Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 54

Mufti Taqi Usmani

When Mūsā said to his people: “My people, you have wronged yourselves by your taking the calf (as God). So, turn in repentance to your Creator, and slay yourselves. That will be better for you in the sight of your Creator”. Then, He accepted your repentance. Indeed He is the Most-Relenting, the Very-Merciful.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

And ˹remember˺ when Moses said to his people, “O my people! Surely you have wronged yourselves by worshipping the calf, so turn in repentance to your Creator and execute ˹the calf-worshippers among˺ yourselves. That is best for you in the sight of your Creator.” Then He accepted your repentance. Surely He is the Accepter of Repentance, Most Merciful.

Ruwwad Translation Center

And [remember] when Moses said to his people, “O my people, you have wronged yourselves by taking the calf [for worship]. So repent to your Creator and kill yourselves [the guilty among you]; that is best for you with your Creator.” Then He accepted your repentance, for He is the Accepter of Repentance, Most Merciful.

A. J. Arberry

And when Moses said to his people, 'My people, you have done wrong against yourselves by your taking the Calf; now turn to your Creator and slay one another. That will be better for you in your Creator's sight, and He will turn to you; truly He turns, and is All-compassionate.'

Abdul Haleem

Moses said to his people, ‘My people, you have wronged yourselves by worshipping the calf, so repent to your Maker and kill [the guilty among] you. That is the best you can do in the eyes of your Maker.’ He accepted your repentance: He is the Ever Relenting and the Most Merciful.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And recall what time Musa said unto his people: my people! verily ye have wronged your souls by your taking the calf, wherefore repent unto your Maker, and slay yourselves: that were best for you with your Maker. Then He relented toward you; verily He! He is the Relentant, the Merciful

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And remember Moses said to his people; "O my people! Ye have indeed wronged yourselves by your worship of the calf; So turn (in repentance) to your Maker, and slay yourselves (the wrong-doers); that will be better for you in the sight of your Maker." Then He turned towards you (in forgiveness); For He is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful.

Abul Ala Maududi

Remember that when Moses (returned with the Divine Gift, he) said to his people, "O my people, you have wronged yourselves grievously by taking the calf for worship. Therefore, turn to your Creator. in penitence and slay the guilty ones among you. This is best for you in the sight of your Creator." At that time your Creator accepted your repentance because He is Relenting 'and Merciful.

Ahmed Ali

Remember, Moses said: "My people, by taking this calf you have done yourselves harm, so now turn to your Creator in repentance, and kill your pride, which is better with your Lord." And (the Lord) softened towards you, for He is all-forgiving and merciful.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And when Moosa said to his people, “O my people! You have wronged yourselves by taking the calf,* therefore turn in repentance to your Creator, therefore kill each other; this is better for you before your Creator”; He therefore accepted your repentance; indeed He only is the Most Acceptor of Repentance, the Most Merciful. (* as your deity for worship)

Ali Quli Qarai

And [recall] when Moses said to his people, ‘O my people! You have indeed wronged yourselves by taking up the Calf [for worship]. Now turn penitently to your Maker, and slay [the guilty among] your folks. That will be better for you with your Maker.’ Then He turned to you clemently. Indeed, He is the All-clement, the All-merciful.

Ali Ünal

And when Moses said to his people: "O my people, assuredly you have wronged yourselves by adopting the (golden) calf as deity; so turn in repentance to your All-Holy Creator (Who is absolutely above having any partners), and kill amongst yourselves those who have committed that great offense, thus purifying yourselves of this tremendous sin. That will be best for you in the sight of your All-Holy Creator, and He will accept your repentance and pardon you. Surely He is the One Who accepts repentance and returns it with liberal forgiveness and additional reward, the All-Compassionate.

Amatul Rahman Omar

And when Moses said to his people, `O my people! you have indeed done injustice to your own selves by your taking (to the worship of) the calf so (you had better) turn (penitently) to your Creator Who gradually evolves you in your being, and kill your ring leaders. That indeed will be best for you in the sight of your Creator.´ (Since you did as you were told,) He turned towards you with compassion. Verily, He alone is the Oft-Returning with compassion, and is the Ever Merciful.

English Literal

And when Moses said to his nation: "You my nation, that you caused injustice to yourselves, because (of) your taking the calf (to worship), so repent to your creator , so fight/kill yourselves, that is best for you at your creator ." So, He forgave on you, that He is the forgiver , the most merciful .

Faridul Haque

And when Moosa said to his people, "O my people! You have wronged yourselves by taking the calf,* therefore turn in repentance to your Creator, therefore kill each other; this is better for you before your Creator"; He therefore accepted your repentance; indeed He only is the Most Acceptor of Repentance, the Most Merciful. (* as your deity for worship)

Hamid S. Aziz

And remember when Moses said to his people, "O my people! You have wronged yourselves in taking this calf; repent unto your Creator and kill the guilty yourselves; that will be better for you in your Creator´s eyes; and He relented towards you, for He is the Oft Relenting, the Merciful.

