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سُورَةُ البَقَرَةِ · 2:54
MedinanRevelation order ٨٧Juzʾ ١Page ٨

وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِۦ يَٰقَوْمِ إِنَّكُمْ ظَلَمْتُمْ أَنفُسَكُم بِٱتِّخَاذِكُمُ ٱلْعِجْلَ فَتُوبُوٓا۟ إِلَىٰ بَارِئِكُمْ فَٱقْتُلُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَكُمْ ذَٰلِكُمْ خَيْرٌۭ لَّكُمْ عِندَ بَارِئِكُمْ فَتَابَ عَلَيْكُمْ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ

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Saheeh International · EN

And [recall] when Moses said to his people, "O my people, indeed you have wronged yourselves by your taking of the calf [for worship]. So repent to your Creator and kill yourselves. That is best for [all of] you in the sight of your Creator." Then He accepted your repentance; indeed, He is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful.

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Introduction

This is āyah 54 of Sūrat Al-Baqara (The Cow), the 87th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Medinan period and sits within Juzʾ 1. Medinan verses often address community life, law, and the building of society.

This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.

Bio

Revelation & occasion

Asbāb al-Nuzūl
Period
Medinan
Order revealed
87 of 114
Surah
Al-Baqara (2)
Occasion of revelation · Al-Wahidi

When Moses said to his people, “O my people, you have wronged your souls by taking up the calf, so kill your own souls! That is better for you with your Creator.” Moses said to his people: “Take care not to suppose that your worship of the calf has harmed the majesty of the Self-Sufficient or that it is a defect for His kingship and lordhood. Rather, the harm and bad fortune belong to you. If something bad has happened, it has happened to you by your being held back from a Lord like Him. Otherwise, He has plenty of servants like you. Sahl ʿAbdallāh Tustarī said, “God spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, and the exaltedness of the Lord God's speech made that mountain like carnelian. Moses' turned his gaze to himself: 'Who is like me? For the God of the world and the world's folk is talking to me without intermediary, and my standing place has turned into carnelian!' “God did not let that pass. He said, 'O Moses, look once right and left. What do you see?' “Moses looked around and saw a thousand mountains of carnelian like Mount Sinai, on each mountain a man in the form of Moses, wearing a blanket like him, a hat on his head, a staff in hand, and talking to the Lord of the universe.” The tongue of Moses' state was saying, “I fancied that you were one body with me. How could I know that you're everyone's familiar?” A poor man was seen whispering secretly with God and saying, “O God, approve of me as your lover. If You do not approve of me as a lover, approve of me as Your servant. If You do not ap- prove of my as a servant, approve of me as Your dog.” He was saying, “O Lord, accept me for friendship. If I am not worthy of friendship, accept me for servanthood. If I am not worthy of servanthood, accept me for doghood, so that I may be the dog of Your threshold.” O Friend, if you do not give me the forefront of respect, at least keep me outside the door like the dogs. So kill your own souls! That is better for you with your Creator. By way of inwardness, this is ad- dressed to the chevaliers of the Tariqah: “Cut off the heads of your souls with the sword of struggle so that you may reach Me.

Commentary

Tafsir

4 works

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

And (remember) when Musa said to his people: "O my people! Verily, you have wronged yourselves by worshipping the calf. So turn in repentance to your Creator and kill yourselves (the innocent kill the wrongdoers among you), that will be better for you with your Creator." Then He accepted your repentance. Truly, He is the One Who accepts repentance, the Most Merciful (54) The Children of Israel kill each other in Repentance This was the repentance required from the Children of Israel for worshipping the calf. Commenting on Allah's statement; وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِ يَا قَوْمِ إِنَّكُمْ ظَلَمْتُمْ أَنفُسَكُم بِاتِّخَاذِكُمُ الْعِجْلَ (And (remember) when Musa said to his people: "O my people! Verily, you have wronged yourselves by worshipping the calf...), Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, "When their hearts thought of worshipping the calf, وَلَمَّا سُقِطَ فِي أَيْدِيهِمْ وَرَأَوْا أَنّ…
Provenance

Chains of transmission

Oral — isnād

  1. ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation

    Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.

  2. 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation

    Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.

  3. TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation

    Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.

Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.

Written — the manuscript record

  1. ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation

    The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).

  2. 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation

    Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.

  3. Modern printModern printawaiting curation

    The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.

A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.

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Provenance

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