سُوْرَةُ طٰهٰ
Surah Taa-Haa (20) — Ayah 88
فَأَخْرَجَ لَهُمْ عِجْلًا جَسَدًا لَّهُۥ خُوَارٌ فَقَالُوا۟ هَـٰذَآ إِلَـٰهُكُمْ وَإِلَـٰهُ مُوسَىٰ فَنَسِىَ ﴿88﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
Then he took out (of the fire) for them (a statue of) a calf which seemed to low. They said: "This is your ilâh (god), and the ilâh (god) of Mûsâ (Moses), but he [Mûsâ (Moses)] has forgotten (his god).’"
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
فَأَخْرَجَ
fa-akhraja
Then he brought forth
لَهُمْ
lahum
for them
عِجْلًۭا
ʿij'lan
a calf's
جَسَدًۭا
jasadan
body
لَّهُۥ
lahu
it had
خُوَارٌۭ
khuwārun
a lowing sound
فَقَالُوا۟
faqālū
and they said
هَـٰذَآ
hādhā
This
إِلَـٰهُكُمْ
ilāhukum
(is) your god
وَإِلَـٰهُ
wa-ilāhu
and the god
مُوسَىٰ
mūsā
(of) Musa
فَنَسِىَ
fanasiya
but he forgot
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran — Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran (Facilitation of the Quran) is a comprehensive Quran commentary by Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar from Pakistan. Known for his eloquent and accessible writing style, Kilani authored this tafsir with a focus on clarity — making Quranic meanings understandable to the common reader. The tafsir provides detailed historical context for verses related to battles and expeditions, and firmly refutes modernist ideologies using strong scriptural evidence. It is widely regarded as an invaluable resource for understanding the Quran and countering deviant interpretations. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
Then he (the Samiri) produced for them a calf—a lifeless body that made a lowing sound [61]. They said, "This is your god and the god of Moses, but he (Moses) has forgotten."
[61]
The Lame Excuse of the Nation for Calf Worship:
The nation gave this answer to Musaؑ for their actions, saying that we did not intentionally mean to do anything wrong, but what happened was that during this long journey, the burden of jewelry became unbearable for us. Therefore, instead of all our people carrying this burden, we thought why not gather it all together, melt it, and make bricks out of it so that it would be easier to transport and could be loaded onto donkeys and oxen along with other belongings. The amount of each person's jewelry would be recorded separately, and when we settled somewhere, the gold could be redistributed and jewelry could be made again for each person. With this thought, we all took off our jewelry, and in the same way, Samiri added his jewelry to the collection. The task of melting the gold was assigned to Samiri. He committed this mischief that instead of melting the jewelry and making gold bricks, he shaped it into a calf. Then he performed some trick so that the calf even made a sound like a real calf, and he said that in reality, this is your god, which has appeared in this form by itself when the gold was melted. Since these people had worshipped the bull for a long time in Egypt, following the Pharaoh's people, and their minds had not yet been completely cleansed, the ignorant masses immediately responded to Samiri's call and said that in fact, this was our god and Musa's god as well. Who knows what Musa has gone to get from Tur? Thus, this matter went out of our control, and seeing the majority, we too had to follow this path.
[61]
The Lame Excuse of the Nation for Calf Worship:
The nation gave this answer to Musaؑ for their actions, saying that we did not intentionally mean to do anything wrong, but what happened was that during this long journey, the burden of jewelry became unbearable for us. Therefore, instead of all our people carrying this burden, we thought why not gather it all together, melt it, and make bricks out of it so that it would be easier to transport and could be loaded onto donkeys and oxen along with other belongings. The amount of each person's jewelry would be recorded separately, and when we settled somewhere, the gold could be redistributed and jewelry could be made again for each person. With this thought, we all took off our jewelry, and in the same way, Samiri added his jewelry to the collection. The task of melting the gold was assigned to Samiri. He committed this mischief that instead of melting the jewelry and making gold bricks, he shaped it into a calf. Then he performed some trick so that the calf even made a sound like a real calf, and he said that in reality, this is your god, which has appeared in this form by itself when the gold was melted. Since these people had worshipped the bull for a long time in Egypt, following the Pharaoh's people, and their minds had not yet been completely cleansed, the ignorant masses immediately responded to Samiri's call and said that in fact, this was our god and Musa's god as well. Who knows what Musa has gone to get from Tur? Thus, this matter went out of our control, and seeing the majority, we too had to follow this path.
