - Mustafa Khattab
Confound not truth with falsehood, nor knowingly conceal the truth.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
And cover not Truth with falsehood nor conceal the Truth when ye know (what it is).
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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2:43
وَأَقِيمُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتُوا۟ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَٱرْكَعُوا۟ مَعَ ٱلرَّٰكِعِينَ Waaqeemoo a l ss al a ta wa a too a l zzak a ta wa i rkaAAoo maAAa a l rr a kiAAeen a
and be constant in prayer, and spend in charity,34 and bow down in prayer with all who thus bow down.
  - Mohammad Asad

In Islamic Law, zakah denotes an obligatory tax, incumbent on Muslims, which is meant to purify a person's capital and income from the taint of selfishness (hence the name). The proceeds of this tax are to be spent mainly, but not exclusively, on the poor. Whenever, therefore, this term bears the above legal implication, I translate it as "the purifying dues". Since, however, in this verse it refers to the children of Israel and obviously implies only acts of charity towards the poor, it is more appropriate to translate it as "almsgiving" or "charity". I have also adopted this latter rendering in all instances where the term zakah, though relating to Muslims, does not apply specifically to the obligatory tax as such (e.g., in 73:20 , where this term appears for the first time in the chronology of revelation).

Establish Salah (prayers); give Zakah (charity); and bow down with those who bow down in worship.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Establish prayer, pay alms-tax,1 and bow down with those who bow down.
  - Mustafa Khattab

 The alms-tax (zakâh) is the payment of 2.5% of someone’s savings only if the amount is equivalent to or greater than 85 g of gold, if that amount remains untouched for a whole Islamic year—around 355 days.

Establish worship, pay the poor-due, and bow your heads with those who bow (in worship).
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
And be steadfast in prayer; practice regular charity; and bow down your heads with those who bow down (in worship). 60
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The argument is still primarily addressed to the Jews, but is of universal application, as in all the teachings of the Quran. The chief feature of Jewish worship was and is the bowing of the head.

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2:44
أَتَأْمُرُونَ ٱلنَّاسَ بِٱلْبِرِّ وَتَنسَوْنَ أَنفُسَكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ تَتْلُونَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ ۚ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ Atamuroona a l nn a sa bi a lbirri watansawna anfusakum waantum tatloona alkit a ba afal a taAAqiloon a
Do you bid other people to be pious, the while you forget your own selves - and yet you recite the divine writ? Will you not, then, use your reason?
  - Mohammad Asad
Would you ask others to be righteous and forget to practice it yourselves? Even though you read your Holy Book? Have you no sense?
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Do you preach righteousness and fail to practice it yourselves, although you read the Scripture? Do you not understand?
  - Mustafa Khattab
Enjoin ye righteousness upon mankind while ye yourselves forget (to practise it)? And ye are readers of the Scripture! Have ye then no sense?
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Do ye enjoin right conduct on the people and forget (to practice it) yourselves and yet ye study the Scripture? Will ye not understand?
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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2:45
وَٱسْتَعِينُوا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِ ۚ وَإِنَّهَا لَكَبِيرَةٌ إِلَّا عَلَى ٱلْخَـٰشِعِينَ Wa i staAAeenoo bi al ss abri wa al ss al a ti wainnah a lakabeeratun ill a AAal a alkh a shiAAeen a
And seek aid in steadfast patience and prayer: and this, indeed, is a hard thing for all but the humble in spirit,
  - Mohammad Asad
Seek Allah's help with patience and Salah: it is indeed hard to be patient and to be punctual in offering Salah except for those who fear Allah,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
And seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, it is a burden except for the humble-
  - Mustafa Khattab
Seek help in patience and prayer; and truly it is hard save for the humble-minded,
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Nay seek (Allah's) help with patient perseverance and prayer: it is indeed hard except to those who bring a lowly spirit. 61
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Arabic word Sabr implies many shades of meaning, which it is impossible to comprehend in one English word. It implies (1) patience in the sense of being thorough, not hasty; (2) patient perseverance, constancy, steadfastness, firmness of purpose; (3) systematic as opposed to spasmodic or chance action; (4) a cheerful attitude of resignation and understanding in sorrow, defeat, or suffering, as opposed to murmuring or rebellion, but saved from mere passivity or listlessness, by the element of constancy or steadfastness.

