Surah Al-A'raaf (7) — Ayah 149

(Ayah 149) {وَ لَمَّا سُقِطَ فِيْۤ اَيْدِيْهِمْ:} This is an idiom of the Arabic language, which means when they became regretful and remorseful. As for how this idiom came into being, it is clear that here the thing falling into their hands has been left unspecified, as if due to regret their faces fell into their hands and in this remorse they hid their faces in their hands. Or, when a person is regretful and remorseful, he bites his hand with his teeth, as if his mouth and teeth fall into his hands, meaning they reach there involuntarily. That is, when they realized—partly due to the admonition of Harun (peace be upon him) and partly due to the anger and wrath of Musa (peace be upon him) upon his arrival—how grave a mistake they had made, they made this supplication. In the commentary of Surah Al-Baqarah (54), the mention of their repentance, killing one another, and the acceptance of repentance has already passed.

149. 1 سقط فی أیدھم. This is an idiom which means to be regretful. This regret occurred after the return of Musa (عليه السلام), when he came and cursed and reproached them. As is mentioned in Surah Ta Ha. Here, it has been mentioned earlier so that their action and statement are combined. (Fath al-Qadeer)

149. And they were indeed unjust people [145]. And when they became remorseful and saw that they had gone astray, they said, "If our Lord does not have mercy on us and forgive us [146], we will surely be among the losers."

[145]
The Calf-Worship of the Children of Israel in the Absence of Musa (peace be upon him):

Musa (peace be upon him) went to Mount Tur according to the appointed promise and time set by Allah Almighty, and entrusted the leadership of the Children of Israel to Sayyiduna Harun (peace be upon him), emphasizing that this was a wayward nation. He instructed him to pay special attention to their reformation, and Musa (peace be upon him) said this because once before they had said to Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him), "Make for us a god as well," and Musa (peace be upon him) had rebuked them, even though a considerable time had passed since they had embraced faith. The second point was that Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) himself was a prophet of a majestic nature and possessed awe and authority, and he knew how to keep control over this wayward nation. In comparison, although Harun (peace be upon him) was his real brother and three years older in age, he was a gentle-natured person. Musa (peace be upon him) was appointing him as his deputy. In these circumstances, the apprehension in Musa’s (peace be upon him) heart was absolutely justified, and for these very reasons, he had strongly emphasized his instructions. Thus, exactly what was feared came to pass. The Children of Israel took advantage of Musa’s (peace be upon him) absence and fulfilled the desire that had been stirring in their hearts. They made a calf and began to worship it. This calf was made by Samiri, who collected gold ornaments from people who, like him, desired calf-worship, melted them, and made a golden calf idol, and they began to worship it. Although Sayyiduna Harun (peace be upon him) forbade them, they were not ones to desist. Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) had gone to bring such commands and guidance for them that would improve both their worldly life and the Hereafter, but these blind-of-intellect people could not even understand that the deity they had fabricated does not even speak, so how could it guide them? Despite this, they declared it their deity—could there be any greater injustice, oppression, and act of shirk than this?

[146] When did these people become ashamed and on what condition did Allah accept their repentance? Its details have already been mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah, verse number 54.