Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (2/76)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

the Children of Israel?’—that is: you left them and came to me even though I had charged you with their care. Moses then prayed:
“My Lord, forgive me and my brother, and admit us into Your mercy; You are the Most Merciful of the merciful.”

Yet Aaron—upon him be peace—had already forbidden them this atrocious deed in the strongest terms and rebuked them most sternly. Allah, exalted is He, says:
“Aaron had said to them beforehand, ‘My people, you have only been put to trial by this [calf]; your Lord is the All-Merciful, not this [idol]. So follow me and obey my command.’ They replied, ‘We will never cease to devote ourselves to it until Moses returns to us.’”
Thus Allah bears witness for Aaron—and Allah’s testimony suffices—that he forbade and scolded them, but they would neither obey him nor follow him.

Moses then turned to the Sāmirī: “What was it that moved you, O Sāmirī?” He said, “I perceived what they did not perceive. I saw Gabriel riding a horse, so I grasped a handful of dust from the trace of the Messenger’s steed and cast it in.”
Some relate that wherever the horse’s hoof struck the ground, greenery sprang forth; the Sāmirī took some of that soil, and when he threw it into the calf that had been fashioned from gold, what happened, happened. Hence his words: “So I flung it in, and thus my soul prompted me.”

Moses said, “Then begone! Throughout your life you will say, ‘Do not touch [me]’”—a curse upon him that no one touch him, as retribution for his having touched what he had no right to touch: a punishment in this world. He was then threatened with the next life: “And you have an appointment that you will not fail to keep” (another recitation: “that you will not break). “Now look at your god to which you remained devoted: we shall burn it, then scatter its ashes into the sea.”

Moses, peace be upon him, accordingly burned the calf—Qatādah and others say by fire; others, such as ʿAlī and Ibn ʿAbbās, relate that he filed it down, a view also found among the People of the Book—then scattered it in the sea. He ordered the Children of Israel to drink from that water; whoever had worshipped the calf had some of its ashes cling to his lips—others say their complexions turned yellow.

Allah then reports Moses as proclaiming to them, “Your only god is Allah; there is no deity but Him. His knowledge encompasses all things.” And He says: “Those who took the calf [as a god]—wrath from their Lord and disgrace in the life of this world shall overtake them; thus do We recompense the fabricators.”

(1) In the printed edition (T): al-Masnu'. (2) The phrase “lan tukhlifahu” is omitted in manuscript B, while in the printed edition (T) it appears as “nukhlifahu” with an initial nūn. The recitation “lan tukhlifahu” with a fatha on the lām is the majority reading; Ibn Kathīr and Abū ʿAmr read “tukhlifahu” with a kasra, meaning “it will not depart from him” in a threatening sense: “it will cling to him—willingly or unwillingly—with no possibility of abandoning it.” See Hujjat al-Qira'at, pp. 462–463. (3) According to the People of the Book in Exodus 32: “Then he took the calf they had made, burned it with fire, ground it to fine powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink.”

