20-90 And Aaron indeed had said to them before: O my people, you are only tried by it, and surely your Lord is the Beneficent God, so follow me and obey my order.a
وَلَقَدْ قَالَ لَهُمْ هَـٰرُونُ مِن قَبْلُ يَـٰقَوْمِ إِنَّمَا فُتِنتُم بِهِۦ ۖ وَإِنَّ رَبَّكُمُ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنُ فَٱتَّبِعُونِى وَأَطِيعُوٓا۟ أَمْرِى (۹۰)
20-90a: Prophet Aaron’s innocence and a rebuttal of the Biblical account: The Quran has here very clearly contradicted the Biblical account that Prophet Aaron was involved in the making and worship of the golden calf. The Quran not only refutes the involvement of Prophet Aaron but also states that he tried to stop the Israelites from worshiping the calf. It becomes manifest from such clarifications that the Quran has not copied the stories of the Bible, rather the Quranic narratives originate from a pure Divine source. The Quranic narratives correct the Biblical mistakes and here Prophet Aaron’s innocence is proven.
20-91 They said: We shall not cease to keep to its worship until Moses returns to us.
قَالُوا۟ لَن نَّبْرَحَ عَلَيْهِ عَـٰكِفِينَ حَتَّىٰ يَرْجِعَ إِلَيْنَا مُوسَىٰ (۹۱)
20-92 (Moses) said: O Aaron, what prevented thee, when thou sawest them going astray,
قَالَ يَـٰهَـٰرُونُ مَا مَنَعَكَ إِذْ رَأَيْتَهُمْ ضَلُّوٓا۟ (۹۲)
20-93 That thou didst not follow me? Hast thou, then, disobeyed my order?a
أَلَّا تَتَّبِعَنِ ۖ أَفَعَصَيْتَ أَمْرِى (۹۳)
20-93a: What is meant by thou didst not follow me is: why did you not do what I would have done under these conditions? According to some the implication is: why did you not take with you those who had not participated in calf worship, and come to me. However, the first meaning is clearer, and the purport is that you should have severed relations with the calf worshippers, or given such trouble makers a befitting punishment, or stopped them sternly.
20-94 He said: O son of my mother, seize me not by my beard, nor by my head. Surely I was afraid lest thou shouldst say: Thou hast caused division among the Children of Israel and not waited for my word.a
قَالَ يَبْنَؤُمَّ لَا تَأْخُذْ بِلِحْيَتِى وَلَا بِرَأْسِىٓ ۖ إِنِّى خَشِيتُ أَن تَقُولَ فَرَّقْتَ بَيْنَ بَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ وَلَمْ تَرْقُبْ قَوْلِى (۹۴)
20-94a: Refer to 7-150c. Prophet Aaron thought that if he was strict, there would be discord among the nation because the opposing group and their leaders were a strong body who were ready to eliminate anybody who stood in their way, as stated in Surah A‘raf : وَكَادُوا۟ يَقْتُلُونَنِى :…had well nigh slain me (7:150.)
20-95 (Moses) said: What was thy object, O Samiri?
قَالَ فَمَا خَطْبُكَ يَـٰسَـٰمِرِىُّ (۹۵)
20-96 He said: I perceived what they perceived not, so I took a handful from the footprints of the messenger then I cast it away. Thus did my soul embellish (it) to me.a
قَالَ بَصُرْتُ بِمَا لَمْ يَبْصُرُوا۟ بِهِۦ فَقَبَضْتُ قَبْضَةًۭ مِّنْ أَثَرِ ٱلرَّسُولِ فَنَبَذْتُهَا وَكَذَٰلِكَ سَوَّلَتْ لِى نَفْسِى (۹۶)
20-96a: بَصُرْتُ – For بَصَر refer to 2-96a. When seeing with the physical eyes is meant, the word used is اَبۡصَرۡتُ but when the heart’s perceptive powers are mentioned, the word used is اَبۡصَرۡتُه‘ and بَصُرْتُ . It is very rare to use بَصُرْتُ for simply seeing with the physical eye without it being accompanied by spiritual perception by the heart, as in: لِمَ تَعْبُدُ مَا لَا يَسْمَعُ وَلَا يُبْصِرُ : why worshippest thou that which hears not, nor sees (19:42); أَبْصَرْنَا وَسَمِعْنَا : we have seen and heard (32:12) (R). Zajjaj too has a similar explanation that بَصُر بالشئ means علمهٗ got to know this and اَبۡصَر means saw.
