he killed him in order to inherit from him. He carried him to another town and cast him down in their courtyard. Then, in the morning, he sought vengeance for him and came with some people to Moses, accusing them of the murder. Moses questioned them, but they denied it, and the matter of the slain man became unclear to Moses. Al-Kalbi said: This was before the prescribed procedure of sworn oaths in homicide cases (1) was revealed in the Torah. They therefore asked Moses to supplicate to Allah to make the matter clear to them, and Allah commanded them to slaughter a cow. Moses said to them, “Indeed, Allah commands you to slaughter a cow.”

They said, “Are you making a mockery of us?” That is, “Are you mocking us? We ask you about the matter of the slain man, and you command us to slaughter a cow!” They said this because, apparently, the two matters seemed far removed from one another, and they did not know the wisdom behind it. Hamzah read huzuwan and kufuwan with the consonant softened, whereas the others read them with it doubled; Hafs read without the glottal stop.

Moses said, “I seek refuge in Allah from being among the ignorant”—that is, among those who mock the believers. It was also said that it means: among those ignorant of how to answer in accordance with the question, for an answer that does not correspond to the question is ignorance. When the people (2) learned that slaughtering a cow was a firm command from Allah, they asked him to describe it. Had they selected and slaughtered any cow at all, it would have sufficed for them; but they imposed hardship upon themselves, so Allah imposed hardship upon them. There was wisdom underlying this.

Among the Children of Israel there was a righteous man who had a young son (3) and a heifer. He took it to a thicket (4) and said, “O Allah, I entrust this heifer to You for my son until it grows up.” Then the man died, and the heifer became a mature cow (5) in the thicket. It would flee from everyone who saw it.

When the son grew up, he was dutiful to his mother. He divided the night into three parts: he prayed for a third, slept for a third, and sat by his mother’s bedside for a third. In the morning, he would go out and gather firewood on his back, bring it to the market, and sell it for whatever Allah willed. He would then give a third of it in charity, eat a third, and give a third to his mother.

One day his mother said to him, “Your father left you a heifer which he entrusted to Allah in such-and-such a thicket. Go and call upon the God of Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac to return it to you. 13/b Its sign is that, when you look at it, you will imagine that the rays of the sun are issuing from its hide.” It was called the Golden One because of its beauty and yellowness.

The young man went to the thicket and saw it grazing. He called out to it, saying, “I adjure you by the God of Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, and Jacob to come to me.” It came hurrying until it stood before him, and he seized it by the neck to lead it. By Allah’s permission, the cow spoke and said, “O young man who is dutiful to his mother, ride me, for that would be easier for you.” The young man replied, “My mother did not command me to do that; rather, she told me to take hold of its neck.”

The cow said, “By the God of the Children of Israel, had you ridden me, you would never have been able to control me. Go on, for if you commanded a mountain to be uprooted from its foundation and go along with you, it would do so because of your dutifulness to your mother.”

The young man brought it to his mother, and she said to him, “You are poor and have no wealth. Gathering firewood by day and praying at night are difficult for you, so go and sell this cow.” He asked, “For how much should I sell it?” She said, “For three dinars, and do not sell it without consulting me.” At that time, the price of a cow was three dinars.

He took it to the market. Allah sent an angel to show His creatures His power and to test how dutiful the young man was to his mother—though Allah already knew him well. The angel asked him, “For how much will you sell this cow?” He replied, “For three dinars, on the condition that my mother approves.” The angel said, “You may have six dinars, without consulting your mother.” The young man replied, “Even if you gave me its weight in gold, I would not accept it except with my mother’s approval.” So he returned the cow to his mother and told her the price offered. She said, “Go back and sell it for six dinars, with my approval.”

He took it to the market, and the angel came to him and asked, “Have you consulted your mother?” The young man said, “She instructed me not to accept less than six, provided that I consult her.” The angel said, “Then I will give you twelve, on condition that you do not consult her.” But the young man refused. He returned to his mother and informed her. She said, “The one who comes to you is an angel in the form of a human being, testing you. When he comes to you, ask him, ‘Do you command us to sell this cow or not?’” He did so (6).

The angel said to him, “Go to your mother and tell her to keep this cow, for Moses son of Imran, peace be upon him, will purchase it from you for the case of a man who will be killed among the Children of Israel. Do not sell it except for its hide filled with dinars.” So they kept it. Allah Most High decreed that the Children of Israel should slaughter that very cow, and they continued asking Moses to describe it until he described that cow to them, as a recompense for the young man’s dutifulness to his mother—a bounty and mercy from Him. Thus (7):

“They said, ‘Call upon your Lord for us to make clear to us what she is.’ He said, ‘He says: She is a cow neither old nor young, but of middle age between that. So do what you are commanded.’ (68) They said, ‘Call upon your Lord for us to make clear to us what her color is.’ He said, ‘He says: She is a bright yellow cow, pleasing to those who look at her.’ (69)”

The saying of Allah Most High: “They said, ‘Call upon your Lord for us to make clear to us what she is’”—that is, what are her characteristics? Moses said, “He says,” meaning that Moses asked Allah Most High, and He said: “He says,” that is, Allah Most High says, “She is a cow neither old nor young”—neither aged nor young. An old cow is one advanced in years that no longer gives birth; one says that a cow has grown old. A young cow is one that has never given birth. The feminine ending is omitted from both terms because they are used exclusively of females, as with the term for a menstruating woman.

“Of middle age between that”: that is, intermediate in age. One says that a woman has reached middle age when she has passed thirty. Al-Akhfash said: A middle-aged cow is one that has never given birth. It was also said (10) that it is one that has calved several times; its plural is awn. “So do what you are commanded”: slaughter the cow, and do not ask too many questions.

“They said, ‘Call upon your Lord for us to make clear to us what her color is.’ He said, ‘He says: She is a bright yellow cow.’” Ibn Abbas said: intensely yellow. Qatadah said: pure in color. Al-Hasan said: Yellow here means black. The first view is sounder, for one says “bright yellow,” not “bright black”; rather, black is described as jet-black, red as deep red, green as lush, and white as dazzling white—all as intensifiers. “It pleases