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2:46
ٱلَّذِينَ يَظُنُّونَ أَنَّهُم مُّلَـٰقُوا۟ رَبِّهِمْ وَأَنَّهُمْ إِلَيْهِ رَٰجِعُونَ Alla th eena ya th unnoona annahum mul a qoo rabbihim waannahum ilayhi r a jiAAoon a
who know with certainty that they shall meet their Sustainer and that unto Him they shall return.
  - Mohammad Asad
who are certain in their mind that they are going to meet their Rabb and that they are going to return to Him for final judgement.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
those who are certain that they will meet their Lord and to Him they will return.
  - Mustafa Khattab
Who know that they will have to meet their Lord, and that unto Him they are returning.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Who bear in mind the certainty that they are to meet their Lord and that they are to return to Him.
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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2:47
يَـٰبَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ ٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَتِىَ ٱلَّتِىٓ أَنْعَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَأَنِّى فَضَّلْتُكُمْ عَلَى ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ Y a banee isr a eela o th kuroo niAAmatiya allatee anAAamtu AAalaykum waannee fa dd altukum AAal a alAA a lameen a
O children of Israel! Remember those blessings of Mine with which I graced you, and how I favoured you above all other people;
  - Mohammad Asad
O' Children of Israel! Remember the special favor which I bestowed upon You; that I exalted you above all other nations.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
O Children of Israel! Remember 'all' the favours I granted you and how I honoured you above the others.1
  - Mustafa Khattab

 Meaning, I chose you above all peoples of your time.

O Children of Israel! Remember My favor wherewith I favored you and how I preferred you to (all) creatures.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
O children of Israel! call to mind the (special) favor which I bestowed upon You and that I preferred you to all others (for My message). 62
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

These words are recapitulated from ii. 40, which introduced a general account of God's favours to Israel; now we are introduced to a particular account of incidents in Israel's history. Each incident is introduced by the Arabic word "Iz", which is indicated in the translation by "Remember".

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2:48
وَٱتَّقُوا۟ يَوْمًا لَّا تَجْزِى نَفْسٌ عَن نَّفْسٍ شَيْـًٔا وَلَا يُقْبَلُ مِنْهَا شَفَـٰعَةٌ وَلَا يُؤْخَذُ مِنْهَا عَدْلٌ وَلَا هُمْ يُنصَرُونَ Wa i ttaqoo yawman l a tajzee nafsun AAan nafsin shayan wal a yuqbalu minh a shaf a AAatun wal a yukha th u minh a AAadlun wal a hum yun s aroon a
and remain conscious of [the coming of] a Day when no human being shall in the least avail another, nor shall intercession be accepted from any of them, nor ransom taken from them,35 and none shall be succoured.
  - Mohammad Asad

The "taking of ransom ('adl)" is an obvious allusion to the Christian doctrine of vicarious redemption as well as to the Jewish idea that "the chosen people" - as the Jews considered themselves - would be exempt from punishment on the Day of Judgment. Both these ideas are categorically refuted in the Qur'an.

Guard yourselves against the day on which one soul shall not avail another, no intercession shall be accepted, no ransom shall be taken and no help shall be given.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Guard yourselves against the Day on which no soul will be of help to another. No intercession1 will be accepted, no ransom taken, and no help will be given.
  - Mustafa Khattab

 “Intercession” is the act of pleading with Allah on behalf of another person on the Day of Judgment.

And guard yourselves against a day when no soul will in aught avail another, nor will intercession be accepted from it, nor will compensation be received from it, nor will they be helped.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Then guard yourselves against a day when one soul shall not avail another nor shall intercession be accepted for her nor shall compensation be taken from her nor shall anyone be helped (from outside). 63
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Before passing to particular incidents, the conclusion is stated. Be on your guard; do not think that special favours exempt you from the personal responsibility of each soul.

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2:49
وَإِذْ نَجَّيْنَـٰكُم مِّنْ ءَالِ فِرْعَوْنَ يَسُومُونَكُمْ سُوٓءَ ٱلْعَذَابِ يُذَبِّحُونَ أَبْنَآءَكُمْ وَيَسْتَحْيُونَ نِسَآءَكُمْ ۚ وَفِى ذَٰلِكُم بَلَآءٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ عَظِيمٌ Wai th najjayn a kum min a li firAAawna yasoomoonakum sooa alAAa tha bi yu th abbi h oona abn a akum wayasta h yoona nis a akum wafee tha likum bal a on min rabbikum AAa th eem un
And [remember the time] when We saved you from Pharaoh's people, who afflicted you with cruel suffering, slaughtering your sons and sparing [only] your women36 - which was an awesome trial from your Sustainer;
  - Mohammad Asad

See Exodus i, 15-16, 22.

