“And We brought the Children of Israel across the sea” after Allah had saved them from their enemy, Pharaoh and his people, and destroyed them while the Children of Israel watched.
“They came”—that is, they passed—“upon a people devoted to idols of theirs”; that is, they remained beside them, sought blessings through them, and worshipped them.
Out of their ignorance and foolishness, they “said” to their prophet Moses, after Allah had shown them such signs as He had shown them, “Moses, make for us a god just as they have gods.” That is, sanction for us the taking of idols as gods, just as these people have done.
Moses “said” to them, “You are indeed an ignorant people.” What ignorance could be greater than that of one who is ignorant of his Lord and Creator and wishes to equate another with Him—one that possesses no power to benefit or harm, nor to cause death, give life, or resurrect?
Moses therefore said to them, “What these people are engaged in is doomed to destruction, and false is all that they have been doing,” because their invocation of those idols is false and the idols themselves are false. Thus, both the deed and its intended end are false.
“He said, ‘Shall I seek for you a god other than Allah?’” That is, shall I seek for you a god other than Allah—the One rightfully worshipped, perfect in His essence, attributes, and actions? “Yet He has favored you above all peoples.” This requires you to respond to His favor and His choosing of you with gratitude, by singling Him out alone for worship and rejecting everything worshipped besides Him.
Moses then reminded them of the favor Allah had bestowed upon them, saying, “And remember when We saved you from Pharaoh’s people”—that is, from Pharaoh and his household—“who subjected you to the worst torment.” That is, they inflicted the worst forms of torment upon you: “They slaughtered your sons and spared your women. In that”—your deliverance from their torment—“was a tremendous trial from your Lord”; that is, a magnificent blessing and a generous gift. Alternatively, the torment they inflicted upon you was a tremendous trial from your Lord. When Moses had reminded and admonished them, they desisted from their demand.
When Allah had perfected His blessing upon them by saving them from their enemy and establishing them in the land, He, Mighty and Majestic, willed to complete His blessing upon them by sending down the Book, which contained the rulings of the Sacred Law and sound tenets of faith. He therefore appointed thirty nights for Moses and completed them with ten more, making forty nights, so that Moses might prepare himself and be ready for his appointment with Allah, and so that the Book’s revelation would have a profound effect upon them and be eagerly awaited.
When Moses departed for the appointed meeting with his Lord, he spoke to Aaron, entrusting the Children of Israel to him out of his concern and compassion for them: “Take my place among my people”—that is, be my deputy among them and deal with them as I did—“and set things right”; that is, follow the path of righteousness, “and do not follow the way of those who spread corruption,” namely, those who commit sins.
“When Moses came at Our appointed time,” which We had assigned for him to receive the Book, “and his Lord spoke to him,” conveying to him His revelation, commands, and prohibitions, Moses longed to see Allah, and his soul yearned for it out of love for his Lord and a desire to behold Him.
So “he said, ‘My Lord, show Yourself to me so that I may look upon You.’” Allah “said, ‘You will not see Me’”—that is, you are presently unable to see Me. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, created beings in this world with a constitution that leaves them unable to see Allah or withstand seeing Him. This does not prove that they will not see Him in Paradise. The Quranic texts and Prophetic hadiths establish that the people of Paradise will see their Lord, Mighty and Majestic, and delight in looking upon His noble Face, and that He will form them in a perfect constitution that enables them to see Allah, Exalted is He. Allah therefore made seeing Him in this verse contingent upon the mountain remaining firm. Explaining to Moses why He did not grant his request to see Him, He said, “Rather, look at the mountain. If it remains firm in its place” when Allah reveals Himself to it, “then you will see Me.”
“When his Lord revealed Himself to the mountain,” solid and massive as it was, “He reduced it to rubble”; that is, it crumbled like sand, shaken by the vision of Allah and unable to withstand it (1). “And Moses fell unconscious” when he saw what happened. It then became clear to him that if the mountain could not withstand seeing Allah, Moses was even less able to withstand it. He therefore sought his Lord’s forgiveness for having made a request that was not appropriate at that time and [therefore] (2) “said, ‘Glory be to You!’”—declaring You far above and exalting You beyond everything unbefitting Your majesty—“I repent to You” of all sins and every impropriety toward You, “and I am the first of the believers.” That is, he, peace be upon him, renewed his faith in light of the fuller knowledge Allah had granted him concerning what he had not known before. When Allah withheld from him the sight of Him—after he had yearned for it—He bestowed abundant good upon him and said: