7-142 And We appointed for Moses thirty nights, and completed them with ten, so the appointed time of his Lord was complete forty nights.a And Moses said to his brother Aaron: Take my place among my people, and act well and follow not the way of the mischief-makers.b
وَواعَدنا موسىٰ ثَلاثينَ لَيلَةً وَأَتمَمناها بِعَشرٍ فَتَمَّ ميقاتُ رَبِّهِ أَربَعينَ لَيلَةً ۚ وَقالَ موسىٰ لِأَخيهِ هارونَ اخلُفني في قَومي وَأَصلِح وَلا تَتَّبِع سَبيلَ المُفسِدينَ (۱۴۲)
7-142a: In Surah Baqarah (2:51) it is clearly stated that the appointed time was forty nights and here too the appointed time of forty nights is called ميقاتُ رَبِّهِ (the appointed time of his Lord). Hence it is not correct to say that the appointed time was thirty nights and when this time elapsed another ten nights were added. The purport here is to show that the time was one month and ten days because the thirty nights constitute a month. The division into thirty nights and ten nights seems to be because, following the tradition of the prophets, Allah has appointed forty nights of intense worship for the Muslims comprising the thirty nights of Ramadan and the ten nights of Zil Haj.
7-142b: اخلُفني – خَلَفَ فلانٌ فلانا means took over governance on his behalf. قام بالامرعنه (R).
What is the purport of Aaron’s caliphate: Both Moses and Aaron were prophets, but the office of governance and being the chief belonged to Moses. Hence the purport of اخلُفني is only that the duties of governance that Moses was performing are to be performed by Aaron in his absence, and not that Aaron should take over the prophethood during this time because Aaron was a prophet in his own right.
7-143 And when Moses came at Our appointed time and his Lord spoke to him, he said: My Lord, show me (Thyself) so that I may look at Thee. He said: Thou canst not see Me; but look at the mountain; if it remains firm in its place, then wilt thou see Me. So when his Lord manifested His glory to the mountain, He made it crumble and Moses fell down in a swoon. Then when he recovered, he said: Glory be to Thee! I turn to Thee, and I am the first of the believers.a
وَلَمّا جاءَ موسىٰ لِميقاتِنا وَكَلَّمَهُ رَبُّهُ قالَ رَبِّ أَرِني أَنظُر إِلَيكَ ۚ قالَ لَن تَراني وَلٰكِنِ انظُر إِلَى الجَبَلِ فَإِنِ استَقَرَّ مَكانَهُ فَسَوفَ تَراني ۚ فَلَمّا تَجَلّىٰ رَبُّهُ لِلجَبَلِ جَعَلَهُ دَكًّا وَخَرَّ موسىٰ صَعِقًا ۚ فَلَمّا أَفاقَ قالَ سُبحانَكَ تُبتُ إِلَيكَ وَأَنا أَوَّلُ المُؤمِنينَ (۱۴۳)
7-143a: تَجَلّىٰ –جَلۡو means for a thing to become clearly manifest or separated. Derived from it is جَلَاء which means expelled from the nation as in: لَولا أَن كَتَبَ اللَّهُ عَلَيهِمُ الجَلاءَ (had it not been that Allah had decreed for them the exile) (59:3). Also derived from it is جَلۡوَۃ , and تَجَلّىٰ can be intrinsic as in: وَالنَّهارِ إِذا تَجَلّىٰ (And the day when it shines!) and sometimes it can be by command and action as in the present case (R).
صَعِقًا – The meaning of صَعِقَ الانسان is he fainted, and a person who has fainted is called صَعِق (LA).
Moses’ asking to see Allah: As shown in 7:78 the actual demand to see Allah had originated with the companions of Moses: لَن نُؤمِنَ لَكَ حَتّىٰ نَرَى اللَّهَ جَهرَةً (we will not believe in thee till we see Allah manifestly) (2:55). It is for their sake that Moses had asked God to show Himself. This is like the situation with Jesus when he presented the request of his disciples to Allah: أَنزِل عَلَينا مائِدَةً مِنَ السَّماءِ (send down to us food from heaven…) (5:114) although earlier he had disapproved of making such a request. Moses made the request on his own behalf because the chiefs of Bani Israel were far removed from God and hence if it was possible for any person to see God with the physical eyes, it could only be a prophet of God with whom God communicates. The reply given is that Allah cannot be seen by the physical eye and instead He can only be seen by the manifestation of His glory. What is the manifestation of His glory? All the works of nature are part of the manifestation of His glory, but some manifestations are more glorious than others. So, Allah showed a great example of His glory by making the mountain shatter into pieces. This is the way in which the powerful Hand of God is seen working in this world. Great nations and eminent persons who appear to be stronger than mountains are broken into bits by the powerful Hands of God as if they were nothing. Perhaps in manifesting this glory, there is an indication that even if there are mountains of difficulties they will disappear as if blown away when the help of Allah comes.
There appears to be another indication as well in this manifestation of God’s glory, namely that the perfect manifestation of Allah’s attributes was not decreed for Moses. Instead, its manifestation was decreed for the Holy Prophet. For this reason, in comparison with this shattered mountain of Moses, the station of the manifestation of glory decreed for the Holy Prophet is called البَلَدِ الأَمينِ as in: وَطورِ سينينَ وَهٰذَا البَلَدِ الأَمينِ (And mount Sinai and this City made secure) (95:2-3).
