Beneath the cloud—while a pillar of light shone forth—Moses ascended the mountain. The Children of Israel reported that they heard the speech of Allah. A number of exegetes concurred with this and linked it to His words: “A party of them would listen to the words of Allah, then, after having understood it, knowingly distort it” (2:75). Such an inference, however, is not obligatory, for the Almighty also says: “Grant him asylum until he hears the speech of Allah” (9:6), meaning: until it is conveyed to him. In the same way, these men only heard it conveyed to them by Moses, peace be upon him.
They also claimed that the seventy saw Allah Himself, but this is a mistake; for when they asked for a direct vision they were seized by the tremor, as the Most High says: “And when you said, ‘Moses, we will never believe you until we see Allah plainly,’ the thunderbolt struck you while you were looking on. Then We revived you after your death so that you might give thanks” (2:55–56). And in this passage He says: “When the quake seized them, he said, ‘My Lord, had You willed, You could have destroyed them long before—and me as well’” (1).
Muhammad ibn Isḥāq said: Moses selected from the Children of Israel seventy men—each the best of his clan—and told them, “Go to Allah; repent to Him for what you have done, and ask Him to accept the repentance of those you left behind among your people. Fast, purify yourselves, and cleanse your garments.” He then led them to Mount Sinai for the appointed time his Lord had fixed for him; he would only approach it with His permission and knowledge. Moses said, “The seventy who are with me have asked to hear the speech of Allah.” Allah replied, “I shall grant it.”
When Moses drew near the mountain, a column of cloud descended and enveloped it completely. Moses advanced and entered the cloud, saying to the people, “Come closer.” Whenever Allah spoke to Moses, a dazzling light shone upon his forehead that no human could bear to gaze at, so a veil was placed between him and them. The people stepped forward, and when they had entered the cloud they fell in prostration and heard Allah speaking to Moses, commanding and forbidding: “Do this; do not do that.” When Allah had completed His decree and the cloud lifted from Moses, he turned to them.
They then said, “We will never believe you until we see Allah openly” (2:55). Thereupon “the quake seized them”—that is, the thunderbolt—so their souls were taken and they all died. Moses rose, pleading with his Lord, calling upon Him with yearning and saying: “My Lord, had You willed, You could have destroyed them long before—and me as well. Will You destroy us for what the foolish among us have done?”—meaning, do not hold us accountable for the act of the fools who worshipped the calf, for we are innocent of what they did.
Ibn ʿAbbās, Mujāhid, Qatādah, and Ibn Jurayj said: The quake overtook them only because they had failed to forbid their people from worshipping the calf (3).
His words, “It is nothing but Your trial,” mean: Your test, affliction, and examination, as explained by Ibn ʿAbbās, Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, Abū al-ʿĀliyah, al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, and many other scholars, early and later. That is: You decreed and created the affair of the calf as a test by which You tried them, just as the Most High also says: “Aaron had already told them beforehand, ‘My people, you have only been tested by it,’” meaning, you have been tried. Hence His words: “You lead astray by it whom You will and You guide whom You will”—whomever You wish You lead astray through Your test, and whomever You wish You guide. Yours alone is the judgment and the will; none can prevent or repel what You decree and decide: “You are our Protector, so forgive us and have mercy on us; You are the best of those who forgive. And ordain for us good in this world and in the Hereafter—for we have indeed turned unto You” (155).