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wa-ʾidh qultum yā-mūsā lan naṣbira ʿalā ṭaʿāmin wāḥidin fa-dʿu lanā rabbaka yukhrij lanā mimmā tunbitu l-ʾarḍu min baqlihā wa-qiththāʾihā wa-fūmihā wa-ʿadasihā wa-baṣalihā qāla ʾa-tastabdilūna lladhī huwa ʾadnā bi-lladhī huwa khayrun-i hbiṭū miṣran fa-ʾinna lakum mā saʾaltum wa-ḍuribat ʿalayhimu dh-dhillatu wa-l-maskanatu wa-bāʾū bi-ghaḍabin mina llāhi dhālika bi-ʾannahum kānū yakfurūna bi-ʾāyāti llāhi wa-yaqtulūna n-nabiyyīna bi-ghayri l-ḥaqqi dhālika bi-mā ʿaṣaw wa-kānū yaʿtadūna
And when you said, ‘O Moses, ‘We will not put up with one kind of food. So invoke your Lord for us, so that He may bring forth for us of that which the earth grows—its greens and cucumbers, its garlic, lentils, and onions.’ He said, ‘Do you seek to replace what is superior with that which is inferior? Go down to any town and you will indeed get what you ask for!’ So they were struck with abasement and poverty, and they earned Allah’s wrath. That, because they would deny the signs of Allah and kill the prophets unjustly. That, because they would disobey and commit transgressions.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse 61
And (remember) when you said: ‘O’ Moses! never can we (always) endure one sort of food, so beseech your Lord for us, to produce for us of what the earth groweth, its pot-herbs, and cucumbers, garlic, lentils, and onions’. He (Moses) said: ‘Would you have in exchange what is worse for what is better? Enter a city, thus you shall get that which you demanded. Abasement and humiliation were stamped upon them, and they incurred wrath from Allah; that was because they went on rejecting Allah’s Signs and slaying the prophets unjustly. That was because they disobeyed and went on transgressing. (2:61)
Demanding A Variety of Food
To continue the description mentioned in the former verses about the different bounties Allah bestowed on the Children of Israel, here in the verse under discussion, the unthankfulness and ingratitude of the Israelites for those great favours is illustrated. The verse indicates how obstinate they were, so much so that perhaps no people can be found in the history of the human race similar to them from the point of being ungrateful for Divine favours.
At first it says:
And (remember) when you said: ‘O’ Moses! never can we (always) endure one sort of food, so beseech your Lord for us, to produce for us of what the earth groweth, its pot-herbs, and cucumbers, garlic, lentils and onions’... (2:61)
But in reply to them:
He (Moses) said: ‘Would you have in exchange what is worse for what is better?’ (2:61)
Now that it is so:
‘…Enter a city, thus you shall get that which you demanded!’… (2:61)
Then, the Qur’an adds that:
…Abasement and humiliation were stamped upon them, and they incurred wrath from Allah. That was because they went on rejecting Allah’s Signs and slaying the prophets unjustly. That was because they disobeyed and went on transgressing. (2:61)
Why Were the Israelites Stamped with Abasement and Humiliation?
As the above verse indicates, they incurred humiliation and wretchedness because of two things: the first was because they went on disobeying the orders of Allah and straying from the path of monotheism to that of infidelity. The second factor was that they used to kill the righteous and apostles of Allah. This hard-heartedness and heedlessness of the Divine laws and even against most human laws that even today clearly continues among the Jews might be the cause of that humiliation and abasement.
Right now, as we are writing these lines, the territory of Lebanon is being invaded savagely by this hard-hearted tribe where thousands of men and women, among whom are innocent, old persons, infant babies, hospital patients and the like, are unjustly and tyrannically being slain in a pitiable way. Their bodies are lying lifelessly on the ground in wait of burial. We are sure that this tribe will certainly have to pay the penalty for their cruelty in the future.