It does not follow from the inability of Moses to see Allah by the physical eye that the believers will not be able to see Allah in the Hereafter because the senses given in the next world will be different.
7-144 He said: O Moses, surely I have chosen thee above the people by My messages and My words. So take hold of what I give thee and be of the grateful.a
قالَ يا موسىٰ إِنِّي اصطَفَيتُكَ عَلَى النّاسِ بِرِسالاتي وَبِكَلامي فَخُذ ما آتَيتُكَ وَكُن مِنَ الشّاكِرينَ (۱۴۴)
7-144a: God’s words and Messengership: Here messengership and God’s words have been separated because Allah also discourses with persons who are not given the duties of messengership, as is the case with the Mujaddids of the Muslim nation. Messengership is a message that is generally in the form of a command and God’s words include prophecies etcetera.
7-145 And We ordained for him in the tablets admonition of every kind and clear explanation of all things. So take hold of them with firmness and enjoin thy people to take hold of what is best thereof. I shall show you the abode of the transgressors.
وَكَتَبنا لَهُ فِي الأَلواحِ مِن كُلِّ شَيءٍ مَوعِظَةً وَتَفصيلًا لِكُلِّ شَيءٍ فَخُذها بِقُوَّةٍ وَأمُر قَومَكَ يَأخُذوا بِأَحسَنِها ۚ سَأُريكُم دارَ الفاسِقينَ (۱۴۵)
7-145a: كَتَبنا – کتاب also occurs in the sense of affirmation, acceptance, and obligation (R). The meaning here is made obligatory because Allah, whom the eyes cannot see, cannot have a writing like human writing. His writing is making something obligatory, as in: كَتَبَ اللَّهُ لَأَغلِبَنَّ أَنا وَرُسُلي (Allah has written down: I shall certainly prevail, I and My messengers) (58:21). The meaning here is also that Allah has made it obligatory, as is also the case in the following verses: كُتِبَ عَلَيكُم إِذا حَضَرَ أَحَدَكُمُ المَوتُ (It is prescribed for you, when death approaches one of you…) (2:180) and كُتِبَ عَلَيكُمُ الصِّيامُ (fasting is prescribed for you) (2:183).
What is meant by Allah writing the Torah: In all the places, the action of writing is attributed to Allah. So, if the Torah was written on the tablets by Allah, then the same commandments in the Quran are also written by Allah. To say that the Torah was written with God’s hand and the Quran was not so written is a meaningless distinction. There is no authentic hadith to support this. If there is a scripture among world scriptures that is specially distinguished, it is the Quran. The knowledge in the Quran is like a sea before the tiny rivulet of knowledge in the Torah.
What is meant by clear explanation of all things in the Torah: By لِكُلِّ شَيءٍ is meant clear explanation of all things that were needed by the Israelites at that time because despite the explanation in the Torah, the Israelite prophets who came after Moses were given Books, as for example Psalm of David, and the Gospel of Jesus. These scriptures contained explanations that were needed by the Israelites in the time of these prophets.
بِأَحسَنِها – All the knowledge that comes from God is the best but because the intent is to attain a high spiritual station, it is specially commanded to take hold of what is the best thereof. If the first disciples of a prophet do not reach an elevated spiritual status, then those who follow later on would fall far short of the status achieved by the former. There is an indication of this in the use of the word الفاسِقينَ (transgressors), that is the condition of this nation will become one of disobedience at some time in the future and then they will see the consequence of this transgression. This is what is meant by دارَ الفاسِقينَ or that the Israelites will be shown what is the result of transgressors.
7-146 I shall turn away from My messages those who are unjustly proud in the earth. And if they see every sign, they will not believe in it; and if they see the way of rectitude, they take it not for a way; and if they see the way of error, they take it for a way. This is because they reject Our messages and are heedless of them.a
سَأَصرِفُ عَن آياتِيَ الَّذينَ يَتَكَبَّرونَ فِي الأَرضِ بِغَيرِ الحَقِّ وَإِن يَرَوا كُلَّ آيَةٍ لا يُؤمِنوا بِها وَإِن يَرَوا سَبيلَ الرُّشدِ لا يَتَّخِذوهُ سَبيلًا وَإِن يَرَوا سَبيلَ الغَيِّ يَتَّخِذوهُ سَبيلًا ۚ ذٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُم كَذَّبوا بِآياتِنا وَكانوا عَنها غافِلينَ (۱۴۶)
7-146a: It is possible that this verse is directed at the disbelievers of Makkah, and it is also possible that the address is to the Israelites. Pride drives a person away from what is just and true until his faults appear as virtues, and he shows complete disregard for reason and signs. Pride is the root of all mischief.
7-147 And those who reject Our messages and the meeting of the Hereafter — their deeds are fruitless. Can they be rewarded except for what they do?
وَالَّذينَ كَذَّبوا بِآياتِنا وَلِقاءِ الآخِرَةِ حَبِطَت أَعمالُهُم ۚ هَل يُجزَونَ إِلّا ما كانوا يَعمَلونَ (۱۴۷)
Bayan-ul-Quran 