Remember how We delivered you from the people of Fir'on (Pharaoh): they had subjected you to severe torment, killing your sons and sparing your daughters; you were facing a tremendous trial from your Rabb.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
'Remember' how We delivered you from the people of Pharaoh, who afflicted you with dreadful torment, slaughtering your sons and keeping your women. That was a severe test from your Lord.
  - Mustafa Khattab
And (remember) when We did deliver you from Pharaoh's folk, who were afflicting you with dreadful torment, slaying your sons and sparing your women: That was a tremendous trial from your Lord.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
And remember We delivered you from the people of Pharaoh: they set you hard tasks and punishments slaughtered your sons and let your womenfolk live; therein was a tremendous trial from your Lord. 64
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The bondage of Egypt was indeed a tremendous trial. Even the Egyptians' wish to spare the lives of Israel's females when the males were slaughtered, added to the bitterness of Israel. Their hatred was cruel, but their "love" was still more cruel. About the hard tasks, see Exod. i. 14: "They made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field; all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour." Pharaoh's taskmasters gave no straw, yet ordered the Israelites to make bricks without straw: Exod. v 5-19. Pharoah's decree was: "Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive": Exod. i. 22. It was in consequence of this decree that Moses was hidden three months after he was born, and when he could be hidden no longer, he was put into an ark of bulrushes and cast into the Nile, where he was found by Pharoah's daughter and wife (xxviii. 9), and adopted into the family: Exod. ii. 2-10. Cf. xx. 37-40. Thus Moses was brought up by the enemies of his people. He was chosen by God to deliver his people, and God's wisdom made the learning and experience and even cruelties of the Egyptian enemies themselves to contribute to the salvation of his people.

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2:50
وَإِذْ فَرَقْنَا بِكُمُ ٱلْبَحْرَ فَأَنجَيْنَـٰكُمْ وَأَغْرَقْنَآ ءَالَ فِرْعَوْنَ وَأَنتُمْ تَنظُرُونَ Wai th faraqn a bikumu alba h ra faanjayn a kum waaghraqn a a la firAAawna waantum tan th uroon a
and when We cleft the sea before you, and thus saved you and caused Pharaoh's people to drown before your very eyes;
  - Mohammad Asad
And We parted the Red Sea for you, taking you to safety, and drowned Fir'on's people before your very eyes.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
And 'remember' when We parted the sea, rescued you, and drowned Pharaoh's people before your very eyes.
  - Mustafa Khattab
And when We brought you through the sea and rescued you, and drowned the folk of Pharaoh in your sight.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
And remember We divided the sea for you and saved you and drowned Pharaoh's people within your very sight. 65
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

When the Israelites at last escaped from Egypt, they were pursued by Pharaoh and his host. By a miracle the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, but the host of Pharaoh was drowned: Exod. xiv. 5-31.

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2:51
وَإِذْ وَٰعَدْنَا مُوسَىٰٓ أَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةً ثُمَّ ٱتَّخَذْتُمُ ٱلْعِجْلَ مِنۢ بَعْدِهِۦ وَأَنتُمْ ظَـٰلِمُونَ Wai th w a AAadn a moos a arbaAAeena laylatan thumma ittakha th tumu alAAijla min baAAdihi waantum th a limoon a
and when We appointed for Moses forty nights [on Mount Sinai], and in his absence you took to worshipping the [golden] calf, and thus became evildoers:
  - Mohammad Asad
Remember when We communed with Musa (Moses) for forty nights and in his absence you took the calf for worship, thus committing a wicked transgression.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
And 'remember' when We appointed forty nights for Moses, then you worshipped the calf in his absence, acting wrongfully.
  - Mustafa Khattab
And when We did appoint for Moses forty nights (of solitude), and then ye chose the calf, when he had gone from you, and were wrongdoers.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
And remember We appointed forty nights for Moses and in his absence you took the calf (for worship) and ye did grievous wrong. 66
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

This was after the Ten Commandments and the Laws and Ordinances had been given on Mount Sinai: Moses was asked up into the Mount, and he was there forty days and forty nights: Exod. xxiv. 18. But the people got impatient of the delay, made a calf of melted gold, and offered worship ande sacrifice to it: Exod. xxxii 1-8.

