سُوْرَةُ الْاَعْرَافِ
Surah Al-A'raaf (7) — Ayah 148
وَٱتَّخَذَ قَوْمُ مُوسَىٰ مِنۢ بَعْدِهِۦ مِنْ حُلِيِّهِمْ عِجْلًا جَسَدًا لَّهُۥ خُوَارٌ ۚ أَلَمْ يَرَوْا۟ أَنَّهُۥ لَا يُكَلِّمُهُمْ وَلَا يَهْدِيهِمْ سَبِيلًا ۘ ٱتَّخَذُوهُ وَكَانُوا۟ ظَـٰلِمِينَ ﴿148﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
And the people of Mûsâ (Moses) made in his absence, out of their ornaments, the image of a calf (for worship). It had a sound (as if it was mooing). Did they not see that it could neither speak to them nor guide them to the way? They took it (for worship) and they were Zâlimûn (wrong-doers).
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
وَٱتَّخَذَ
wa-ittakhadha
And took
قَوْمُ
qawmu
(the) people
مُوسَىٰ
mūsā
(of) Musa
مِنۢ
min
from
بَعْدِهِۦ
baʿdihi
after him
مِنْ
min
from
حُلِيِّهِمْ
ḥuliyyihim
their ornaments
عِجْلًۭا
ʿij'lan
a calf
جَسَدًۭا
jasadan
an image
لَّهُۥ
lahu
[for] it
خُوَارٌ ۚ
khuwārun
(had) a lowing sound
أَلَمْ
alam
Did not
يَرَوْا۟
yaraw
they see
أَنَّهُۥ
annahu
that it
لَا
lā
(could) not
يُكَلِّمُهُمْ
yukallimuhum
speak to them
وَلَا
walā
and not
يَهْدِيهِمْ
yahdīhim
guide them
سَبِيلًا ۘ
sabīlan
(to) a way
ٱتَّخَذُوهُ
ittakhadhūhu
They took it (for worship)
وَكَانُوا۟
wakānū
and they were
ظَـٰلِمِينَ
ẓālimīna
wrongdoers
Tafsir Ahsan al-Bayan — Hafiz Salahuddin Yusuf
Tafsir Ahsan al-Bayan is a well-known Quran commentary by Hafiz Salahuddin Yusuf, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar from Pakistan. This tafsir explains the meanings of the Quran in accordance with the methodology of the Salaf (early righteous generations), relying on authentic sources and straightforward language. Due to its reliability and adherence to sound Islamic scholarship, the Saudi government publishes and distributes this tafsir among the Hujjaj (pilgrims) visiting the Haramain. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
148. 1. When Musa (Moses) (AS) went to Mount Tur for forty nights, a man named Samiri gathered gold ornaments and made a calf, into which he also put the dust from under the hooves of Jibril’s (Gabriel’s) (AS) horse, which he had kept safe. Allah had placed a life-giving effect in it, because of which the calf made a sound similar to that of a bull (although it was incapable of clear speech and guidance, as the words of the Quran clarify). There is a difference of opinion as to whether it actually became a flesh-and-blood calf, or if it remained made of gold, but in some way, when air entered it, a sound like that of a cow or bull would come out of it. (Ibn Kathir) Samiri misled Bani Israel with this sound, saying, “This is your deity; Musa (AS) has forgotten and has gone to Mount Tur in search of the deity.”
