فَرَجَعَ مُوسَىٰٓ إِلَىٰ قَوْمِهِۦ غَضْبَـٰنَ أَسِفًا ۚ قَالَ يَـٰقَوْمِ أَلَمْ يَعِدْكُمْ رَبُّكُمْ وَعْدًا حَسَنًا ۚ أَفَطَالَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْعَهْدُ أَمْ أَرَدتُّمْ أَن يَحِلَّ عَلَيْكُمْ غَضَبٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ فَأَخْلَفْتُم مَّوْعِدِى 86
Translations
So Moses returned to his people, angry and grieved. He said, "O my people, did your Lord not make you a good promise? Then, was the time [of its fulfillment] too long for you, or did you wish that wrath from your Lord descend upon you, so you broke your promise [of obedience] to me?"
Transliteration
Faraja'a Musa ila qawmihi ghadabana asifan. Qala ya qawmi alam ya'idkum rabbukum wa'adan hasanan. Aftala 'alaikum al-'ahd am aradtum an yahilla 'alaikum ghadabun min rabbikum fa-akhlaftum maw'idi?
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah depicts Musa (Moses) returning to his people in a state of intense anger and grief upon discovering they had worshipped the golden calf during his absence receiving the Torah. Musa reproaches them for breaking their covenant with Allah and questions whether they had forgotten Allah's promise of guidance or deliberately invited His wrath upon themselves. The scholars, including Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, emphasize that Musa's anger was righteous indignation at their grave sin of shirk (associating partners with Allah), not from personal ego, and his questioning was meant to awaken their conscience and lead them to repentance.
Revelation Context
This ayah is part of the narrative of Surah Taha (a Meccan chapter) recounting the story of the Children of Israel after Musa departed for forty nights to receive the divine tablets. During his absence, Samiri led the people to craft and worship a golden calf, representing one of the most severe tests of their faith. This passage illustrates the consequences of abandoning divine guidance and the righteous anger of a prophet confronting blatant transgression.
Related Hadiths
The Quran itself in Surah Al-A'raf (7:150-151) provides parallel account of this incident. Additionally, hadiths in Sahih Bukhari discuss the nature of a prophet's anger when confronting serious violations of the covenant with Allah, emphasizing that such anger is motivated by concern for the ummah's spiritual welfare.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches that breaking covenants with Allah and abandoning His guidance invites divine displeasure, and that leaders have a responsibility to confront their communities' transgressions with both firmness and an intent to guide them toward repentance rather than mere punishment.
Related Ayahs
مِّنَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ رِجَالٌ صَدَقُوا۟ مَا عَـٰهَدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ عَلَيْهِ ۖ فَمِنْهُم مَّن قَضَىٰ نَحْبَهُۥ وَمِنْهُم مَّن يَنتَظِرُ ۖ وَمَا بَدَّلُوا۟ تَبْدِيلًا
Among the believers are men true to what they promised Allāh. Among them is he who has fulfilled his vow [to the death], and among them is he who awaits [his chance]. And they did not alter [the terms of their commitment] by any alteration -
وَلَا تَكُونُوا۟ كَٱلَّذِينَ نَسُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ فَأَنسَىٰهُمْ أَنفُسَهُمْ ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْفَـٰسِقُونَ
And be not like those who forgot Allāh, so He made them forget themselves. Those are the defiantly disobedient.
وَلَقَدْ كَانُوا۟ عَـٰهَدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ مِن قَبْلُ لَا يُوَلُّونَ ٱلْأَدْبَـٰرَ ۚ وَكَانَ عَهْدُ ٱللَّهِ مَسْـُٔولًا
And they had already promised Allāh before not to turn their backs [i.e., flee]. And ever is the promise to Allāh [that about which one will be] questioned.
إِنْ أَحْسَنتُمْ أَحْسَنتُمْ لِأَنفُسِكُمْ ۖ وَإِنْ أَسَأْتُمْ فَلَهَا ۚ فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ لِيَسُـۥٓـُٔوا۟ وُجُوهَكُمْ وَلِيَدْخُلُوا۟ ٱلْمَسْجِدَ كَمَا دَخَلُوهُ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَلِيُتَبِّرُوا۟ مَا عَلَوْا۟ تَتْبِيرًا
[And said], "If you do good, you do good for yourselves; and if you do evil, [you do it] to them [i.e., yourselves]." Then when the final [i.e., second] promise came, [We sent your enemies] to sadden your faces and to enter the masjid [i.e., the temple in Jerusalem], as they entered it the first time, and to destroy what they had taken over with [total] destruction.