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2:52
ثُمَّ عَفَوْنَا عَنكُم مِّنۢ بَعْدِ ذَٰلِكَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ Thumma AAafawn a AAankum min baAAdi tha lika laAAallakum tashkuroon a
yet, even after that, We blotted out this your sin, so that you might have cause to be grateful.37
  - Mohammad Asad

The story of the golden calf is dealt with at greater length in 7:148 ff. and 20:85 ff. Regarding the crossing of the Red Sea, to which verse {50} above alludes, see {20:77-78} and {26:63-66}, as well as the corresponding notes. The forty nights (and days) which Moses spent on Mount Sinai are mentioned again in 7:142 .

Even then We forgave you, so that you might become grateful.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Even then We 'still' forgave you so perhaps you would be grateful.
  - Mustafa Khattab
Then, even after that, We pardoned you in order that ye might give thanks.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Even then We did forgive you; there was a chance for you to be grateful. 67
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Moses prayed for his people, and God forgave them. This is the language of the Qur-an. The Old Testament version is rougher: "The Lord reprented of the evil which He thought to do unto His people": Exod. xxxii. 14. The Muslim position has always been that the Jewish (and Christian) scriptures as they stand cannot be traced direct to Moses or Jesus, but are later compilations. Modern scholarship and Higher Criticism has left no doubt on the subject. But the stories in these traditional books may be used in an appeal to those who use them: only they should be spiritualized, as they are here, and especially in ii. 5 below.

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2:53
وَإِذْ ءَاتَيْنَا مُوسَى ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ وَٱلْفُرْقَانَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ Wai th a tayn a moos a alkit a ba wa a lfurq a na laAAallakum tahtadoon a
And [remember the time] when We vouchsafed unto Moses the divine writ - and [thus] a standard by which to discern the true from the false38 - so that you might be guided aright;
  - Mohammad Asad

Muhammad 'Abduh amplifies the above interpretation of al-furqan (adopted by Tabari, Zamakhshari and other great commentators) by maintaining that it applies also to "human reason, which enables us to distinguish the true from the false" (Manar III, 160), apparently basing this wider interpretation on 8:41, where the battle of Badr is described as yawm al-furqan ("the day on which the true was distinguished from the false"). While the term furgdn is often used in the Qur'an to describe one or another of the revealed scriptures, and particularly the Qur'an itself, it has undoubtedly also the connotation pointed out by 'Abduh: for instance, in 8:29, where it clearly refers to the faculty of moral valuation which distinguishes every human being who is truly conscious of God.

We gave Musa (Moses) the Holy Book (Torah) and the criterion of right and wrong so that you might be rightly guided.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
And 'remember' when We gave Moses the Scripture- the standard 'to distinguish between right and wrong' that perhaps you would be 'rightly' guided.
  - Mustafa Khattab
And when We gave unto Moses the Scripture and the Criterion (of right and wrong), that ye might be led aright.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
And remember We gave Moses the Scripture and the criterion (between right and wrong) there was a chance for you to be guided aright. 68
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

God's revelation, the expression of God's Will, is the true standard of right and wrong. It may be in a Book or in God's dealings in history. All these may be called His Signs or Miracles. In this passage some commentators take the Scripture and the Criterion (Furqan) to be identical. Others take them to be two distinct things: Scripture being the written Book and the Criterion being other Signs. I agree with the latter view. The word Furqan also occurs in xxi. 48 in connection with Moses and Aaron and in the first verse of Sura xxv, as well as in its title, in connection with Muhammad. As Aaron received no Book, Furqan must mean the other Signs. Mustafa had both the Book and the other Signs: perhaps here too we take the other Signs as supplementing the Book. Cf. Wordsworth's "Arbiter undisturbed of right and wrong." (Prelude, Book 4)

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2:54
وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِۦ يَـٰقَوْمِ إِنَّكُمْ ظَلَمْتُمْ أَنفُسَكُم بِٱتِّخَاذِكُمُ ٱلْعِجْلَ فَتُوبُوٓا۟ إِلَىٰ بَارِئِكُمْ فَٱقْتُلُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَكُمْ ذَٰلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ عِندَ بَارِئِكُمْ فَتَابَ عَلَيْكُمْ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ Wai th q a la moos a liqawmihi y a qawmi innakum th alamtum anfusakum bi i ttikh ath ikumu alAAijla fatooboo il a b a riikum fa o qtuloo anfusakum tha likum khayrun lakum AAinda b a riikum fat a ba AAalaykum innahu huwa a l ttaww a bu a l rra h eem u
and when Moses said unto his people: "O my people! Verily, you have sinned against yourselves by worshipping the calf; turn, then, in repentance to your Maker and mortify yourselves;39 this will be the best for you in your Maker's sight." And thereupon He accepted your repentance: for, behold, He alone is the Acceptor of Repentance, the Dispenser of Grace.
  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "kill yourselves" or, according to some commentators, "kill one another". This literal interpretation (probably based on the Biblical account in Exodus xxxii, 26-28) is not, however, convincing in view of the immediately preceding call to repentance and the subsequent statement that this repentance was accepted by God. I incline, therefore, to the interpretation given by 'Abd al-Jabbar (quoted by Razi in his commentary on this verse) to the effect that the expression "kill yourselves" is used here in a metaphorical sense (majazan), i.e., "mortify yourselves".

