Quran Universe
2:54

وَإِذۡ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوۡمِهِۦ يَٰقَوۡمِ إِنَّكُمۡ ظَلَمۡتُمۡ أَنفُسَكُم بِٱتِّخَاذِكُمُ ٱلۡعِجۡلَ فَتُوبُوٓاْ إِلَىٰ بَارِئِكُمۡ فَٱقۡتُلُوٓاْ أَنفُسَكُمۡ ذَٰلِكُمۡ خَيۡرٞ لَّكُمۡ عِندَ بَارِئِكُمۡ فَتَابَ عَلَيۡكُمۡۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ

Waith qala moosa liqawmihi ya qawmi innakum thalamtum anfusakum biittikhathikumu alAAijla fatooboo ila bariikum faoqtuloo anfusakum thalikum khayrun lakum AAinda bariikum fataba AAalaykum innahu huwa alttawwabu alrraheemu

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.

Word by word
  1. وَإِذۡAnd when
  2. قَالَsaid
  3. مُوسَىٰMusa
  4. لِقَوۡمِهِۦto his people
  5. يَٰقَوۡمِO my people
  6. إِنَّكُمۡIndeed,you
  7. ظَلَمۡتُمۡ[you] have wronged
  8. أَنفُسَكُمyourselves
  9. بِٱتِّخَاذِكُمُby your taking
  10. ٱلۡعِجۡلَthe calf
  11. فَتُوبُوٓاْSo turn in repentance
  12. إِلَىٰto
  13. بَارِئِكُمۡyour Creator
  14. فَٱقۡتُلُوٓاْand kill
  15. أَنفُسَكُمۡyourselves
  16. ذَٰلِكُمۡThat
  17. خَيۡرٞ(is) better
  18. لَّكُمۡfor you
  19. عِندَwith
  20. بَارِئِكُمۡyour Creator
  21. فَتَابَThen He turned
  22. عَلَيۡكُمۡۚtowards you
  23. إِنَّهُۥIndeed He
  24. هُوَHe
  25. ٱلتَّوَّابُ(is) the-returning
  26. ٱلرَّحِيمُthe Most Merciful
Al-Baqarah · 2:54Madinah

Return to the One who made you, and He accepts.

A grave sin and a grave repentance

What Musa told them
you wronged yourselvesby taking the calf
so
repent to your Creatorthe One who made you
then
He acceptedthe Merciful
Why name Him Creator
a small slipeasy to brush off
turning from your Makerso serious repentance

Musa told his people they had wronged themselves by the calf. Ibn Kathir says naming Allah as Bari', the Creator, alerts them to the enormity of their error: turning to others after He made them. The repentance asked was severe. Then He accepted it.

Some sins you laugh off. Others you know, deep down, were a turning away from the One who made you. Those deserve a real repentance, not a quick sorry. And the verse ends on the same note: He accepts, He is Merciful.

A quick astaghfirullah covers anything I do.

Serious wrongs call for serious repentance, and Allah truly accepts it.

Try this

Think of one serious wrong you have only half repented from. Sit with it tonight and repent fully.

Related7:149
Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir 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 أَنَّهُمْ قَدْ ضَلُّوا قَالُوا لَئِن 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 أَنفُسَكُم 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,

فَتُوبُوا إِلَىٰ بَارِئِكُمْ 

(So turn in repentance to your Bari') that it means, "To your Creator." Allah's statement,

إِلَىٰ بَارِئِكُمْ 

(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 Surat Ta Ha, (20) Allah willing.

Ibn Jarir narrated that Ibn 'Abbas said, "Musa said to his people,

فَتُوبُوا إِلَىٰ بَارِئِكُمْ فَاقْتُلُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ ذَٰلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ عِندَ بَارِئِكُمْ 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."