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wa-lammā rajaʿa mūsā ʾilā qawmihī ghaḍbāna ʾasifan qāla biʾsamā khalaftumūnī min baʿdī ʾa-ʿajiltum ʾamra rabbikum wa-ʾalqā l-ʾalwāḥa wa-ʾakhadha bi-raʾsi ʾakhīhi yajurruhū ʾilayhi qāla bna ʾumma ʾinna l-qawma staḍʿafūnī wa-kādū yaqtulūnanī fa-lā tushmit biya l-ʾaʿdāʾa wa-lā tajʿalnī maʿa l-qawmi ẓ-ẓālimīna
When Moses returned to his people, angry and indignant, he said, ‘Evil has been your conduct in my absence! Would you hasten on the edict of your Lord?’ He threw down the tablets and seized his brother by the head, pulling him towards himself. He said, ‘Son of my mother, indeed this people thought me to be weak, and they were about to kill me. So do not let the enemies gloat over me, and do not take me with the wrongdoing lot.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah al-‘Araf – Verse 150
150. “And when Moses returned (from the Mountain) unto his people, wrathful (and) grieved, he said: ‘Evil it is that you have done in my place after me. Did you hasten on the bidding of your Lord?’ And, he dropped the Tablets and seized his brother by the head, dragging him toward himself. He (Aaron) said: ‘O son of my mother! verily the people judged me weak and had well-nigh slain me. So do not let the enemies gloat over me, and do not count me among the unjust people.”
In this verse and the verse after it, the event of the conflict of Moses (as) with calf-worshippers, when he returned from the tryst, has been explained. This event was only hinted out in the previous verse. This is an explanation upon the hideous and hateful scene of the calf-worshipping of the people of Moses who had spoilt his religion when Moses came back from the Mountain. The verse says:
Then, Moses (as) added telling them:
The objective meaning of this phrase is that, due to the command of Allah concerning the length of the appointment of Moses (as) from thirty nights to forty nights, the people of Moses hastened and judged over it hurriedly. They took the absence of Moses (as) as a reason for his death or breach of promises. In that circumstance, Moses had to manifest an intensive wrath, otherwise their return to the truth was not easily possible. The harsh reaction of Moses against this scene and in that moment has been stated by the Qur’ān as follows:
In fact, this reaction illustrated, on one side, the inward conditions of Moses (as) and his intensive annoyance for the idolatry and aberration of those people, and, on the other side, it was an effective means for moving the minds of the Children of Israel and making them attentive to the extraordinary obscenity of their deeds. Then, the Qur’ān, referring to the manner of Aaron for exciting the sympathy of Moses (as) and stating his sinlessness, says: