The priesthood remained confined to the descendants of Aaron, just as it had belonged to their father before them—namely Nadab, his firstborn, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

The point is that none of the Children of Israel who had refused to enter the city of the formidable giants survived—those who had said, “So go, you and your Lord, and fight; we will stay here sitting” (al-Māʾidah 5:24). This was reported by Sufyān al-Thawrī from Abū Saʿīd, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbās; it was also narrated by Qatādah and ʿIkrimah, and by al-Suddī on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, Ibn Masʿūd, and a number of Companions. Ibn ʿAbbās and other scholars of both earlier and later generations further stated: “Moses and Aaron both died during the wandering.”

Ibn Isḥāq, however, maintained that it was Moses who captured Jerusalem, with Joshua merely leading the vanguard. While recounting that march he mentioned the story of Balaam son of Beor, about whom the Almighty says:

“Recite to them the story of the one to whom We gave Our signs, but he cast them off; so Satan pursued him and he became one of the deviant. Had We willed, We could have raised him thereby, but he clung to the earth and followed his own desire. His likeness is that of a dog: if you drive it away it pants, and if you leave it, it still pants. Such is the likeness of the people who deny Our signs. So relate these stories so that they may reflect. Evil is the example of the people who deny Our signs, for they wrong only themselves.” (al-Aʿrāf 7:175-177)

We have already detailed his story in the Tafsīr, noting that—according to Ibn ʿAbbās and others—he knew the Greatest Name of Allah. His people urged him to pray against Moses and his followers, but he refused. When they persisted, he mounted his donkey and headed toward the Israelite camp. As he approached, the donkey knelt down. He struck it until it rose, but it soon knelt again. He beat it more severely; it rose, went a short distance, and knelt a third time, whereupon he struck it yet again. The donkey then spoke: “O Balaam, where are you going? Do you not see the angels barring my path? Will you go to the Prophet of Allah and the believers and curse them?” Still he would not desist, and he beat the animal until it carried him on. From the summit of Mount Ḥusbān overlooking the camp of Moses and the Children of Israel he began to call down curses upon them, but his tongue would not obey him except to bless Moses and his people and curse his own. They reproached him, and he excused himself, saying that his tongue would utter nothing else; then it protruded until it hung upon his chest. He said to his people, “Now this world and the next are lost to me; only deceit and stratagem remain.” He therefore instructed them to beautify their women, send them out with goods to sell among the Israelites, and tempt the men, for if even one of them committed fornication the Israelites would be stricken. They followed his advice: they adorned their women and dispatched them to the camp. One of those women, named Kustā, passed by a notable of the Children of Israel, Zimrī son of Salūm—said to have been the chief of the tribe of Simeon son of Jacob—and he took her into his pavilion. When he was alone with her, Allah sent a plague upon the Israelites that began to spread among them. When news of this reached Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron—