That is to say: “We have repented to You, returned, and turned back in obedience.” This was stated by Ibn ʿAbbās, Mujāhid, Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, Abū al-ʿĀliyah, Ibrāhīm al-Taymī, al-Ḍaḥḥāk, al-Suddi, Qatādah, and many others—and the phrase bears precisely that meaning in Arabic as well (1).
The Almighty declared, “My punishment—I afflict with it whom I will; whereas My mercy encompasses all things” (7:156). In other words, I chastise whomsoever I wish by whatever means I create and decree; but My mercy embraces every thing. As is authentically reported in the two Ṣaḥīḥs (2), the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “When Allah finished creating the heavens and the earth, He wrote a book which is with Him above the Throne: ‘Indeed, My mercy prevails over My wrath.’”
He then says, “So I shall ordain it for those who are conscious of Me, who give the prescribed alms, and who believe in Our signs” (7:156)—meaning: I shall assuredly reveal this mercy to those characterized by these qualities—“those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet…” to the end of the verse. In this there is an explicit honoring of Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and his community, conveyed by Allah to Moses (upon him be peace) during their intimate discourse and made known to him. We have discussed this verse and the ones that follow in the Tafsīr (3) in sufficient detail, and all praise and grace belong to Allah.
Qatādah said: Moses exclaimed, “My Lord, I find in the Tablets a nation who are the best nation ever brought forth for mankind, who enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong. My Lord, make them my community!” He was told, “That is the community of Aḥmad.”
Moses said, “My Lord, I find in the Tablets a nation who are the last of all peoples in creation, yet the first to enter Paradise. My Lord, make them my community!” He was told, “That is the community of Aḥmad.”
He said, “My Lord, I find in the Tablets a nation whose Gospels are in their hearts; they recite them by heart, whereas those before them recited their Book from written pages: once the pages were removed they retained nothing of it and no longer recognized it. O Lord, You have granted this nation a degree of memorization that You have given to no other. My Lord, make them my community!” He was told, “That is the community of Aḥmad.”
He said, “My Lord, I find in the Tablets a nation who believe in the former Scripture and in the latter Scripture, and who fight the parties of falsehood until they battle the one-eyed impostor. My Lord, make them my community!” He was told, “That is the community of Aḥmad.”
He said, “My Lord, I find in the Tablets a nation whose voluntary alms they themselves consume—yet they are rewarded for them. Before them, when someone gave charity and it was accepted, You would send down a fire that consumed it; and if it was rejected, it would be left so that beasts and birds might eat it. But You, O Lord, take their charities from their wealthy and return them to their poor. My Lord, make them my community!” He was told, “That is the community of Aḥmad.”
He said, “My Lord, I find in the Tablets a nation such that, if any one of them intends a good deed but does not perform it, a single good deed is still recorded for him; and if he performs it, it is recorded as ten good deeds, up to seven hundred times as much. My Lord, make them my community!” He was told, “That is the community of Aḥmad.”
He said, “My Lord, I find in the Tablets a nation who are intercessors and for whom intercession is accepted. My Lord, make them my community!” He was told, “That is the community of Aḥmad.”
Qatādah continued: We have been informed that Moses then cast down the Tablets and prayed, “O Allah, make me among the community of Aḥmad.”
Many people have recorded accounts of Moses’ intimate discourse with his Lord, but they have reported a great many things that have no sound basis.