Hilali & Khan

And (remember) when Musa (Moses) 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 Lord." Then He accepted your repentance. Truly, He is the One Who accepts repentance, the Most Merciful.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And when Moses said to his people: O my people, you have surely wronged yourselves by taking the calf (for a god), so turn to your Creator (penitently), and kill your passions. That is best for you with your Creator. So He turned to you (mercifully). Surely He is the Oft-returning (to mercy), the Merciful.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And when Musa said to his people: O my people! you have surely been unjust to yourselves by taking the calf (for a god), therefore turn to your Creator (penitently), so kill your people, that is best for you with your Creator: so He turned to you (mercifully), for surely He is the Oft-returning (to mercy), the Merciful.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And when Moses said unto his people: O my people! Ye have wronged yourselves by your choosing of the calf (for worship) so turn in penitence to your Creator, and kill (the guilty) yourselves. That will be best for you with your Creator and He will relent toward you. Lo! He is the Relenting, the Merciful.

Muhammad Sarwar

Moses said to his people, "My people, you have done wrong to yourselves by worshipping the calf. Seek pardon from your Lord and slay yourselves." He told them that it would be best for them in the sight of their Lord, Who would forgive them, for He is All-forgiving and All-merciful.

Qaribullah & Darwish

and when Moses said to his nation: 'My nation, you have harmed yourselves by taking the calf (to worship). So turn in repentance to your Creator and slay yourselves. That will be best for you with your Creator.' And He shall accept you. He is the Receiver of Repentance, the Merciful.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

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.

Wahiduddin Khan

When Moses said to his people, "O my people, you have indeed wronged yourselves by worshipping the calf; turn in repentance to your Creator and slay [the culprits] among you. That course is best for you in the sight of your Maker." He relented towards you. He is the Forgiving One, the Merciful.

Talal Itani

And recall that Moses said to his people, “O my people, you have done wrong to yourselves by worshiping the calf. So repent to your Maker, and kill your egos. That would be better for you with your Maker.” So He turned to you in repentance. He is the Accepter of Repentance, the Merciful.

Tafsir jalalayn

And when Moses said to his people, those who worshipped the calf, `My people, you have done wrong against yourselves by your taking the [golden] calf, for a god; now turn to your Creator, away from that worship [of the calf] and slay one another, that is, let the innocent of you slay the guilty; That, slaughter, will be better for you in your Creator's sight', who made it easier for you to accomplish this and sent down a dark cloud over you, so that none of you was able to see the other and show him mercy, such that almost seventy thousand of you were killed; and He will turn to you [relenting], before your [turning in] repentance; truly He is the Relenting, the Merciful.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Children of Israel kill each other in Repentance

Allah tells;

وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَى لِقَوْمِهِ يَا قَوْمِ إِنَّكُمْ ظَلَمْتُمْ أَنفُسَكُمْ بِاتِّخَاذِكُمُ الْعِجْلَ فَتُوبُواْ إِلَى بَارِيِكُمْ فَاقْتُلُواْ أَنفُسَكُمْ ذَلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ عِندَ بَارِيِكُمْ فَتَابَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ



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.

This was the repentance required from the Children of Israel for worshipping the calf.

Commenting on Allah's statement;
وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَى لِقَوْمِهِ يَا قَوْمِ إِنَّكُمْ ظَلَمْتُمْ أَنفُسَكُمْ 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 فَى أَيْدِيهِمْ وَرَأَوْاْ أَنَّهُمْ قَدْ ضَلُّواْ قَالُواْ لَيِن لَّمْ يَرْحَمْنَا رَبُّنَا وَيَغْفِرْ لَنَا

And when they regretted and saw that they had gone astray, they (repented and) said;"If our Lord does not have mercy upon us and forgive us," (7;149),

This is when Musa said to them,
يَا قَوْمِ إِنَّكُمْ ظَلَمْتُمْ أَنفُسَكُمْ بِاتِّخَاذِكُمُ الْعِجْلَ
(O my people! Verily, you have wronged yourselves by worshipping the calf...)."

Abu Al-Aliyah, Sa`id bin Jubayr and Ar-Rabi` bin Anas commented on,
فَتُوبُواْ إِلَى بَارِيِكُمْ
(So turn in repentance to your Bari) that it means,

"To your Creator."

Allah's statement,

إِلَى بَارِيِكُمْ

to your Bari (Creator),

alerts the Children of Israel to the enormity of their error and means,

"Repent to He Who created you after you associated others with Him in worship."

An-Nasa'i, Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abi Hatim recorded Ibn Abbas saying,

"Allah told the Children of Israel that their repentance would be to slay by the sword every person they meet, be he father or son. They should not care whom they kill. Those were guilty whom Musa and Harun were not aware of their guilt, they admitted their sin and did as they were ordered. So Allah forgave both the killer and the one killed."

This is part of the Hadith about the trials that we will mention in Surah Ta Ha, Allah willing.

Ibn Jarir narrated that Ibn Abbas said,

"Musa said to his people,

فَتُوبُواْ إِلَى بَارِيِكُمْ فَاقْتُلُواْ أَنفُسَكُمْ ذَلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ عِندَ بَارِيِكُمْ فَتَابَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ


"So turn in repentance to your Creator and kill each other (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.

Allah ordered Musa to command his people to kill each other. He ordered those who worshipped the calf to sit down and those who did not worship the calf to stand holding knives in their hands. When they started killing them, a great darkness suddenly overcame them. After the darkness lifted, they had killed seventy thousand of them. Those who were killed among them were forgiven, and those who remained alive were also forgiven.