إِسْرَائِيلَ﴾ أي: تركتهم وجئتني وأنت قد استخلفتني فيهم: ﴿قَالَ رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي وَلِأَخِي وَأَدْخِلْنَا فِي رَحْمَتِكَ وَأَنْتَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ﴾. وقد كان هارون (عليه السلام) نهاهم عن هذا الصنيع الفظيع أشدَّ النهي، وزجرهم عنه أتمَّ الزجر. قال الله تعالى: ﴿وَلَقَدْ قَالَ لَهُمْ هَارُونُ مِنْ قَبْلُ يَاقَوْمِ إِنَّمَا فُتِنْتُمْ بِهِ﴾ أي: إنّما قدّر اللّه أمر هذا العجل وجعله يخور فتنةً واختبارًا لكم ﴿وَإِنَّ رَبَّكُمُ الرَّحْمَنُ﴾ أي: لا هذا ﴿فَاتَّبِعُونِي﴾ أي: فيما أقول لكم ﴿وَأَطِيعُوا أَمْرِي (٩٠) قَالُوا لَنْ نَبْرَحَ عَلَيْهِ عَاكِفِينَ حَتَّى يَرْجِعَ إِلَيْنَا مُوسَى﴾ يشهد اللّه لهارون (عليه السلام) وكَفَى باللّهِ شَهيدًا، أنّه نهاهم، وزجرهم عن ذلك فلم يطيعوه، ولم يتّبعوه. ثم أقبل موسى على السّامري ﴿قَالَ فَمَا خَطْبُكَ يَاسَامِرِيُّ﴾ أي: ما حملك على ما صنعت؟ ﴿قَالَ بَصُرْتُ بِمَا لَمْ يَبْصُرُوا بِهِ﴾ أي: رأيت جبريل وهو راكب فرسًا ﴿فَقَبَضْتُ قَبْضَةً مِنْ أَثَرِ الرَّسُولِ﴾ أي: من أثر فرس جبريل. وقد ذكر بعضهم أنّه رآه وكلّما وطئت بحوافرها على موضعٍ اخضرَّ وأعشبَ، فأخذ من أثر حافرها، فلما ألقاه في هذا العجل المَصُوْغ (١) من الذهب كان من أمره ما كان، ولهذا قال: ﴿فَنَبَذْتُهَا وَكَذَلِكَ سَوَّلَتْ لِي نَفْسِي (٩٦) قَالَ فَاذْهَبْ فَإِنَّ لَكَ فِي الْحَيَاةِ أَنْ تَقُولَ لَا مِسَاسَ﴾ وهذا دعاء عليه بأن لا يَمَسَّ أحدًا معاقبة له على مسّه ما لم يكن له مسّه. هذا معاقبة له في الدنيا، ثم توعّده في الأخرى فقال: ﴿وَإِنَّ لَكَ مَوْعِدًا لَنْ تُخْلَفَهُ﴾ وقرئ ﴿لَنْ تُخْلِفَهُ﴾ (٢) ﴿وَانْظُرْ إِلَى إِلَهِكَ الَّذِي ظَلْتَ عَلَيْهِ عَاكِفًا لَنُحَرِّقَنَّهُ ثُمَّ لَنَنْسِفَنَّهُ فِي الْيَمِّ نَسْفًا﴾. قال: فعمد موسى (عليه السلام) إلى هذا العجل فحرّقه بالنار كما قاله قتادة وغيره. وقيل: بالمبارد، كما قاله علي وابن عباس وغيرهما، وهو نص أهل الكتاب (٣) ، ثمّ ذراه في البحر، وأمر بنى إسرائيل فشربوا، فمن كان من عابديه عَلِق على شفاههم من ذلك الرماد منه ما يدل عليه، وقيل: بلّ اصفرّت ألوانهم. ثئم قال تعالى إخبارًا عن موسى أنّه قال لهم: ﴿إِنَّمَا إِلَهُكُمُ اللَّهُ الَّذِي لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ وَسِعَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ عِلْمًا﴾ وقال تعالى: ﴿إِنَّ الَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا الْعِجْلَ سَيَنَالُهُمْ غَضَبٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ وَذِلَّةٌ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَكَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُفْتَرِينَ﴾

(١) في ط: المصنوع. (٢) قوله: وقرئ: لن تخلفه. سقط في ب. وفي ط: نخلفه: بالنون. وقراءة ﴿لَنْ تُخْلِفَهُ﴾ بفتح اللام هي قراءة الجمهور. وقرأ ابن كثير وأبو عمرو ﴿تُخْلِفَهُ﴾ بكسر اللام. أي: لن تغيب عنه. على وجه التهديد. أي: ستصير إليه مريدًا أو كارها، فلا يكون لك سبيل إلى أن تخلفه. حجة القراءات (٤٦٢ - ٤٦٣). (٣) الذي قاله أهل الكتاب في سفر الخروج، الإصحاح الثاني والثلاثين: ثم أخذَ العجلَ الذي صنعوا، وأحرقه بالنار، وطحنه حتى صار ناعمًا، وذراه على الماء، وسقى بني إسرائيل.