قبضت – For قَبۡض refer to 2-245a but it is also used simply for obtaining something even if it does not entail handling the object (R) and قَبْضَة means obtaining it once.
Samiri’s making a calf and the baseless story of Angel Gabriel’s horse: One of the interpretations of this passage, albeit with many unwarranted extra words and meanings thrown in is: I took the dust from the bottom of the hoof of the horse of the messenger Gabriel and I put it in the fire and it formed a calf. The source of this strange account is unknown. First of all, there is no mention of Angel Gabriel or dust in the verse, and the horse of Gabriel is forcibly inducted into the fable. The meaning of اثر is not dust but footprints, whether actual or metaphorical. In the verse there is no mention of putting anything in the fire or of a calf being formed. It is strange that Samiri is called a hypocrite but he is considered to have so much power that he is able to see the horse of Angel Gabriel which even pious believers cannot see. How could anyone know that from the dust under the hooves of Angel Gabriel’s horse, jewelry can turn into a calf and strange sounds will start emanating from it. Can this be called the miracle of Samiri? Basically, this story is completely unacceptable.
The messenger mentioned in the verse is Prophet Moses, so taking a handful from the footprints of the messenger shows that Samiri did not fully accept his teachings, and in fact accepted very little of it, as indicated by taking a handful. The meaning of بَصُر is perceived by the heart. So Samiri shows off by saying that he is not like the other people who have accepted the teachings of Prophet Moses and follow him blindly. Samiri implies he is a person of intellect and so he takes from the teaching of Prophet Moses what suits him and then even throws this behind his back: فنبذوہ وراء ظھور ھم : So cast it behind his back. This is what pleased him, and his heart made it fair-seeming to him and that is why he did it. This is also the interpretation of Abu Muslim.
Another interpretation is that taking the jewelry from the Israelites was partially in accordance with the teaching of the messenger, but then Samiri cast this teaching away and used the jewelry to turn the nation towards polytheism.
20-97 He said: Begone then! It is for thee in this life to say, Touch (me) not.a And for thee is a promise which shall not fail. And look at thy god to whose worship thou hast kept. We will certainly burn it, then we will scatter it in the sea.b
قَالَ فَٱذْهَبْ فَإِنَّ لَكَ فِى ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ أَن تَقُولَ لَا مِسَاسَ ۖ وَإِنَّ لَكَ مَوْعِدًۭا لَّن تُخْلَفَهُۥ ۖ وَٱنظُرْ إِلَىٰٓ إِلَـٰهِكَ ٱلَّذِى ظَلْتَ عَلَيْهِ عَاكِفًۭا ۖ لَّنُحَرِّقَنَّهُۥ ثُمَّ لَنَنسِفَنَّهُۥ فِى ٱلْيَمِّ نَسْفًا (۹۷)
20-97a: Samiri banned from socializing with people: لَا مِسَاسَ – For مَسّ refer to 2-236a and مِسَاسَ is to touch one another and the meaning of لَا مِسَاسَ is to not have social interaction with anybody. The social interaction of Samiri with others was prohibited as a punishment (LA). The use of the term لَا مِسَاسَ ostensibly indicates that he should not meet anyone. The preceding verb قول to say either must be interpreted in the sense of ending social interaction, for which refer to 2-30a or if it is interpreted literally as speaking words, the purpose remains the same; even if someone wanted to talk to Samiri, he should inform them that he was forbidden.
20-97b: ظَلْتَ – It is actually ظَلَلۡت . One ل has been omitted. Refer to 16-58a.
نُحَرِّقَن – حَرَقis fire or a flame, and the meaning of اَحۡرَقَهٗ means burnt and حَرَّقَهٗ means excessively burnt. اِحتَرَقَتۡ occurs in a hadith where its meaning is ھلَکَتۡ destroyed or killed and another hadith states: اُوحِیَ اِلیَّ ان اُحۡرِق قریشا where the meaning of اُحۡرِق is اُھۡلِكَ will destroy them. The meaning of حَرَق نابَهٗ (یَحۡرقُ) is to grind teeth to the extent that the sound is heard. The meaning of حَرَقَ الحَدِیۡدَ بالۡمِبۡردِیَحۡرُقه and حَرَّقَهٗ is pounded the iron by striking it repeatedly with a hammer and rubbed one part of it with another. In this verse, لَّنُحَرِّقَنَّهُۥ has also been recited as لَنَحُرقَنَّهٗ and both have the same meaning (L).
