RENAISSANCE MAY 2023

Qur’ ā nic Exegesis 12 | Monthly Renaissance May 2023 to his people in great anger and grief. He was annoyed at the miscreants of his nation who had succeeded in this mischief and it is evident from later verses that he was also angry with Aaron (sws) because he did not have full knowledge of the incident; he reckoned that Aaron (sws) did not do enough to protect the nation from the evil of the miscreants. His grief was at the wretchedness of his nation’s conduct while he had gone to fetch God’s guidance for them: they started worshipping a calf. The promise referred to in the verse is the one that has been referred to earlier: while going to mount Ṭū r, he had directed all the chiefs of his nation to stay at that place until he returned with the shar ī ‘ah for which he was going. He had told them to follow the directives of Aaron (sws) during that time. ﻗﺎﻟﻮ ﻣﺎ ﺧﻠﻔﻨﺎ ﻣﻮﻋﺪك ﺑﻤﻠﻜﻨﺎ و ﻟﻜﻨﺎ ﺣﻤﻠﻨﺎ وز ر ﻣﻦزﻳﻨﺔ ﻟﻘﻮم ﻓﻘﺬﻓﻨﻬﺎ ﻓﻜﺬﻟ)ﻚ $ $ $ۡ $ $ &ٰ $ $ $ ' $ۡ $ $ٰۡۡۡ $ )ۡۡۡ ) $ $ $ $ $ٰۡۡ $ $ )ۡ ) 'ً ' & $ۤۤ ) $ ) ) ) $ $ ) $ۡۙ ﻟﺴﺎﻣﺮي﴿ h~ ﻟ & ' ) ) $ ' $ۡ $ ٨٧﴾ 6 Because of the rather concise nature of this verse, our exegetes have faced difficulty in interpreting it. After stating its meaning in my own words, I will explain its individual words. First of all, Moses (sws), as alluded to earlier, scolded the nation elders who he had given the responsibility of looking after it in his absence. These elders expressed their helplessness and inability. They said that they did not have any role in whatever happened; people had entrusted their jewellery in their care; at their demand, they returned it back to them and in this way S ā mir ī prepared a calf for them. Their implication was that he was responsible for this crime as well as those who were deceived by him. They were forced to consign the jewellery to him when its owners pressurized them. The word ۡﻣﻠﻚ $ means “will and power.” They meant that they tried their best to abide by the promise they made. However, circumstances were beyond their control. The expression زﻳﻨﺔ ﻟﻘﻮم )ۡ $ۡ ) $ۡ ) refers to the jewellery people had entrusted to the chiefs. It seems that, to safeguard themselves from the uncertainties of travel, many people had entrusted their 6. They replied: “We did not break our promise with you out of our own will. In fact, we had been made to carry the burden of the nation’s jewellery. We cast it off and in this way S ā mir ī showed this trick.”