Remember when Musa returned with the Divine Book he said to his people: "O my people! You have indeed grievously wronged yourselves by taking the calf for worship; so turn in repentance to your Creator and slay the culprits among you; that will be best for you in His sight." He accepted your repentance; surely He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
And 'remember' when Moses said to his people, 'O my people! Surely you have wronged yourselves by worshipping the calf, so turn in repentance to your Creator and execute 'the calf-worshippers among' yourselves. That is best for you in the sight of your Creator.' Then He accepted your repentance. Surely He is the Accepter of Repentance, Most Merciful.
  - Mustafa Khattab
And when Moses said unto his people: O my people! Ye have wronged yourselves by your choosing of the calf (for worship) so turn in penitence to your Creator, and kill (the guilty) yourselves. That will be best for you with your Creator and He will relent toward you. Lo! He is the Relenting, the Merciful.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
And remember Moses said to his people: "O my people! Ye have indeed wronged yourselves by your worship of the calf so turn (in repentance) to your Maker and slay yourselves (the wrong-doers); that will be better for you in the sight of your Maker." Then He turned toward you (in forgiveness); for He is Oft-returning Most Merciful. 69
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Moses's speech may be construed literally, as translated, in which case it reproduces Exod. xxxii 27-28 but in a much softened form, for the Old Testament says: "Go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor... and there fell of the people that day 3,000 men." A more spiritualized version would be that the order for slaying was given by way of trial, but was withdrawn, for God turned to them in forgiveness. A still more spiritualized way of construing it would be to take "anfusakum" as meaning "souls" not "selves". Then the sense of Moses's speech (abbreviated) would be: "By the worship of the calf you have wronged your own souls; repent: mortify (=slay) your souls now: it will be better in the sight of God."

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2:55
وَإِذْ قُلْتُمْ يَـٰمُوسَىٰ لَن نُّؤْمِنَ لَكَ حَتَّىٰ نَرَى ٱللَّهَ جَهْرَةً فَأَخَذَتْكُمُ ٱلصَّـٰعِقَةُ وَأَنتُمْ تَنظُرُونَ Wai th qultum y a moos a lan numina laka h att a nar a All a ha jahratan faakha th atkumu a l ssa AAiqatu waantum tan th uroon a
And [remember] when you said, "O Moses, indeed we shall not believe thee unto we see God face to face!" - whereupon the thunderbolt of punishment40 overtook you before your very eyes.
  - Mohammad Asad

The Qur'an does not state what form this "thunderbolt of punishment" (as-sa'iqah) took. The lexicographers give various interpretations to this word, but all agree on the element of vehemence and suddenness inherent in it (see Lane IV, 1690).

Remember when you said: "O Musa! We shall never believe you until we see Allah with our own eyes," a thunderbolt struck you while you were looking on and you fell dead.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
And 'remember' when you said, 'O Moses! We will never believe you until we see Allah with our own eyes,' so a thunderbolt struck you while you were looking on.
  - Mustafa Khattab
And when ye said: O Moses! We will not believe in thee till we see Allah plainly; and even while ye gazed the lightning seized you.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
And remember ye said: "O Moses! we shall never believe in thee until we see Allah manifestly" but ye were dazed with thunder and lightning even as ye looked on. 70
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

We have hitherto had instances from the Jewish traditional Taurat (or Pentateuch). Now we have some instances from Jewish traditions in the Talmud, or body of exposition in the Jewish theological schools. They are based on the Jewish scriptures, but add many marvellous details and homilies. As to seeing God, we have in Exod. xxxiii 20: "And He said, Thou canst not see My face: for there shall no man see Me and live." The punishment for insisting on seeing God was therefore death; but those who rejected faith were forgiven, and yet they were ungrateful.

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