نَنسِفَنَّ – نَسۡفَ is something that is uprooted by the wind and blown away, as in:يَنسِفُهَا رَبِّى نَسْفًۭا : scatter them as scattered dust (20:105). The meaning of لننسفنه فی الیم نسفا is we will cast him in the river like a cloud of dust.
Difference with the Bible regarding disposal of the calf’s ashes: Because نَحُرقَنَّهٗ can be interpreted in two ways, both to burn and to grind, it is possible that the initial burning may have reduced the golden calf to a cinder and by virtue of the fact that it was made of gold and silver, it may then have been ground to a powder. In both cases, it was ultimately disposed off in the river so that no one should benefit even from its ashes. The Quran refutes the Biblical version that the ashes were strewn in the water and the Israelites were made to drink it (Exodus 32:20). Some commentators have added a story about the calf having grown muscles and blood, so it had become a live calf and hence the need to burn it. This is a groundless addition.
20-98 Your Lord is only Allah, there is no God but He. He comprehends all things in (His) knowledge.
إِنَّمَآ إِلَـٰهُكُمُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۚ وَسِعَ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ عِلْمًۭا (۹۸)
20-99 Thus relate We to thee of the news of what has gone before. And indeed We have given thee a Reminder from Ourselves.
كَذَٰلِكَ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ مِنْ أَنۢبَآءِ مَا قَدْ سَبَقَ ۚ وَقَدْ ءَاتَيْنَـٰكَ مِن لَّدُنَّا ذِكْرًۭا (۹۹)
20-100 Whoever turns away from it, he will surely bear a burden on the day of Resurrection,
مَّنْ أَعْرَضَ عَنْهُ فَإِنَّهُۥ يَحْمِلُ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ وِزْرًا (۱۰۰)
20-101 Abiding therein. And evil will be their burden on the day of Resurrection —
خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيهِ ۖ وَسَآءَ لَهُمْ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ حِمْلًۭا (۱۰۱)
20-102 The day when the trumpet is blown; and We shall gather the guilty, blue-eyed, on that day,a
يَوْمَ يُنفَخُ فِى ٱلصُّورِ ۚ وَنَحْشُرُ ٱلْمُجْرِمِينَ يَوْمَئِذٍۢ زُرْقًۭا (۱۰۲)
20-102a: زرق – زُرۡقة is a color between black and white, which is blue, and an Arabic phrase is زرقت عینُه his eyes are blue. In this verse, the meaning is عمیا they have been rendered blind (R) but the apparent meaning is more fitting. Ibn Abbas inquired of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) that in one verse عمی blindness on the Day of Judgment is mentioned, while here زُرْقًۭا being blue eyed is used. The Holy Prophet replied that there are different situations on the Day of Resurrection (RM). It is possible that this زرق may be a reference to nations whose eyes are usually blue, and the Day of Judgment may refer to their judgment in this world.
20-103 Consulting together secretly: You tarried but ten (days).
يَتَخَـٰفَتُونَ بَيْنَهُمْ إِن لَّبِثْتُمْ إِلَّا عَشْرًۭا (۱۰۳)
20-104 We know best what they say when the fairest of them in course would say: You tarried but a day.
نَّحْنُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يَقُولُونَ إِذْ يَقُولُ أَمْثَلُهُمْ طَرِيقَةً إِن لَّبِثْتُمْ إِلَّا يَوْمًۭا (۱۰۴)
20-104a: What is meant by staying for ten days or one day: Verse 20:103 states that people will say to one another that they stayed for ten days and in this verse, the best man among them will say that they stayed only one day. If these statements pertain to the afterlife, then the mention of ten days and one day separately does not have any significance because both evidence a short period. However, if these statements are taken to indicate the worldly life of a nation, ten days would mean ten centuries, and the statement by the best of them that this is not ten centuries but one day would indicate, that in the grand scheme of Allah’s time, one day is like a thousand years: وَإِنَّ يَوْمًا عِندَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍۢ مِّمَّا تَعُدُّونَ : And surely a day with thy Lord is as a thousand years of what you reckon (22:47). In another place, a set-back of thousand years to the affairs of Islam is mentioned: ثُمَّ يَعْرُجُ إِلَيْهِ فِى يَوْمٍۢ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُۥٓ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍۢ مِّمَّا تَعُدُّونَ : …then it will ascend to Him in a day the measure of which is a thousand years as you count (32:5). If this is taken as a reference to a nation that has been detrimental to the progress of Islam and that has used its power to oppose the faith, then these words ring true for the European powers, in that their eyes are blue, and they have been instrumental in hindering the forward progress of Islam for a thousand years.
Bayan-ul-Quran 