“And the Samiri led them astray”: that is, he called them to and turned them toward ⦗13/b⦘ the worship of the calf. This was attributed to the Samiri because they went astray through his influence.

“So Moses returned to his people, angry and sorrowful. He said, ‘O my people, did your Lord not make you a good promise? Did my absence then seem too long to you, or did you wish for wrath from your Lord to descend upon you, so that you broke your promise to me?’ (86) They said, ‘We did not break our promise to you of our own will, but we were made to bear burdens from the ornaments of the people, so we threw them in; and thus the Samiri threw.’ (87)”

“So Moses returned to his people, angry and sorrowful”: that is, grieved. “He said, ‘O my people, did your Lord not make you a good promise?’”: a true promise that He would give you the Torah. “Did my absence then seem too long to you?”: that is, the period during which I was separated from you. “Or did you wish for wrath from your Lord to descend upon you?”: that is, did you wish to commit an act by which wrath from your Lord would become due upon you, “so that you broke your promise to me?”

“They said, ‘We did not break our promise to you of our own will.’” Nafi, Abu Jafar, and Asim recited the word with an a-vowel on the letter m; Hamzah and al-Kisai recited it with a u-vowel; while the others recited it with an i-vowel, meaning: while we were in control of our own affairs. It was also said that it means: of our own choosing. According to the reading with a u-vowel, it means: by our own ability and authority. For when a person falls into calamity and tribulation, he does not have control over himself.

“But we were made to bear”: Abu Amr, Hamzah, al-Kisai, Abu Bakr, and Yaqub recited it as, “We bore,” with an a-vowel on the first letter and without doubling the m. The others recited it as, “We were made to bear,” with a u-vowel on the first letter and a doubled m; that is, they caused us to bear them and required us to carry them. “Burdens from the ornaments of the people”: that is, from the jewelry of Pharaoh’s people. They were called burdens because the Israelites had taken them as loans and did not return them. The Children of Israel had borrowed jewelry from the Copts, and it was with them when they departed from Egypt.

It is also said that, when Allah Most High drowned Pharaoh, the sea cast up their jewelry, and the Israelites took it. It was spoils of war, but spoils were not lawful for them at that time; for this reason, they were called burdens.

“So we threw them in”: It is said that the Samiri told them, “Dig a small pit and throw them into it until Moses returns.”

Al-Suddi (1) said: Aaron told them, “These are spoils that are not lawful. Dig a small pit and throw them into it until he returns.”