وَلَمَّا رَجَعَ مُوسَىٰٓ إِلَىٰ قَوْمِهِۦ غَضْبَـٰنَ أَسِفًا قَالَ بِئْسَمَا خَلَفْتُمُونِى مِنۢ بَعْدِىٓ ۖ أَعَجِلْتُمْ أَمْرَ رَبِّكُمْ ۖ وَأَلْقَى ٱلْأَلْوَاحَ وَأَخَذَ بِرَأْسِ أَخِيهِ يَجُرُّهُۥٓ إِلَيْهِ ۚ قَالَ ٱبْنَ أُمَّ إِنَّ ٱلْقَوْمَ ٱسْتَضْعَفُونِى وَكَادُوا۟ يَقْتُلُونَنِى فَلَا تُشْمِتْ بِىَ ٱلْأَعْدَآءَ وَلَا تَجْعَلْنِى مَعَ ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ 150
Translations
And when Moses returned to his people, angry and grieved, he said, "How wretched is that by which you have replaced me after [my departure]. Were you impatient over the matter of your Lord?" And he threw down the tablets and seized his brother by [the hair of] his head, pulling him toward him. [Aaron] said, "O son of my mother, indeed the people overpowered me and were about to kill me, so let not the enemies rejoice over me and do not place me among the wrongdoing people."
Transliteration
Wa-lammā raja'a Mūsā ilā qawmihi ghadabāna asafan qāla bi'sma mā khalaftumūnī min ba'dī a'ajiltum amra rabbikum wa-alqā al-alwāḥ wa-akhadha bi-ra'si akhīhi yajurruhu ilayhi qāla ibna umma inna al-qawma istada'afūnī wa-kādū yaqtulūnannī fa-lā tushmit biya al-a'dā'a wa-lā taj'alnī ma'a al-qawmi al-dhālimīn
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah depicts Musa's (Moses) profound distress upon returning from Mount Sinai to find his people worshipping the golden calf. In his anguish and anger, he cast down the tablets of the Torah and seized his brother Harun (Aaron) by the head. Harun's response demonstrates his innocence and explains his powerlessness against the people's transgression, while his plea to Musa reveals his fear of being blamed and his desire not to be counted among the wrongdoers. According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, Musa's anger was righteous indignation at their grave disobedience, while his breaking of the tablets symbolized the breaking of their covenant with Allah.
Revelation Context
This passage is part of the narrative of the Children of Israel in Surah Al-A'raf (Meccan surah), specifically recounting the account of the golden calf incident that occurred after Musa left his people to receive the Torah on Mount Sinai for forty nights. This story illustrates the severity of idolatry and the consequences of abandoning the straight path, serving as a warning to the Meccan community about similar transgressions.
Related Hadiths
The incident of the golden calf is referenced in various hadiths. Related to emotional control despite justified anger: The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said, 'The strong person is not the one who overcomes people by his strength, but the strong person is the one who controls himself when angry' (Sahih Bukhari). This relates thematically to Musa's struggle with his legitimate anger.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches us that sincere leaders will be deeply grieved by their community's disobedience to Allah, and that collective sin affects the righteous among them. It also reminds us to distinguish between those who fall into error and those who resist it, and to seek Allah's protection from being counted among the wrongdoers.
Related Ayahs
فَبَدَّلَ ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا۟ مِنْهُمْ قَوْلًا غَيْرَ ٱلَّذِى قِيلَ لَهُمْ فَأَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ رِجْزًا مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَظْلِمُونَ
But those who wronged among them changed [the words] to a statement other than that which had been said to them. So We sent upon them a punishment from the sky for the wrong that they were doing.
۞ هُوَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَٰحِدَةٍ وَجَعَلَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا لِيَسْكُنَ إِلَيْهَا ۖ فَلَمَّا تَغَشَّىٰهَا حَمَلَتْ حَمْلًا خَفِيفًا فَمَرَّتْ بِهِۦ ۖ فَلَمَّآ أَثْقَلَت دَّعَوَا ٱللَّهَ رَبَّهُمَا لَئِنْ ءَاتَيْتَنَا صَـٰلِحًا لَّنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ ٱلشَّـٰكِرِينَ
It is He who created you from one soul and created from it its mate that he might dwell in security with her. And when he [i.e., man] covers her, she carries a light burden [i.e., a pregnancy] and continues therein. And when it becomes heavy, they both invoke Allāh, their Lord, "If You should give us a good [child], we will surely be among the grateful."
قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّآ إِلَىٰ رَبِّنَا مُنقَلِبُونَ
They said, "Indeed, to our Lord we will return.
ثُمَّ بَعَثْنَا مِنۢ بَعْدِهِم مُّوسَىٰ بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَآ إِلَىٰ فِرْعَوْنَ وَمَلَإِي۟هِۦ فَظَلَمُوا۟ بِهَا ۖ فَٱنظُرْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَـٰقِبَةُ ٱلْمُفْسِدِينَ
Then We sent after them Moses with Our signs to Pharaoh and his establishment, but they were unjust toward them. So see how was the end of the corrupters.